《Fake Professor, Misunderstood As Strong》


 Chapter 1 Prologue. A Horrible Death...

    Earth, Near a River, Evening.The sky turned scarlet as dusk fell.


    Red-tinted clouds filled the evening sky, producing a scene so picturesque one could have thought it was a work of art.


    This sublime scene was enhanced by the river''s crystal-clear water, which gleamed and reflected the sun.


    The gentle autumn breeze caressed bystanders in a manner reminiscent of a mother stroking her young one.


    ...


    On a bench nearby.


    A pair of individuals sit on the bench, their expressions solemn.


    With a helpless and dejected expression on her stunning face, the woman turned to face the man.


    She spoke in a tone of helplessness as her large, gorgeous eyes became blurry with tears.


    "Why!? Why can''t you accept my love!? Why are you rejecting me like this!?"


    "It was you who expressed your love for me first! and now that I am in love with you! You refuse to accept my feelings for you!?"


    Tears streamed down from the woman''s big eyes; she tried wiping them away with the sleeves of her top, but it did not work, and the tears kept flowing.


    The man did not respond to the woman and continued to stare at the sunset with a solemn expression on his haggard face.


    His dark under-eye circles appear to indicate that he has not slept in days. In addition to his clothes appearing disheveled, his hair appeared untidy.


    The man glanced at the woman.


    "I already told you that I do not have a job, a future, a house, or a life now."


    The man''s eyes were empty of light and devoid of feeling.


    "I am no longer the successful man I once was, and we cannot be together."


    "Everything is gone now; I have nothing left."


    It was as though his eyes were reflecting the depths of his heart, lifeless.


    "I thought I was capable enough to propose to you at that particular time. I am no longer worth more than a maggot."


    "I do not have enough money for dinner today, and I am homeless."


    "In addition, I do not have a lot of time left to live."


    The woman spoke in a trembling voice, her tears getting even more intense when the man mentioned all of these.


    "I-I can assist you; my father is wealthy... Additionally, I will shield you from those loan sharks. Please! Please stay with me! Please do not abandon me... Sob sob"


    The man shook his head and spoke in an emotionless tone:


    "No, no one in the world knows your father better than I do... In fact, everything I am dealing with today was his fault in the first place."


    "His men would be here to kill me eventually; I have worked for him for years.... I know how he handles things..."


    "I do not have much time left..."


    After hearing his comments, the woman opened her wide eyes and spoke in a trembling voice, saying:


    "F-father can''t do something like that! Y-you must have mistaken it... Y-yeah let''s go and ask him in person..."


    "I will help you, I have got your back!... he will definitely listen to you!"


    The man shook his head in response to the woman''s sad cries. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "It is too late..."


    Just as the man had predicted, several black muscle cars approached them at breakneck speed.


    The man stood up from the bench and extended his hand to the woman, a cheap wristwatch resting on his palm.


    "Here, take this watch... This is the only thing I have left now... It''s cheap, but it''s a very precious memento..."


    "This is the watch my childhood friend gave me... I have cherished it ever since..."


    "Many of my precious memories are contained within this memento; this is the same watch I used to keep track of time on my first date with you..."


    The woman held the watch with trembling hands.


    When she accepted the watch, the man smiled with satisfaction on his face. Behind him, the sun''s rays shone brightly, as did his haggard face.


    "T-this.."


    *Bang*


    A loud gunshot rang out before the woman had time to ask anything or even speak.


    "Ugh..."


    A bullet struck the man in the left leg, and he collapsed on the ground, blood pouring out of his leg like a fountain.


    "Noooo!"


    At the sight of this, the woman let out a horrified cry.


    Tears came like a fountain from her reddened eyes as she quickly knelt to try to help the man.


    Yet the man looked unconcerned; a smile appeared on his face, and he said with a happy tone.


    "This is it, this is the end... I am grateful that I got to spend so many years with an amazing woman like you..."


    "Thanks for everything; even in death and in the next life, I will continue to love you forever..."


    "My well wishes are with you. Go and live a happy and carefree life... My love will always bless you from wherever I go..."


    "This is farewell, my love. Farewell Shiina..."


    Several people in bodyguard clothes rushed towards them with hurried steps.


    One of the bodyguards struck Shiina on the back of her neck with his hand. She immediately fainted, and the bodyguard handed Shiina over to a maid.


    "It''s time to go back home, milady."


    Without giving a single glance to the man lying on the ground, the maid carried Shiina back to a nearby luxury car.


    After the maid carried Shiina away, several bodyguards approached the man lying on the ground with baseball bats in their hands.


    Without any warning or hesitation, the bodyguards raised their hands and hammered down the baseball bat on the man''s chest.


    He was brutally beaten to death, yet the odd thing was that the man didn''t even let out a single scream.


    ...


    A few hours later.


    A luxurious mansion, Office.


    The butler knocked on the door of the office respectfully.


    "Enter."


    After getting permission, the butler entered the room without hesitation and entered with calm and silent steps.


    A man sitting on the master chair who seemed to be in his 50s appeared in the Butler''s view.


    The butler saluted the man respectfully and handed over a photo.


    The man stretched out his hand and looked at the photo. A frown appeared on his face.


    The photo showed a dead body whose chest was beaten to death, and the innards could be seen splattered everywhere.


    Yet the face of the dead body still had a smile on its blood-covered face as if the other party was still happy even in death.


    That smile made the man frown, but he didn''t pay it any mind. He squashed the photo in his hand and threw it on the floor.


    "What about the body?"


    Hearing the question, the butler replied in a respectful tone:


    "We fed it to the pet tigers in the private zoo... I have thoroughly gotten rid of all evidence...we even erased all of his information... According to records, that man never existed..."


    The butler smiled with a creepy look on his face.


    Hearing that, the man also smiled a little bit and replied in a satisfied tone:


    "Good, give a bonus to all bodyguards..."


    The butler nodded his head respectfully. He bent down, picked up the squashed photo, and turned it into ashes with a lighter.


    After getting rid of this last piece of evidence, the butler nodded his head to the man and left the room calmly.


    After the butler left, the man got up from his chair and walked towards the window.


    He glanced at the full moon in the beautiful night sky.


    "You messed with the wrong person, kid; your foolishness brought this tragedy on you..."


    "Make sure you don''t make the same mistake again in your next life....hahahaha"


    *Bang**Bang*


    Two loud gunshots sounded outside all of a sudden and several shouts and screams echoed in the mansion.


    A frown appeared on the man''s smiling face. He opened the door of the office, walked out and noticed several maids and bodyguards gathered with panicked looks in the corridor.


    "What happened?"


    Hearing the master''s voice, all the servants scattered and opened the way for him, but none answered his question.


    Everyone had a horrified look on their face.


    The man frowned at this situation and walked forward.


    When the servants stepped aside, two dead bodies appeared in his view.


    One was the butler who had just left his room and the other was his daughter Shiina.


    The butler was shot directly in the forehead and Shiina also had a bullet hole in her head.


    The man''s legs gave out and he fell on the floor with a devastated look on his face.


    At this moment he finally understood that his daughter''s love was genuine and Shiina was ready to even commit suicide for her love.


    Shiina killed the butler before committing suicide because she had already figured out that this butler was the reason for all of her suffering.


    She succeeded and the butler died in one shot.


    The man remained blind to his daughter''s emotions till she died.


    He earned millions and billions but was not able to save the life of his cherished daughter.


    And thus he lived the rest of his whole life in infinite regret and pain.


    He cursed and loathed himself for his wrong decisions till his last breath, everyday was like endless torture.

 Chapter 2 Transmigrated!?

    Nirvana Continent, Capital City Delta.Ivan''s Higher Arcane University, Professor Dorms, Room no: 13.


    Through the window''s curtains, bright sunlight entered the space and fell on the face of a middle-aged man who was dozing off on a big bed.


    A frown appeared on the man''s intimidating face.


    "Ugh!..."


    The man sat up quickly, checked his chest with his hands, and opened his eyes in shock.


    ''What the!?''


    He was surprised to see that everything seemed normal with his body. On his face, a frown emerged.


    ''What is going on here? I vividly recall the excruciating pain I endured as those bodyguards pummeled my chest to nothing. ugh¡­''


    ''Even the most cutting-edge medical technology could not have saved me from such horrific injuries... I was literally beaten into a meat paste!...''


    The man noticed his hands looked different at that moment.


    ''What? I do not recall having hands that rough!''


    ''Furthermore, why is my palm covered in so many scars?''


    The first thing he did was to hurriedly check the condition of his younger brother.


    ''What the! I can not recall ever owning a package this magnificent! Dearer brother, how did you grow up to be so big?''


    "This is weird, hmm¡­. What happened to my voice?¡­"


    ''I don''t remember having such a heavy and intimidating voice!''


    He realized abruptly that he was in a strange room at this moment.


    ''This place is so luxurious¡­. Where the f*ck am I!?''


    Just then, he saw a full-body mirror that was hung on a nearby wall.


    The man stood up quickly and approached the mirror.


    He caught sight of a middle-aged face. The man''s frown added to his icy appearance, giving him an even more menacing appearance in the mirror. The word "villain" cried out from his very image.


    ''The F*ck! These dark purple hairs and eyes! And this intimidating face! Isn''t this ''Jareth Blaze''!?


    In his mind, Jareth was shocked, but his expressions stayed cold and calm.


    Jareth checked himself several times over, growing more and more shocked as time went on.


    "This body moves like it is mine, and I do not even feel the pain from the beatings I took earlier."


    Suddenly, he had the following thought:


    ''Did I transmigrate into this body!?''


    ¡­


    15 Minutes Later.


    Jareth eventually achieved mental clarity and came to terms with reality. There could not have been any possibility that he would have survived at the hands of those bodyguards; he knew he was dead.


    "But why must I inhabit the body of a villain? In addition, this guy is a mediocre villain! He is the weakest kind of villain who was defeated by the "Hero" with only one blow!"


    Jareth had a headache from thinking about it all.


    "Well, at least I survived another day¡ªthat is a huge blessing in and of itself." (Jareth)


    ''Wait, what is today''s date!?''


    Jareth looked around, and on the desk next to him was a smartphone. Quickly using the "fingerprint" feature on his smartphone, he checked the date.


    [9 April 2137]


    ''Oh! Thank god I still have time! I do not have to worry about any death flags at first because classes for the new semester will begin on April 12th, which means Jareth has not met the "Hero".'' (Jareth)


    Then it dawned on him, quite suddenly:


    ''But wait! On the first day, was not the University attacked by a wyvern?''


    Jareth eventually recalled the main points of the entire incident as each memory gradually entered his consciousness.


    He moved to the bed''s corner and took a seat, crossing his hands over his chest.


    ''A childhood friend of mine gifted me this game when I was younger, and if my memory serves me correctly, Jareth is the game''s starting villain!''


    A modern world serves as the backdrop for the magic-fantasy game called ''Fantastic Hero''s Compass'', or F.H.C. for short. There are monsters, knights, magic, and other typical role-playing game components in this game world.


    The player starts as an ordinary young kid who wants to become a ''hero'' and gets admitted to ''Ivan''s higher arcane university'' to learn about magic and stuff.


    Then the hero becomes strong, saves Jade beauties, and makes a huge harem. (At least he has a better personality than a certain someone¡­ Tell me in the comments who I am talking about¡­)


    The storyline of this game is simple and there''s nothing unique in it. The Hero goes and bashes the enemies, returns home, and lives with Jade Beauties thereafter.


    On his way to the peak, Hero crushes many Villains and enemies without mercy to save the world, blah blah blah¡­.


    ''One such measly Villain is this guy, Jareth¡­ I don''t want to even remember his horrible death¡­''


    Jareth is a professor at ''Ivan''s Higher Arcane University''; he teaches magic theories and magic circle formation to first-year students. He got this job with his exceptional knowledge of various magic circles.


    Jareth is currently 28 years old and it has already been three years since he started teaching in this university.


    ''I don''t have any memories of his past at all¡­''


    Jareth didn''t receive any memories of this body at all, due to which he has no idea about what the original Jareth was supposed to know and teach¡­


    ''How am I supposed to teach others about magic when I don''t even know what magic is all about in first place!?''


    ''The only knowledge I have about the original Jareth is from the game lore¡­''


    The original Jareth was a theoretical genius, but he was extremely weak in combat and his magic was pitifully weak.


    The only reason he got this job was because he submitted an exceptional research paper to the University and bribed his way in.


    The principal of the academy is always in favor of new theories and research on magic, when Jareth came to the door and donated an amazing research paper to the academy, the principal himself granted Jareth''s wish to become a professor in this university.


    Jareth had graduated from this same university at the age of 21 and he got the job at the age of 25.


    The principal was already acquainted with Jareth because he had graduated from this university in the first place, so the principal accepted him rather easily.


    ''According to the lore, Jareth became jealous of the exceptional talent of ''Hero''¡­''


    The hero comes from a poor household.


    Jareth, who takes fake pride in his noble origins, becomes extremely jealous of the ''Hero'' when the hero helps the students and fights against the wyvern on the very first day.


    The principal was out of the academy at the moment and the other teachers took a while to arrive on the scene; thus, the Hero kept the monstrosity at bay in the meantime.


    Jareth watched the ''Hero'' fight the wyvern and became jealous of him.


    After the attack, everyone found out that Jareth was only good at theories and his magic was even weaker than that of the first-year students, so he got expelled from his job.


    This is the starting scenario of this game. Later, Jareth returns to the academy as a possessed being. He got possessed by a Mind demon and attacked the ''Hero'' which ended up in his defeat.


    Jareth gets captured and then he gets publicly executed by the magic guillotine. (The magic Guillotine is an artifact that shatters the soul of the punished, and causes great pain to the soul till it disappears into nothingness)


    ''Ugh.. I don''t even want to remember that cruel scene¡­''


    ''The main problem is that I am even weaker than the original Jareth right now, which means it is inevitable that I will get expelled and my reputation will be dragged through the mud¡­''


    ''Is this what they call ''Starting at hell difficulty!?''¡­''


    Suddenly, an idea came into his mind:


    ''Wait, if it''s a game world and I used to be a player originally, can I still use the system panel!?''


    Jareth immediately tried to confirm his doubts.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 800/800] [MP: 50/50]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Talentless fool]


    [Str: 13] [Agi: 12] [Spe: 10] [Def: 9] [Int: 42]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: 6)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade 6]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 6), Null-Magic (Grade: 6), Mana Control (Grade: 6)]


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 100]


    [Evaluation: You are not worthy of an evaluation!]


    Looking at that Evaluation, Jareth rubbed his forehead and calmed his throbbing headache.


    ''Ugh! Why do I have to transmigrate into this body in the first place! sigh~''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I hope you guys like my second novel. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to get the experience of the Magic Guillotine?


    1. Yes (No way, please go to therapy if your answer is yes¡­)


    2. No (Cough! I don''t want to become a headless zombie so I would pass..)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 3 This is a Scam!!

    <Status>[Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 800/800] [MP: 50/50]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Talentless fool]


    [Str: 13] [Agi: 12] [Spe: 10] [Def: 9] [Int: 42]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: 6)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade 6]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 6), Null-Magic (Grade: 6), Mana Control (Grade: 6)]


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 100]


    [Evaluation: You are not worthy of an evaluation!]


    ...


    Grade 7 is the lowest, and Grade 0 is the highest, according to the current known power standards of this world.


    Null-magic is an unattributed magic, like a mana ball, a mana beam, etc. that every magician can use with a little bit of skill and knowledge.


    People in this world don''t have a system panel like Jareth, not even the ''Hero'' because even the ''Hero'' is not a player but an actual individual right now, and this is an actual world now.


    ''All my skills are at Grade 6, which means I am barely at the level of a newbie magician¡­ sigh~''


    Jareth got up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom and through the corridor he walked towards the original Jareth''s training hall.


    Although this place allotted to every professor of the academy is a small room, with the help of spatial manipulation devices, the area in the small rooms has been expanded several times.


    Due to this, Jareth''s Dorm Room 13 has several big rooms inside it; there are long corridors and a huge training hall too. (Magic is amazing¡­)


    ''This whole academy is hand-built by the greatest magic craftsmen of his time¡­. obviously, this place was going to be extravagant and luxurious¡­''


    Wherever Jareth passed, the maids consciously avoided his path and respectfully kept their eyes low, They seemed to be used to Jareth''s intimidating personality and didn''t dare anger him.


    ''Where was his training room, by the way?¡­''


    Jareth had no memories of this world; he only knew the general lore of the game, but these small details were unknown to him.


    Jareth was now getting annoyed. He looked at the nearby maid, who was mopping the floor.


    He wanted the maid for guidance, but what came out of his mouth was rather shocking:


    "Hey, you peasant¡­ Where is Richard?..."


    Jareth''s head tilted on its own, a frown appeared on his cold face and several veins popped up on his forehead, making his look even more intimidating, His eyes stared at the maid with an extremely cold look in them.


    ''W-what am I saying!? I don''t talk like that! What''s happening here!?''


    Although Jareth was shocked in his mind, his face remained cold, and his eyes stared at the maid as if looking at some measly trash.


    [Ding! The personality trait ''Arrogant'' is in effect; the host''s body can''t say kind words to others unless on special occasions!]


    ''What!? What kind of Sh*tty character design is this!? Who made this idiotic game!?''


    After cursing a few more times, Jareth finally calmed down and thought,


    ''Could it be that the reason why the original Jareth was so cold and arrogant was because he was set to be like this from the start?... Sigh~''


    While Jareth was busy contemplating in his mind, the maid shivered like a rabbit being stared at by a bloodthirsty wolf, The maid could feel that if she made a mistake, she would die today.


    "I-I.., th-that¡­"


    "Huh¡­ you what? Speak clearly¡­"


    Jareth''s dark purple eyes stared at the maid and made her so fearful that she was nearly on the verge of collapse.


    "Ahem! Master you called for me?"


    At that moment, the old butler Richard arrived to save the day.


    Although Richard''s back was dripping from sweat, he gathered his courage and tried to take Jareth''s attention away from the maid.


    The maid was his own daughter in the first place, and he couldn''t help but save her from the intimidating presence of Jareth.


    Jareth''s purple eyes shifted and landed on the bowing Richard.


    ''Hmm, he seems to be a capable guy; I should ask him instead¡­''


    "Is the training room ready right now?"


    Hearing Jareth''s heavy and intimidating voice, Richard shook a little bit and replied in a calm tone:


    "Yes, Master, you can use it whenever you like!"


    "Hmm, good, lead the way¡­"


    "Understood!"


    Richard hurriedly got up and showed the way ahead.


    With the butler''s guidance, Jareth reached the training hall in just a few minutes of walking. (This place is extremely vast and luxurious¡­)


    After reaching the training hall, Richard opened the door for Jareth and stood aside in a respectful posture. From start to finish, Richard didn''t even look Jareth in the eyes.


    Jareth ignored these minor things and directly entered the training room.


    "Okay, you may go now¡­ also prepare a bath for me...."


    "Understood!"


    After bowing towards Jareth once, the butler closed the door and left.


    ''Sigh~ Master seems to be in a better mood today¡­ fortunately, he didn''t get angry at that foolish girl¡­ sigh~''


    Richard wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief as he hurriedly walked towards his daughter.


    He found the girl collapsed on the ground.


    ''Sigh~ she is still too young to be working here, it seems¡­''


    ¡­


    In the training hall.


    ''Hmm, that butler was indeed a capable guy; he didn''t even ask a single question, I favor such straightforward people¡­. Perhaps I should increase his salary¡­''


    (Oblivious to the chaos he caused from a single stare of his, Jareth was happy inside his thoughts and even forgot about the fact that this body was incapable of speaking kind words to people¡­)


    ''Now that I am here, let''s try out this thing called magic!''


    As a fellow otaku, Jareth was a great fan of magic and adventure in his previous life. Now that he had the chance to use magic in real life, he couldn''t help but become excited at the thought of it.


    ''Okay, let''s start with the most basic magic in the game¡­''


    Jareth stretched his hand out and targeted the dummy fixed on the wall nearby.


    ''Fire Ball!''


    ~swish~ (Cold breeze noises)


    Jareth kept staring at the practice dummy but nothing happened.


    The expected fireball didn''t come out and he stood there in embarrassment.


    Feeling the cold air, Jareth lowered his hand and slowly walked towards the nearby resting bench.


    He sat down with a plop. Only one thought came into his mind.


    ''Sh*t! I can''t even use the weakest and most useless spell of them all! I am doomed!''


    ''Looking at the current situation, Jareth can''t even properly wield mana right now. How would I even survive that wyvern attack, and how would I protect myself from this cruel world!''


    ''Ahem! No, I can''t lose hope right now! I just got a new life; I can''t waste it all again!''


    A newfound determination flashed in Jareth''s eyes; he seemed to have gained some confidence.


    ''Let''s see if there''s anything helpful in the shop¡­''


    <Shop>


    [Credit points: 100]


    [Purchasable items:


    [Newbie exclusive pack: 100Cp] (Cp is ''Credit Points'')


    [???]


    [???]


    ''What is going on, All of the items are greyed out, I can''t even see them, and only this newbie pack is available¡­''


    A confused look appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''If I remember correctly, there was no such thing as a ''Newbie pack'' in the game shop¡­ What even is this thing?''


    ''Moreover, I can''t see many other functions either¡­''


    After contemplating for a while, Jareth still didn''t reach an understanding so he decided to put this matter on hold for the moment.


    ''Should I buy this newbie pack¡­. Well, it''s not like I have any other choices right now¡­''


    Jareth immediately selected the ''Newbie Pack'' and bought it after a little bit of hesitation.


    [Are you sure you want to purchase the ''Newbie Exclusive Pack''!]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Congratulations! You got the ''Newbie Exclusive Pack''!]


    [Opening the pack¡­.]


    [You get the following items¡­]


    [1. An Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)]


    [2. Memory Card (Intermediate)]


    [3. Memory Card (Low)]


    [Inventory function has been opened¡­ all the items have been stored in the inventory¡­]


    Looking at these rewards, black lines appeared on Jareth''s face, several veins appeared on his forehead and he looked extremely angry.


    ''Scam! This is an absolute scam!!!''


    ''Why did I get these useless items!?''


    Jareth felt his heart bleed at the loss of those precious Credit points.


    ''Sigh~ can''t you let me live an easy life for once¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jareth''s aura is something, people faint with one look of his¡­ it''s getting interesting, isn''t it¡­


    Question of the Day.


    Do you think Jareth would be able to get past the restraints of this arrogant body and say some nice words eventually? S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    1. No (No, we like this edgy side of him too¡­ it is advised to seek therapy if you like a toxic guy like him¡­.)


    2. Yes (Character development is what we need here¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 4 A way to survive...

    Inside the training room.Jareth glanced at his inventory with a cold expression on his face.


    Inventory:


    [1. Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)]


    [2. Memory Card (Intermediate)]


    [3. Memory Card (Low)]


    --


    --


    --


    ...


    There are only three items in the inventory; these are the items that Jareth got from the ''Newbie Pack,'' which he now considers a scam.


    ''Sigh, how did I end up falling into such an obvious scam... It would have been better if I waited for new items to appear¡­''


    With complicated emotions, Jareth stretched his hand out and clicked on the ''Memory card,'' and the description appeared beside the item.


    [Memory Card (Intermediate): Helps the user remember past memories in great detail¡­]


    ''As I thought, it''s this useless thing¡­''


    Jareth had seen this very same card in the game before; all this card does is help the character remember some past memories in the form of a slideshow and some sound effects.


    This was mainly used as a way to clear some character-related quests in the game. It has no other use aside from helping people remember their past memories.


    ''Ugh, moreover, it''s just an ''intermediate'' one, not even an ''advanced'' one¡­''


    Even the memory card has its own tiers.


    While the ''intermediate'' one can help the user remember their past memories in great detail, the ''Advanced'' card can help the user remember every single detail about the user; the user will remember his whole life, like what he did on a random day several years ago, everything!


    Moreover, the advanced card can increase the ''Int'' stat of the user quite a bit too.


    Jareth then clicked on the other memory card.


    [Memory Card (Low): Can help the user remember some random important things¡­]


    ''This is even more useless¡­''


    Not to mention the ''Low'' grade memory card is barely ever used in any of the quests; it doesn''t even help much, and most of the time is used by the players as a joke.


    ''Only this attack card is barely even usable¡­''


    [Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced): Enhances the next attack of the user by 500 times¡­]


    ''This thing is like a trump card and can only be obtained during the late stages of the game, but the main problem right now is¡­. I can''t even do a decent attack right now!...''


    For an attack to be enhanced by the enhancement card, there must be an attack done in the first place. If the user is already incapable of attacking, then even the enhancement card is useless.


    ''Even if I had an enhancement card and tried to punch, this body is too weak to land a proper hit in the first place¡­''


    He can''t use mana or the original Jareth''s magic either.


    Jareth shook his head in despair; although his facial expression remained cold and the same, his internal emotions were a mess at the moment.


    ''Ugh, I miss the days when I used to live a carefree life with my lovely Shiina¡­ I hope she is living a happy life now¡­'' (Jareth) (Sadly, Jareth had no way of knowing what happened to Shiina after his death¡­)


    ''No! I can''t waste this life like this; I must figure something out!''


    With determination in his eyes, Jareth clicked on the Memory card and used it:


    ''This is the only way I have right now¡­ here goes nothing¡­''


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Memory Card (Intermediate)?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    At Jareth''s agreement, a huge amount of memories started to appear in his head all of a sudden.


    Jareth felt like his head would burst apart from this sudden rush of memories. He felt a lot of pain in his head, but his body didn''t even scream or flinch a little bit.


    [Ding! The personality trait ''Arrogant'' is activated! The user can''t show weakness and must maintain an arrogant demeanor!]


    His character trait didn''t even let him scream to relieve his pain, due to which no one outside of the training room found out about his agony. The silent screams in his mind never reached anyone outside of this room.


    After a few minutes of continuous agony, Jareth finally felt the pain disappear, the crazy rush of memories finally stopped, and he was finally able to calm himself down. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''F*ck! I thought I was going to die!''


    Although he knew that he was going to feel pain in this process, he had no other choice. (He had seen the game characters writhe in pain whenever he used the ''Memory Card'' on them, so he knew beforehand about this whole thing¡­)


    Jareth relaxed his body and sat on the ground with a plop.


    ''Sigh, now I know why the player character nearly went insane from using the ''Advanced'' Memory card, this pain is similar to torture¡­ it''s not meant for a human¡­''


    Jareth shook his head.


    ''But at least I got something good from this¡­.''


    Jareth stretched his hand out and felt the sensation of mana. From these huge amounts of memories, he had learned how to use mana, and now he can finally be called a real mage; without knowing mana, he was just an ordinary person earlier, but now he can feel mana.


    ''It''s as if I have grown a new type of sensory organ¡­ I can feel the mana coursing through my body and in my surroundings¡­''


    As he had been an otaku before in his previous life, Jareth had always dreamt of using mana; now that he had achieved this dream, he felt extremely happy at the moment.


    ''Perhaps with this, I can finally survive¡­''


    Jareth got up from the ground and stretched his hand towards the practice dummy again.


    ''It should work now¡­ let''s start with the easiest and lower rank fire magic first¡­''


    [Fire Magic: Flame Arrow!]


    A small magic circle the size of a human palm appeared in front of Jareth''s palm.


    At Jareth''s command, a flame arrow was fired from the magic circle, and the bright red flame arrow collided with the practice dummy.


    The practice dummy barely had a small burn mark from that attack, and it didn''t even do some basic damage.


    Seeing this lukewarm damage, Jareth was not disappointed, though. Instead, he felt quite happy at this moment.


    Jareth glanced at the system panel and saw his MP.


    [45/50]


    Due to his extremely low mana control ability, most of the MP was wasted during that attack, and it didn''t even have the lethality an ordinary flame arrow spell should have, Jareth was happy that he had succeeded at this moment.


    ''I think I can survive with this for now¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head as he glanced at his hand.


    ''If I apply the ''Attack enhancement card'' and then use this attack, I can at least scare that wyvern off and also prove myself worthy enough, thus avoiding my expulsion from this university¡­''


    ''Although this could be only considered a temporary solution¡­ it seems to


    be the only way I have right now¡­''


    Now that Jareth had finally figured out a way to survive, he felt relaxed all over his body.


    Oblivious to all the trouble he might have to encounter in the future, Jareth was quite satisfied right now.


    ''With this attack, I have extended my lifespan by at least a few days, I think¡­.''


    Originally, Jareth doubted that the memory card was of much use to him because he didn''t expect that he would awaken the memory of how to use mana.


    But now that he has found a way out of the current crises, he finally acknowledged that these memory cards are not useless.


    ''It seems the goddess of luck is smiling at me today¡­''


    Jareth then glanced at the other memory card and looked at it with kinder eyes this time.


    ''Let''s see what you hold for me, my little gem¡­''


    The moment Jareth realized the usefulness of the memory cards, he directly changed his face and stopped treating them as useless, and indeed, he is a shameless guy, it seems.


    While smiling like a punk in his mind, Jareth clicked on the other memory card.


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Memory Card (Low)?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems our villain has finally found a way to survive the devastating plot waiting ahead, but let''s see if it actually works the way he wants it to¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, would you like to use a ''Memory Card'' too?


    1. Yes (It may help you remember what you learned for the exams¡­.)


    2. No (I don''t want the pain, so I will pass¡­ )


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 5 A Peculiar Introduction...

    Capital City Delta.Ivan''s Higher Arcane University


    The campus of the university is extremely lively today. Today is the first day when classes will start this year.


    Thousands of students belonging to different classes could be seen hurrying off to their classes.


    A young teenage girl with light blue hair and pupils glared at a teenage guy with similar light blue hair and pupils with an angry look on her cute face.


    "Hurry up, Allen! We are going to be late for class!" (Mia Stormwalker)


    Mia held Allen''s hand and dragged him behind her. Allen''s face was covered in sweat, and he was panting and gasping for air due to all this running.


    "W-wait for me¡­ "I can''t run anymore." (Allen Stormwalker)


    Mia glanced back and glared at Allen with a frown on her cute face.


    "No, we can''t stop here! We have to make it on time. We can''t be late on the very first day of our university life!"


    Mia continued to drag Allen and didn''t let him rest for even a single second.


    "I heard from the other students that the professor teaching ''Magic Theory'' is a very strict person. We will get punished if we end up late for class. so hurry up!"


    "Just listen to your big sister and keep running!" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Y-Yeah¡­"


    Just when Allen was desperately trying his best to keep up with the pace of his energetic big sister, someone purposely cast a magic spell under Allen''s feet.


    A small hole appeared on the ground due to the spell, and Allen lost his balance from the sudden shift in posture. He directly fell and kissed the floor, and even Mia, who held his hand, lost her balance and fell backward on the ground.


    "Ouch!"


    "Ugh!"


    When the two siblings fell on the floor, they heard the mocking laughter of a guy from behind them.


    "BAHAHAHA, look at those two idiots, bahahahaha." (Mark Kalashnikov)


    A teenage guy with bright golden hair and pupils laughed at the two with a mocking smile on his face.


    Allen got up from the ground, the design of the floor tile still visible on his face, and he had an angry expression.


    "What is the meaning of this, Mark!?"


    Mark ignored Allen''s shouts and continued to laugh at the two of them for a while before finally calming down. He wiped the slight tears from his eyes, which appeared due to laughing too much, and said in a teasing tone:


    "You two idiots don''t even know that there is still half an hour left before class is going to start... seeing you two rush like idiots makes me laugh."


    Mia and Allen both stared at Mark with an angry look on their faces, but Mark continued to ignore them.


    "Okay, don''t waste my time. I don''t want to be late because of some random peasant."


    All of a sudden, Mark stopped laughing and hurried off to class as if he wanted to escape from something.


    "You are shameless!"


    While Allen glared at the leaving figure of Mark and cursed, Mia suddenly went silent. She stretched out her hand and poked Allen with her trembling fingers as if to make him notice something.


    Allen frowned at Mia and glanced behind him.


    A middle-aged man with dark purple hair and pupils stood behind him. His intimidating face stared at Allen as if a predator were looking down on its prey.


    "Don''t make a fuss here, Student Allen."


    Allen''s eyes widened at Jareth''s cold and intimidating presence. He felt like Jareth could beat him at any moment.


    Allen felt suffocated just by standing in Jareth''s dense and intimidating aura.


    "U-understood!"


    Hearing Allen''s reply, Jareth nodded his head. He gave Mia a slight glance and then walked away. Everywhere he went, students consciously maintained several meters of distance from him for fear of getting beaten.


    Seeing the fading figure of Jareth, Allen heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Mia, who was standing there like a stone statue.


    She seemed to have been too intimidated to even move by Jareth''s presence.


    "Who was that person?". His presence is so intimidating."


    Allen shook his head and decided to put this matter behind him. He dragged the petrified Mia and walked off towards the classroom.


    ¡­


    Jareth''s POV.


    ''Hmm, I wasn''t expecting to see the ''Hero'' face-to-face so early, but seriously, that little guy seems to have the same clumsy personality as shown in the game.''


    As Jareth continued to walk towards his classroom with a slow and steady pace, he continued to think about various things; complicated thoughts swirled in his mind.


    ''Allen is the ''Hero'' character of this action RPG game, and he is supposed to have a clumsy and short-tempered personality at the starting stages of the game.''


    Allen goes through many hardships during his long journey of becoming a ''Hero'' and matures as an individual to become the very epitome of heroism during the late stages of the game.


    ''Well, I can''t blame him either. He is still a 17-year-old kid. young people are generally full of energy and clumsy by nature.


    ''Mia is Allen''s elder sister; her only purpose in the game was to be ''Emotional Support'' for her younger brother ''Allen'' and then die for character development... so she doesn''t have that many unique characteristics...''


    Jareth also felt quite weird, but the game was designed this way, so he couldn''t really do anything about it in his previous life.


    ''As for that guy, Mark, that is the real deal... an extremely talented guy born as the sole heir to the royal family and the main rival for Allen... he is supposed to be the only one capable of going toe to toe with Allen in the late stages of the game.''


    Jareth was expecting to meet these three characters when he entered the classroom, but unexpectedly, he met them while he was still heading towards the class.


    ''I actually don''t want to go to that class, sigh~''


    Many talented and intelligent students were present in that classroom of first-year students, which he was supposed to teach.


    ''If I make a single mistake, these little devils will immediately find out that I am a fake... and then I will be suffering my whole life¡­ sigh~''


    With slow and hesitant steps, Jareth continued towards the classroom, and eventually, he stood in front of the door of the classroom.


    [First-Year Classroom No. 1]


    ''Here goes nothing...''


    ¡­


    Inside the classroom.


    The lively classroom suddenly fell silent when the gate of the class opened steadily, and Professor Jareth walked in with an intimidating momentum.


    Allen and Mia were sitting by the windows, and Mark was sitting at the last seat in the classroom. There were a total of fifty students in the classroom, and all of them fell silent the very moment Jareth entered.


    *Step**Step*


    Only the sound of Jareth''s steady steps rang out in the class, and no one dared to even make a slight noise to avoid getting on the bad side of Jareth.


    Jareth walked over to the center of the stage and stood in front of the whole class with a cold and intimidating look on his face. His eyes wandered off and scanned the whole class with an intimidating glare in his dark purple eyes.


    "Since every desk is filled, that means everyone is present. I don''t need to take attendance then¡­ bring out your ''Magic Theory'' Books and open the first chapter."


    "I don''t really care about introductions and all pointless things. If you guys keep performing well in class from now on, I will eventually know your names. otherwise, you won''t even be recognized. Make sure to keep your scores up if you want the approval letter from me."


    Hearing Jareth''s harsh words, everyone understood immediately why rumors were going around about the Professor of ''Magic Theory'' class being extremely strict.


    The rumors turned out to be all true; Jareth was indeed as heartless as the rumors depicted him to be.


    On the very first day, he had already declared that he would only give the approval letter to those who would perform exceptionally well in the class tests.


    If the student''s performance is not to his liking, he won''t even give the approval letter, which will cause the student to fail in the subject called ''Magic Theory''.


    An approval letter is like a grade or mark for the students of this world.


    Only when the professor has given you the approval letter will you be considered to have passed in that subject, and only then can you be promoted to the next year; otherwise, you will have to repeat the whole year''s worth of classes all over again.


    This means this one statement from Jareth made all of the students feel suffocated and disciplined at the same time.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Due to the character traits of Jareth, he automatically spouts harsh words; thus, he gets misunderstood as strict on the very first day¡­


    Question of the day:.


    What are your thoughts on ''Hero'' Allen?


    (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 6 The First Lesson!

    Inside the classroom.Jareth glanced at all of the children with a kind gaze. (He thinks his gaze is kind, but in reality, it''s not.)


    Aside from the ''Hero'' Allen, the side character ''Mia'', and the ''Rival'' character Mark, there are two other most noticeable students in the classroom.


    A girl with a cold look sat on the very first bench of the classroom. She had similar dark purple hair and eyes as Jareth had.


    ''So, that''s my supposed younger sister, Aiza Blaze, the cold beauty and second heroine of this game... Furthermore, she is considered a ''genius'' in flame magic.''


    Jareth didn''t stare at her for too long and averted his eyes to the next student, but that one look from him made Aiza wary of him.


    She looked calm and cold on the surface, but many complicated thoughts were raging in her head right now.


    Jareth didn''t notice her conflicted emotions at all and then glanced at the girl sitting near Allen.


    She had light green hair and golden pupils. She looked like the very image of gentleness and cuteness.


    ''That''s the genius wood magician, Airin Wainwright, a direct descendant of a famous Wood magician... She is the main heroine and the childhood friend of Allen.''


    Since the game had the ''Harem'' building part in it, there were many routes to follow to try to increase the favorability of a heroine.


    Airin is the only heroine whose favorability is full from the very start of the game.


    She already likes Allen from the start, but Allen is the ''Dense'' type of protagonist and he never recognizes her love until the very end of the game. Moreover, he already had a harem of ten women by that time.


    (Allen is the type of protagonist who is extremely dense but still pulls several jade beauties and becomes a harem king just by wearing pure plot armor.)


    ¡­


    Jareth didn''t think too much about this matter and just gave every student a slight glance before finally deciding to start the class.


    ''Luckily, that other memory card didn''t disappoint me.''


    When Jareth used the ''Memory Card (Low)'' that day in his training room, the card gave him memories about what the original Jareth was preparing to teach on the first day of the classes.


    This gives him plenty of knowledge to pull off a fake show of teaching and swaying these innocent children. As long as he doesn''t make any mistakes, no one can figure out that he is a fake.


    The original Jareth survived based on his excellent theoretical knowledge and his clever mind. His intimidating aura is also a life-saving mechanism that he developed over time to protect himself from being recognized as weak.


    ''The life of the original Jareth was miserable, that''s for sure.''


    Jareth put this matter behind for now and touched the smart board with his hand.


    He opened a picture of the magic circuits of an individual and started to explain some basic magic theory knowledge to the students.


    "Most of the students here are from prestigious families and have the basic knowledge already due to private tuitions, but since there are students from ordinary families here and have little to no knowledge..."


    "We will start from the beginning."


    Jareth glanced at the students with his cold eyes and then pointed to the image with his index finger.


    "This is a simple anatomy diagram or you could say a basic magic circuit diagram of a newbie mage."


    Jareth continued to explain.


    The magic circuits of newbie mages and above vary greatly. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A newbie is not proficient enough, and their control over their mana is very lacking; thus, their mana circuit is small and inefficient, and it barely covers a small portion around the heart of the mage.


    On the other hand, Grade 1 Mage''s mana circuit is so vast that it covers their whole body and is even partially connected to their soul and will, forming a proper and efficient mana network.


    Such a feat is only possible with extremely refined control of mana.


    "The difference between a knight and a mage is that mages have a mana circuit which expands over time as their control over mana increases."


    "Meanwhile, the knights don''t have any magic circuit to begin with; they just use the outside mana and spread it all over their body in an attempt to nourish their body with mana and make it stronger and more durable."


    "There are various Meditation or breathing techniques to become a knight or a warrior by inhaling mana into your body and strengthening it¡­"


    With proper training and opportunities, even an ordinary person can become a knight, but this is not the same for a mage.


    Only those who are born with a magic circuit in their body can walk the path of a mage.


    Many great minds have theorized that the magic circuit is a manifestation of one''s soul''s compatibility with mana. It depends on pure luck if you can be born with a mana circuit or not.


    Obviously, there is one other way, and that is to pay an extremely high fee and hire a grade 1 magician to artificially create a magic circuit in your body. Although the process is very inhumane and torturous, it is indeed very effective.


    Many wealthy businessmen whose children are untalented use this method to provide their children with a bright future.


    (This also means that ordinary people only have one way to become strong, which is to become a knight or a warrior by somehow finding those rare breathing techniques.)


    Even though the condition of being born with a magic circuit seems completely random and dependent on luck, it is also affected by many other factors.


    If the parents of the child are strong magicians with amazing mana affinity, their child will also be born with a solid and proper magic circuit with amazing mana affinity in-built.


    This is the reason why illegitimate children are treated so badly in this world; most of them have no talent or very low talent.


    And in this cruel world where the strong are revered and the weak are bullied, low talent means you will be treated very badly.


    "Mana is the building block of this world; it is present in everything and everyone."


    In this world, every living or non-living creature has mana in various amounts and forms. Even non-living objects like soil, stone, and water have trace amounts of mana in them.


    Even ordinary people have a faint amount of mana in their bodies; the only reason they can''t become strong is that they have no proper way of training and their mana affinity is extremely low.


    Yet Exceptions exist. A child with extremely high mana affinity can be born from ordinary people too; the probability is very low but it sometimes happens.


    Allen is one of those exceptional children; he was born into an ordinary household, yet he still had amazing mana affinity and mana purity.


    Every year, the government provides scholarships and many other supports to these exceptional children.


    Ordinary people hope that their children are born with a mana circuit so that their future is secure and stable. The government even rewards the family that births an exceptionally talented kid with a medal of contribution.


    This may sound absurd but this is all true. The world outside the human nation is not so peaceful; dreadful monsters run rampant in this world. Demons and other chaotic beings always try to invade and kill humans whenever they wish.


    Various demonic cult members terrorize humans by summoning monsters and beasts every once in a while.


    Due to the chaotic nature of the world, the strong are respected and every new talented child is welcomed by the government with wide arms and support.


    There are dedicated guilds that maintain the security of human cities and maintain order.


    Most Mages, knights, and warriors go to these guilds for employment.


    ¡­


    While Jareth continued to explain various basic knowledge, the students kept listening to him with solemn expressions on their faces. Most of the wealthy students had no interest in this low-class knowledge and were already feeling bored.


    But no one dared to show their boredom on their face. Jareth had already warned them that they had to perform better in the class if they wanted to pass; thus, no one wanted to get on his bad side.


    They took his words seriously and kept listening to him while pretending to be solemn.


    Just then, an extremely strong mana fluctuation spread all over the university.


    Every mage present in the vicinity sensed that strong mana fluctuation. Dense mana condensed, and the buildings of the university trembled uncontrollably.


    *GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNNNNNN*


    A loud sound of a wyvern resounded throughout the capital city.


    The tremendously huge figure of the wyvern appeared out of a magic circle that covered the whole university''s campus.


    The wyvern''s wings collided with the university building, destroying the wall and exposing the classroom and the children sitting inside.


    Through that broken wall, the wyvern stared at the people inside with a dangerous look on its hideous face.


    Seeing that giant eyeball staring at him, Jareth had only one thought in his mind:


    ''It''s much scarier than I saw in the game.''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The show is about to begin! Let''s go!!


    Question of the Day.


    Would you like to become one?


    1. A Mage (Magic is the way...)


    2. A Knight (Armor and sword are the dreams of every young soul looking for adventure.)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 7 Shocked beyond belief!

    One day ago. Aiza Blaze''s Dorm Room."So, it''s confirmed now, that incompetent bast*rd Jareth will be your teacher for this year¡­"


    Hearing the middle-aged voice of a man on her smartphone, Aiza frowned and said in a cold tone:


    "But father, you said that you will somehow get the teacher changed¡­ what if he loathes our family and doesn''t give me the ''Approval Letter'' just because of the tension between us¡­"


    "He might perhaps be as incompetent as you say, but he still is a professor in the academy, right? What if he targeted me personally¡­"


    Hearing the concerned voice of his daughter, the voice replied with a mocking tone:


    "Heh, that weak bast*rd had no talent when he was kicked out of the family; there''s no way he would have grown much in these few years¡­ don''t worry much; he is too weak to even fight you¡­"


    "Be confident; you are the genius fire mage of our family¡­ there''s no way you will pale in talent against that bast*rd child!"


    After saying that, the tone of the man turned solemn:


    "I wanted to get him expelled from the academy to clear a way out for you, but the principal is a weird person; he doesn''t care about money or any other things¡­"


    "Even when I offered him dragon teeth, he still didn''t agree; he is a tough being to deal with¡­ he seems to be in favor of that guy because of those theory papers he published¡­ tch!"


    "Don''t worry though¡­ I will pressure him to give you the ''Approval Letter'' if he disagrees¡­ surely he won''t dare to go against my coercion, haha..."


    "Just go and enjoy your university days, while watching his pathetic and weak self, getting embarrassed¡­"


    "Understood, father¡­" (Aiza)


    Aiza put the phone down and contemplated in her mind.


    The main problem of the ''Approval letter'' was resolved with her father''s assurance, now all she needs to do is study and focus on improving her magical capabilities.


    Since her childhood days, everyone has told her only one thing about her illegitimate brother: that he was a weak guy with barely any talent for magic. The only plus point was that he was good at magic theories.


    Except for that, he was evaluated as a talentless bast*rd child by everyone around her.


    She didn''t witness him cast spells with her own eyes, but due to everyone''s remarks, she also considered Jareth weak. She has an older brother who is much more talented than Jareth in every way.


    The Blaze family is one of the ancient wizard families; many excellent wizards have risen from their family from generation to generation. The current head of the family, Aiza''s father is also a famous Grade 2 flame wizard.


    Aiza is considered to have the talent to reach Grade 1. That is already an extremely strong being. The principal of the academy is a Grade 1 wizard, there are only two Grade-1 wizards in the whole human nation.


    A grade 1 wizard is capable of casting magic that can shatter continents and evaporate seas. Destroying a mountain or creating one from scratch is a child''s play for them.


    With one spell they can change the weather and with another, they can cause massive earthquakes.


    All professors in the academy are at the level of grad-3 wizards at least, each one of them is a famous and strong individual with a vast amount of wisdom. (Except Jareth who became a professor through bribery¡­)


    Aiza is currently 17 years old, but she is already as strong as a grade-5 mage. Her exceptional talent makes her stay ahead of her peers.


    The other students from wealthy families are around Grade-6 and even the ''Hero'' is still just a Grade-6 mage, Aiza is too talented for the rest of her fellow classmates to compete with.


    ¡­


    The day of the first class.


    Aiza arrived in the classroom ten minutes earlier. She didn''t like getting late and had a straightforward personality. She despised those who couldn''t properly follow the time schedule.


    (In the game, Allen had to wake up early and arrive in the class ahead of time to avoid her favorability points from decreasing¡­.)


    All the students entered the classroom one by one and eventually, all the seats were full. The clock ticked and the door opened right at the time when the class was supposed to start.


    Jareth arrived at the exact time, neither one minute early nor one minute late. His timing was perfect.


    The moment Jareth entered the classroom the air seemed to have cooled down a lot and the atmosphere became heavy. His intimidating presence made the students silent instantly.


    No one even dared to speak against him.


    When Jareth declared that he wouldn''t give the ''Approval Letter'' to the students he didn''t deem worthy, she thought he had started targeting her already.


    She knew that he wouldn''t let her do as she pleased and would try to make things difficult for her, thus she didn''t even show any reaction on her cold face. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Father said his magic is weak, I shouldn''t get intimidated by his bluffs¡­''


    Aiza had already considered Jareth''s intimidating momentum as a bluff. (She was right¡­ it''s indeed a bluff¡­.)


    Jareth''s eyes then stared at all the students one by one, as if he was evaluating them in his mind.


    When his eyes landed on Aiza, she felt a little flustered by that strong aura, but she reminded herself about what her father had said and thus she regained her confidence.


    ''I am not afraid of you¡­ you can''t punish a student without proper reasons either¡­''


    After a while, Jareth started his class. He didn''t even bother with the usual stuff like an introduction or some small talk. He directly started the lesson without even letting the students introduce themselves.


    ''He is as arrogant as everyone described him to be¡­''


    Aiza had heard many bad rumors about him during her time in the family house. Now that she had seen him with her own eyes, she knew that those rumors were not baseless.


    Jareth was indeed an arrogant guy with a bad personality.


    ¡­


    (Back to the present time.)


    But Aiza had never expected what she was about to see today. Her worldview is shattered by Jareth''s one move.


    When the wyvern appeared out of nowhere, all the students trembled in fear. Some students directly fainted and some screamed for help.


    The dangerous aura of that wyvern was too much for the students to handle. It was an extremely strong monster, capable of razing down cities and towns in just a few hours. (How did the ''Hero'' keep it busy you ask? The answer is:- The Plot armor!)


    Aiza stared at the monster with trembling eyes. She had trained and fought against monsters like magic-wolfs and goblins, but a wyvern was too much for her to handle.


    Her hands trembled while looking at that gigantic monstrosity. Even Its eyeball was bigger than her whole body.


    Just then she heard a cold and arrogant voice resound throughout the classroom. That one voice made everyone quiet in an instant.


    "Too noisy¡­"


    Jareth''s cold voice made all the students forget about their fear and made them focus on him.


    Jareth stood there with his usual cold expression, he faced the wyvern and didn''t seem to be affected by its aura one bit.


    In the shocked eyes of the students, the professor stretched his hand out without any hesitation and cast a spell.


    [Ding! You have used the ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    [Grade-6 Fire magic: Fire Arrow!]


    Jareth had cast an extremely weak spell ''Fire Arrow'' that any newbie flame wizard could learn and use easily. Its lethality was extremely low.


    But when it was enhanced by the enhancement card and became 500 times stronger, it was already a new spell of its own league at that point. Even Jareth was not sure of its possible destructive power.


    A magic circle the size of a five layered magic circle appeared in front of Jareth''s palm.


    In the astonished eyes of the spectators, a massive flame beam fired out of the giant magic circle. The flame beam was the size of a truck and the flames were purple in color.


    It was an extremely condensed flame with an extremely hot temperature. Its destructiveness was off the charts.


    A massive shockwave swept away everything and the pillar of flame collided with the head of the wyvern in an instant.


    Before the wyvern could even react its whole head burst into smithereens, the destructive purple flame didn''t stop there and directly burned the whole upper torso of the giant wyvern before finally going out.


    After a full five seconds, finally, the intense flame pillar went out and the magic circle disappeared into thin air.


    Without his usual cold expression on his face, Jareth walked towards the broken wall and glanced outside.


    The lower half of the wyvern''s body had collapsed on the ground and its innards fell out of its stomach. There were still parts of the burnt meat scattered around everywhere.


    A half-burnt wing was lying on the ground nearby.


    Jareth glanced upwards and found that the flame beam had made a huge hole in the clouds hanging in the sky.


    Without his will, harsh words spouted out of his mouth again:


    "Tch! Pathetic¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! Finally, our weak villain has survived the disaster hanging on his head. Let''s go!!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to learn that awesome ''Fire Arrow'' too?


    1. Yes (Let the sky rain fire!!)


    2. No (It''s a weak spell so I will pass¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 8 Aizas Dilemma..

    "Tch! Pathetic¡­"A look of annoyance and disappointment appeared on Jareth''s face. All the students who saw this scene were so shocked that they didn''t dare even move from their place.


    Without caring about the chaos Jareth had caused in the onlooker''s minds. He walked back towards the front of the smart board and glared at the students with cold eyes.


    "Why are you guys squirming on the ground¡­ get back to your seats¡­ the class isn''t over yet!"


    At Jareth''s harsh scolding, all the students hurriedly got up and sat back in their seats with fearful looks on their faces. They had just seen Jareth kill a wyvern with a basic-level spell that was supposed to be one of the weakest spells in existence.


    Jareth''s one attack had shattered their worldview from the core.


    All the students who were originally not interested in learning theories also started to concentrate on theory.


    Everyone had only one thought in their mind right now.


    ''The professor is Too Strong!!''


    Due to Jareth''s one-time usage of the enhancement card his attack was strong enough to kill that wyvern a supposed Grade-2 monster, in just one attack. This is already an extremely remarkable feat in other''s eyes.


    But only Jareth knew about the turmoil of emotions he was facing in his head right now.


    ¡­


    [Ding! You altered the supposed starting plot of the game by defeating the wyvern with your own hands!]


    [Ding! You have received 10,000 Credit points!]


    ''The f*ck just happened!?''


    Earlier when the wyvern appeared, he wanted to just scare it off and prove his strength to avoid expulsion. He had known about the capabilities of the enhancement card from the game.


    But he never expected that the enhancement card would become so destructive when used in real-life moments. This was totally out of his predictions.


    He was expecting to get the destructive power of a mere grade-3 spell, but what he ended up with was the insane destructive force of a peak grade-2 spell.


    Even the flames that should have been blue had turned into dark purple as if they had a unique characteristic of their own.


    (Grade-2 or above level spells have a ''Unique'' characteristic that resembles the user in some way or other¡­.)


    ''But one thing is for sure¡­ this body doesn''t know the word ''fear'' at all...''


    When that wyvern stared at Jareth, he didn''t feel any fear at all, instead, he felt like his arrogance was being challenged.


    Due to the character trait ''Arrogant'', Jareth is so arrogant that he doesn''t fear anyone in the world, he would rather die than bend his knees in front of others.


    ''Moreover, I even scolded the dead body of a wyvern saying it was pathetic¡­ seriously, this guy Jareth is too arrogant¡­ he will get me killed one day, sigh~''


    When looking at those panicked kids, Jareth felt angry at their rude behavior of leaving their seats in the middle of the class, thus he ended up scolding them harshly too.


    ''My reputation is beyond saving at this point, let''s just go with the flow then¡­''


    As the old saying goes: If you can''t go against them, then join them instead. Problem solved. (Friendly warning: Don''t take this advice to your heart, take it to your lungs¡­ cough!)


    ...


    A few hours later. Aiza''s dorm room.


    Aiza sat on the couch and stared at the smartphone with a blank expression on her face.


    Today she seemed to have suffered a great face-slap.


    She made the mistake of assuming someone was weak and believed in baseless rumors told with no actual facts.


    "He wasn''t weak¡­"


    Aiza stared at the smartphone and doubted everything she had learned about Jareth through his family members.


    ''They all told me that he was weak¡­ is this what they consider weak!?''


    ''Doesn''t that mean nearly 99 percent of the human race is worth nothing! if even that insanely strong magic was considered weak!?''


    Aiza seriously couldn''t comprehend the situation that had unfolded in front of her today.


    While she was trembling in fear against that horrifying monstrosity, Jareth stood there with no fear in his eyes.


    Instead, he seems to have thought of that monstrosity as a mere nuisance that was getting in the way of his job as a teacher.


    ''But how can ''flame arrow'' be so strong!?''


    The strangest thing of them all was, that Jareth didn''t even use any strong spells at all. He used a mere basic-level spell that any newbie fire magician could learn in just a few days of practice.


    The lethality of ''Fire Arrow'' is universally known to be too low for actual combat purposes. It is mostly used to light up torches in the ruins or create a bonfire. Some magicians even use that to smoke cigarettes.


    It is barely ever used on an actual battlefield.


    But Jareth''s ''Fire Arrow'' was different; it was too strong to be even considered a ''Fire Arrow'' at this point.


    ''His spell had ''Characteristic''¡­ doesn''t this mean he''s already a Grade-2 mage!?''


    It is well known in the world that only a mage at Grade 2 or above can infuse their spells with ''Unique Characteristics'' to make them more lethal and stronger.


    A Mage that can infuse ''characteristic'' in his magic is considered more than ten times stronger than the one who couldn''t use this infusion.


    ''How much is father underestimating him in the first place!?''


    ''Father must have made a great mistake! He has severely underestimated his magical capabilities¡­ if he can kill a wyvern, he can surely go toe to toe with father too¡­''


    Aiza knew about the seriousness of this matter. She knew that if Jareth was so strong, then their family was in grave danger. Her father had kicked Jareth out of the family and if he had any grievances with their family, then it was a very dangerous situation.


    Her father may also be a grade 2 mage, but Jareth is much younger than her father and he is already capable enough to be an equal with him. This proves that he can reach even greater heights in the future.


    At that point, their whole family would be at his mercy. His whims will decide if he will let them all live or not.


    ''I-I need to inform father about this¡­''


    With all this speculation messing around in her head, Aiza decided to call her father. Her hands trembled as she carefully tried to dial his number.


    *Ring* *Ring*


    Just when Aiza was about to call, her phone rang on its own and the caller ID showed the name of her father.


    She heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly answered the call.


    "Aiza, I know the situation¡­. It seems I have made a terrible mistake this time¡­ that guy¡­ sigh~ I underestimated him too much¡­ but you don''t need to worry about anything¡­"


    "I will personally talk with the principal next week, you don''t need to worry about your safety on the university campus¡­ but make sure you avoid getting entangled with him before I properly settle this matter¡­"


    "Yes, father"


    "Good¡­"


    The call was cut off immediately. Aiza noticed the tiredness in her father''s voice. He seems to be facing many difficulties at the moment.


    ''It must be the vassal families looking for trouble again¡­''


    Several of the vassal families used to support Jareth because he was the oldest of the siblings, they wanted that Jareth should have become the next head of the family.


    But the birth of Aiza had changed everything. Her amazing talent enchanted them all, and she received the full support of the whole family.


    Only a few vassal family members still stood on Jareth''s side; most of them are now in support of Aiza. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Now that everyone has found out that, Jareth is already an extremely strong mage, capable of fighting her father on equal grounds.


    They have started to have different thoughts again and her position as the future heir of the family has been challenged. (Political matters are always complicated, no matter which world it is¡­)


    ''I must become stronger¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your Beloved author is here! The misunderstandings seem to have started to increase in favor of Jareth, it seems, Let''s see how far these misunderstandings carry on¡­


    Question of the day.


    Isn''t it Chocolate Day today, so how many did you get?


    1. One or more (I am smarter, I am stronger, I am better, I am better!!)


    2. None (Sad life¡­ burn this cruel world!!)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 9 Jareths troubles..

    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University, Professor Dorms, Room no: 13.In the training hall.


    ''I ended up attracting more attention than I was expecting¡­''


    Jareth sat on the resting bench and stared at the news being played on his smartphone''s screen.


    ¡­


    The news anchor showed the video of him killing the wyvern in a single attack and explained things in great detail.


    "The secret recordings of the security camera that was positioned in the corner of the classroom when the wyvern attacked, have been leaked!! our reliable sources have found out about everything that had happened in the university!!"


    "As you can see in this recording, the professor of the academy whose name is Jareth Blaze, defeated a grade-2 monster, an adult wyvern in just one attack!!"


    With great enthusiasm in his voice, the anchor explained how amazing of a feat this was.


    "An adult wyvern like this can destroy a city in just a few of its breath attacks! But Professor Jareth didn''t let the wyvern harm a single student in the classroom!!"


    "He stood as a shield to protect his students and the future genius mages with his own hands!"


    "The amazing fact is that he didn''t even seem tired at all from using such a strong spell, he truly is a remarkable and strong mage!"


    Suddenly the Anchor pulled out the photo of Jareth on the screen and showed his grade as allotted by the mage guild.


    [Grade-6]


    "As you can see, Professor Jareth is considered a grade-6 mage by the mage guild, even though his magical capabilities are on par with a peak grade-2 mage, as proved by his remarkable feat of slaying a wyvern in one attack!"


    "The grade allotted by the mage guild was last updated 4 years ago, this proves that the mage guild has clearly neglected its duties, they should come forward and publicly issue a proper grade to Professor Jareth¡­"


    "This negligence can cause great distrust in the grading system of the mage guild by the major public¡­"


    The anchor found Jareth''s graduation records and other theoretical achievements and showed them on the giant screen.


    "Professor Jareth has always been a theoretical genius and has proposed many diverse theories throughout his career as a mage¡­"


    "as you can see here he even scored highest in the final graduation exams during his student days!"


    "He has been well known as a great magic theory professor with an excellent mind¡­


    "but today he proved that he was not just good at theory, he had remarkable fighting capabilities too!"


    "He had been rarely seen using an attack spell before, but today he used a basic level spell and defeated an extremely strong monster with no effort!"


    "This proves he is worthy to be teaching at the prestigious Ivan University!"


    Then the Anchor changed the topic of the news.


    "All the praise aside, the real matter of concern right now is where this wyvern even came from¡­"


    The anchor raised the question and then showed the official statements that were released by the university to explain the situation from their perspective.


    "According to the statements of the academy, the wyvern was summoned by demon cult members to terrorize the students and they intended to kill as many talented young mages as possible¡­"


    "Those supposed demon cult members have successfully escaped the grasp of the security staff and there''s no evidence left either¡­"


    "This has raised the concern of many people, but the university has reassured everyone, saying that their capable professors are always ready to protect the students and there is no need to worry about their safety¡­"


    "This statement has made the worried parents relax because everyone saw the capabilities of the professors teaching at the university with their own eyes¡­"


    "Some parents even stated that, as long as strong professors like Jareth are protecting the children, they do not need to fear about the safety of their children¡­"


    ¡­


    At that point, Jareth stopped watching the video.


    He put his smartphone away and contemplated in his mind.


    ''I didn''t expect that this would turn into such a big deal¡­ now the whole world knows about what I have done¡­''


    Jareth only wanted to survive the situation for now with that enhancement card, he didn''t expect it to be strong enough to literally decimate the wyvern in just one go.


    That was totally out of his plan.


    Moreover, now that the whole world misunderstands him as strong, he can''t even show his weakness in front of anyone.


    The moment they found out that he was actually much weaker compared to what they thought of him, at that moment he would have to suffer the wrath of the whole world.


    Without the strength to safeguard his bloated reputation, he is now in a very complicated situation.


    (Originally a mere third-rate villain, now Jareth is being considered as the late-stage villain, even though he has no actual strength¡­)


    Thinking this far, he could only think of just one way to get himself out of this situation.


    ''I need to become strong¡­''


    Determination flashed in his eyes.


    He knew that his fake bluffs would not save him for too long, and he needed to become strong.


    ''The problem is that it''s not that easy¡­''


    In the game, the character used to get stronger by using EXP to increase his level, but right now he isn''t getting any EXP at all.


    His system seems to be different from the game system; it has no function of gaining EXP and there are these weird credit points in its place that he got when he changed the original plot by killing that wyvern.


    ''Things are getting more complicated as time goes by¡­.''


    Jareth shook his head and decided to stop thinking about this for now.


    He immediately opened the shop window. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Only this can save me from my current dilemma right now¡­''


    [CP: 10000] (This is the amount of CP he has right now¡­)


    [Shop]


    [1. Bronze Lottery (1000 CP)]


    [2. Silver Lottery (5000 CP)]


    [3. Gold Lottery (25000 CP)]


    --


    --


    Seeing the options in the shop, Jareth was disappointed.


    ''Unlike the game shop, I seem to not be able to buy anything right now¡­ there are just these lottery options¡­''


    Originally, the shop of the game was filled with options to buy, skills talents experience cards, and various other things, but in Jareth''s system shop, only these three lottery options are showing up right now, which weren''t even supposed to be present in the game in the first place.


    ''Let''s just go with it for now; this is the only thing I have left for now¡­ I still need some way to survive¡­''


    Since Jareth didn''t have the CP to buy a Golden lottery, he decided to use the silver lottery twice. His thinking was simple, the silver lottery had a better chance to give something useful compared to the bronze one.


    [Are you sure you want to draw two silver lottery?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! Congratulations you got an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [Ding! Congratulations you got the ''Memory Card (Advanced)''!]


    Seeing that he was able to get another ''Attack Enhancement Card'', Jareth felt relieved in his mind.


    ''Even though it''s not my own strength, it can still give me some sense of security in this cruel world¡­ if I hadn''t gotten this card, I would have always felt on the edge whenever I went out¡­''


    ''But I better not use it for small inconveniences¡­ I need to save it for emergency uses only¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s Your Beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Have you drawn lotteries before, How was your luck?


    1. Good (I am moderately lucky¡­)


    2. Bad (The heavenly luck seems to hate me for real¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 10 Backstory...

    Inventory:[1. Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)]


    [2. Memory Card (Advanced)]


    --


    --


    --


    ¡­


    ''At least I got an advanced memory card from the lottery, now I can finally learn everything about Jareth''s life and his interpersonal relationships¡­ Furthermore, I can at least recover his academic talent for myself¡­''


    Jareth stared at the card with determination in his eyes.


    ''The only problem is that using this thing will cause immense pain¡­ sigh~''


    As mentioned before, the ''Advanced Memory Card'' card can help the user remember every single detail about the user; the user will remember his whole life, like what he did on a random day several years ago, everything!


    Moreover, the advanced card can increase the ''Int'' stat of the user quite a bit too.


    But the only problem with this advanced card was that it caused great mental distress to the user.


    It forces a huge amount of memories into the brain of the user, and if you can''t withstand it, you will lose your mind and fall into a coma right after.


    But just when Jareth was hesitating, his body acted up again.


    [Personality trait Fearless triggered! You fear no pain!]


    In an instant, Jareth''s mind cooled down and he felt like he had become fearless all of a sudden. He felt like even if he had to fight a dragon at this moment, he could still do it.


    In that fearless state, Jareth immediately used the ''Advanced Memory Card''.


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Memory Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    [Severe warning! Using this card may cause extreme mental pain to the user!]


    Jareth ignored that warning, as he felt fearless right now.


    Jareth Blaze didn''t fear pain and he was arrogant enough to not step back once he decided to do something.


    ''Yes''


    At Jareth''s approval, a huge amount of memories started to pour into his head.


    The forceful entry of so much knowledge into his head caused great pain. But Jareth was already ready to face anything at the moment.


    He sat down on the ground in the lotus pose and gritted his teeth. Sweat covered his forehead, but he didn''t let out a single shout out of his mouth.


    He focused on understanding the memories and ignored the pain as much as possible.


    ¡­


    (Memories of Jareth Blaze)


    Born to a maid who was working in the Blaze mansion, Jareth was an illegitimate child.


    His mother was a beautiful woman; the family head took a liking to her and thus Jareth came to be.


    When the maid got pregnant, the family head threw her out of the mansion and fired her from her job to avoid any complications, as he was about to get married to a wealthy household woman around that time.


    The legitimate wife of Jareth''s father found out about the existence of Jareth after his birth in the hospital.


    Unfortunately, the hospital was one of the properties of the Blaze family, and thus the vassal families found out about Jareth''s existence easily.


    The family had tried to get rid of Jareth various times to avoid the mockery from the vassal families.


    He even got Jareth''s mother assassinated in an attempt to silence her voice.


    But one of the vassal families took pity on Jareth and adopted him as their own child.


    That one vassal family had no children of their own; thus, they poured all of their love on Jareth during his younger days.


    Jareth grew up and turned out to be a theory genius; he got excellent marks in all exams.


    But the Vassal family and everyone else knew that Jareth didn''t have much talent for magic, as his mana purity was extremely low for a Blaze family''s child.


    Everyone mocked him for his weak strength, but the Vassal family loved him a lot.


    Jareth grew to the age of twelve and went to a prestigious school in a different city.


    Thus, he escaped the calamity that happened back at his home. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The legitimate wife of Jareth''s father had it enough when she heard that Jareth was making great progress, She immediately used her connections and got the whole vassal family killed overnight by an assassination organization.


    She wanted to kill Jareth too, but Jareth had already entered the premises of the prestigious school and she couldn''t attack him there.


    Thus, she changed the plan and asked the family head to disown Jareth and erase all his inheritance rights.


    The family head agreed and erased Jareth''s existence from the family''s records, Now Jareth had no family to return to at home.


    ...


    The young Jareth despaired at the death of his family and worked hard to become strong; he wanted to take revenge on the Blaze family for what they did to him.


    Jareth tried his best but he soon found out his limits. He was simply not built for magic. He tried his best, but he was not able to increase his mana control or mana purity at all.


    This made him despair; his gentle nature turned cold and ruthless as time went on, and he started to use arrogance and fearlessness to hide his weakness.


    He stopped taking part in combat-related classes and focused more on theories and problems.


    His genius mind made him recognized by the school staff and he easily graduated without even having to prove his magical capabilities.


    Jareth got an invitation from Ivan''s university and then he went there to study.


    He completed his education.


    More than ten years flew by since the day his adoptive family had been assassinated and since he was not strong enough to go against the Blaze family at all, his desire for revenge slowly cooled down.


    He stopped thinking about taking revenge, as it seemed impossible as time went on.


    ¡­


    More memories poured in but most of them were useless everyday occurrences like what he ate on that day and what he ate on another day.


    The amount of memories was so huge that Jareth''s whole body was now covered in sweat due to the insane amount of pain he was feeling.


    But he still didn''t scream one bit.


    The various theoretical and magical knowledge that the original Jareth had slowly entered his mind and he finally understood why everyone was praising Jareth for his amazing mind.


    Jareth has written many theories that prove that ''mana can even affect the atoms itself''. This may seem like nothing but in the scientific community, this is a new and bold idea.


    If this theory gets proven, then it means that in the future, humans can create weapons that would use mana to create things like a mana-powered ''Nuclear Bomb'' with fewer radiation-type side effects.


    This would be a huge progress for mankind.


    Jareth donated this theory to the principal of Ivan''s university and got to become a professor easily.


    Jareth himself could not have proved and worked on that theory anyway; after all, his own mana control was extremely low, so he gave the theory to the principal, who is a grade-1 mage and has extreme mana control.


    Nowadays, the principal is working on researching that theory further.


    Using mana to control such small things as atoms needs extreme mana control and precision; the original Jareth couldn''t have done that in any way possible


    ¡­ so he decided to use the theory to land himself a job that would pay him a good salary.


    Moreover, Jareth gets to live in this safe place without worrying about his own life.


    As long as Jareth stays a professor at the university, the Blaze family can''t do anything to him, as it would be considered an attack on the university itself, and the principal will get angry.


    ¡­


    Whether you believe it or not, the original Jareth pulled off this very clever move.


    His only mistake was that he dared to be jealous of the protagonist and thus he ended up dying miserably in the original setting.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Jareth has his whole memories, now this can be considered a proper start to this novel¡­ phew~


    The details and explanations in this chapter may seem random and weird to read because Jareth''s memories are entering in an unstable and chaotic fashion. I have tried to depict it from his perspective.


    Question of the day.


    Are you also interested in theories and science like Jareth?


    1. Yes (To the space we go!!!)


    2. No (I am not that good at studies, so I will pass¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 11 Learning Hidden Skills!

    Jareth''s Dorm room.Inside the training room.


    After a whole hour of mental agony, the immense pain finally faded away. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth''s gritted teeth finally relaxed and he felt tired all over his body. He seems to have used too much mental strength to comprehend so much information in such a short amount of time.


    [Ding! Congratulations you withstood the side-effect of the ''Memory Card (Advanced)!]


    [Ding! Your ''INT'' stat has increased by 10!]


    [Ding! Maximum mana capacity has increased to 60!]


    ''At least I got some compensation for this pain¡­ sigh~''


    It was a good thing that his ''INT'' stat increased further. Even one point of increase in the INT stat is already a very good thing for his weak self.


    The INT stat directly boosts your ''mana control'' ability. Moreover, the INT stat indirectly influences your mana capacity too.


    ''Well it''s not much but even this is great progress from this body''s perspective at least¡­'' (Jareth)


    Jareth slowly got up from the ground with tired eyes.


    He glanced downward and noticed that his whole body was covered in sweat; thus, he decided to take a bath first.


    ...


    While in the bath, Jareth continued to think to himself.


    ''Now that I know the whole backstory of the original Jareth, I can stop worrying about my survival for now at least... Instead, I need to focus on becoming strong¡­''


    ''Perhaps I should go and grab some of the hidden items that may make me stronger¡­''


    Jareth used to be a veteran player of the game; he has decent knowledge about a few hidden items that could help him a bit in this time of need.


    ¡­


    After half an hour, Jareth got out of the bath and put on his clothes.


    He sat down and contemplated in his mind.


    ''According to the memories of the original Jareth, the principal favors Jareth quite a bit, thus, I can stop worrying about my survival for now, instead, I should focus on becoming stronger¡­.''


    Jareth got up and opened a closet that had many antique items stored in it.


    ''This should be it¡­''


    He took out a small, ordinary-looking ring from the closet and used his mana on the ring.


    ''This should be the space ring that stores all of the materials that the original Jareth worked on his theories with¡­''


    Jareth sensed the stored items in the ring with his mana and found that there were many items, like mana scrolls and different-sized mana stones, various magic tools, etc.


    He ignored all these items, as he wasn''t in the mood to research, instead, he brought out the mana recovery potions and health recovery potions, which were stored in the storage ring.


    Jareth put both types of potions on a nearby table.


    ''There are a total of five high-grade potions of each kind¡­ That should be enough, I guess¡­''


    Jareth opened the lid on the health potions and swallowed all of them together.


    ''Although this is quite an expensive method and I would rarely have used it in the game... but right now I have enough money to afford this, so why not do it anyway¡­''


    When Jareth drank so many high-grade healing potions, he felt a feeling of warmth spread all over his body.


    [Ding! Hidden conditions fulfilled!]


    [Ding! You gained a new skill ''Active Healing!'']


    [Active Healing: Use mana to trigger your body cells into dividing at a fast speed and regenerate the wounds at your will!]


    ''Good, this shows that the hidden ''skill-gaining'' conditions are still in play, This is good news for me¡­''


    As a veteran player of this game, Jareth had the know-how of many things that a newbie player wouldn''t have known at all.


    ''This skill may look ordinary and weak, but it can play a crucial role in longer battles¡­''


    Many a time, this skill saved Jareth when he played the game, He found out about it quite late, but it still proved very useful.


    ''With this skill, I don''t need to worry about getting injured at all¡­ Furthermore, there are many other benefits of this skill¡­''


    ¡­


    After succeeding in his first attempt, Jareth then glanced at the mana recovery potions.


    He opened the lid of all the high-grade mana recovery potions and directly poured them all into his mouth.


    A huge amount of mana entered Jareth''s body.


    He immediately sat down in the lotus pose and started to meditate, He used his mana control to circulate the mana in his mana circuit.


    ''If I remember it correctly, I need to make the mana swirl around my magic circuit¡­''


    Jareth focused all his mind on swirling the mana around the magic circuit in his heart.


    He pumped the extra mana that he got from the potions into the blood that was being pumped by the heart, and then he connected the mana circuit to the bloodstream via a new magic node.


    He got knowledge on how to create magic nodes from the original Jareth''s memory.


    This way, he connected his existing small magic circuit to the blood; now, wherever the blood goes into his body, mana will flow there too.


    The huge amount of extra mana that was overloading his magic circuit started to spread all over his body through the bloodstream and the pressure on his mana circuit lessened.


    Jareth brought out even more mana recovery potions from his space ring and then swallowed them all too.


    He kept spreading mana all over his body.


    The process kept going for five hours non-stop. Jareth kept spreading his mana in his whole body through the bloodstream.


    After a whole five hours of non-stop effort, Jareth finally fully digested the vast amount of mana.


    At this point, Jareth has reached harmony.


    His blood carried mana out from the heart and spread it all over the body through the veins, then the circulated mana returned to the heart for another round of circulation.


    At this point, Jareth''s mana circulated in his body, similar to how blood circulates in the body.


    [Ding! Hidden Conditions fulfilled!]


    [Ding! You have learned the passive Skill ''External Mana circuit!'']


    [External Mana circuit: The user embeds his whole bloodstream with mana and pumps mana all over his body like blood circulation.]


    [Effect: User can store mana outside their mana circuit, thus increasing their mana capacity by many times.]


    [Ding! Your ''Mana Control'' skill has been upgraded from grade 6 to grade 5!]


    [Ding! Your Passive skill ''External Mana circuit'' has increased your maximum mana capacity tremendously!]


    ''I was successful, this is quite good news¡­''


    The skill that Jareth acquired just now was learned by the protagonist of this game world during the end-game stages. This skill is extremely rare and only a few characters in the game know about its existence.


    Moreover, if you don''t have the proper knowledge of the whole procedure, you might end up dead from interfering with your own heart like that.


    Jareth has the ''Fearless'' trait; that''s why he was able to carry out such a dangerous process without any fear, Others might have fainted at the thought of forcing your own heart to pump mana in such a crazy manner.


    ''Well, I have no other choice but to use these risky methods; otherwise, I might die in this cruel world at any time, If I stayed as weak as I am right now, I wouldn''t survive for long¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about these. He focused on his current self.


    ''Let''s see how much my mana increased from this¡­''


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 800/800] [MP: 1200/1200]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Talentless fool]


    [STR: 13] [AGI: 12] [SPE: 10] [DEF: 9] [INT: 52]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: 6)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade 6]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 6), Null-Magic (Grade: 6), Mana Control (Grade: 5), Active Healing (Grade: 7)]


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 0]


    [Evaluation: An arrogant guy, pretending to be strong!]


    When Jareth saw the insane increase in the amount of mana, his eyes widened in pure shock. He felt like he had counted one extra zero by mistake, but no matter how many times he looked at it, it was true.


    His maximum mana capacity increased from the original 50 to 1200 in just one go!


    ''This.. this is insane!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Jareth has started to walk on the path of improvement, but still, this is just the beginning. Currently, he is even weaker than the first-year students, and there''s a long path ahead of him¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given the chance, would you dare to try this dangerous technique?


    1. Yes (Anything for strength!!)


    2. No (It looks kinda dangerous, I will go the steady path of improvement instead¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 12 Sway the Principal...

    Jareth''s Dorm Room, Bedroom.1200 mana may seem too high, but it''s not that big a deal, Even grade 4 mages have more mana than that.


    The reason Jareth was so surprised is because of the insane increase in mana capacity.


    His mana capacity directly jumped from 50 to 1200, it happened just after he learned the ''External Mana circuit'' skill.


    It was a huge increase that surprised him.


    ¡­


    (General mana capacity of a mage)


    Grade 7 Mage: 1-10


    Grade 6 Mage: 10-500


    Grade 5 Mage: 500-1500


    Grade 4 Mage: 1500-4000


    Grade 3 Mage: 4000-8000


    Grade 2 Mage: 8000-12000


    (No proper data was recorded for grade 1)


    ¡­


    The Mages are generally divided into grades by their maximum mana capacity. And their mana capacity depends on their innate mana circuit.


    If someone''s mana circuit is too small and weak, obviously their mana capacity will be extremely low too. (This was the case with the original Jareth; his max mana capacity was too low due to his mana circuit being small and weak.)


    You can grow your mana circuit and make it stronger with higher mana control and mana affinity, but unfortunately for the original Jareth, even his mana affinity was too low.


    This is the reason for his despair; he was helpless against his inability to grow further than a mere student''s level.


    ''Mana affinity and mana purity are the two things that I can''t improve right now¡­ they are going to give me quite a bit of trouble¡­"


    ''Instead, I need to focus on mana control first, if I have better mana control, I can still manually increase the other two given enough time¡­''


    From the game, Jareth knew many ways to increase his abilities, but right now, he is short on time.


    All the other things will take a long time to work, and he doesn''t have time right now.


    ''I need to earn more CP; perhaps I will be able to get stronger with just these CP¡­''


    Just as Jareth was contemplating in his mind, his smartphone suddenly received a notification.


    Jareth unlocked his phone and clicked on the notification to see what it was.


    [From The Principal]


    [Description: All teachers are ordered to report to the principal''s office, immediately.]


    Looking at that formal notification, Jareth felt a headache coming his way. His face twisted in arrogance.


    ''Are they arranging a meeting to discuss about what happened yesterday with that wyvern¡­ tch! what a waste of my precious time, such audacity!''


    ''Moreover, the principal is being so arrogant, summoning me on such short notice!''


    Jareth''s eyes widened in shock.


    ''What is happening¡­ when did I start thinking so arrogantly about myself¡­ strange..''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    He slowly walked out of his dorm room and headed towards the principal''s office with the usual cold look on his face.


    ¡­


    Principal''s office.


    Jareth opened the doors and walked in with no hesitation.


    A roundtable came into his sight.


    ''I arrived too early...''


    All thirteen seats reserved for the teachers were empty, only the principal was sitting on his chair.


    Jareth walked in without hesitation and directly sat on the seat with the number ''13'' written on it. There are currently 13 full-time professors in the academy; the rest are just staff members whose work is to do maintenance and other things.


    Jareth is the newest among the 13 professors, he joined only 3 years ago. The rest of them joined before him.


    These 1-13 numbers are assigned according to the time of joining the academy.


    Jareth didn''t care about these numbers either.


    Your number doesn''t represent that you are weaker than others; it''s assigned just for better efficiency.


    When Jareth sat down, he glanced at the principal, who was staring at him with a content look on his face.


    The principal has Golden Hair and golden eyes similar to Mark; he may look old but he is an extremely strong individual. His wrinkled face had a gentle smile on it.


    If he concealed his identity, people might mistake him for a gentle old man with a good personality.


    But those who knew him would not be swayed by his gentle smile. He is a world-famous grade-1 mage and an old monster who has lived more than three hundred years.


    Jareth nodded his head towards the principal as a simple greeting. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The principal gave a gentle smile at Jareth''s nod and laughed a bit.


    "Haha, I didn''t expect you to hide such strength¡­ I didn''t even detect your strength until now¡­ it seems I am getting old sigh~" (Nathan Estrella)


    Jareth shook his head and replied in his usual cold tone.


    "It''s not that the principal is old, it''s just that I have an artifact that hides my aura, and I don''t like showing off too much..."


    Jareth already knew that the principal would doubt him and would ask about how he became so strong all of a sudden. Thus, he had already prepared an excuse before he came here.


    "Ah, so that''s how it is! It seems I was just thinking too much¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and explained further:


    "I have been using this artifact since I was young, it helps in hiding the user''s aura, and it has saved my life many times¡­"


    Jareth lied with a straight face and didn''t even bat an eye, his acting skills were so high that even the principal was swayed away by him.


    "Is that so¡­"


    Nathan nodded his head again and again at Jareth''s explanation.


    As a grade-1 mage, Nathan was able to see the general aura and mana capacity of an individual in just one glance.


    Originally, Nathan thought that Jareth was a talentless guy with barely any mana in him, but with his feat of defeating a wyvern and now this explanation, it seems more likely that Jareth was hiding his strength from a young age.


    ''It seems he made those rumors on purpose to survive in his childhood¡­ hehe that''s quite a clever move¡­''


    Jareth''s plan turned out to be a proper success; even though Nathan was a Grade 1 mage with immense knowledge, he couldn''t read people''s minds after all.


    Moreover, Jareth''s expression was always cold and arrogant, so it was even more difficult to tell if he was lying. Thus, Nathan ended up believing Jareth''s made-up story without any thought.


    Only a few people know about Jareth''s past, as the Blaze family has completely banned his childhood stories from leaking; nowadays, they don''t even acknowledge him as their child.


    Nathan originally accepted Jareth into the academy because of the theory he donated, and he was planning on suspending him at the very first opportunity that appeared.


    But now that Jareth has proved that he is worthy of his position, Nathan does not need to replace him anymore.


    ''Perhaps I should raise his salary for protecting the children in my absence¡­''


    While Nathan was busy thinking about how to reward Jareth for his good deeds, Jareth was heaving a sigh of relief in his head.


    ''Sigh~ that was much easier than I expected¡­''


    Jareth had already planned out everything beforehand about what he needed to say and do in case the principal questioned him all of a sudden.


    (Don''t forget he has the talent ''Sharp Mind'' and the previous Jareth''s knowledge too¡­ He planned everything out in the time he walked from his dorm room to the principal''s office¡­)


    The thinking capabilities of Jareth are no joke, he swayed the principal in his favor with just a few words and stabilized his position in Nathan''s eyes easily. This was already a great feat.


    After a while, other teachers also started to arrive one by one and sit in their respective seats.


    Each of them stared at Jareth for a while before nodding their head and sitting on their seats.


    The atmosphere became a bit awkward when all of the professors were unconsciously maintaining distance from him.


    Only one of the professor was staring at him with narrowed eyes, the rest were minding their own business.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems our boy has finally made some progress, now he has become smarter, stronger, and better!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think the principal is too careless to not have noticed Jareth''s lie?


    1. Yes (He is too strong and doesn''t bother himself with worldly things¡­)


    2. No (Jareth is too smart to have swayed Nathan in just a few words¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 13 Shin Isaz, a rival?

    The Principal''s Office.The professor sitting at the chair with the number 12 written on it, stared at Jareth with narrowed eyes.


    He had bluish hair and eyes.


    He stared at Jareth as if he wanted to see through his every secret.


    "It''s been a while, Jareth; don''t get too cocky just because you are also a grade-2 now¡­" (Shin Isaz)


    Hearing Shin''s provoking tone, Jareth replied in a cold tone.


    "Humph, you should worry about your own trashy attitude before talking¡­"


    At Jareth''s reply, Shin was taken aback for a second.


    "The f*ck did you say to me!?"


    Veins appeared on Shin''s forehead showing his anger and his face turned into a creepy smile.


    "I don''t repeat my words¡­ if someone''s ears are not working properly, then it''s not my problem¡­"


    "You!"


    *Cough*


    Seeing that the conflict was going to escalate, the principal coughed lightly and everyone fell silent instantly.


    "I know you guys don''t like each other, but keep your personal matters out of this meeting¡­"


    "Understood!" (Both Shin and Jareth replied in a united tone.)


    Both of them stopped arguing and focused on the principal.


    "Okay, it seems everyone is here; let''s start the meeting then¡­ Professor Thomas, do tell everyone about your findings..."


    "Understood"


    Professor Thomas, who was sitting on the chair with the number 1 written on it, nodded his head and brought out a report from his space ring and started to explain his findings to everyone.


    "As everyone knows, yesterday, when Principal Nathan was out of the capital city, a wyvern appeared in the university¡­"


    "That was not a mere coincidence; it was a properly planned attack that was conducted by the demon cult ''False Dome''¡­"


    "We have found traces of miasma that match the magic patterns of the members of the ''False Dome'' cult... Right now we have conclusive evidence against them¡­"


    Thomas continued to explain.


    "False Dome cult is a relatively new organization that seems to be fluent in summoning magic; they can summon various monsters and control them to attack human settlements¡­"


    "Their objective is speculated to spread terror on humankind and do as much destruction as possible¡­ it seems they worship the demon ''Azaroth'' that symbolizes greed and death¡­"


    Azaroth has many believers and all of its believers think that only through destruction and death can people achieve salvation.


    Their ideology is harmful to others and even to themselves. Miasma-induced corruption is the main cause of death for those who believe in demons.


    Every professor had a solemn look on their face when hearing about this report.


    They all knew that if this cult has the power to sneak right into the heart of the human capital, then they are definitely being backed by an extremely strong individual.


    Nathan frowned a bit and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "From the looks of it¡­ a high-grade demon seems to have been summoned; otherwise, they wouldn''t have the capability to summon a wyvern so easily¡­"


    "If my guess is correct, it''s at least a peak grade-2 demon... that''s going to be quite a lot of trouble¡­"


    Nathan himself is a grade-1 mage, he can easily kill a grade-2 demon, and the only problem is that it''s extremely difficult to locate a demon, they are extremely good at hiding.


    Demons have inherent stealth capabilities that make it difficult for others to track them properly. Moreover, if the demon had signed a contract with someone, it would make it even more difficult to track that demon.


    A demon can hide in the body of the one that it has contracted with and thus it makes it really difficult to locate.


    "Well, if it enters the capital city while I am still here, I can still sense it, but if I leave the city, I won''t be able to sense it either¡­"


    Nathan closed his eyes and spread his mana detection all over the city.


    After a few seconds of looking, he sighed and said in a disappointed tone:


    "It''s not in the capital city right now¡­ it seems we would need to make the patrol routine stricter in the following days¡­"


    Everyone nodded their heads at Nathan''s proposal, they all knew that keeping a close watch was important, otherwise, it would put the lives of the students in grave danger.


    Thomas sighed at those words and said,


    "Indeed, this time Professor Jareth handled the situation on time and there were no casualties except for some students who fainted due to fear¡­"


    "There was some damage to the buildings and the training grounds, but that has already been taken care of by the maintenance staff¡­ the buildings have been repaired and the classes can be resumed as usual¡­"


    Everyone sitting in this meeting hall is at least an early grade 2, and thus each of them knew that defeating a wyvern with one attack was a great feat, thus each of them had a basic respect for Jareth in their heart now.


    They were nodding at Jareth for him handling the matter properly. Only Shin was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. It seems he wanted to shout that:


    ''Even I can do that! Why are you guys praising him so much!?''


    ¡­


    "By the way, I suddenly remember that yesterday I went outside the city because there were reports that a new low-rank dungeon has been found near the city''s outskirts¡­"


    "I personally went there for evaluation, it seems to be a low-rank dungeon and is composed of deep caves, the cave entrance is located just a few kilometers away from the city walls¡­"


    "In my opinion, that dungeon is quite suitable for training our young magicians; what do you guys say?"


    Hearing Nathan''s question, everyone was in a dilemma.


    "But principal, isn''t it a bad time to be sending our students out on such a dangerous mission when the demon cult ''False Dome'' is still roaming freely out there¡­"


    At Thomas''s words of concern, Nathan nodded his head and replied in a sharp tone:


    "Well, how about I accompany the students personally then¡­ if they really dare to come out, I will squish them like ants¡­ Hehe, that would be hitting two birds with one stone¡­"


    Thomas shook his head and replied in a concerned tone: Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No no, if the principal goes out of the University, then instead of attacking those few students that are in the dungeon, the cult might instead attack the university again!"


    Other professors also nodded their heads and someone else added:


    "If another attack happened so early, the reputation of the university will be dragged through the mud, it will affect our image¡­"


    Hearing everyone''s concern, Nathan nodded his head in regret.


    "Indeed, I should stay here for now¡­ let''s do this then¡­. We will send a capable professor with the students to protect them, no let''s send two professors instead! That will keep the students safe!"


    Hearing Nathan''s proposal, everyone simultaneously looked at Shin and Jareth.


    Shin was bewildered at this sudden change and replied hurriedly:


    "No way am I going with this guy! I would rather die than travel with this stone-faced bast*rd!"


    Jareth''s body also reacted to Shin''s words on it''s own,


    "Tch! I don''t like being near a ''trash can'' either¡­ He smells like a dirty pig.."


    Veins appeared on Shin''s face and his expression twisted in anger; his aura condensed and he said in a hoarse tone:


    "Who the f*ck are you calling pig!? I am more handsome looking than a cold-faced statue like you!"


    Jareth smirked a bit at that and replied in a cold tone,


    "Heh, the ''trash can'' is blabbering bulsh*t now¡­"


    Shin glared at Jareth in sheer anger and shouted,


    "You! Let''s go and duel right now! I will beat the sh*t out of you today!"


    Jareth also didn''t back down at the face of those provoking words,


    "Humph, I don''t want to dirty my hands with the blood of a pig¡­"


    *Cough!*


    "Silence you two! I have already decided! You two are going to accompany the students! And while you are on the trip, make sure you resolve all your personal enmities too!"


    "The meeting is dismissed! Everyone should leave now!"


    Hearing the anger-filled voice of the Principal, everyone hurriedly retreated from the principal''s office as if they were all running away.


    Only Shin and Jareth stared at each other while standing outside the principal office.


    "Tch! What a waste of time, I am going¡­"


    "I am going too! It''s not like I prefer being here either!"


    And thus peace finally returned to the professor''s office.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved author here! It seems Jareth has gotten himself a rival now¡­ Let''s see where this rivalry leads him to¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you guys also have a friend that you roast the most and still like the most?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 14 The monsters of the university!

    While on the way back to his dorm room, Jareth was contemplating in his mind about what happened at the principal''s office.''Shin Isaz, a grade 2 ice mage¡­ he is one of the few supporting characters of the mid-stage of the game...''


    Except for when he is around Jareth, he has a gentle and benevolent personality. Most of the students like him a lot due to his kind personality.


    He is the literal opposite of Jareth.


    Jareth is cold and arrogant; Shin is kind and gentle. Jareth is a fire mage and Shin is a frost mage.


    Both of them have studied at the university at the same and have been rivals for a long time now.


    Shin was famous for his magical talent and Jareth was famous for his academic talent. Both used to be rivals at one time.


    Shin thought of Jareth as a rival due to Jareth''s good grades, on the other hand, Jareth was busy finding ways to exact his revenge and thus he never noticed Shin''s presence much.


    Later, their rivalry became so huge they both started to curse at each other every time they met. And this has been going on for a while now.


    Shin joined the university as a professor one year earlier than Jareth and thus his seat number is 12.


    ''All this was not explained in the game lore; I only found out after gaining Jareth''s memories¡­''


    ''Well, it''s a good thing I gained those memories back, otherwise, I would have never known why this guy was being rude to me¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and continued to move slowly.


    His slow and steady steps seem to show his relaxed and leisurely mood.


    ''As for that new dungeon¡­ that thing is also a starting event¡­ it is the place where the protagonist finally gets to see the capabilities of the principal for the first time¡­''


    Originally, Nathan would have gone with the students to that dungeon. But now this task has fallen on Jareth and Shin. They are both like water and fire; they can''t stay together.


    ''It''s going to be a headache to put up with that guy¡­ sigh~''


    ''It seems I would need to go and make some preparation before going to that dungeon¡­ going there without any proper items would be quite bad for my health¡­''


    ''Since there is still a week''s worth of time before the dungeon raid, I should try to make some thorough preparations¡­''


    ¡­


    University''s backyard garden.


    "Allen, look, this bird is injured¡­ we need to get it to a healing magician quickly!"


    Airin''s voice was filled with sadness and concern.


    "Yes, let''s go; it seems to be in quite a bad state¡­"


    Under a large tree, Airin picked up an injured Bird in her hands. She had a concerned look on her. Her light green hair swayed in the wind and her golden pupil shone with concern in them.


    Allen had a helpless look on his face, he knew that Airin had always been like this. She has a gentle and caring personality, she can''t ignore the sight of the little bird bleeding.


    And thus he didn''t stop her and went with her to the healing mage''s office.


    Airin is a wood magician and has always been quite close to nature. Her magic is gentle and calm, just like her personality.


    ¡­


    After a while, they got the little bird healed and the bird flew away the moment it felt like it had recovered.


    The healing mage looked at the flying bird and said,


    "It must have been attacked by an eagle; it had claw marks on its neck, Well, now that you guys helped in saving it, it seems to be going back to its nest¡­"


    The Mage looked at the two with a concerned look on his face and said in a serious tone:


    "It''s getting late, kids, you shouldn''t wander around this time, hurry back to your dorm rooms now¡­"


    "Understood!" (Allen and Airin said in a united tone.)


    After thanking the mage, both of them went out of the office and walked off to their dorms. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The healing mage seems to be a kind person, it seems¡­"


    "Yeah¡­"


    Just when the two were on their way back, a huge lion jumped down from the sky and blocked their way forward.


    *GRRRRRR*


    The lion glared at the two and its low-pitched growl made them both terrified in an instant.


    "W-what!? Where did this huge Lion come from out of nowhere!?"


    Airin was so terrified by the killing intent of that monstrosity that her legs gave out and she immediately fell on the ground with a thud sound.


    "T-this is a shadow lion¡­ a Grade 3 beast!!"


    ¡­


    (Monster description.)


    [Specie name: Shadow Lion]


    [Description: A rare species of magic beasts, shadow lions are rarely ever seen in the world. They are so rare that seeing one is like winning a lottery. There have been only three recorded sightings of this species across the globe.]


    [Abilities: An adult Shadow lion is at least a grade 3 beast and can be extremely difficult to fight.


    Its shadow-lurking abilities make it an extremely dangerous foe during the night. It can use shadows to hide its body and attack at an extremely fast speed.]


    [Note: If you are below grade 2, don''t try to fight an adult Shadow Lion and immediately retreat as far as possible.]


    ¡­


    During the previous theory class, Jareth had already taught everything about this ''Shadow Lion'' to the students because he already knew that it would appear in front of the students.


    He wanted to let them know about it beforehand.


    Due to that class, both Allen and Airin knew about this ''shadow lion'' and were shocked to see this extremely rare creature appearing there.


    Just when they both thought that the beast was about to attack them, a calm and old voice resounded throughout the area.


    "Oi! Yoma! I told you not to scare the students! What are you doing!"


    The Lion immediately calmed down after hearing Nathan''s angry voice.


    Nathan appeared in front of the two students out of thin air. His old face had a helpless look on it.


    He glanced at the students and said in a helpless tone.


    "Uh¡­ Don''t be afraid it''s my pet Yoma¡­ it doesn''t bite! It''s a good boy! It just gets a bit moody sometimes that''s all¡­"


    Hearing Nathan''s voice both Allen and Airin were bewildered, they didn''t believe Nathan''s words though, and they both knew that if the principal hadn''t appeared Yoma would have definitely attacked them.


    *Step**Step*


    Steady footsteps resounded and a man''s figure appeared from the darkness. (It''s nighttime right now¡­)


    The man had dark purple hair, and his dark purple pupils shined like gems in the darkness.


    Seeing Jareth appearing all of a sudden, Yoma glared at Jareth too.


    "Tch! Lowly animal¡­"


    Obviously, Jareth was an arrogant guy, he wouldn''t let a mere animal glare at himself like that.


    He pointed his finger towards Yoma.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack enhancement card (Advanced)'']


    [Yes or No]


    ''No!''


    Although Jareth''s face was cold and arrogant, he didn''t dare to waste his triumph card on this mere pet animal; he just used it to scare the animal off.


    *Whimper**Whimper*


    The lion got scared all of a sudden and immediately hid behind Nathan, its body shook in fear from time to time. (It''s a sensitive creature; it sensed its death coming when Jareth was about to use the enhancement card¡­)


    "Oi! Oi! Stop Jareth! That''s my pet! Don''t scare it like that!"


    Hearing Nathan''s voice, Jareth shook his head and put his finger down.


    "Tch! Keep that animal in check¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and went somewhere else after ignoring the principal and the students altogether.


    Nathan glanced at the scared kids and said with a kind smile.


    "Jareth must be on the night patrol today, he is a strict guy but has a good heart, and don''t worry about it¡­ you guys should hurry back to your dorm rooms now¡­ it''s getting late¡­"


    After saying that, Nathan also flew away along with his pet Lion in tow.


    Seeing this scene, both Airin and Allen were bewildered beyond words.


    Originally they felt helpless against that monster but then two much stronger monsters appeared and made that Lion look weak in front of them.


    Allen wiped the sweat from his forehead and only one thought lingered in his mind that day.


    ''There are many monsters in this university¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to have a shadow lion as your pet?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 15 Stealing Session.... Part-1.

    Next Morning. University main gate.A luxury car stood in wait.


    Jareth sat in his car and ordered the driver towards the ''Romono market''. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    While the car was on its way, Jareth contemplated in his mind.


    ''I thought that getting involved in the meeting event yesterday would earn me some CP but it seems it''s not that easy after all, I need to do some major things¡­ just scaring off someone''s pet won''t earn me CP¡­.''


    Yesterday''s pet event was one of the few random events that the protagonist triggers during the start of the game.


    This event helps the protagonist get recognized by the principal for the first time.


    Whenever future events happen that involve the principal, the protagonist would be able to shine in his eyes like a bright star illuminating the night sky and would easily impress the principal from then on.


    Jareth thought that if he got involved in this event too, he might earn some extra CP but since he didn''t do anything major yesterday, he didn''t earn anything at all.


    (He can only earn CP when he changes the plotline somehow¡­)


    ''Such a headache¡­. I should have killed that animal yesterday¡­ what a shame, sigh~''


    ¡­


    After half an hour of a relaxed journey, the car finally stopped in front of a crowded market street.


    A huge number of people were gathered in this area and the street was as lively as ever.


    ''This brings back memories¡­ I used to loot all the stores in this market area in the game¡­ well I can''t do that now though¡­ it''s real life now¡­.''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped his ''gamer'' urge to loot the NPC houses.


    He got out of the car and ordered the Driver in a cold voice.


    "You stay here; I will come back in half an hour¡­"


    "Understood!"


    This luxury car and driver are provided by the university itself. All professors have a personal car and driver given the moment they join as a professor.


    ''Ivan University'' is the most famous and wealthy university of the human empire after all. It gives the highest level of benefits to its staff members and all the students studying at this university.


    The original Jareth also liked to use this car to travel around whenever the need arose for it, and now he is doing the same.


    ¡­


    With a cold look on his face, Jareth walked towards a nearby dark alleyway.


    ''I am here to steal a hidden piece from the protagonist''s hand today¡­''


    ''It''s not a major artifact for the protagonist¡­ but for a weak person like me¡­ it''s like a blessing given by the god himself¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and entered the alley hurriedly.


    ''Why do all these cheat items have to be located in these shady places¡­ tch! The developers of this game are really lacking in originality¡­''


    ''If it were me, I would have placed the cheat items right in front of this market so that my character could get it easily¡­. But I guess that would have degraded the worth of that artifact¡­.''


    While playing that game, Jareth had to properly look at each nook and cranny in case he missed some hidden items that were supposed to make his character much stronger.


    But since Jareth always played the game at ''hardcore'' difficulty, he rarely ever found some loot. All that he found was some random ''moss'' or ''stones''.


    ''Why do games do us so dirty with that miserable moss has always been a strange thing¡­ like why do we even need that thing, The character can''t even eat that thing¡­''


    ''This game didn''t have the food or fatigue feature, yet there was moss all over the loot boxes¡­ the only question in my mind at that time was, ''What this thing even is for!?''¡­ Those were some interesting moments¡­''


    While walking to his destination, Jareth continued to remember old memories of this game and how he was so excited when he found some better loot.


    ''I used to smile like an idiot whenever I got something other than that pitiful moss¡­''


    ¡­


    After walking for a while, Jareth stopped in front of a small shop. Jareth raised his head and glanced at the shop''s name and sure enough, ''Donna''s magic books'' was written on the entrance.


    Jareth raised his hand and knocked on the small metal door lightly.


    There was no response.


    Seeing this Jareth wasn''t surprised at all.


    ''It''s this clich¨¦ plot of telling some edgy password to get in¡­''


    Without wasting time in contemplating, Jareth said in a calm tone.


    "To the stars and beyond, may Donna reach the heavens!"


    *Clink*


    At Jareth''s words, a lock opening sound resounded.


    Jareth pushed the door open and entered the shop easily.


    ''Originally a game mechanism, but now that I am in this real world, this password-asking door is just a magic item with a grade-3 magic circle embedded in it¡­''


    ''Even if you don''t know the password, any grade-3 or above grade mage could easily break the magic circle and enter this shop without any problems¡­''


    He had original Jareth''s memory now, so he knew that this door was the result of barrier magic, nothing special.


    "Hoho, it''s quite rare for customers to appear in my desolated shop; moreover, you look like someone strong too¡­"


    A Half-broken statue of a young girl sat at the counter and said in a robotic tone.


    ''Hhmm, so this is how Donna looks like in real life¡­ the game had bad graphic design, but I guess things are extremely detailed in real life huh¡­''


    "You are?"


    Although Jareth already knew the identity of this statue, he pretended to not know about it.


    Hearing Jareth''s question, the statue''s right hand pointed towards its head and a robotic voice resounded throughout the shop.


    "I am Donna! I am the manager of this shop! The owner of the shop is still sleeping so please make sure you don''t make any unnecessary loud noises¡­ Master doesn''t like to be disturbed in sleep¡­"


    Listening to Donna''s answer, Jareth nodded his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Okay, I will keep it in mind¡­"


    ''It''s pointless; the owner is already dead after all¡­''


    Donna was just a statue; after all, she didn''t know that its owner had already died long ago in his sleep. Even his body has long since rotten away; only a skeleton sits on the chair of the owner now.


    ''This world is filled with sad tales¡­ there''s no helping it¡­.''


    Jareth knew the whole story behind this shop; the owner of the shop was an old grade-3 mage, who had no children. He lived his last days alone in this closed shop.


    Donna was a statue that he created to survive those lonely days. He thought of Donna as his granddaughter. Donna has been doing her duty ever since the day she was created.


    It''s just she can''t understand that her owner is already dead.


    ¡­


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about this all, He went towards the cabinet that had many books decorated on its shelves.


    He reached out towards an old book placed on the lowest shelf. Its Book was covered in dust and looked extremely old at first glance. Its pages had all turned yellow by now.


    ''Here you are...''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems the game that Jareth played had some sad lore hidden in its deepest corners¡­ This is just the beginning of this journey though, who knows what else we may find¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you also hate it when the games don''t give you enough loot?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 16 Stealing Session.... Part-2.

    Inside the shop.''Here you are...''


    The book that Jareth held in his hands was the artifact that he was looking for. This old book is a ''grimoire'' that suits the current Jareth very highly.


    ¡­


    [Item name: The Grimoire of Amplification]


    [Ding! This item is in a ''sealed state'' right now. Unseal it for more information¡­]


    Seeing the system notification, Jareth shook his head, he knew that this would happen.


    ''Well it''s never easy to get a strong weapon so easily¡­ but I have the knowledge of the game and I know what I need to do next, so it''s easier for me¡­''


    In the game, Jareth had to follow an extremely long and difficult hidden quest to finally get this grimoire unsealed.


    ''It''s not that difficult to unseal it, the only thing that''s difficult is to find out how to actually do that¡­''


    Jareth has already done the quest in the game, and thus he already knew what he needed to do next. Due to this knowledge, he didn''t have to go and find ways to unseal this grimoire.


    ¡­


    Jareth brought out some money and put it on the counter where the skeleton of the dead mage lay.


    ''Okay¡­''


    After putting the grimoire in his space ring, Jareth walked towards the gate. He tried to open it but it didn''t budge at all.


    "Please pay before leaving, dear customer!"


    Hearing the voice of Donna, Jareth tilted his head in confusion.


    ''Hmm, I already put the money on the counter, in the game that was the way to leave the place¡­. Is this doll broken or something¡­''


    After contemplating for a while, Jareth shook his head and walked towards the skeleton.


    ''If the first method doesn''t work, Then I can only try the second method¡­''


    In the game, things had different probability of happening.


    Some of the players found that even after putting the money on the counter their character couldn''t leave the shop, and Donna kept repeating the same words as she did just now.


    That was an in-built rare scenario that rarely happened due to its low probability of being triggered.


    ''Well I didn''t encounter it in the game personally, but as I was a die-hard fan, I read about it on some random forums¡­ now that I think about it, I was so down bad over this game I even put my pocket money to ''top-up''¡­ sigh~''


    Thinking this far, Jareth shook his head and stopped himself from getting distracted.


    He raised his head towards the skeleton.


    [Grade-6 Magic: Fire Arrow!]


    ''May your soul rest in peace¡­''


    The counter and the chair were built from wood and thus it immediately caught fire due to Jareth''s fire attack.


    In just a few seconds the whole counter burnt away and only ashes were left in its place. The skeleton bones, the money placed on the counter, the nearby chair, etc. everything burned and turned into ash.


    (It''s a fire caused by a magic attack, it is much more intense and violent than normal fire¡­ so don''t compare its burning speed with real-life fire¡­ moreover, Jareth had full control over it so it didn''t spread anywhere else.)


    The fire that Jareth caused didn''t even produce smoke, it was efficient and fast.


    ''I think this was it¡­''


    In case this rare scenario happens, you just have to burn the skeleton along with money notes, and this will apparently make the soul of the dead mage rest in peace.


    This way the door will unlock automatically.


    *CLINK*


    And sure enough, after Jareth burned the skeleton along with money, the sound of a lock unlocking resounded throughout the shop from that door.


    ''Let''s go then¡­''


    When Jareth walked out of the Shop, the doll collapsed into nothingness. The floor of the shop broke and all the books and cabinets fell down in the basement along with all the debris.


    It seems the shop has fulfilled its purpose after the mage''s soul finally achieved peace.


    Oblivious to all this Jareth walked out and headed back to his car.


    ''Next to the Garden of Night-witch flowers¡­''


    ¡­


    National Hero Memorial.


    Jareth''s Luxury car entered the parking area of the vast Memorial grounds.


    After the car was finally parked in its designated spot, Jareth got down and ordered the driver to wait there for him.


    The driver was also a properly trained individual, he didn''t ask any questions and his expressions stayed the same as he nodded at Jareth''s orders.


    (The driver was getting high pay to just wander around with Jareth, so why would he care about anything else¡­ money can make anyone numb after all¡­)


    Without caring about it too much Jareth walked towards the garden directly behind the huge main building.


    The main building here has many statues placed in it. All these statues are made in honor of some past heroes who achieved great merits for humanity and did many famous and great deeds.


    While walking towards the back garden, Jareth was contemplating various things in his mind.


    ''Come to think of it¡­ isn''t Nathan''s statue also placed here¡­. I wonder how Nathan would have felt when they invited him to inaugurate his own statue¡­ that must have been a funny sight to watch¡­''


    Most of the statues placed here are made in the image of the dead heroes who did great deeds for humanity.


    Although Nathan has also obtained great merits by saving several cities from dungeon outbreaks, it was still weird to put his statue beside those of the dead ones.


    When the players discovered this fact, it became a classic meme to troll the fans of Nathan in the forums. Later Nathan became famous among the players as ''The statue man, Nathan''.


    Some players even speculated that the presence of this statue must be foreshadowing the future plot in which Nathan might die. But that old guy was too tenacious he refused die and they had to plot a lot to deal with him.


    ''Although he is kind of an annoying character who meddles with the protagonist many times, he is still a good character after all; moreover, he is the reason why the university is still standing peacefully¡­''


    Nathan''s existence is like a barrier that protects the students from the dangers that lurk in the outside world.


    The various demon cults like ''False Dome'' don''t dare to attack the university in his presence, but if Nathan disappears, the university will have to face continuous attacks from the demonic cults.


    ''The existence of the Ivan university is a great headache for the demonic cult afterall¡­''


    The Ivan University gives rise to several excellent mages for the human race every year and these mages protect humanity from the influence of outside threats like the demon cults.


    If the demon cult members somehow are able to get rid of the University and all the talented students studying in it, they could easily cause great damage to the whole human race.


    If all the talented children in the university die, there will be a huge decline in the number of strong mages in the future.


    Several mages die every year at the hands of monsters or demonic cults, the only way to replenish their numbers is by making the university pump new mages out in the world.


    If the new mages stopped appearing, the number of the mages would continue to decline and in just a decade there would not be enough mages left to defend even the capital city from the influence of the Demonic cults.


    ''Sigh~ this world is cruel and dangerous, people can die in a blink of an eye here, I better get strong as fast as possible, otherwise I will also be disposed of by this cruel world eventually¡­''


    Jareth''s facial expression remained as cold as ever, but his eyes flashed with determination.


    ''I will survive no matter what¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! The stealing spree goes brrrrr..


    Question of the day.


    If given the choice, would you also steal the protagonist''s chances or not?


    1. Yes. (Let the protagonist die in a ditch I don''t care! Gimme those epic chances first!!)


    2. No (I wouldn''t want to interfere with the plot too much¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.) S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 17 Stealing Session... Part-3.

    National Hero Memorial, Back garden.''This place is really quite unpopulated¡­ well, very few people come to the memorial in the first place anyway¡­''


    Even though many statues are placed here in remembrance of past heroes, few people come here to visit the place.


    Only those who were saved by those heroes come on a regular basis. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Most of the visitors are just some tourists who come to see the statues and they usually leave the place without fully exploring it.


    ''Well, can''t blame them either¡­. The place is boring; moreover, it''s hot during daytime in this garden¡­''


    Jareth was wearing a magically modified robe; thus, he didn''t feel the heat but the temperature in this garden was really quite high.


    (That robe is standard clothing provided by the university to all professors¡­ it''s equipped with temperature-regulating capabilities and some basic defensive features¡­)


    After walking for a while, Jareth arrived near the giant tree located in the center of the garden. (This place is called a garden, but it''s quite vast¡­)


    White flowers hung on the giant tree and its leaves fluttered with the wind breeze.


    The Shadow of the tree provided a cool place to rest for any tired visitor.


    ''Yep, this is the place¡­'' (Jareth)


    Jareth walked over and sat down in the shadow of the tree. He rested his back against the tree and put his hands on his stomach.


    Then Jareth closed his eyes, and the calm wind breeze made him sleepy in an instant.


    He felt like he was being wrapped in a warm embrace, and his whole body relaxed. He immediately fell asleep.


    ¡­


    A Dreamland, A Night witch''s paradise.


    Jareth opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of a giant tree. All the leaves of the tree were silver-colored, and they were shining brightly.


    He raised his head and saw that the moon and the stars were shining brightly in the dark sky.


    The place that Jareth stood on was the giant root of the tree, and everywhere he looked, the ground was covered in shallow waters.


    Thousands of bright white flowers were floating on the water''s surface, everything felt calm and peaceful.


    The scenery of this place was so picturesque that it felt unreal.


    "Beautiful, isn''t it?"


    The soft whispers of a woman entered Jareth''s ears all of a sudden.


    He tilted his head and glanced at a nearby root of the tree.


    A woman in silver clothes was sitting on the root. She was also staring at the huge flower field.


    From this angle, Jareth couldn''t see her face as it was obstructed by her long silver hair.


    "May you find peace in this beauty¡­visitor."


    After saying that, the woman''s body turned into particles of light and disappeared into the night sky.


    ''So that was the remnant will of the ''night-witch Rose''¡­ well this place is indeed quite beautiful¡­''


    Shaking his head in agreement, Jareth got down from the root and entered the shallow waters.


    He slowly walked towards a nearby ''Night-witch Flower'' and took the floating flower in his hand.


    Then he said in a calm tone.


    "Let me bring this flower as a memory of this world¡­"


    As if hearing Jareth''s request, the same voice entered his ears again.


    "Do as you wish, visitor¡­"


    After getting the approval, Jareth nodded his head, took the flower, and went back to the place where he woke up.


    He sat down and said in a calm tone.


    "This place is beautiful, you must have had a beautiful heart¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s praise, Rose''s remnant giggled and her soft voice resounded throughout the area.


    "Thanks, visitor¡­"


    "Your Welcome¡­"


    Jareth felt someone patting his head and immediately he was sent back to reality from that dreamland.


    ¡­


    Jareth opened his eyes and found himself sitting near the same tree where he had slept earlier.


    ''It''s evening already, I slept for nearly two hours it seems¡­''


    Jareth got up from the ground slowly. He glanced nearby and found the same ''Night-witch Flower'' resting on the ground. It seems to have appeared out of nowhere.


    Jareth took the flower and put it in his space ring.


    ''Good¡­ time to go back now¡­''


    ¡­


    (Explaining the lore)


    In the game, you had to complete a quest named ''Remembrance of the Night-witch''. It was an extremely long and daunting quest, and at the end of that quest, you get to find the final resting place of the Night-witch Rose.


    Indeed, the final resting place of Rose was this giant tree. Rose''s grave was located in this place and this tree grew directly above her grave.


    In the game, we find that, if the player puts his character to sleep in this place, they can enter a hidden location, called the ''Dreamland of the Night-witch''.


    This place is just an illusionary space created by the remnant will of Rose and it only appears in the dreams of the visitor once. (You can only access this world just once¡­)


    If the player chooses to bring back a flower from that dream world, the remnant will make the flower materialize in the real world using the giant tree''s white flowers as a medium and the surrounding mana in the atmosphere.


    Rose was a grade-1 Mage in her life and died like a hero while defending the people and thus her body was buried in this place as a form of honor. (This place is the national hero memorial after all¡­)


    Jareth already knew about all this from the game, thus he didn''t hesitate at all. Even if other people slept here and entered the ''Dreamland'' they would still not be able to understand its true purpose anyway.


    And somehow even if they brought the flower out, the sealed grimoire was already in his hand, and thus that flower would just be a mere decoration with no proper use to it.


    ¡­


    (Back to present¡­)


    Jareth slowly walked back to his car as he rubbed his blurry eyes.


    ''It was a good sleep actually¡­ ever since I came to this world I have been stressed a lot¡­ sleeping here made my fatigue disappear into thin air¡­'' (Jareth)


    Jareth shook his head in satisfaction and entered his car. Although his facial expressions remained cold and arrogant, he was feeling quite happy in his mind.


    He glanced at the driver and ordered:


    "Let''s go back to the university now¡­"


    "Understood!"


    "By the way, take this¡­ they handed it to me when I was leaving, I don''t like this drink so you can keep it¡­"


    When Jareth was leaving through the hallways earlier, some staff member of this place handed him a refreshment drink and it was actually not a flavor he liked, so he just decided to give it to the driver.


    ''It''s not a good thing to waste food after all¡­''


    Although the Driver was bewildered by this sudden generosity, he didn''t dare refuse Jareth''s offer.


    (Later that day, the driver went home and bragged to his children that he received a gift from a grade-2 mage¡­)


    ¡­


    University, Jareth''s dorm room, Bedroom.


    Without wasting time, Jareth brought out a mana potion from his space ring and placed the ''Night-with flower'' inside the flask that contained that potion.


    The flower started to slowly dissolve into liquid and started to mix with that mana potion.


    Jareth stared at this whole process with satisfaction.


    He nodded his head and went back to his bed to sleep.


    ''It''s a long process, it will take the whole night with the current rate, I should rest for now and let it do its work¡­''


    ''Today was quite a long day¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Jareth''s evil plans of stealing the chances of the protagonist have succeeded with great results¡­ let''s see where this leads¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you sleep under that tree after knowing that a grave was buried directly below you?


    1. No


    2. Yes (Seek professional help and therapy please¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 18 Grimoire of the Night Witch!

    Jareth''s Dorm Room, Morning.6: 00 A.M.


    Jareth placed his hand on the alarm clock and turned the alarm off before it could even ring for once.


    With a blank look, he stared at his hands and thought in his mind.


    ''Now that I think about it, ever since I came to this body, I have become quite good with things like timings¡­''


    In his previous life, Jareth used to never get up on time and his alarm used to ring several times before he finally got up from the bed.


    ''All my laziness seems to have disappeared ever since I entered this body¡­''


    [Ding! Your talent ''Sharp Mind'' unconsciously makes you ''perfect'' in various things!]


    Hearing the system notification, Jareth shook his head.


    ''Sigh, it seems there''s going to be a lot of trouble coming my way in the future¡­''


    Since all this was not under his control, Jareth stopped thinking about this matter and went for the morning exercise and then took a bath.


    He wore his professor uniform and donned his purple cape, which increased his charm a lot more. (His cold and angry-looking face will make everyone feel intimidated; there''s no way someone will be charmed by him¡­)


    ¡­


    After getting ready, Jareth walked over to the table where he put the flask containing the flower.


    The flower in the flask had already dissolved into the mana potion properly. The liquid in the potion had turned bright red from being mixed with that ''Night witch flower''.


    ''Perfect¡­''


    Jareth brought out the grimoire from his space ring and put it on the table.


    He grabbed the flask and opened its lid.


    ''Here goes nothing..''


    Jareth directly poured the whole red liquid on the grimoire and then he stepped back a little.


    The red liquid was suddenly absorbed by the grimoire and a magic circle appeared on the book. The grimoire started to float in the air on its own.


    The magic circle glowed with a bright red color for a while before it broke and the mana particles scattered into nothingness.


    After the magic circle was broken, the grimoire opened successfully, and the mana in the surroundings started to gather around it.


    Using the mana in the surroundings, the book repaired its original form.


    After a few seconds, the old-looking book has now turned into a fresh and new-looking one.


    With all this done, the grimoire floated down and fell back on the table, where it was originally placed.


    Everything happened so fast that it was incredible and shocking to see. If someone else had seen this shocking sight, they would have been awe-struck by this whole process.


    But Jareth had already seen this whole ''cut scene'' in the game quite a few times, so he wasn''t the least bit interested in this at all. His facial expression remained the same as ever.


    He was just waiting for it to be done.


    ¡­


    Seeing that the grimoire was finally unsealed, Jareth nodded his head in satisfaction. He stretched his hand out and took the grimoire in his own hands.


    ''My plan was a total success, it seems¡­''


    [Ding! Stole a rare artifact from the protagonist! You have changed the destined fate!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You got 5000CP!]


    ''tch! How petty can you be¡­ barely giving 5k for all the difficult work I did¡­ sigh~''


    Jareth was quite disappointed at the low amount of CP he earned from grabbing this grimoire from the protagonist.


    ''But, oh well whatever, let''s appraise this thing first¡­''


    Jareth put the grimoire in this system inventory.


    The system inventory has an automatic appraisal function built into it. So, Jareth put the grimoire in the inventory to find out about the specs of this grimoire.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: Grimoire of the Night Witch]


    [Item Grade: 3+] (''+'' this sign shows that this artifact can be ascended further¡­)


    [Item Description:


    An ordinary book was gifted to a Night witch by her suitor. The night witch dug the heart out of the man who dared lay his eyes on her and used his heart to bless this book and convert that ordinary book into a grimoire.


    This grimoire is enhanced by the remnant will of that unfortunate love and can grant the user incredible magical amplifications¡­


    Just remember, a ''heart once crushed'' rests in this grimoire, make sure not to get tainted by this twisted agony¡­]


    [Item Effects:


    1. Magic Amplification: Amplifies the user''s attack and increases damage by 80%.


    2. Locked due to the low grade of the user.


    3. Locked due to the low grade of the user.]


    ¡­


    Jareth had seen that description a hundred times in the game, but he still felt weird after reading it again.


    ''The Rose I saw in that dreamland was just a mere ''remnant will'' of her true self, but the actual Rose was not a gentle person at all¡­''


    Rose was famous by the name ''The Night Witch''. She might have been a hero who saved hundreds of lives, but she was no saint either.


    The term ''Witch'' in her title is not for show. She was a cold-blooded woman who liked to torture her enemies a lot.


    ''Some records that I read in the game point out that she killed all her suitors and used their hearts and life force to enhance her weapon¡­''


    Thinking about that, Jareth glanced at the grimoire once again and complicated emotions swirled in his mind.


    ''This is the very weapon that was enhanced by the life force and the hearts of those who wanted to pursue her¡­ she was a cruel person¡­''


    At that point, Jareth stopped thinking about it further.


    ''Forget it, I have used this weapon several times in the game, why hesitate now¡­''


    After shaking his head, Jareth closed his system panel and decided to go to the class first.


    ¡­


    Principal''s office.


    "But principal, would it really be a good idea to send those two with the students¡­ they both have been rivals for years, and it''s difficult to ask them to cooperate all of a sudden¡­"


    Hearing Professor Thomas''s remarks, Nathan shook his head and replied in a calm tone:


    "It doesn''t matter¡­ even if they both might not like each other, it is an undeniable fact that they both are one of the strongest individuals among today''s wizards¡­"


    "Moreover, Jareth is good at Fire magic and Shin is good at Frost magic, both of them are literal opposites of each other, it will give the students a better chance to learn and explore¡­" S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The principal got up from his chair and walked over to the nearby window. He glanced outside and the students walking on the ground came into his view.


    "Don''t underestimate the students of this year either¡­. There are many exceptionally talented children among them this year¡­"


    "I am looking forward to what heights these children will achieve in the future¡­"


    Hearing the principal''s remarks, Professor Thomas shook his head in defeat. He knew that once the principal had made up his mind, it was near impossible to change his decision.


    "Okay then, if you say so¡­ I just hope nothing bad happens¡­"


    "Hehe, don''t worry; with them both around, I don''t think much will happen¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Jareth has found a good weapon for himself. Let''s wait and see what the future holds for him too¡­


    Question of the day.


    If you were one of the students, would you leave your safety to Jareth?


    1. Yes (Bruh, how can you leave your safety on his weak shoulders¡­)


    2. No (Bruh, how can you doubt Jareth''s sharp mind¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 19 Shin and Jareths endless bickering...

    One day before the dungeon raid.Near the teleportation altar.


    *chatter**chatter* S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Professor Shin, will you also help us in fighting the monsters?"


    "If you helped us, it would be so easy to conquer that dungeon!"


    The students chattered endlessly and talked with Shin in an excited and happy tone.


    Shin looked at the excited faces of the students and replied in a helpless tone:


    "No no, it''s a low-rank dungeon, all the students will be allowed to explore it freely and learn about actual combat, the professor can''t help you in this matter¡­"


    "I am being sent there to keep watch and maintain all of your safety, you mustn''t overestimate yourself by thinking that I will also help you all in your fights¡­"


    "This is a rare learning opportunity, so don''t waste it and try to get as much as you can, out of it¡­"


    "Understood, Professor Shin!"


    Even though the students were not going to receive much support from the teachers, it was still relieving to have two Grade-2 mages watching your back and ensuring your safety.


    (These little kids are literally receiving the highest level of security which even the president of the nation rarely gets¡­)


    This is also the main reason why most parents can rest assured about their children''s safety at the university. Grade-2 mages patrol the university, after all, no place could be considered more secure than Ivan University.


    (Although it was invaded by that wyvern, even that wyvern was disposed of ultimately, which in return boosted the reputation of the university even more¡­)


    ¡­


    While Shin was surrounded by many students and was having happy conversations, Jareth arrived at the exact assigned time, neither was he early nor was he late.


    The moment he arrived on the scene, the happy and relaxed atmosphere disappeared instantly. All the students went silent and hurriedly formed a proper straight line to show discipline.


    They knew that Shin was a friendly person and would forgive them for not following the discipline, but Jareth was different. His gaze alone was intimidating enough to make people shiver, thus they didn''t want to get reprimanded by him at all.


    (His image in the mind of the students was that of a scary, strict, and strong mage¡­)


    Seeing the students follow proper discipline, Jareth nodded his head in satisfaction.


    "Good, it seems this year''s batch is more well-behaved and disciplined than the previous ones¡­"


    Hearing the slight praise from Jareth made everyone feel relieved.


    Just when the atmosphere was about to relax a bit, Shin commented in an annoyed tone:


    "Tch! They are children, what''s the big deal, why not let them have some fun? As expected of a ''wannabe Mr. Perfect''¡­"


    Listening to Shin''s provoking remarks, Jareth tilted his head slightly and said in a calm tone.


    "What bad luck to hear the wailing of a wild boar the first thing in the morning, even the refreshing air has been contaminated by your foul breath¡­"


    Several blood veins appeared on Shin''s forehead instantly, he clenched his teeth and bit his lips. His face became hideous as he heard Jareth''s reply:


    "What did you say to me!?..."


    At Shin''s angry voice, Jareth raised his hand and waved It like he was shooing some dog away.


    "Go away, I don''t want to see your face the first thing in the morning¡­"


    Shin clenched his fists and replied in an angry tone:


    "It''s not like I want to see you either¡­ d*mn it! Why do I have to be the one to go with this bast*rd!"


    "I want to say the same too, I don''t want to be with you either¡­ after entering the dungeon tomorrow, just stay as far away from me as possible¡­"


    "Yeah, yeah, I was going to do the same even if would have not told me to¡­ I have no interest in accompanying you¡­"


    ''Good, this way I will be at a lower risk of being discovered. If he stays close to me it will be easier for my secrets to be found out by him¡­''


    ''It''s better if he stays as far away as possible¡­''


    While the two professors were bickering back and forth, the students were standing with shocked looks on their faces.


    This was the first time they had seen Professor Shin get so angry at someone. All the students could sense that Shin was barely controlling his anger and if he snapped he would attack Jareth directly.


    And then it will become an unresolvable matter.


    In their opinion, Jareth may have a bad personality but he wasn''t weak at all. He had killed a wyvern in one attack.


    This would mean that if Jareth and Shin fought, it would become a fight with no clear victors and the damage caused to the property would be too huge to estimate.


    ¡­


    After a few seconds of awkward silence, Jareth glanced at the students and said in a cold tone.


    "What are you all waiting for? Start entering the teleportation circle in groups of ten¡­ this teleportation circle is headed to a hotel on the outskirts of the capital, don''t waste time and hurry up¡­"


    "Understood!"


    After receiving the approval, the students started to climb the teleportation in groups of ten each time. (The maximum capacity of this teleportation altar is 10 people at one time¡­)


    Shin also went with the first group of students as it was his duty to lead the way forward while Jareth would safeguard the back.


    Although Shin and Jareth both were not on good terms they still needed to fulfill their duties properly.


    Shin was exceptionally good at making strong barriers that could block strong attacks, thus without any discussion with Jareth he immediately assumed his role of the ''front guard'' instantly.


    And since Shin had already taken the front row, Jareth had no choice but to follow the group from behind.


    ''Well, it will be good this way¡­ I will not have to fight much if I stay on the backside¡­the only time I will need to interfere is when I have to change the plot to earn CP¡­''


    ''Getting involved in unnecessary fights in that dungeon will be useless for me as that will not generate any CP¡­''


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of wait, Jareth also teleported away with the final group of students.


    The teleportation altar shined brightly and a sense of weightlessness enveloped Jareth''s body. He felt like he was floating in zero gravity, but that sensation only lasted for a few seconds and he found himself standing on a different altar.


    Jareth got down from the altar and raised his head to look at the giant signboard placed nearby.


    [Hotel ''Outer Core'', welcomes you!]


    ''Ah, here we go again, with a new event, new difficulties are sure to come¡­ sigh~''


    Jareth shook his head and saw Shin leading all the students to the main building of the hotel.


    The hotel staff handed one room key to each of the students as they passed by in an orderly line.


    Even the hotel staff was impressed at the disciplined nature of these students. They also thought that Ivan University was indeed quite unique, all the students studying there were so well-mannered and disciplined after all.


    What they didn''t know was that the students were in fear, and didn''t want to get beaten by Jareth thus they were unconsciously being so well-mannered.


    If it was only Shin accompanying them, they would have already made this place worse than a fish market.


    After handing the keys to the students, one of the staff ladies also handed two keys to Shin and said.


    "Uh, these are the keys for the two professors¡­"


    "Why are you giving both of them to me, just give the other one to that guy with an arrogant face¡­"


    The staff lady glanced at Jareth who was shrouded by a cold aura and in fear they hurriedly left after giving both of the keys to Shin.


    Shin clicked his tongue in annoyance and threw the other key at Jareth''s face.


    "Here take it¡­"


    Jareth caught the key and brought out his ''sanitizer'' to clean the key from Shin''s touch.


    Seeing Jareth''s openly mocking behavior, Shin was so angry that he wanted to smash Jareth into the ground with one punch.


    But he somehow controlled his anger and hurriedly left before his anger could leak out uncontrollably.


    "D*mn it all!"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Its really quite hilarious to see Shin and Jareth go for each other''s throats like this at every possible moment, don''t you think so too?...


    Question of the day.


    Have you also pretended to be disciplined in your school days when the strict teacher was nearby?


    1. Yes (Didn''t want to get in trouble so just did it¡­)


    2. No (I bunked his class)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 20 The oblivious children...

    Dungeons in this world are naturally occurring phenomena. They appear in unpopulated areas in the form of caves, monster nests, miasma-corrupted areas, etc.Dungeons of this world are not like the ones in the games; they don''t refresh after a certain period of time. Monsters that are living in these dungeons will disappear if you kill them all.


    The dungeon will only be refreshed if other monsters migrate to that empty dungeon for various reasons.


    It wasn''t like this in the game that Jareth played, but now that this world is a real one, it''s obvious it will follow the rules of reality instead of working like a game.


    ¡­


    The dungeons are graded in this world like this:


    Low-grade dungeon: Generally infested by Grade-7 to grade-5 monsters and the mana density in it is quite low. (The dungeon Jareth and the students are going to raid falls into this category.)


    Medium-grade dungeon: Generally, these types of dungeons are monster nests infested with thousands of monsters of the same type. Grade-7 to Grade-4 monsters reside in these types of dungeons.


    High-grade dungeon: Extremely rare to find and difficult to conquer. These are generally the dwellings of grade-3 or above-grade monsters. (A wyvern-filled valley can be considered to be in this category.)


    Nearly all monsters can be found in the dungeons across the world, except for a few rare ones, like dragons.


    Dragons are not considered monsters in this world, they are sentient beings with immense power and wisdom, Considering them to be the same as those brainless wyverns is one of the biggest mistakes someone can make.


    Dragons aren''t found in any dungeons across the world; they live in hidden places where they make their own nest. Many adventurers, who dream of becoming ''dragon slayers'', travel across the world in search of dragons.


    But finding a dragon nest is as difficult as finding a needle in the vast ocean.


    ¡­


    Outside the dungeon''s entrance.


    A massive flying carriage landed on the ground right in front of the dungeon entrance. Its massive weight and size crushed the trees beneath it and the carriage landed on the ground without any problems.


    This carriage is powered by high-grade mana stones and doesn''t have a horse in front of it. It''s built in the style of a carriage but it is actually no different than a magic plane.


    It can carry a hundred passengers inside it because spatial magic is used to expand the space inside. It looks small from the outside but from the inside, it is as vast as a ''football playground''.


    (This is an expensive private vehicle of the university that is rarely used¡­ today its keys were borrowed by Shin from the principal to reach the dungeon more efficiently¡­)


    (The principal agreed that this carriage could transport the students with better safety¡­ and Shin was happy that he got to drive a flying carriage, it was a win-win situation for them both¡­)


    (Jareth personally wasn''t interested in flying this thing as he had done so many times in the game, and he had no interest in begging from the principal¡­)


    ¡­


    After the safe landing, the gate of the carriage opened automatically and the students walked out of the carriage one by one, followed by Shin and Jareth.


    Shin glanced at the map and then looked at the small cave entrance with a confused look on his face.


    ''This place looks so small yet the mana density here is quite high¡­ this is strange¡­''


    Shin closed his eyes and used his mana detection to scan this dungeon, but he found that everything was normal.


    Shin glanced at Jareth; he wanted to ask if he could also feel the abnormality with the dungeon or not. But Jareth wasn''t even looking at him and was just staring at empty air; thus, Shin shook his head and didn''t ask him at all.


    ''Anyway, he is also a grade-2 mage, I don''t need to tell him about every little detail, he can also see it on his own¡­''


    Shin has already taken Jareth as a Grade-2 mage by now. Thus he didn''t think it was necessary to warn him to be alert. They were both strong people; it wasn''t necessary to be on alert all the time.


    While Shin was busy contemplating in his mind, Jareth was more worried about the notification that he got from the system.


    [Ding! A semi-high-grade dungeon was detected nearby!]


    [Warning! You are still too weak to raid this dungeon! It is recommended to not enter this dungeon right now!]


    Seeing this notification, Jareth shook his head.


    ''Ah, as I thought, the plot is following the path as it was supposed to be¡­ the only problem is the principal is not here!''


    In the original Game, the principal saved the day, and now that he wasn''t here, the odds of things going south had increased by quite a lot.


    ''Well, I guess I will have to save my ''attack card'' for emergency uses¡­ I will leave the rest of the fighting work to Shin¡­ he is a genius at creating barriers anyway¡­''


    ''With those barriers, he can hold his own against strong opponents too, I guess¡­''


    ¡­


    After a while, when Shin finished his contemplating, he brought out his staff from his space ring and glanced at the students.


    "Okay, everyone, let''s not waste our precious time; come forward one by one, I will cast a barrier on each of you and after you get blessed by my barrier, enter the dungeon one by one¡­" S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "This barrier will work as a short-range teleport; if you suffer from any fatal damage inside the dungeon, the barrier will trigger and directly teleport you to my location¡­"


    Teleportation-related magic always cost insane amounts of mana, but since Shin was using his own body as an anchor of the teleportation, he reduced the cost of mana hundreds of times.


    But still, he could only bear to cast this magic for a short range; if the students were too far from him, this magic would not work.


    ''On regular days I won''t use this magic as it consumes too much mana, but since there are two grade-2 mages, I can still expend more mana on the safety of the students¡­''


    Shin was misunderstanding that Jareth was also a grade-2 mage and thus he thought that even if he used all of his mana to cast barriers and preventive measures for the students, Jareth would still have the strength to take care of any loose ends.


    Although Shin didn''t like Jareth one bit, he still knew that they both had to fulfill their duty as professors, and Jareth was not the type to back off at such a critical juncture.


    (If Shin knew that Jareth was just a fake guy pretending to be strong, he would never dare to be so careless¡­)


    All the students were also quite happy to see that the professors were taking such good care of their security.


    In their mind, only one thought ran rampant.


    ''We are raiding a low-rank dungeon, we are blessed by a high-grade barrier, and two grade-2 mages are protecting our back¡­''


    ''What can go wrong, right?''


    All in all, it was all pure chaos and Jareth kept frowning while looking at all this. He couldn''t tell them to stop from going in because they would think he was talking nonsense as the opponent was hidden.


    Amidst all these misunderstandings, the students entered the dungeon with happy smiles on their faces.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Flying carriage has entered the chat! Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you be as happy as these ignorant students if you were being sent to this dungeon?


    1. Yes.


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 21 Mark Kalashnikov, The Genius arrives...

    One by one the students entered the dungeon.After casting those teleporting barriers on each student, Shin also went in, to keep a better watch over the students.


    Jareth was the last person to enter the dungeon.


    He tilted his head and found a student standing near the entrance of the dungeon. (They are standing inside the dungeon right now...)


    The young boy had bright golden hair and pupils, he looked exceptionally handsome and his aura seemed to be much stronger than all of the other students.


    When Jareth entered the dungeon, Mark stared at him and smiled a little.


    "Professor, I wanted to warn you about something, I can sense that there''s something wrong with this dungeon¡­ can you look into it?"


    Jareth was actually more surprised to find out that Mark''s mana detection capabilities were already on par with Shin''s.


    His eyes narrowed as he looked at Mark.


    Seeing that Jareth didn''t answer his question, Mark became a bit nervous, He tried to explain.


    "Uh, you see, I am a bit more talented in mana control and detection, so I can sense if some place is highly dangerous¡­ uh.."


    While Mark was trying to somehow explain things to Jareth. Jareth was thinking about something totally different.


    ''As expected of the person who can go toe to toe with the peak strength of the protagonist¡­ Mark is indeed an exceptional talent¡­'' S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In just a few seconds, Jareth had understood the whole plot instantly.


    He speculated that in the original game plot, Mark must have also detected the abnormality of this dungeon.


    But the principal was a careless guy.


    The principal left the students to conquer the dungeon alone and himself started to meditate on a nearby mountaintop, he only came to save the day when things were about to get out of hand.


    And since the principal was not present, Mark must have had no one to complain to about this dungeon; thus, this scene was not mentioned in the game plot.


    But now, the scenario has changed a lot.


    Jareth and Shin are the ones accompanying these students and they are always present right in front of the students.


    Thus, Mark chose to warn the professor about this dungeon beforehand.


    Yet he was feeling awkward, as it was difficult to explain the situation. The only abnormality that Mark was detecting was a high density of mana and a strong presence of killing intent.


    But since he couldn''t detect any strong monsters either, just like how Shin couldn''t detect any strong monsters earlier, it was difficult to explain why he felt that the dungeon was dangerous.


    ...


    Jareth nodded his head and said in his usual cold tone:


    "Hmm, to be able to detect this at your level, you are indeed talented¡­ don''t worry about any dangers; you are being protected by two grade-2 mages after all¡­"


    Mark was quite surprised to hear such unexpected praise from Jareth. Moreover, it seems Jareth believed what he had said earlier about the dungeon being abnormal.


    A smile appeared on Mark''s handsome face, he used to think that Jareth was a difficult-to-talk type of person, but that doesn''t seem to be the case.


    ''It seems he favors those who have talent and can show more results compared to the weaklings in our class¡­ sigh, is this what they call the indifference of a cold-hearted wizard¡­''


    Mark belongs to a rich family and has been taught by private tutors since childhood; thus, he knows a bit about history and other things.


    ''It is said that in ancient times, wizards used to be selfish and ruthless people who could kill people without batting an eye; if we see it from that perspective, then Professor Jareth suits the image of a wizard better than anyone else¡­''


    (As a rival of the protagonist, his brain works in the totally opposite direction of the ''hero''¡­ he thinks Jareth is more suited to be a wizard compared to the kind and benevolent Shin¡­)


    While Mark was contemplating in his mind, Jareth asked him one more question:


    "Why did you come to inform me, by the way? Don''t you think that Professor Shin will hear your problems better than me?"


    "Uh, you see, Professor Shin is too kind; I think he might not be as strong as you, Professor Jareth¡­"


    ''Holy burger! This guy thinks I am stronger than Shin; from what angle do I look strong!? Ahem!''


    "Well, I will keep an eye on things, you go and experience this dungeon, don''t lose this rare chance of gathering precious combat experience because of mere distractions¡­"


    Jareth then glanced at the cave and saw that there were nearly ten separate ways; he stared at the darkest path and pretended to be mysterious.


    He said in his usual cold tone:


    "I will take care of the pests that are wandering in the area, just remain careful and avoid strong, killing-intent-filled places¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s assuring words, Mark nodded his head in satisfaction and walked on the other roads. Leaving the darkest path, Jareth was looking far away.


    Noticing the fading figure of Mark, Jareth heaved a sigh of relief and walked into a brighter path, he didn''t want to go to dangerous places either.


    (What he didn''t know was that the path he chose later got combined with the path that looked dangerous at first glance¡­)


    ¡­


    On the other side.


    Mark walked through the small cave and after walking through several other diverging paths, he came to a wider area.


    Mark slightly glanced behind him and said in a calm voice.


    "Come out; I know you guys have been following me¡­"


    At Mark''s voice, several hobgoblins came out from the various paths that were connected to this wider area.


    Seeing that there were ten hobgoblins, Mark smirked a bit and said in a mocking tone.


    "Just this much? You can''t even touch me with such a small number!"


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Thorn field!]


    Gigantic spikes made of stone sprang out of the ground and the walls of the cave and pierced through the bodies of the hobgoblins around him at an extremely fast speed.


    Mark didn''t give them the slightest chance to fight back and used his stone spike to pierce through their heart in an instant.


    The monsters didn''t even know when they died or how they died. Thick red blood splattered on the spikes and painted them red.


    The suffocating smell of blood spread everywhere in the area instantly.


    "Heh, you guys are weaker than I was expecting¡­"


    Without wasting too much time on these weaklings, Mark left the scene and walked into another path nearby.


    "Let''s see what other monsters are here in this dungeon¡­"


    ¡­


    Near the middle area of the dungeon.


    ''Hmm, Student Mark indeed has some exceptional capabilities¡­ he might be the strongest amongst this batch of students¡­''


    Shin had a wide mana detection range and thus he sensed it immediately when Mark used grade-5 magic to defeat his opponents.


    ''In my opinion, with just a few years under his belt, he will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with us grade-2 mages eventually¡­''


    Every professor who was teaching Mark and his classmates knew the stark difference in capabilities between the regular students and Mark.


    They knew that it might take months for the other students to catch up to Mark''s current level at this rate.


    This is the reason why Mark is favored by nearly every professor in the academy.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The main star has entered the chat bois! Mark supremacy is at its peak! Let''s goo!!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Jareth will be able to keep himself out of trouble?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 22 Hidden Floor...

    Inside the cave dungeon. Middle area."This dungeon is like a maze! I don''t even remember where we came from anymore!"


    "W-what do we do now, Allen?"


    Allen shook his head in helplessness and replied:


    "Uh, I guess we should find the boss area first, once we defeat it, we will be able to teleport directly out of this dungeon from there¡­"


    "Yes!"


    Just when the two were planning their way out of this place. The sound of something heavy being dragged against the floor came from a nearby passage.


    *shrrrrr!* *Shrrr!*


    "Airin it''s a monster, get behind me-"


    Before Allen could finish his sentence a huge Minotaur walked out of the passage. The dragging sound they heard earlier, came from that huge stone club that the Minotaur was dragging with his right hand. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    (A Minotaur is a peak Grade 5 monster that is usually only found in medium-grade dungeons. Everyone knows about the brute strength and insane speed of this famous monster.)


    With a head like a cow and a muscular body stronger than an ogre, that monstrosity was shrouded in a deathly aura.


    *Baaahhhhhhnn!!*


    The Minotaur immediately noticed the two tiny humans standing in front of him and its huge eyes turned red and bloodshot immediately. It entered the rage state at a mere moment''s notice.


    A shocked and fearful look appeared on Allen and Airin''s faces.


    "How come there is a Minotaur in this low-grade dungeon!?"


    Before Allen could think of anything, the minotaur charged at them straight like a mad bull.


    *Bam! Bam!*


    Its immense weight created loud footstep sounds whenever it kicked the ground.


    [Grade-6 Earth magic: Stone wall!]


    Allen is obviously not the ''protagonist'' for show, either.


    He is the only person in this world who can use every type of magic, that exists in this world. (He is blessed by all types of elements and can use any type of magic at will¡­ currently he has only learned wind and earth types though¡­)


    But even with all that magical talent, Allen was still too weak right now to stop the mad charge of a Minotaur head-on.


    The Minotaur bashed its head directly into the stone wall and broke it apart like without much effort.


    [Grade-6 Wind magic: Swift Push!]


    Allen cast the wind magic and hurriedly pushed himself and Airin out of the Minotaur''s charge line.


    The Minotaur missed the attack and directly collided with the wall of the dungeon.


    Surprisingly, the dungeon wall also broke and the Minotaur fell on the other side of the wall as it got tripped by the debris.


    *Baaaahhhhh!*


    The Minotaur''s eyes became even more bloodshot after seeing that its prey had escaped its grasp.


    It roared madly and got up from the ground immediately.


    "Sh*t, this thing is going mad from anger!"


    "Airin! Get up we need to run now!!"


    "I-I Can''t! M-my legs aren''t moving!"


    Tears appeared in Airin''s eyes as her legs gave away.


    She is a gentle-natured person and has never been in real fights.


    Now that she was suddenly thrown into this deathly situation, she was unable to move due to the sheer fear caused by the bloody aura of that Minotaur.


    Hearing Airin, a look of worry appeared on Allen''s face as he stared at the Minotaur. His palms became sweaty seeing that the Minotaur was about to charge at them again.


    (How did this guy even fight that wyvern in the original game plot if he can''t even go against this mere Minotaur? The answer is swift and precise: Plot armor goes brrrrr!!)


    (If any of you have fought a dragon or big monster in a game, you must have noticed that the MC kills that giant monster by just attacking its nails and decreasing its health bar¡­)


    (That''s what happened in the plot, the wyvern didn''t fight back much, and it was there for just pure display¡­. If Jareth hadn''t killed that wyvern in this real world, it would have been out of the Mc''s league obviously¡­)


    ¡­


    *Bamm!*


    The Minotaur kicked the ground and launched at Allen like a cannonball. It raised its giant stone club above its shoulders and smashed it down with tremendous force.


    The air trembled crazily as the Minotaur smashed that stone club downwards.


    [Grade-6 Wind magic: Wind barrier!]


    ''It''s too fast! Can''t dodge it on time!!''


    Since Allen knew he couldn''t dodge that attack, he immediately cast a barrier to envelop them both in a wind sphere. This way he could barely avoid instant death at least.


    *Crack*


    The minotaur''s stone club directly landed on the barrier and the barrier got ripped apart like paper, the club continued downwards and smashed the ground with insane force.


    Allen barely dodged that attack otherwise he would have become a meat-paste instantly.


    The ground cracked and the floor broke apart instantly.


    All three of them fell down with the broken floor''s debris and landed on a lower floor or the dungeon.


    ''This dungeon has another floor!?''


    [Grade-6 wind magic: Wind cushion!]


    Allen cast the wind magic to stop himself and Airin from getting injured by falling from such a height.


    They both landed safely on the ground, but the Minotaur directly fell like a dead rock, and due to falling from such height its right leg''s bone snapped into two.


    *Baaaaahhhhh!*


    The Minotaur wailed in pain and its loud painful cries rang out far and wide.


    The broken leg bone had pierced right out of its leg and its right leg was bent in a weird angle. Blood flowed like water and painted the floor red.


    "This thing is crazy! It will go to any length just to attack me!!"


    Tears of blood flowed out of the Minotaur''s bloodshot eyes as it got up on one leg and rushed towards Allen with great difficulty.


    The Minotaur raised its stone club. It looked like it was going to throw that club at Allen''s face now.


    ''I have used up nearly all of my mana in defending from its attacks and that wind cushion magic took extra mana out of me as I am not proficient enough with it¡­''


    ''This is a really tricky situation now-''


    The Minotaur didn''t give Allen any time to think at all. It threw its club at Allen with an insane speed.


    A sonic boom was created from the launch of that club.


    ''So fast!''


    Allen didn''t even have the time to cast a simple barrier, the club was so fast that it seemed to have teleported right in front of his face.


    Allen raised his hands to cover his face and closed his eyes in fear. He knew that if that attack landed, his whole head would explode like a watermelon.


    [Grade-4 Frost Magic: Frost barrier]


    Just then, a thin ice barrier appeared in front of Allen''s body out of nowhere, the club collided with the barrier directly but there wasn''t even a single scratch on the barrier.


    Allen and Airin, both remained unharmed due to the presence of that barrier.


    Allen slowly opened his eyes when the expected attack didn''t reach him.


    "Good grief ~ as I thought this dungeon is definitely not that simple after all¡­ there''s no way there would be a second hidden floor on a low-grade dungeon, this is definitely not a low-grade dungeon¡­"


    Shin flew down from the upper floor and landed right in front of the minotaur, he had a fed-up expression on his face at the moment.


    *Baaah-*


    "Shut up, no one is talking to you¡­"


    [Grade-3 Frost magic: Ice needle]


    A needle made out of ice appeared in front of Shin. In size, it looked similar to a normal sewing needle, but it was actually made up of extremely condensed ice elements.


    The needle launched at the Minotaur''s chest and directly blew away its whole upper torso in an instant, the innards of the Minotaur splattered everywhere on the ground and painted the ground red.


    After the instant death of the Minotaur, the whole scene fell into silence.


    The Minotaur which was so difficult for Allen to fight earlier, got killed in an instant under Shin''s magic.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s Your beloved author here! It seems things are not as simple as they seemed at the start, let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day.


    Which type of magic would you want?


    1. Ice


    2. Fire


    3. Earth


    4. Others (Personally, my favorite is ''Gravity'' magic¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 23 The Battle For Dawn! Part-1.

    *Boom!*''Hmm, such a loud noise¡­ is someone fighting nearby?''


    Jareth stared at the passage from where the loud voice came with narrowed eyes.


    ''Let''s go and see what'' going on there¡­''


    ¡­


    Hidden floor of the dungeon.


    "Hey you two, good work finding this place! Now I know why I used detection earlier, why did it not work properly¡­" S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shin glanced at Allen and Airin with a gentle smile on his face and praised them for their feats.


    "Well I was also quite surprised to detect a minotaur suddenly appear and thus I came to your rescue as fast as possible¡­"


    "But to think you were able to hold off against such a strong monster on your own, you really have some talent kid¡­"


    ''Now I understand why the principal specifically instructed me to keep an eye on student Allen personally, this little guy seems to have a better reaction time than other students¡­ ''


    Indeed, with his plot armor, Allen already raised his favorability points for the principal by just meeting him one time. (This may sound weird but yes this is the truth, blame this on the thick plot armor¡­)


    After helping the two students get up, Shin closed his eyes and tried to use his mana detection on this hidden floor.


    But just as he was about to use his mana detection, his focus was interrupted by a sudden rain of arrows out of nowhere.


    The place Shin and the three were standing was a large open area and those arrows rained from the dark passageways that were located in all directions of this open area.


    [Grade-4 Frost magic: Spherical Frost Barrier!]


    Before those arrows could land on the three, Shin cast a spherical frost barrier that covered the three of them from all sides and blocked those arrows easily.


    When the arrow rain ended goblin archers walked out of several passages and surrounded the three from all directions.


    ''This was a coordinated attack¡­. Something is strange with this place¡­ simple brain creatures like goblins don''t have the ability to do such coordinated attacks¡­''


    ''They are behaving like disciplined army¡­''


    Before Shin could continue his speculations a giant stone club came flying and collided with the barrier head-on.


    ''Another minotaur? No there''s more...''


    While Shin glanced around to better understand the situation, several more giant stone clubs came flying and collided with the barrier.


    Although those clubs did no damage to that strong barrier Shin was surprised to see such a high number of Minotaur''s in this dungeon.


    Shin hurriedly used his mana detection and probed the situation.


    ''About five hundred goblins, fifty minotaurs, hundred orcs and¡­.''


    *KKRRRRRRRAAAAA!!!*


    A gigantic monstrosity broke through the ground and smashed the ceiling of the upper floor with its height.


    Covered in immense killing intent, the monstrosity had one eye on its face and a creepy smile hung over its mouth.


    *Kekekeh, human meat kehkehkeh! It''s been so long!*


    Looking at that monster''s tall body, a frown appeared on Shin''s face.


    "A Cyclops¡­ Now I understand why my detection wasn''t working properly... you were blocking it¡­"


    *KUAAHAHAHA! YOU Intelligent pest!*


    *You are nothing but my food now! krrrhahHahaha!*


    That creepy laugh and that insane pressure created by its mere presence made all the students in the whole dungeon shudder in fear.


    *It''s a feast today! I finally will get to eat as many humans! As I want! Krahahah!*


    Hearing that creepy laugh, Shin frowned even more.


    ''Cyclops is a Grade-3 monster, I could have killed him easily but this one is different¡­ regular Cyclops are not intelligent enough to speak and use strategies to lure people¡­''


    Just then Shin noticed a golden tattoo on the back of the Cyclops''s hand.


    ''D*mn it! This thing is a remnant of the ''Giant''s rebellion war'', the situation has become trickier it seems¡­''


    "How are you still alive! It''s been a century since the war ended!"


    Shin questioned the giant with a frustrated tone.


    *Kraaahahaha, I went into hiding of course, and fell asleep! Sleeping for a century is nothing for us great giants!! Hahahah*


    ''From its aura alone, this beast is at least Grade-2, I used a lot of mana earlier to put barriers on the students, fighting a grade-2 monster will be difficult for me right now¡­''


    Although Shin was a bit panicked from this situation, he didn''t show it on his face at all. He is a genuine Grade-2 mage who has been through many difficult situations, there''s no way he would lose his cool over something like this.


    "I see, then I will make sure you go back to sleep for the eternity this time then!"


    *Bahahah puny human! Die!*


    The whole monster army under the giant''s control rushed at Shin at once, hundreds of arrows rained on Shin continuously and several Minotaur''s threw gigantic boulders at his barrier on the command of the Cyclops.


    Ignoring all these, Shin glanced at the two students and said:


    "You two get out of this place first¡­ also stop any other students from coming here too, I can''t fight that Cyclops while protecting you at the same time¡­"


    [Grade-5 Frost magic: Hand of protection!]


    A gigantic hand made up of ice appeared out of thin air and covered the two students in its grasp, it raised in the air and took the two of them back to the upper floor.


    *Attack them!*


    At the order of the Cyclops, the goblins aimed at the hand and fired arrows at it, but their arrows were ineffective against Shin''s magic.


    The frost hand safely carried the two students out of the dangerous place.


    *I will kill you!*


    The monstrosity got angry at the fact that its prey was going out of its grasp. The Cyclops kicked the ground with immense force and punched at the frost hand.


    "Where do you think you are aiming! Your opponent is me!"


    [Grade-2 Frost Magic: Wide area magic: Condensed Frost barrier!]


    A frost barrier the size of the whole open area appeared and locked the whole monster army and the Cyclops inside itself, along with Shin.


    ''Good, now this beast can''t go outside until I am out of mana, or this barrier gets smashed¡­. This way I don''t have to worry about the students being harmed¡­ now I can go all out¡­''


    Shin''s body floated in the air and the condensed frost element particles floated around him. Shin stopped suppressing his aura and fully revealed his might as a grade-2 mage.


    His aura alone would have made all lower-ranked monsters shiver in fear if not for the Cyclops to block him.


    *You are worth killing! human pest!!*


    Shin''s whole body shined with an icy glow and the condensed mana spiraled in his body, enhancing his capabilities to a higher level.


    Shin''s glowing eyes stared at the Cyclops and there was no fear in his eyes at all.


    Shin brought out his magic cane from his space ring.


    The cane looked like it was made from some ancient wood and there was only one line written on that cane.


    [Isaz de Phantasm]


    "It''s been a while since I last went all out like this... prepare to die!"


    ¡­


    (A brief introduction of the item¡­)


    [Item name: Isaz de Phantasm]


    [Item Grade: Grade-1]


    [Item Description: This is the world-famous cane that was once used by Grade-1 Mage Raon Isaz.


    This cane is made from the corpse of Raon''s wife. If you try listening to it, you might actually hear the painful howls of her soul that is confined inside this cane¡­


    It is said that Raon made this cane to keep his wife close to him forever, but he might not have considered how much her soul would have to suffer from this¡­]


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Lately, I feel like the story is not dark enough, so I decided to introduce the twisted backstory of the items that are being used by the people of this world¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you still use that cane after knowing this?


    1. Yes (Go to therapy!)


    2. No (I wouldn''t want to hear a howling soul personally¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 24 The Battle for dawn! Part-2.

    [Grade-3 Frost Magic: Hand of the Ice Dragon!]Shin pointed his cane towards the sky and a gigantic magic circle appeared on the ceiling.


    ''I don''t have much mana left; I can only cast one more grade-2 magic and I will run out of mana at that point¡­''


    Although Shin looked composed and calm, he was having serious doubts in his mind.


    He cast high-grade teleportation barriers on so many students, which cost him a vast amount of mana. Although his mana capacity was indeed huge, right now he has to fight a Grade-2 monster right now.


    Fighting someone below your level is much easier and much less tricky than fighting someone at the same grade as you.


    Moreover, Cyclops have an extremely strong physique compared to a human mage.


    Thus, Shin has to always keep his barrier to the maximum output to avoid being hit by the massive body of the Cyclops.


    ¡­


    Once the magic circle fully formed, it glowed brightly and a gigantic claw of a dragon appeared from the magic circle.


    The mana in the air trembled from the mere presence of that condensed ice claw.


    "Heh, let''s see if you can keep up with this one!"


    The Cyclops remained unfazed despite Shin''s mockery.


    [Great Giant''s Blessing: Body of domination!]


    The Cyclops, who has fought many wars and survived for over a century, was no small fry either.


    The blood of fearsome Cyclops warriors ran through his veins; obviously, he had a few of his own techniques too.


    Using the ''Blessing,'' the Cyclops stared at Shin and said in a loud voice:


    *I am the son of a Cyclops general, Upon my pride as a warrior, I must defeat you today, human!*


    "Then come!"


    The Cyclops raised its hand, punched with immense force and faced the giant frost claw''s attack head-on.


    *Baamm!*


    The Cyclops''s fist collided directly with the nails of that frost claw and an insanely strong shockwave was created from the collision of those gigantic forces.


    Several of the monsters on the ground instantly became deaf as their eardrums burst apart from the impact of that shockwave.


    And the weaker monster even fainted on the spot with blood dripping out of their ears.


    The ground cracked and the air trembled, even the walls of the dungeon started to crack from the air pressure caused by that attack.


    *Crack*


    A huge crack appeared on Shin''s mana barrier, Shin hurriedly focused his mana and healed that crack instantly before it could widen further.


    *Step**Step*


    Due to the impact caused by that ice claw, the Cyclops was forced to step back. Each of its steps seems to make the ground tremble.


    *I admit! You are a strong human! But I will kill you today!* S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The previous attack created a small wound on the hand of the Cyclops but it didn''t hinder him much.


    Ignoring its wounds, the giant rushed ahead and punched at the giant claw with tremendous force repeatedly.


    *RRAAAAARRRRRGHHH!*


    The ice claw was not unharmed either; the giant magic circle in the air started to crack little by little as the Cyclops kept attacking repeatedly.


    The ice claw blocked all of the attacks and counter-attacked from various angles.


    These back-and-forth attacks continued for ten seconds straight and in those ten seconds, the cyclops punched at the ice claw at least three hundred times without stopping and caring about counterattacking.


    As the Cyclops wasn''t focused on the counterattacks of the ice claw, he totally ignored its own defense and continued to attack without stopping.


    Due to this, hundreds of claw marks appeared on his body and purple, acidic blood flowed out from his wounds.


    The acidic blood fell on the ground and created large holes in the ground by dissolving the stones and rubble into mist.


    ¡­


    Several of the students gathered outside the larger barrier on the upper floor and watched Shin fight with the Cyclops with concerned looks on their faces.


    Seeing that purple blood corrode the ground like some kind of lethal acid caused them to feel Goosebumps.


    The originally good situation seemed to have started to develop into a disadvantageous situation for Shin as the Cyclops kept causing his magic to break slowly.


    The situation seemed to be getting unfavorable for Shin, but he still had a smile on his face as if he still had the plan to turn this dangerous situation in his favor.


    *Crack!* *Shatter!*


    After another five or so seconds of waiting, the ice claw finally couldn''t hold the onslaught any longer and after suffering from various cracks and damage, it finally shattered and disappeared into nothingness along with its magic circle.


    The Cyclops didn''t seem to be in good condition either; he had hundreds of cuts and claw marks all over his body and purple blood dripped out of his wounds like a fountain.


    Several monsters on the ground died from being dissolved in that purple, acidic blood.


    *Rahahaha human, your tricks won''t work on me! Now die!*


    After shattering that ice claw, a look of pride appeared on the Cyclops''s face and it immediately attacked Shin with a punch.


    Shin ignored his words and smirked:


    "Too late!"


    Shin pointed his cane towards the ground with a wide smirk on his face.


    "You took too much time dealing with that mere distraction, now I have already prepared the magic circle for you¡­!"


    [Grade-2 Frost Magic: Condensed type: Frost Domain!]


    A field containing immense frost element expanded in an instant and covered the whole area inside the larger barrier that Shin cast earlier.


    When the ''Frost Domain'' expanded, all the lower-grade monsters instantly froze to death on the spot, only the Cyclops remained unharmed.


    Hundreds of chains made up of condensed ice sprung out of the snow field and immediately confined the cyclops on the spot.


    *Graaaahhhh!*


    The Cyclops tried to pull the chains and break free, but his resistance was useless.


    "This is the end, farewell!"


    A gigantic needle made of extremely condensed ice appeared in front of the Cyclops'' chest and it slowly moved forward to pierce right through the heart of the Cyclops.


    The Cyclops tried its best to move and break free but those chains didn''t even budge, and thus the condensed needle pierced slowly right through his chest without any resistance.


    Purple blood flowed like a fountain but the blood immediately froze into ice due to the frost domain before it could even fall to the ground.


    Once the ice needle fully pierced through the chest of the cyclops, it started to freeze the Cyclops from inside out, causing the Cyclops to freeze without putting up any effective resistance.


    Seeing that the Cyclops finally stopped moving, Shin heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''Finally, it''s over¡­ I barely have any mana left now¡­''


    ¡­


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that the giant Cyclops were just all talk and had no real strength¡­. Or was it really that weak?


    Question of the day.


    Do you think this is the end for this Cyclops?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 25 The Battle for Dawn! Part-3.

    Pulling off so many insanely strong spells right after buffing all the students with high-grade magical barriers proved that Shin is indeed an exceptional magician.His being a genuine grade 2 mage is not a joke he is indeed talented, after all, he reached this realm so much faster than others.


    Most of his peers are still in grade 3 or 4.


    Smiles returned to the faces of all of the students who had gathered on the upper floor''s edge to watch Shin''s fight.


    Their eyes shined in excitement as they got to see a proper ''demo'' of a fight between colossal powerhouses.


    Each of them learned something new from watching a real Grade 2 sorcerer''s battle.


    Moreover, Shin is quite popular among children because of his kind personality, due to which all students wanted to congratulate him now that he had won that desperate battle.


    The barrier that Shin had cast on the lower floor earlier slowly started to disappear as Shin''s mana ran out and he was no longer able to maintain the massive mana cost of such a huge scale barrier.


    Mark also arrived at the place after sensing the anomalies in the mana of the dungeon.


    Although he wasn''t really a big fan of Shin, even he was impressed by the scale of Shin''s magic. (Well, Shin is a genuine grade-2, unlike a certain someone¡­)


    ''I think it will take me at least two or three years to reach that level¡­''


    Unlike other students, Mark''s thoughts were totally different.


    Others were thinking how great and amazing Shin was, but Mark was already thinking much further ahead, he knew that he could reach Shin''s level given a few years of time.


    Just when Allen was about to congratulate Shin, he noticed that Shin''s facial expressions suddenly changed.


    *Crack*


    A loud cracking sound rang out throughout the area, the sound was so eerie that all the students that were cheering and laughing in excitement just a few seconds ago, went quiet instantly.


    Mark''s eyes narrowed and a solemn look appeared on his face.


    "This!?"


    Even Mark was shocked by what he was seeing.


    "Not good!"


    *boom!*


    The ice burst apart and the broken ice shards flew in various directions randomly. The speed of those flying ice shards was enough to kill any of the students present here instantly.


    But before the shards could even touch any of the students, Shin placed all his remaining mana into the disappearing barrier and immediately tried to protect the students from harm.


    His desperate trick worked, all of his mana disappeared and the barrier also broke apart but it protected the students somehow.


    All the students that were saved from a hair''s breadth, slumped down on the ground as their knees gave away due to fear of death.


    Mark stared at the disappearing barrier and felt his hand tremble a bit. One of the few shards nearly blew off his head just now.


    Even he was not able to react to such an insane speed.


    Although his expressions remained calm on the surface his mind was already a mess.


    ''I certainly felt it just now¡­ the feeling of ''Death''¡­''


    For the first time in his life, Mark felt just how powerless he was in front of colossal powerhouses like the Cyclops and Shin.


    He nearly ended up dying from a stray ice shard that wasn''t even aimed at him.


    *Rahahahahaha! You thought I would be defeated just like that!?*


    The figure of the Cyclops appeared in front of everyone.


    The huge hole in his chest was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. His regeneration speed was so fast that it was comparable to the healing capabilities of a grade 3 magician.


    *I have a blessed physique! I won''t die from being frozen like that! If you had shattered the ice on time, then I might have had a little difficulty!! Bahahahah*


    Black lines appeared all over Shin''s face and his expression turned sour in an instant.


    Hearing the uncontrollable laughter of that Cyclops even after so much hard work, made Shin feel extremely frustrated and annoyed.


    The situation returned to the point from where it had started, the Cyclops stood there unharmed and unconcerned.


    But now Shin was out of mana and he will not be able to block the next attack at all.


    Knowing the sinister nature of the Cyclops race, Shin also knew that the Cyclops would likely not let go of any of the children present in this area.


    The barrier that Shin cast on them earlier will only prevent them once and will teleport them right outside the dungeon.


    But with the abilities of this Cyclops, he can definitely track down every student before they can escape back to the city.


    This means all of these talented children might die today.


    Everyone present at the place knew just how grim the situation was; they could feel from Shin''s expression that even he was helpless now and there was no more hope.


    Some students trembled in fear and some simply collapsed down, waiting for their eventual demise.


    Just when Mark was thinking of making a swift escape, a familiar voice entered his ears.


    "Hmmm, it seems I was a bit late to the party¡­ but well, it seems there is still a large bug hanging around here¡­"


    Although Jareth didn''t say that in a loud voice, his voice was easily heard by all of the students due to the fact that it was very quiet in this underground area, and you could even hear the voice of your own breathing here.


    Thus his voice definitely stood out a lot.


    In the surprised eyes of Mark, Jareth jumped down.


    [Basic Magic: Float]


    He cast a basic magic to cushion his fall and landed right beside Shin.


    His expression remained cold as usual.


    "Specifics?" (Jareth)


    "Intelligent, Grade-3 regeneration, acid blood¡­ Need a massive explosion." (Shin)


    "Blessed type?" (Jareth)


    "Physique." (Shin)


    The talk between Shin and Jareth ended in just two seconds, in those two seconds they both exchanged an immense amount of information.


    Both of them are professionals, after all, they have graduated from the same academy and their combat tactics are certainly not that different.


    Shin immediately put his personal conflict with Jareth aside as he knew what Jareth was going to do when he jumped beside him.


    (This is how professionals talk in this world it seems, fewer words and more information, extremely efficient¡­)


    "A regenerative type huh¡­ then I will just blast him to ashes in one go¡­"


    *BAHAHAHA! You certainly have a loud mouth for someone who isn''t even half as powerful as that white pest!*


    (The Cyclops was also able to see that Jareth''s body didn''t seem to have as much mana as a genuine grade-2, Shin also knew this fact, but he also knew that Jareth was able to kill a wyvern so he didn''t doubt his capabilities¡­)


    "You are yapping a lot¡­ in the first place.. Who asked?"


    [Do you want to use ''Attack enhancement Card (Advanced)'']


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! You used ''Attack Enhancement Cared (Advanced); the next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    [Activated the ''Magic Amplification'' skill of ''Grimoire of the Night witch''!]


    [Next attack will be enhanced by 80%!] S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A grimoire appeared beside Jareth and floated in the air without any support.


    Jareth raised his palm towards the Cyclops and a gigantic magic circle appeared in front of him.


    It didn''t stop there, two small magic circles formed right behind the larger circle and enhanced the bigger circle even further.


    The mana in that massive spell alone made everyone feel a chill run down their spine.


    Jareth''s face remained cold as usual as he smirked.


    "Farewell, overgrown pest¡­"


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Roar of the Flame Dragon!]


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jareth has finally entered the stage! It seems things will end soon now.


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to experience the feeling of using an (Advance enhancement card)?


    1. Yes (I am gonna use it to enhance my little brother!)


    2. Yeah! (I am gonna use it to enhance my brain!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 26 The Battle for Dawn! Part-4.

    In his younger days, Shin had always liked to take part in various tournaments and competitions.That''s why he was able to progress so much faster than his peers; moreover, he has a vast amount of combat experience. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Over the years, he has fought many unique individuals.


    He fought demon believers, beasts, and fellow magicians. Thus he has great knowledge of the spells used by other magicians.


    Although he himself is a Frost-type mage, he still has basic knowledge about the spells of other elements too.


    He can''t use spells related to other elements, but he was able to accumulate his knowledge due to years of combat training and progress.


    Working as a teacher also put him in a spot where he sometimes had to answer creative questions that the students asked.


    Thus, he had already read a lot of magic-related books and theories.


    Being such an exceptionally knowledgeable mage, Shin knew that the spell called ''Roar of the Flame Dragon'' was just an extremely weak and basic-level spell.


    Among the fire magicians, this spell has always been a topic of joking and laughing.


    This strange spell has such a great name, it even has the word ''dragon'' in it, yet this spell is so weak that it can barely be used to light a torch.


    Even a basic fireball spell does more damage than this weak spell; that''s why the whole Fire Magician community seems to laugh at the name of this spell.


    You can even hear people using this spell as a method of insult, like:


    "You are such weak trash that even a ''roar of the flame dragon'' spell can kill you!"


    This was actually a very common insult used by the fire magicians, as they all knew just how weak this spell was.


    After all, all this spell could do was create a small dragon mouth that would emit shockwaves from its mouth as it launched at the target to burn it by submerging the target in flames.


    But the spell''s structure itself was very weak; it could barely be used to burn papers, let alone enemies.


    Shin knew all of this from his years of experience.


    That''s why what he saw at that moment made him feel so shocked that his worldview was shattered.


    When Jareth used that same weak and lousy spell, a gigantic magic circle appeared, it was supported by two smaller magic circles that appeared right behind it.


    Those magic circles were certainly related to that spell known as weak and pathetic.


    Yet, at this moment, those magic circles appeared so huge that they made the onlookers feel a chill run down their spines.


    The mana fluctuations that were being created by that one spell were so insane that it felt like Shin was standing near a massive tornado made of pure mana.


    The spell that was used as a laughing matter and a joke by other fire magicians turned into a force capable of instilling fear in the heart of a grade 2 mage like Shin.


    This was not a laughing matter; being able to use a basic-level spell to this degree, Jareth''s abilities were truly in a league of their own.


    The Cyclops who were being targeted by that spell immediately felt a sensation that he hadn''t felt ever before; he felt his ''death'' coming at him.


    He wanted to somehow run and dodge this attack; his instincts were telling him to run, and his whole being was terrified by the gigantic magic circle in front of him.


    But it was all too late.


    Although Roar of the Fire Dragon is a very weak spell, it''s a basic-level spell after all, and the time it takes to ''cast'' this spell is minimal.


    Being so weak in damage, you can cast this spell almost instantly.


    Higher-grade magic takes a longer time to cast, just like how Shin needed to buy time to cast his ''frost domain'' spell earlier.


    But lower-grade magic is much simpler and can be used much more easily.


    This fact worked perfectly with Jareth; not only was he able to cast the spell in an instant due to it being so weak, but he was able to enhance it to a level where it had already evolved into a totally different spell.


    Before the Cyclops could even move a single inch, the casting of the spell was already completed.


    A massive head of a dragon made of condensed purple flames appeared out of the gigantic magic circle.


    The dragon''s head was so huge in size that even the large body of the cyclops seemed as small as a rat in front of it.


    The gigantic dragon, made of purple flames, opened its jaws and launched at the Cyclops at a speed so fast that the Cyclops didn''t even have the time to blink even once.


    The dragon directly swallowed the cyclops and his remaining minions in an instant, but it didn''t stop there; the dragonhead continued to move forward with an unstoppable momentum.


    It melted everything that came in its way.


    Rock, sand, dungeon walls¡ªanything that came in its way was instantly melted away and turned into molten lava.


    The dragon''s head pierced right through the whole underground area and directly created a massive underground tunnel.


    After burning right through the underground dungeon, the dragon head finally broke out of the ground from the other edge and still didn''t stop there.


    It rose towards the sky and instantly evaporated the clouds.


    For a moment, it felt like a new sun had appeared in the sky.


    The cloudy sky was instantly cleared of clouds, and finally, the massive draconic roar resounded throughout the area from the flame dragon''s mouth.


    *Roaaarrrrrrrr!*


    It was as if a real dragon was roaring at the heaving and was trying to let the world know of its presence.


    The roar was so loud that it created a massive shockwave.


    The shockwave traveled far and wide, it even broke the glass windows of the houses located on the outskirts of the capital city, even though they were quite a few kilometers away from here.


    (Jareth literally seems to have used a small-scale nuke!)


    After roaring at the sky, the dragon finally dissipated as the mana supply was cut off.


    But the spectacle that it left behind in its path was extremely huge.


    That massive spell not only killed the Cyclops; it also created a massive underground tunnel right through the mountain range. (In the future, this tunnel will be used as a transportation method by civilians¡­)


    The walls of the underground tunnel were dripping lava at the moment and even the ground was turned into a lake of molten lava.


    The area in front of Jareth had already turned into a massive lava field.


    Shin witnessed this spectacle from a very close proximity, today he got to know that the spell, ''Roar of the Dragon'' was not weak, the user of the spell was weak.


    After all, in the hands of Jareth, this seemingly weak spell worked better than most grade-2 spells did.


    All the students were too speechless to say anything at the moment and had no words to describe the scene.


    Standing at the center of all the stares, Jareth''s face remained as cold as ever and there was not a single change in facial expressions.


    This made people misunderstand that Jareth thought of this matter as ''trivial'' or not even worth smiling at, when in fact Jareth was actually quite amazed in his mind.


    Although he was unable to show it on his face, he was actually quite happy at the moment.


    After all, he got a hefty reward for altering the plot.


    [Ding! You altered the plot; you killed the Cyclops in the place of the Principal!]


    [Ding! You got 5000 CP!]


    [Ding! You got a ''Unique card''!]


    ''Lucky! I struck gold this time!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    You may complain that I wrote too many details about this one moment, but you must know that I have been building up the tension for this very moment¡­


    So it was bound to be detailed, don''t blame me for writing it so detailed¡­ take my advice and ''Get gud'' at reading¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who would you choose as your teacher if you could learn magic?


    1. Jareth (You must be out of your mind to choose him¡­)


    2. Shin (He is a good candidate¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 27 Aftermath and undercurrents...

    Seeing the shocking sight of the Cyclops being killed in a single attack and the creation of that underground tunnel in one go, all the students were so shocked that they had no words to speak.Only after a few seconds did everyone come to their senses and instantly all of them started to scream in excitement.


    "Godd*mn!! What was that!?"


    "Sh*t! Should have recorded that! I missed the chance!"


    "Such a massive attack! Is this something humans can do!?"


    All the students were excited at the moment but a look of determination appeared on Mark''s face as he stared at the massive spectacle that Jareth had created.


    ''S-such insane instantaneous firepower¡­''


    Even though Mark himself is a great genius, he doesn''t have the confidence that he would be able to reach such a mastery of magic in just a few years.


    ''It might take at least five years to reach that level¡­''


    Mark was not actually bluffing, he has the greatest talent in this world, obviously, and he has the confidence to reach Jareth''s current level in five or six years.


    ''But such insane mana control¡­ that''s difficult for me too¡­''


    After seeing that Jareth used a low-level spell and still caused this much destruction, Mark came to the logical conclusion that Jareth is extremely good at mana control.


    ''Perhaps¡­ in terms of Mana control¡­ no one is his match¡­''


    Although Mark has never witnessed a Grade-1 magician in a real battle, he guessed that Jareth''s mana control was indeed very high.


    This is the most logical way to describe the reason why Jareth could enhance even a weak spell to this level, but he didn''t know that Jareth wasn''t even a grade-2 magician at all.


    All of this was just a mere bluff! Created by the fa?ade of the enhancement card.


    If not for that enhancement Card, there''s no way that the current Jareth could fire off such insane spells.


    Just when the students were causing a ruckus, Jareth suddenly tilted his head towards them and said in a cold and arrogant voice.


    "What are you causing the ruckus for? Didn''t you all come here to fight monsters and gather actual combat experience?"


    "Go and find some monsters to fight; don''t waste your time standing here with those idiotic looks on your faces¡­."


    Being scolded by Jareth, all of the students didn''t dare to stay there anymore and reluctantly left the area.


    They wanted to congratulate the professors for the win, but Jareth''s overwhelming glare made them retreat.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth Cast the basic float magic on Allen and Airin and sent them back to the first floor too.


    "You two have more talent than the other children¡­ don''t waste it by standing here with that dumb look¡­ go and learn¡­"


    ''Ugh, I wanted to use kinder words to make the children leave, but this d*mn mouth of mine never agrees with me¡­ tch!''


    Once all the students had left, Shin didn''t put up the tough face anymore and directly slumped down on the ground like a dead log.


    He didn''t even bother with cleaning the ground of dust and directly lay flat.


    "Ugh¡­ finally I can lay down¡­"


    Shin had a reputation as a Grade-2 mage, he didn''t dare rest in front of the students; otherwise, he would have appeared weak.


    But now that they were gone, he didn''t care so much.


    A frown appeared on Jareth''s face as he saw Shin dirtying his clothes like that.


    "Tch! The heir of the Isaz household doesn''t even know basic hygiene¡­"


    Blood veins appeared over Shin''s face as Jareth''s words instantly angered him.


    "Oh, excuse me! I am a genuine noble, you know! It''s just I am out of mana right now!"


    "Hmph, it''s your own carelessness that you ended up exhausting your mana, even low-level mages know that they should carry mana potions with them, if you had taken precautions, this wouldn''t have happened¡­"


    While saying that, Jareth walked over to a nearby boulder and cast:


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    Only after cleaning the boulder did Jareth sit on it.


    "Even though you used such strong magic¡­Do you still have mana to be casting spells so casually? Just how big are your mana reserves¡­"


    A confused look appeared on Shin''s face as he questioned Jareth''s mana capacity.


    "Well, I did deplete a lot of mana after using that spell¡­"


    "Like¡­ how much?"


    "Hmm, around two percent, I guess¡­."


    Shin''s eyes widened in sheer shock at Jareth''s answer.


    "F*cking bullsh*t! You are a walking mana container!!"


    Actually, Jareth wasn''t wrong when he said he used only two percent mana, it''s just that he used the amount of mana that was needed to cast that weak spell, the rest was all done by the enhancement card and grimoire.


    So from Jareth''s perspective, he didn''t even use five percent of his total mana to use that spell.


    But Shin misunderstood Jareth''s statement in a different way.


    He now believes that Jareth''s mana reserve so freaking big that it doesn''t get empty even after casting such a massive spell.


    "By the way, how did you make that ''weak'' spell into so strong¡­ Is your mana control that high?" (Shin)


    "Hmm, well, something like that¡­ it''s just I have practiced that spell a lot these few days so it became stronger over time¡­"


    Jareth wasn''t lying at all! He has been practicing this spell since he received the fire magic knowledge from the memories of the original Jareth.


    The reason why he was practicing this one particular spell was because this one was the easiest to learn among the other grade-5 spells.


    But Shin totally misunderstood Jareth''s words


    ''He is saying that he has practiced this spell a lot¡­ does that mean he has been working on it for quite a few years!? Such dedication!''


    Shin thought that Jareth had been working hard to enhance this one spell for years, otherwise, how come it became so profound and strong?


    As the old saying goes: Fear not the man who has learned thousands of techniques, but fear the man who has learned the same technique thousands of times.


    Thinking this far, Shin suddenly said in a solemn voice.


    "Sigh~ I acknowledge it, Jareth Blaze¡­ You are indeed a man¡­"


    Hearing Shin''s words, a strange look appeared on Jareth''s face as he said: sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You figured that out just now? Did you not used to think of me as a man before?"


    "Ahem! Cough! Cough! I-I didn''t mean it like that! I was saying that you are a real man! I mean you have the courage of a real man!


    Cough! I-"


    "Tch! Just stay silent, you are causing me headaches, I don''t want to hear your annoying voice anymore!"


    Jareth simply got up and left the area, leaving the troubled Shin behind directly.


    A complicated look appeared over Shin''s face as he saw Jareth''s fading back.


    "ugh! So embarrassing! I totally ruined my image¡­"


    ...


    A far away mountaintop.


    Two people stood wearing strange black gas masks at the top of the mountain.


    One of them glanced at his hand and noticed that the grey-colored crystal in his hand had shattered.


    "The Cyclops got killed¡­"


    Hearing the man''s words, the other person said in a surprised tone.


    "Didn''t you say it had hyperregeneration? How did it get killed so fast?"


    "I don''t know¡­ but the crystal broke apart in one go¡­ it must have been an instantaneous attack¡­"


    *ROOOOAARRR*


    Just when the two of them were confused, a massive fire dragon head made of condensed purple flames appeared in the distant sky; its roar was so strong that it even reached their ears from so far away.


    "Those purple flames¡­"


    "I see, it must be the work of that guy again, tch!"


    "What do we do now¡­ that plan has failed¡­"


    "Should we go and confront them ourselves?"


    A strange look appeared on the other person''s face under the mask after hearing that question.


    "You want to confront a guy who killed those Cyclops in one attack? Are you out of your mind?"


    The other person also hesitated at this moment.


    "Let''s retreat for now and ask Boss for further instructions¡­"


    "Y-yeah¡­"


    The two of them glanced at the fading fire dragon for a few seconds and finally retreated.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems the matter of that Cyclops was not really that simple there are other behind-the-scenes conspiracies at play¡­


    Question of the day.


    If you were in the shoes of these two villains, what would you have done?


    1. Confront Jareth directly.


    2. Do a tactical retreat.


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 28 Jareth, the Menace...

    The rest of the dungeon exploring went uneventfully and night came before the students realized.Although their first time in real combat was difficult and rough, being able to witness two grade-2 Mages in battle was already a great fortune for them.


    After Jareth defeated the Cyclops in one attack, all the fire magicians among the students had their egos inflated by a lot, they took pride in the fact that the element they had had such lethality.


    Jareth seemed like a walking inspiration tome for the fire magicians.


    All the other elemental-type magicians were quite jealous of them at this moment.


    But not all were that happy.


    One particular student was feeling like her worldview had been shattered.


    ''H-how did he make that useless spell so powerful!?''


    As a fire-type magic prodigy herself, Aiza knows that what Jareth did was certainly not a small feat.


    He literally made a spell for lighting torches into a spell that was strong enough to carve out a kilometers-long underground tunnel.


    Moreover, the walls of a dungeon are not weak; they are all magically enhanced walls, Being able to damage the dungeon to such an extent was an amazing show of raw strength.


    If not for the fact the dungeon boss''s room was not in the direct line of Jareth''s attack, this dungeon would have been conquered by his in an instant.


    ''Father and everyone in the family are wrong about him¡­. He is very strong¡­ strong enough to be able to contend with father too¡­''


    Aiza had subtle thoughts that her father might not be as strong as Jareth, but she suppressed those thoughts firmly and didn''t dare to think in that direction.


    After all, she has seen her father as her ultimate goal, but Jareth''s performance was just too good and it was enough to shake her mind by a lot.


    Just when she was busy in her thoughts, she heard footsteps and when she glanced behind her, Jareth walked out of one of the passages of the Dungeon.


    Aiza was momentarily surprised by his sudden appearance, but she didn''t panic. Her title as a genius was not for show; she has always been calm-minded most of the time.


    ''Is he going to mock me now?'' sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although she doesn''t want to get mocked by him, she also knows that he is a powerful wizard, and talking back to him may cause her death in the very next instant.


    Moreover, Aiza has no idea if even her father would be able to contend with Jareth now, so she can''t even use his name as a threat either.


    But contrary to what she was thinking, Jareth barely looked at her for a few seconds and then continued on his way as if he wasn''t even acknowledging her existence.


    ''Is he trying to show that I am not worth his attention?''


    Aiza felt humiliated by Jareth''s ignorance of her presence, but she didn''t dare show any dissatisfaction to him; she had just seen what happened to the Cyclops a few hours ago.


    ''But I need to ask him at least one thing¡­''


    A look of determination appeared in her eyes; she gritted her teeth and spoke in a quiet and submissive tone.


    "D-do you hate father and me?"


    She asked that question in a very low tone, but in this silent underground dungeon, it was quite easy to hear her question even if it was said in a quiet tone.


    Jareth, who was just about to leave this corridor, stopped at the end all of a sudden after hearing the question.


    He turned back towards Aiza and said in his usual tone:


    "Obviously¡­ that father of yours killed my mother; you expect me to love him or something?"


    ''W-what!? My mouth is talking on its own!?''


    Being stared at by Jareth''s cold eyes, Aiza shivered constantly.


    "I hate that man, as for you¡­. I have nothing to do with you¡­ Besides, this matter is between me and that guy; you are still a kid and you don''t need to get entangled in the matter of adults¡­"


    Jareth stopped staring at her and turned his back again.


    "Aside from that, you have good talent¡­ you are the greatest talent when it comes to fire magic, so don''t waste your time on these messy family conflicts¡­ getting involved in this is just pure waste of time for you¡­"


    "Keep improving; you might surpass me soon¡­"


    After saying this, Jareth left the place, leaving the trembling Aiza behind.


    He didn''t care what she was thinking about him, but he had nothing to do with her anyway.


    ''In the first place, the enmity of this body is with her father¡­ there''s no need to get children involved in this; otherwise, won''t I just be doing the same as he did to Jareth¡­''


    Aiza is one of the important heroines in Allen''s harem; she has a bright future ahead.


    She looks cold from the outside but she will save thousands of lives in the future. The Aiza that Jareth knew from the game''s story is a heroic character who saved many innocent lives.


    ''I think her father is manipulating her thoughts from behind the scenes to make her hate me¡­. But I don''t care about such bullsh*t schemes; once the opportunity arrives, I will kill that guy myself¡­''


    Although Jareth used to be an ordinary guy in his previous life, he has now possessed the body of Jareth Blaze.


    ''The reason why I can''t properly control this body yet might be because of the lingering hatred¡­ I need to fulfill the final wishes of this body to get full control¡­''


    He has contemplated his own strange situation many times, so he has some theories of his own by now, and the most obvious way is to get rid of the residual will of the original Jareth by fulfilling his last wishes.


    ''I am not a pure-hearted good guy in the first place, I have worked with that shady old man for years after all, it doesn''t matter if I have to get rid of this body''s father¡­''


    ''He is a scheming type villain anyway; he is bound to die one day¡­ if not in my hands, then in Allen''s¡­''


    Jareth knew the game''s story and also knew the relationships of characters between each other.


    Being a veteran at that game, he knew that Aiza''s father was a mid-game villain and eventually his schemes gets discovered when he tries to manipulate Aiza into hating Allen.


    His brainwashing techniques are quite good too; he nearly coaxes Aiza into killing Allen, but the plot armor comes to the rescue and helps Allen overcome this challenge.


    Eventually, Aiza develops feelings for Allen due to the fact he helps her get rid of her father''s deadly manipulation.


    ''This time it will be different¡­ I will kill that guy with my own hands¡­I just need an opportunity¡­ hehe''


    Jareth can''t just directly go and wreak havoc in the Blaze mansion in broad daylight after all.


    There needs to be some proper conditions first.


    ''I will need an attack enhancement card, then I will need to lure that guy out of the capital somehow and then I will have to finish his in one blow¡­ getting all conditions right is going to take a lot of time¡­''


    ''As for that little girl, if she got in my way then creating another pile of ashes along with that guy is no big deal for me, hehehe''


    Jareth already has a general outline of how to assassinate him while not getting the attention of the rest of the world.


    As Jareth walked through the dark underground corridors.


    His purple eyes shone in darkness and a devilish grin appeared over his face, making him look even more intimidating than he usually does.


    ''Hehehe, your days are numbered, father¡­.''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s Your beloved author here!


    Sometimes original Jareth''s remnant hatred influences Jareth''s thinking on random occasions, just like how he smiled like a devil and the thought of killing his own father.


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Jareth has the potential to become a great villain?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 29 Frighten others without even knowing it...

    As night fell, Jareth and Shin messaged in the group chat to leave the dungeon. (This world''s technology is advanced enough to have smartphones¡­)All the students left the dungeon one by one.


    Although none were able to reach the boss room of the dungeon, all of the students still had bright smiles on their faces.


    After all, they got to see such a great battle today, they already have enough inspiration to advance further.


    Ignoring the excited looks of the students who were slowly boarding the carriage one by one, Shin said to Jareth in a doubtful tone.


    "I think that Cyclops must have eaten the dungeon core after killing the main boss monster of this dungeon¡­ from the mana detection, I can sense there is no ''dungeon core'' in this dungeon¡­"


    "The core likely got destroyed when you evaporated those cyclops... this dungeon will disappear in a few days now, I guess¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at Shin''s words.


    "It could be possible¡­"


    Shin sighed at bit and continued.


    "Moreover, the information gathering team made a fatal mistake this time; they didn''t properly scout the dungeon, and this dungeon is obviously not a place for newbies to wander around¡­"


    "A cyclops was dwelling here so close to the city¡­ and the academy was also attacked just the other day by wyvern that seemingly appeared out of nowhere¡­all of this is just coincidental to be unrelated¡­"


    "I could be the work of the same organization that carried out the first attack¡­ we need to report this to the principal when we get back¡­"


    A look of contemplation appeared on Jareth''s face at those words.


    "Indeed¡­"


    Jareth already knew from the start that this was not a low-grade dungeon and the information team had made a huge blunder.


    But the reason he didn''t say it out loud was because he wanted to get involved in this event.


    He knew that he could get ''CP'' by eliminating the Cyclops himself and feigning ignorance to the fact that he already knew about everything from the beginning.


    ''The mission was successful in the end anyway, so it''s not a big deal¡­ there were no casualties either¡­''


    The reason why Jareth was so confident that he would win was because he had the attack enhancement card.


    ''If not for that attack enhancement card, I would have rather made some random excuse to abort this mission¡­ I hope I can get one or two more of those cards from the lottery this time¡­''


    ''Although there aren''t going to be any major events in a short amount of time, it''s always good to put some safety measures in place¡­''


    The ''Wyvern'' attack was the main event that Jareth had to survive and this ''Cyclops'' event was more or less forced on him by the principal so it was unexpected.


    But next, the protagonist will be busy in his carefree ''harem-creating slow life'' for a while, so there will not be any major events that involve strong people.


    ''During this time period, I can focus on becoming stronger myself¡­ after all, attack enhancement cards are temporary measures¡­ I can''t continue to rely on this fake strength for my whole life¡­'' (Jareth)


    ''And the first step to my self-improvement is this ''Unique card''¡­''


    Jareth smirked and laughed in his mind as he looked at the card resting in his inventory.


    The card had a golden cover and it radiated golden light from it.


    ''This thing is a rare treasure¡­''


    Just when Jareth was busy staring at his inventory screen in a daze, Shin suddenly called out to him from afar, making him come back to his senses.


    "How long are you going to stand there? All the students have already boarded the carriage!" (Shin)


    After saying that in a loud voice, Shin also entered the carriage.


    Jareth shook his head and decided to deal with this card later. He also boarded the carriage.


    After Jareth boarded the carriage, the gate closed and it flew away at quite a fast speed.


    *step**step*


    A man wearing a pitch-black cloak appeared at the place where Jareth stood just a while ago.


    Although his face was covered with a black mask, his eyes were carrying a great shock in them.


    "H-he noticed my presence!?"


    The man, who obviously looked like an assassin, was extremely shocked by Jareth at this moment.


    ''Just now he stared at me with such cold eyes¡­ those were the eyes of a cold-blooded murderer!''


    The assassin misunderstood Jareth''s gesture of staring at his inventory.


    The system panel of Jareth is invisible to others, so from the assassin''s perspective, Jareth was looking right into his eyes and staring at him with a cold look in his eyes.


    ''W-when did he notice my presence, I wonder? Did he know that I was following them from the start?''


    Indeed, the assassin is a grade-2 individual himself and is a secret subordinate of the principal himself.


    He works for the principal and was sent by him to keep an eye on the students.


    (You really thought the principal would leave the students in the hands of two guys who bicker with each other endlessly? If even one of the students got injured, the principal''s reputation would be tarnished¡­)


    The assassin had no bad intentions for the students, but he was ordered to not interfere with the situation as long as it didn''t become fatal; that''s why he didn''t show up until the end.


    He was going to appear when Shin was in trouble, but then Jareth came and killed off the Cyclops in one go so he didn''t show up at all.


    ''Good thing I was keeping my killing intent in check¡­ phew~ I could have died today¡­''


    The assassin felt a chill run down his spine thinking about how Jareth gave him a death stare just now.


    He saw Jareth kill that Cyclops in one go and being stared down by such a person is like a predator looking at its prey.


    ''If I had shown the tiniest bit of killing intent, he would have killed right then and there¡­ moreover, he must have stared at me just now to warn me from coming near the students¡­''


    From the assassin''s point of view, Jareth likely doesn''t know that he is an ally, because the principal didn''t tell him about it.


    ''It''s good that I didn''t mess up the mission¡­I got a proper recording, that''s already good enough¡­''


    Yes, the assassin recorded everything from the start to the end with a hidden camera.


    (The principal asked him to make a recording of how Shin and Jareth will handle this mission¡­ the principal knew about the Cyclops beforehand¡­)


    ¡­


    Hotel ''Outer Core'', Parking area.


    Unaware of the assassin''s presence and all the background schemes going on.


    Jareth returned with the students to the hotel, the massive carriage landed in the designated parking area and all the students got to stay at the hotel one more night to rest.


    Smiles hung over the faces of the children as they got to experience living in this luxury hotel for one more night.


    Jareth actually was going to make the students rush back to the university, but Shin said that it was okay to delay a bit and Jareth had to abandon his idea as all the students were in Shin''s favor.


    ''I can''t wait to go back and enjoy the rewards of this mission, it''s gonna be epic!''


    Jareth didn''t want to use the lottery system and the ''Unique card'' in this hotel.


    The room given to him didn''t have a training area suitable for a mage, so he couldn''t risk it.


    If something went wrong and he caused damage to the hotel building, it would cause unnecessary trouble.


    Although the university will be the one paying for the damage, Jareth didn''t want to get stared at by that ''principal'' so he just chose the safer option.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Things are getting mysterious and exciting let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Who would you rather be stared down at by?


    1. Jareth (It will feel like a predator is looking at you¡­)


    2. The principal. (It will feel like he can see through your ''existence'' and everything instantly¡­ It''s a very unpleasant feeling¡­)


    3. Shin (It will feel like a gentle-natured person is staring at your incompetent self with benevolence¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 30 False Dome and a new character?

    Far away from the capital city ''Delta'', a small town is located behind a large mountain.Surrounded by thick forests and with only a small road leading to the other cities.


    This small town is indeed very remote and unpopulated.


    Most of the young people from this town already have gone to larger cities for better opportunities.


    Near the outskirts of this small town is located an abandoned building.


    None of the neighbors has seen anyone visiting this abandoned property for decades.


    Yet, there are some rumors that some shady people come to this house in the dead of the night.


    The neighbors maintain their distance from this abandoned building as if it''s ''haunted'' or something.


    Their speculation isn''t exactly wrong either.


    Even today, two individuals appeared near the abandoned building in the middle of the night.


    They both were wearing pitch-black clothes and their faces were covered with weird-looking gas masks.


    Both of them silently walked inside the abandoned building and found their way inside the hidden basement.


    One of them slightly cut his finger and dropped his blood on the ground.


    A magic circle lit up instantly as if it had recognized the blood.


    Both of them were instantly teleported away.


    When the two of them opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing in an underground cave somewhere.


    After entering the cave, one of them relaxed his shoulders and said in a relieved tone:


    "Phew~ finally made it here safely; fortunately, there was no one tailing us this time¡­"


    The other person glanced at the relaxed guy and said in a solemn tone.


    "This is not the time to relax¡­ we still have to report to the boss about our failure¡­ we both are going to likely get some heavy punishment, you know¡­"


    Hearing the word ''punishment'', the other guy felt depressed all of a sudden and said in an annoyed tone:


    "Did you have to make me remember that, ugh¡­ boss is going to beat the sh*t out of us for failing this mission¡­"


    "Yeah, moreover, we didn''t succeed in killing even a single student¡­ this was our second failure¡­"


    (The wyvern attack and Cyclops attack both were controlled by these two guys on the order of their boss.)


    Although they both knew that they had messed up this time, they didn''t dare run away; otherwise, the organization that they worked for would hunt them down to the end of the world.


    "Let''s go, we shouldn''t keep the boss waiting for long, he might have already sensed our presence by now¡­"


    Both of them slowly walked through the dark cave and made their way deeper into the cave.


    The cave was so dark and eerily silent that even the voice of their footsteps seemed extremely loud at this moment.


    But they both didn''t mind it much, as they had been used to it by now.


    After a minute of walking, they both arrived at a massive hall.


    A gigantic statue of a ''Demon'' could be seen standing right at the center of the hall and hundreds of benches were placed all around the hall.


    When the two of them saw the idol of the demon, they both prayed in a devout voice.


    "May the great demon god Azaroth, bless us sinful lambs!" (Both said in a united tone.)


    When the two of them prayed as such, a black mist appeared on one of the benches located in the front row.


    The two of them looked at the black mist and saluted.


    "Greetings, Boss!"


    The black mist condensed a bit and took a humanoid shape. It seemed that someone strong was using this black mist to manifest here without using his true body to arrive at the place himself.


    An old and majestic voice came from the black mist.


    "You failed?"


    Hearing the voice, both of the masked individuals fell on their knees and hurriedly begged for mercy.


    "Boss, we had no idea about that professor being so strong! His fire magic was extremely strong! He dealt with both of the monsters that you arranged very easily¡­"


    "Yes, boss! If not for that guy, we could have definitely won!"


    Hearing the two making excuses, the other party didn''t say anything for a few seconds. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The silence in the hall made it difficult to breathe for the two masked persons.


    They could feel their foreheads dripping with sweat due to fear.


    Just when the two of them were getting more and more nervous, the other party replied:


    "I already expected that you would fail¡­ but I was expecting that ''old fellow'' to deal with those two monsters, but it turns out there are stronger individuals in that university than it meets the eye¡­"


    (He is referring to the principal with ''Old fellow''¡­)


    "But I guess you two didn''t exactly fail¡­ after all, you were able to figure out the depth of power that the university holds¡­"


    "Finding that there are more strong individuals who can take care of grade-2 monsters by themselves is already a big discovery¡­ if not for these two attacks, we would have never known about that uncertain factor¡­"


    "With more information on our hands, we can make a more sophisticated plan¡­"


    "In the first place, time is on our side; the life of that ''Old Fellow'' is slowly running out and he doesn''t have many years left under his belt¡­"


    "Besides, I have now recovered around thirty percent of my power; soon I will be able to summon more monsters¡­"


    Hearing the boss say those words, the two masked individuals felt happy in their minds.


    Just when they thought that they had survived and were forgiven, the other party instantly broke their smiles.


    "All things aside, you two certainly have failed twice, so you two must be punished properly¡­"


    Before the two of them could beg for mercy, dark mist enveloped them both in their grasps.


    They flailed their hands and legs but were unable to do anything. Even their flow of mana was forcefully stopped.


    *Aaaaggh! Aaarghh*


    Screams of pain rang out throughout the hall as the black mist slowly penetrated their skin and started to destroy their body from the inside out.


    The whole process was extremely painful; it was just as painful as being tortured intensely.


    The screams of pain and fear rang out through the hall, but the mist figure didn''t stop and smiled at this show instead.


    The eyes of the demon idol shone, and its face moved on its own. A massive sadistic grin appeared on the demon idol as it stared at the two screaming and suffering people nearby.


    Before long, the bodies of the two masked people burst apart into blood mist, and their internal organs were splattered all over the ground.


    This scene may look horrible to faint-hearted people, but for the ''boss'', it was just a normal occurrence.


    The eyes of the demon idol shone bright red all of a sudden, and all the blood that was splattered on the ground started to turn float and fly towards the idol.


    The blood stuck to the demon idol and got absorbed instantly.


    The demon idol smiled as if it were satisfied with the sacrifice.


    And just like that, the souls of two grade-3 summoning mages were absorbed by the demon idol of Azaroth.


    Seeing that the idol returned to normal after absorbing those two souls, the black mist also dissipated and the hall returned back to its original state as if nothing had happened there.


    ¡­


    Ivan''s higher arcane university.


    In the principal''s office.


    The principal looked at the young girl, who suddenly appeared with a letter.


    "hmm, so you are saying you were ordered by your father to enroll in the university¡­ but aren''t you a month late now?"


    "I have the recommendation seal of the duke¡­"


    The principal shook his head and said,


    "Well, if you have the seal, then I can approve your admission¡­ hmm, you will be considered a transfer student, I guess¡­"


    "Understood."


    The girl''s dark black hair swayed in the air as she exited the principal''s office after getting the approval.


    A smirk appeared on her face as she stood outside the principal''s office.


    ''I am finally here¡­ hehehe''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that Jareth has entered the eyes of a troublesome organization.


    Also, a new character seems to have appeared!


    Question of the day.


    Who could this young girl be, Any guesses?


    (Tell me in the comments!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 31 Unique Card and the strings of destiny!

    ''Unique Card'', among the players of the game, is one of the most favored items of the game.Even speed runners and hardcore type players have acknowledged the significance of this item.


    Considering it from the perspective of a ''Gacha'' game.


    If the attack enhancement card (advanced) can be considered a ''four-star'' item, then this ''Unique Card'' can be considered a ''five-star'' gold item whose probability of appearing is barely 0.001%.


    Such a rare item is obviously not ordinary.


    This item has many restrictions on it.


    You can''t use it during a fight; you can''t use it unless you are in a perfectly calm state.


    You can''t use it on a mentally affected character; neither can you use it on a cursed character nor on a De-buffed character.


    Your character must be in a perfect state to use this card.


    Even though these are considered minor restrictions, the major restriction is that you can''t use this card on the same character more than once.


    This means this card is a ''one-time use'' item and if you mess up, then say goodbye to it till you get your hands on it again.


    ''But even after all these restrictions, this card is worth the trouble¡­''


    Sitting in his dorm''s training room, Jareth was smiling in his mind happily while looking at the card sitting in his inventory.


    There are some items in the game that can literally defy the game mechanics and change a useless character into the most broken and overpowered type of character.


    This unique card is one of those heaven-defying items.


    The actual thing that this card does is very simple, actually.


    [Unique Card]


    [Item Description: Created from the condensation of space-time and the blessings of the world itself, this item can manifest the phenomena freely and change the destined fates of the user.]


    [Item Effects: Generates a random ''Unique Talent'' for the User by changing the threads of fate and destiny¡­]


    [Ding! Severe Warning! Using this item can affect the threads of fate! It may create unexpected changes in the world''s destined fate.]


    [Tempering with the strings of fate will affect many unrelated destinies, be careful to use this item with extreme caution!]


    ''Yes! This is the exact same thing!''


    Obtained at the very end stages of the game, this card can change a character''s talent.


    You can literally change the destiny of a character and give them broken and overpowered talents with this item.


    There are literally no other items in this world that can change the destined fate and grant talents to an individual.


    All beings that are born in this world are either born with some kind of talent or they don''t have any talent.


    But there''s no way to change someone''s talent.


    You can''t just go and tell someone to ''Git gud'' and they will become strong from just that. That''s not how this world works.


    Everyone''s talent is determined from birth, and changing it is impossible.


    The only way for the untalented to get strong is by sheer hard work and effort, but this one card can change it all.


    This unique card is completely random; it can give you a very useless talent or it can also give you a much overpowered talent; it all depends on luck.


    Moreover, you have just one chance in this matter, you can''t use it again on the same character, and if the character has a useless talent, then it would be a waste of such a great opportunity.


    Several casual gamers in Jareth''s past life literally ruined their carefully built characters by giving them counterproductive talents due to this unique card.


    Although the outcome of using this card is uncertain, it can definitely be considered a broken item in the game.


    ''One of the barely known streamers got the talent to ''Manipulate space-time'' to their will and that streamer became famous overnight¡­''


    This unique card is a one-way ticket to heaven and hell, and the result is completely random.


    Thinking about all of this, Jareth slowly calmed down his beating heart and thought to himself. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''I never expected I would be able to get such a rare item right at the start¡­''


    Jareth was expecting a hefty amount of CP, but he never expected that such a rare item would come out after defeating those Cyclops.


    ''Well, that Cyclops was indeed a grade-2 monster after all, and I killed it in one shot while still being a Grade-5¡­ the reward might have been improved due to the fact that I achieved a cross-realm kill¡­''


    Although Jareth had used an attack enhancement card to strengthen his attack, he still defeated a monster that was three grades higher in realm than him.


    This was definitely a great achievement.


    Perhaps that''s why Jareth got this bonus reward along with the CP.


    Jareth gulped his saliva and prayed to heaven for luck.


    ''oh god of thieves and gamblers, bless me with the luck of a lucky gambling god! I Will sacrifice more monsters to you from now on in return!''


    After saying his devout prayers, Jareth finally decided to use the card.


    [Ding! Severe warning! The changes done by this card in the strings of destiny will be very high!]


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Unique Card''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    In an instant, as if the world had stopped from Jareth''s perspective, everything felt dreamy and unreal.


    ''Ah, yes, I have to see this cutscene too...''


    Jareth suddenly found himself standing in a white room.


    The room was so vast that Jareth couldn''t see the end of it and everything around him looked white and ethereal.


    Jareth started to see several red-colored strings attached to his body.


    ''Are these the threads of fate?''


    Jareth wanted to move and touch them, but he couldn''t move anything in his body except for his eyeballs.


    He suddenly noticed that out of the many threads of fate that were attached to him started to tremble and change their positions suddenly.


    Some threads got intertwined and some directly broke off from his body.


    Jareth didn''t know the meaning and significance of all this so he didn''t mind it too much.


    Then all of a sudden, an extremely thick red thread appeared out of nowhere and attached itself to his chest.


    The tread seemed a hundred times thicker and stronger than the other ones and it gave off a majestic aura from Jareth''s point of view.


    At this moment, Jareth knew he had succeeded; the appearance of such a strong string of fate was a great success.


    Jareth finally came back from the dreamy state and got control of his body back.


    The cutscene seems to have ended all the visions that he was receiving and disappeared into nothingness as if they never existed from the beginning.


    ''Sigh, although this cutscene didn''t seem to hold much importance when I saw it in-game, now that I have personally come to this world, I don''t know what it will change¡­''


    There was no official information in the game about this strange phenomenon, and even the game staff didn''t clearly talk about this strange cutscene, so Jareth had no idea what significance it held.


    ''Nonetheless, I seem to have already gotten a desirable outcome, it seems¡­''


    [Ding! You have successfully altered the strings of fate and destiny!]


    [Ding! A vast ripple has happened in the web of fate due to this disturbance!]


    [Ding! Congratulations, You have received a new talent, ''Mana Singularity''!]


    [Ding! Due to ''Mana Singularity'', your skill ''Mana Control'' has been eliminated!]


    In an instant, Jareth could feel subtle changes happen in his body; he could perceive mana on an extremely minute level.


    His control over mana seemed to have improved in an instant.


    [Unique Talent: Mana Singularity]


    [Talent Description: You are one with mana, no one can control mana better than you, your mana control will be so efficient and natural as if it were obeying your every command.


    You are loved by mana and even if you stand in a place filled with ''chaotic mana'', it won''t affect you either.]


    [Talent Effect: Improves mana control to an Extreme level¡­]


    ''Yes! Finally got something of my own!''


    Until now, Jareth was surviving off temporary strength, but now he can see his path of improvement.


    With this talent, he can certainly achieve greater heights.


    Jareth could feel that his body seemed to have become extremely comfortable with mana.


    ''At this point, it''s an insult to call it mana control anymore¡­ it''s basically ''Mana command'' at this point! As expected of one of the most favored talents in the game!''


    ''Mana singularity'' is a talent that can be considered equal to ''Sword Intent'' for mages.


    All Mages in the world want to achieve ''Singularity'' with mana.


    Everyone wants to reach this near-impossible state, but except for a few people recorded in the long annals of history, none has been able to achieve this insane feat.


    A look of confidence appeared in Jareth''s eyes, he now has strength and a path to become strong.


    With this talent in possession, a determined look appeared in Jareth''s Eyes.


    ''I can become strong too¡­''


    Now Jareth can finally see the hope of survival in this cruel world.

 Chapter 32 Misunderstandings continues...

    Student Dormitory, Mark''s Room.Just when Mark got out of the shower, he saw interesting news on the TV. (He left his TV on before going to shower¡­)


    "Breaking News! We have discovered a new video from our sources concerning the sudden appearance of that flame dragon outside the capital city!"


    Hundreds of people saw the sudden appearance of that massive flame dragon, and some even recorded it with their smartphones.


    The windows of houses that were located near the outskirts of the city were even broken by the shockwave produced by that dragon''s roar; thus, many people found out about this matter.


    Eventually, people posted the videos and captured them on the internet, and the news spread like wildfire, eventually reaching the media too.


    "Our sources have been investigating this strange incident for the whole night, and finally we, the principal of Ivan''s higher arcane university, have come forward to take responsibility for this matter!"


    Mark sat on the sofa and started to dry his hair with the hair dryer. The scene on the TV shifted from the new anchor to a press conference.


    Principal Nathan seems to have held a press conference all of a sudden to answer the question of the general populace.


    "Everyone, the damage caused to the property of people due to the shockwave of that attack will be covered by the government itself; you don''t need to worry about the compensation¡­"


    "Yesterday, we sent some of our students on a field trip; the students visited a dungeon while being accompanied by two of our most competent professors, Shin Isaz and Jareth Blaze¡­"


    "The dragon you noticed is just a spell cast by Professor Jareth to defeat a Cyclops which suddenly appeared in the dungeon¡­"


    "There have been no casualties due to the amazing capabilities of our professors; they defeated that grade-2 monster before it could do any harm to the students, We assure all the parents that our university places great importance on the safety of the children¡­"


    "Thus, there is no need to worry about this minor inconvenience¡­"


    After saying that, Nathan left the press conference and the scene shifted back to the new Anchor.


    "The principal has come forward to give a proper explanation for the event himself and he also told the parents to rest assured¡­"


    "The university sent two grade-2 sorcerers just to accompany the students on a field trip; this shows their sincerity and willingness to hold utmost safety measures for the students¡­"


    "We also found a video of Professor Jareth dealing with the said Cyclops¡­"


    The scene shifted, and a massive and intimidating Cyclops appeared on the TV. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Just by looking at it, people can feel how strong that monster is. Shin and Jareth looked like ants while standing in front of that gigantic beast.


    But to people''s shock, Jareth killed that massive beast in a single attack, not even bones and ashes were left of the giant Cyclops after that one attack.


    That Cyclops was not a random mob, it was a genuine grade-2 monster and Jareth killed it in one attack.


    People all over the human empire were dumbfounded after seeing this news and the social media seemed to have suddenly caught up by a storm of people who were cheering Jareth for his feats.


    ''#Jareththegoat'' reached trending on various social media platforms.


    People seem to have gone crazy after seeing Jareth kill that Cyclops and his reputation skyrocketed overnight.


    Now Jareth has a whole fan club of his own all of a sudden.


    Mark took his phone and checked the trending posts on a social media platform


    ''This is too hilarious¡­''


    Mark noticed that people photo-shopped Jareth''s image and showed him standing on a throne, a soldier asked him:


    "Lord Jareth, a dragon has appeared outside!"


    And Jareth replied with his usual cold tone:


    "Ah, that must be my pet dragon, go tell him to p*ss off from here or I will eat him for breakfast today!"


    Then the ''Sigma'' music started to play in the background and Jareth was shown as a muscular macho man posing like an aesthetic bodybuilder.


    The memes were endless and seemed so hilarious to watch.


    Then there were memes where Jareth was photo-shopped to be saying: "Low on protein? Eat a Cyclops every day! It has a million-gram protein!"


    Seeing all these hilarious and funny posts, Mark couldn''t hold back his laughter and he laughed till his stomach started to hurt.


    He immediately joined the fan club called ''Professor''s Pet Dragons'' to see even more of such bizarre memes.


    Some memes were good some were weird like the one infamous paragraph meme of: ''All night all day from the bathroom to the kitchen¡­''


    All in all, Jareth''s popularity soared in a matter of hours and he became famous overnight.


    Mark closed his phone and wiped the tears from his eyes that appeared due to laughing too much at all those funny memes.


    Mark got up and put on his student uniform, then he glanced at his wand for a second.


    ''Will I reach his level someday? I think it might not be a bad idea to consider him as my goal for now¡­''


    A determined look appeared in Mark''s eyes as he thought about the pure display of power that Jareth showed him yesterday.


    Mark has already considered Jareth as his goal and he now looks up to Jareth as a symbol of motivation.


    He was born into the royal family so he didn''t have much interaction with his father and mother, that''s why he doesn''t have much of an attachment to them.


    Unlike other children who see their parents as their symbol of motivation, Mark doesn''t have such thoughts.


    He is confident in his talent and knows that he can surpass every single mage in this world in the future, thus he didn''t acknowledge anyone better than him.


    But now that he has seen Jareth''s insane capabilities directly from his own eyes, he seems to have taken Jareth as his symbol of inspiration and motivation.


    He has started thinking that a cold heart like Jareth''s is crucial for a mage and Jareth seems more like a genuine mage to him than any others.


    ''I will follow in his footsteps and surpass him in the future¡­ then I will be able to thank him for saving my life back there¡­''


    Mark also has his own pride as a genius, thus he can''t just go and thank anyone at random.


    Yesterday, Jareth saved the lives of all the students including Mark, thus Mark thinks he should at least say thanks when the opportunity arises.


    (Don''t think too much, he is basically a ''Tsundere'' who doesn''t know how to express himself¡­)


    After getting ready, Mark exited his room and started to walk toward the classroom with slow and steady footsteps.


    ''Shall I also post some interesting posts in the fan club? It would be so interesting¡­''


    Mark had seen everything happen right in front of his eyes, thus he had more insider information about the event than anyone else in the fan club.


    Just when Mark was passing through a small path that leads to the university''s main building a familiar person came into his view.


    He noticed a girl with dark Black hair and pupils standing under the shade of a large tree.


    Her hair swayed with the air, and a cool and calm expression hung over her beautiful face.


    She seemed to look like an ordinary university student, but Mark knew all too well who this girl was.


    "What the!?"


    The Girl immediately noticed Mark''s presence due to his sudden bewildered voice.


    She glanced at him and her expression turned into a crazy one instantly.


    A creepy smile hung over her face and her eyes went hollow losing all light in them.


    The aura around her became cold and crazy in an instant.


    A sword made of condensed shadows appeared in her small beautiful hand as she rushed towards Mark with a crazed expression.


    "Found you! You can''t run from me anymore!"


    "F*ck! How did this crazy woman appear here!?"


    Before Mark could cast a spell, the girl immediately pounced on him and pushed him back with a strong force.


    Mark stumbled and fell to the ground.


    The girl didn''t stop and directly sat on his stomach to restrain him, she placed her sword right beside his neck and smiled with a creepy smile.


    "I finally found you my darling!"


    "Ugh, what are you doing you crazy!?"


    "It''s all your fault, why didn''t you tell me you were going to live in the university all year long!? I had to go through so much trouble to come here you know¡­"


    "But today I finally got my hands on you again, let''s get married right here!"


    *Step*


    Just when the two young kids were having a ''peaceful'' marriage talk, heavy footsteps appeared.


    Both of them stopped and looked at the sudden appearance of the other person on the scene.


    It was none other than Jareth himself! His expression was just as cold as always.


    Mark immediately felt relieved seeing that Jareth was here.


    "Professor! Save me from this crazy woman!"


    Hearing Mark''s plea for help, Jareth glanced at the girl''s face and seemed to have been lost in thought for a moment.


    His gaze went over the two young people who were so close to each other and he shook his head.


    "Cough! Don''t mind me, I was just passing by¡­ continue¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth started leaving.


    Mark also heard him say in a quiet voice:


    "Young people these days¡­ they do such bold things in broad daylight¡­"


    Mark felt like Jareth severely mistook him for some reason and his expression turned into helplessness.


    ''My image in the mind of my idol has been destroyed, ugh¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that our boy Mark has a ''Yandere'' girl stalking him.


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to have a Yandere girlfriend?


    1. Yes (I am mentally unstable¡­)


    2. What? (Girlfriend? What''s that? Never heard of it¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 33 Mark: Peaceful life? Whats that?

    While walking over to the classroom, Jareth''s face remained as cold as always.None of the passing-by students noticed anything different with him, in fact, his aura seemed to have vanished in thin air, and only those who ''saw'' him noticed his presence.


    Others didn''t even notice him passing by.


    This was all thanks to his newly gained talent, ''Mana singularity''.


    An individual''s aura is a result of the disturbance their mana causes in the atmosphere.


    Usually strong wizards suppress their aura by stopping the mana in their body to influence the surroundings around them.


    The control over aura differs among everyone, and it depends on the individual''s mana control ability.


    But with this talent, Jareth''s control over mana has reached an extreme state.


    He can literally command mana to stop influencing the mana in the atmosphere and this way he can conceal his aura as easily as breathing.


    If not for the fact that his face is now famous all over the world and even little children know him, other''s might even mistake him for an ordinary person.


    ''Phew, this talent is handy in many ways; I easily avoided getting surrounded by the excited students who wanted to know more about me¡­''


    Jareth''s mouth doesn''t know how to speak kind words, if those students block his way, he will likely say harsh things and that would make him look too rude, thus, the best way is to simply avoid such situations.


    As they say: The best way to avoid trouble is to not get involved in the event in the first place!


    While walking, several thoughts came to his mind.


    ''But still, to think that crazy girl will transfer to the university so early¡­ wasn''t she supposed to arrive after the mid-term exams or something¡­''


    ''Did I cause this butterfly effect somehow?''


    Jareth knew that with him surviving, the story of the game would start to change in subtle ways and the butterfly effect would definitely happen eventually.


    *DING* S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth glanced at his smartphone and the principal seemed to have sent a message to him.


    Jareth opened the message:


    [Message From: ''Old fossil''] (Yeah, he changed the principal''s contact name to ''Old Fossil'']


    [A new student will be transferred to your class today, I have sent the details in this document below¡­]


    [Click to open ''doc.69'']


    ''Here it is¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head and sent ''Okay'' as a reply, then he closed his phone and placed it back in the pocket of his coat.


    ''I already know everything I need to know about that character, so don''t really need that document to figure things out¡­''


    Although there have been some slight changes in the story due to his activities, he isn''t too worried about all this now.


    ''Now that I have a way to become strong myself¡­ I don''t need to worry about these small changes¡­''


    ''I just need to steal a few more chances from the protagonist and things will be in my favor¡­''


    Jareth felt no guilt while plotting to steal the chances of the protagonist.


    He knew that as the protagonist was a son of the heavens blessed by insane luck, he would certainly get some other chances.


    The world revolves around the protagonist and can produce any number of opportunities for him, so there''s no need to stay weak and watch as others try to kill you.


    Jareth knew how weak he was at the moment.


    Any random thing can easily blow his cover and the result will be his death.


    Thus, instead of thinking about what the consequences will be for stealing the chances of the protagonist, it''s better to figure out a way to survive.


    After all, who doesn''t want to live longer, No one wants to sacrifice their life like a hero for the sake of others.


    Only someone selfless can do something like this, and Jareth certainly isn''t a selfless person.


    ''If I can survive by stealing things from the protagonist, why would I not do that? Obviously, I will ensure my own survival first before thinking about others¡­''


    In this world, Jareth has no attachments to anyone; the only person he loved for his whole life has been left behind in the previous world and now there''s nothing that binds Jareth to the world.


    He can always be as selfish as he wants; he doesn''t need to worry about getting his loved ones involved in his matters, as he doesn''t have any to begin with.


    ¡­


    Inside the class.


    All students maintained pin-drop silence when Jareth entered the classroom.


    This has now become a regular thing and no one thinks there is any problem with it.


    But unlike usual, Jareth didn''t immediately start the class today.


    He glanced at the students and announced in his usual cold tone.


    "A Transfer student will be enrolled in this class today¡­"


    Jareth then glanced at the door and said,


    "You can enter now¡­"


    The door opened a beautiful girl with dark black hair and pupils walked inside.


    A cute smile hung over her face and she seemed elegant and cool-headed.


    No one could think that she was messed up in her head and was trying to attack Mark just a few minutes ago.


    "Nice to meet you, everyone, I am Risa Shadowfallen¡­"


    All the students who were from commoner backgrounds didn''t notice anything amiss, but those who were from noble households immediately recognized the name ''Shadowfallen''.


    Many students started to gossip quietly all of a sudden and the atmosphere became tense.


    The ''Shadowfallen'' household is very infamous all over the empire for raising deadly assassins who are extremely skilled at carrying out shady jobs.


    Jareth glanced at the girl and said in his usual cold tone:


    "You can sit there, right beside Mark¡­"


    "W-what!?"


    Mark was bewildered at Jareth''s decision to make Risa sit right beside him, even though he had already seen her trying to attack him earlier.


    Jareth tilted his head in confusion and said:


    "Is there any problem, student Mark?"


    Being stared down by Jareth''s cold eyes, Mark had no choice but to comply.


    One of his lackeys who was sitting beside him got up and moved to some other seat and Risa made her way over to him with a happy expression on her face.


    "Also, Student Mark will be responsible for showing Student Risa around the whole campus¡­ dodging this matter will result in punishment..."


    "Ugh¡­"


    Seeing the defeated look on Mark''s face, Risa smiled and whispered in a silent voice:


    "See, even professor can recognize my love for you¡­ hehe"


    Although Mark was indeed frustrated, he didn''t refute her words.


    "He likely mistook that something is going on between us when he saw us earlier¡­ ugh¡­"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Risa seemed to be giggling in happiness, but Mark was annoyed and frustrated by the fact that his image in Jareth''s eyes was destroyed.


    ¡­


    Time passed and the class ended, Jareth left the classroom and all of the students finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    Jareth''s deadly stare makes them all feel very nervous; thus, they can only relax after he leaves.


    If it were usual, all the students would have flocked over to talk with the ''transfer student,'' but the name ''Shadowfallen'' was just too big of a wall for them to ignore.


    None of them wanted to get involved with a girl who came from a shady household like her.


    But they were still curious and didn''t leave the classroom early either.


    Mark''s lackey who had to move away earlier came over with an excited look and asked Mark in a questioning tone.


    "Hey hey, boss! Do you know that girl? Even Professor Jareth made her sit right beside you? Can''t you tell even your loyal followers about this?"


    All of Mark''s lackeys flocked over beside him with excited looks to hear the story behind this interesting event.


    They all knew their ''boss and friend'' Mark all too well; he had never been involved with girls in his school life and had always focused on becoming stronger.


    His lackeys even started to mistake that he had no interest in girls like other boys of his age, but today they saw a golden opportunity.


    Certainly, if their friend can walk out of the dark shadow of never getting a girlfriend, they will also feel happy for him.


    (They may be his lackeys, but they consider Mark as a brother and friend. Otherwise, why would they sacrifice their lives for him when he goes against the protagonist?)


    "That-"


    Before Mark could even say anything, Risa got up and declared in a loud voice.


    "Mark is my Husband!"


    *Dead Silence*


    "J-joking! She is joking, guys! We are only engaged! We aren''t officially married yet!!"


    *Dead Silence*


    After a few seconds of silence, shouts of sheer shock rang out in the whole class.


    No one expected the most handsome guy in the university who was being considered the ''best boyfriend material'' by the whole girl''s community to be actually engaged!


    This was so shocking for some of the girls that they even fainted from heartbreak on the spot.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Damn! Mark really is a hidden expert; he already had a fianc¨¦e in secret.


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Mark will be able to live his university life peacefully with a yandere girl pestering him?


    1. No (Well, it''s not like he is against it; if he was, he could have directly denied her words¡­)


    2. Nope (He is gonna get buried under the endless love of a yandere¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 34 Risa, the Villainess! Part-1.

    The news that Mark has a fianc¨¦e spread in the university like wildfire.It became a major topic of discussion in every friend group.


    And unconcerned by the chaos that she had spread, Risa dragged Mark out of the classroom.


    Moreover, the most interesting part of the news was that Professor Jareth, who is famous for being extremely strict and cold towards students, actually gave his approval to Mark and Risa.


    "You know what? Professor Jareth himself asked the students to move so that Mark''s fianc¨¦e could sit beside Mark without any problems!¡­"


    "D*mn! If even Professor Jareth has given his blessings, Shouldn''t they already get married then!?"


    "Cough! Ahem! It''s not that simple, you know who the fianc¨¦e is? It''s a girl from the ''Shadowfallen'' household¡­"


    "W-what!? D*mn! A bright prince and a dark assassin, that''s such a conflicting combination¡­"


    Talks like this have become common in the whole university now.


    Some people even made up exaggerated rumors like:


    ''If your relationship can get approval from Professor Jareth, you are bound to live together forever!''


    All in all, the whole university was in chaos due to this incident.


    Only the two who caused this chaos were not that concerned about the flying rumors.


    ''Ugh, my image of being a hard-working genius in Professor Jareth''s eyes has been shattered; now he thinks I am a playboy who likes to have his way with women¡­''


    Mark wasn''t really concerned about the rumors spreading; his cause of concern was totally different; he wants to achieve greatness like Jareth, but if his image in his idol gets bad, then it will all be pretty much useless.


    Meanwhile, the girl who caused this chaos was also totally unconcerned about the rumors too.


    She tightly wrapped her arms around Mark''s right arm and said with a happy smile.


    "Shall we tour the university then?" (Risa)


    "A-ahem, you don''t need to cling to my arm so tightly, you know?"


    Hearing Mark''s annoyed tone, Risa''s grip loosened and a saddened look appeared on her face.


    "Why? Do you not like it?"


    Seeing her get dejected over such a small thing, Mark decided to let her do whatever she wanted, he didn''t want to cause more misunderstandings.


    "Forget it¡­ do whatever you want¡­"


    "Yes!"


    The happy smile returned to her face after getting Mark''s permission.


    ''In the first place¡­ it''s not like I feel anything¡­ the ground is too flat..."


    "Hmm, I feel like someone is talking bad about me¡­"


    "It''s your imagination, perhaps¡­"


    "I guess so¡­" (Risa)


    Risa''s eyes remained narrow for a while as she glared at Mark, but she didn''t say anything else.


    After this small incident, everything went fairly smoothly; actually, Mark showed Risa all around the university and helped her get acquainted with the schedule.


    Although he certainly wanted to just go home and train further, he had to fulfill the duty given to him by Jareth.


    He dared not make Jareth angry.


    Even the weakest spell cast by Jareth can destroy Cyclops-level monsters; thus, Mark didn''t want to take the risk.


    ¡­ S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Caf¨¦ Starcatcher.


    "So, why did you come here?"


    Risa didn''t immediately answer his question, she sipped the tea brought by the waiter and enjoyed its taste, only then did she start to speak:


    "I am on an official mission, Your Highness. The mission is to protect you¡­"


    "The ''Shadowfallen'' household has been ordered by the King to send a skilled assassin to guard you¡­"


    "Ugh, so it was father''s doing¡­"


    "It was originally my brother who was supposed to come and guard you from the shadows, but I beat him in a fair and square duel to get this chance¡­"


    "Didn''t Duke Shadowfallen stop you from coming here?"


    "He did want to send my brother so that he can make friends with you and talk out some political matters, but I defeated him fair and square¡­"


    "The stronger one gets the reward; that''s how the shadow fallen household works¡­ so here I am¡­"


    The frown on Mark''s face intensified the more he heard about this matter.


    "I asked father not to meddle with my university life, yet he still doesn''t want to leave me alone, tch!"


    Seeing that Mark was frustrated by her being here, Risa was saddened greatly.


    "You don''t like me being near you?"


    Although she indeed likes him a lot, being rejected again and again like this can make even the calmest person feel bad.


    "Uh, it''s not that I don''t like your presence here; it''s just that I didn''t want my father to interfere with my campus life here¡­"


    "Sigh~ forget it¡­ as you are already here, things are already set in stone¡­"


    "By the way, shouldn''t they have sent a grade-3 or higher level person as a guard, Why did they choose to send their children as guards?"


    Risa sipped the tea and said in a calm tone:


    "Well, about that, any unauthorized personnel can''t stay in the university¡­ the principal won''t allow it¡­ Besides, everyone knows that you are under the protection of ''that'' professor¡­" (Risa)


    "Ah, yes¡­ with Professor Jareth being there to ensure students'' safety, there''s no need for an additional guard¡­"


    The videos of Jareth''s amazing feats have gone viral and everyone knows that he is the professor responsible for Mark''s class, thus unless Jareth is taken care of, no harm will come to the students.


    And getting rid of someone as strong as Jareth is not such an easy task.


    "Yes, we don''t need to worry about raw firepower with Professor Jareth protecting you, so they decided to send someone who is skilled in identifying poison and other abnormal things¡­"


    Risa proudly puffed up her chest and said in a confident voice.


    "Rest assured, there is no one better than me in the Shadowfallen house when it comes to these kinds of things; I can concoct even the most lethal poisons for your sake!"


    "Also, I have inherited the secret techniques of the Shadowfallen house; I will put my life on the line to help you escape if things don''t look good¡­"


    Mark was quite astonished at her words.


    As a prince himself, he has basic knowledge about all major families of this empire.


    Thus, he knows that it''s very rare for a talent to appear who can inherit all secret techniques of the Shadowfallen family; Risa being able to learn them proves that she isn''t weak.


    "By the way, the tea is very tasty here¡­ I like this place¡­"


    The rays of the setting sun fell and a beautiful smile appeared on her face, making her look like an ordinary young girl just like any other.


    ''Cute¡­''


    Mark knew that Risa had always been addicted to tea.


    "So, you are going to stay here from now on?"


    Risa nodded her head and said in her usual calm tone:


    "Yes, my luggage has been sent to the girl''s dormitory¡­ I will go and arrange the room later¡­"


    Suddenly Risa''s eyes narrowed and she smiled mischievously.


    "Why? You wanna come to my room? Hehe, that sort of thing is forbidden before marriage~"


    "W-who said I wanted to come!? I-I was just asking out of concern!"


    "Oh~ so you do feel concerned about me, hehe~"


    ''Tch! She is too good at teasing tactics!"


    "Hmph! I am going!"


    Mark left the caf¨¦ a with pouted face as he was not able to win against her teasing methods, and Risa simply just giggled as she thought that his pouty face seemed cute.


    But then she remembered that he left without paying the bill.


    "Ah, I forgot to bring money with me! Ugh, I will have to call a brother to borrow some money..."


    Just when she was about to call, she noticed that an unread bank notification had appeared on her phone when she didn''t checked it for the whole day.


    [Received 696969-- in your bank account from ''Mighty flaming Papa''!]


    ''Ugh¡­ what''s with this strange number, Did he really have to spend that much money just to make it look funny?¡­''


    Risa shook her head and left the caf¨¦ after paying off the bill for both of them.


    Standing under the brightness of the streetlight, Risa clenched her small fist and thought to herself.


    ''hehe, I will charm you eventually¡­''


    Then she suddenly remembered that she hadn''t eaten anything for two days now.


    ''Ugh, my old habit of forgetting to eat food is still not cured¡­''


    Risa rubbed her tummy and went over to a nearby shop to buy some calorie bars to make do with. She glanced at her own chest and thought.


    ''I should eat properly or I will miss out on two extra crucial weapons...''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The book has finally gone premium! I look forward to your support guys!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Risa will succeed in her goal of charming Mark eventually?


    1. Yes (Let the ship sail!!)


    2. Yeah (Let the ship sail!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 35 Risa, The Villainess! Part-2.

    University, Market Area.8:30 P.M.


    ''This area always becomes so dark and shady during night¡­''


    As Jareth has played this game a lot, he knew that the market area around the academy has always been quite shady during the night.


    It becomes oddly dark in this area when night comes, and even the magic lamps seem unable to extinguish this darkness fully.


    Jareth glanced at the eerily quiet area and thought to himself:


    "Hmm, as I am on night patrol duty today, perhaps I might be able to encounter ''that'' random event¡­"


    In the game, the reason why this area was always so dark was because it was the principal who did this on purpose.


    He has cast an illusion-type magic in this place to play tricks on the students.


    The market area closes after 8:30 P.M. and no shop is open after this set time.


    However, due to the illusion magic, any student who passes by this area after the set time can encounter the illusion at random.


    What the illusion does is show a shop that is open even after the closing time, which increases the student''s curiosity and lures them deeper into the illusion.


    Those students who enter the shop get stuck with a monster created by illusion and can''t leave unless they defeat the monster or morning comes.


    Rarely any students fall for this trap, as the illusion is rarely noticed by anyone, thus there is not much information available about it on the student chat groups and community sites.


    ''Hmm, in the game you can get some hefty amount of money and an enhancement potion as a reward for defeating that illusion¡­ I wonder if I will be able to encounter that event today though¡­''


    While walking through the market area without even a little bit of concern, Jareth was looking out for trouble on purpose.


    The talent ''Mana Singularity'' gives him enough confidence to go against this early-game boss without any trouble, thus he wasn''t afraid of encountering it.


    In fact, he wanted to encounter it on purpose.


    ''Strangely¡­ my body craves for battle the more I get stronger¡­ am I perhaps becoming a battle junkie or something?...''


    Just when Jareth was about to get disappointed and was about to leave the area, he sensed a faint mana fluctuation coming from a hidden alley.


    ''Hmm, a student is wandering around here so late?''


    Due to his extreme level of mana-controlling ability, he can not sense mana fluctuations from far away, no matter how small they are.


    Jareth immediately distinguished the fluctuation and figured out that it was a student who was wandering so late around the area.


    He immediately turned back and went directly into the dark alleyway without any fear or hesitation.


    ''Ever since I have possessed this body¡­ I seem to have lost the word ''fear'' from my dictionary¡­''


    ''If it were the original me, I would have been scared to go in this dark alleyway during night¡­ but this body is too d*mn fearless¡­''


    Everything around Jareth was eerily silent and dark, but Jareth was unaffected by all this.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana ball]


    A small magic circle appeared on Jareth''s palm and a glowing ball of mana floated out of it.


    Then it started to illuminate the area.


    Jareth immediately saw a familiar young girl standing near the wall with a dazed look on her face.


    ''Ah, so it was her¡­ she fell for that trap laid out by the principal¡­''


    ''Sigh¡­. This girl is really unlucky; she got in trouble right on the first day of the university¡­''


    Jareth went over towards Risa, who was standing with a dazed look on her face.


    He stretched out his hand and placed his index finger on her forehead, Using his amazing mana control, he immediately ripped apart the illusion that was clouding her mind.


    A gigantic magic circle that was originally invisible to the naked eye appeared on the ground and shattered into nothingness.


    ''Hmm, it''s a strong spell¡­ you can''t destroy it in-game as it''s not considered a destroyable object by the game files¡­ but now that It''s real life, I can easily break such spells with ''mana singularity''¡­''


    [Ding! Got 100 Cp for changing a mini-event!]


    ''Ah, come to think of it, I got a lot of CP after killing those Cyclops; I totally forgot to use it after I got the talent¡­ it totally slipped out of my mind¡­''


    While Jareth was busy contemplating in his mind, Risa regained her consciousness and came back to her senses.


    A confused look appeared on her face as she looked all around her in shock.


    "What just happened¡­ uh!?¡­"


    Then she noticed Jareth standing nearby and her eyes widened in surprise even further.


    Jareth, who was leaning his back against the wall, replied to her question in his usual cold tone.


    "Well, you fell into an illusion trap cast by the principal to mess up with the students who wander around this area at night¡­"


    "I just dispelled that illusion for you, as I am on night patrol duty right now¡­"


    "Why are you here so late, Student Risa?"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Risa suddenly remembered everything.


    "Uh, I was a bit hungry and wanted to buy some food but when I entered the shop, there was a giant wolf monster inside and I ended up fighting it¡­"


    Then an excited look appeared on her face.


    "It was actually a strong monster! I was enjoying an amazing death match with it! It even bit off my right hand and then I used the blood spraying out of my arm to blind its eyes and attack it again!"


    The more she talked, the more excited she became, but Jareth felt quite awkward listening to her words. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''She went toe to toe with a peak grade-4 monster while still being a grade-5 herself? As expected, this little villainess is talented¡­''


    *Groaaannn~*


    Then suddenly Risa''s stomach groaned loudly and due to the surroundings being so quiet the voice of help coming from her tummy rang loudly in Jareth''s ears.


    "Ah, I forgot I had to eat!"


    "You forget about eating?"


    Risa scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment and said in a sheepish tone.


    "Well, I have a bad habit of forgetting it, hehe¡­"


    Just then Jareth remembered the last lines this villainess said when Allen killed her with ''light'' magic.


    ''Sigh¡­ I forgot to eat again¡­forgive me, mother¡­''


    These were the last words she said during her boss fight; originally, it didn''t make much sense plot-wise as there was not anything in the game related to her personal life.


    ''But now it makes sense¡­ it seems she does have a bad habit of forgetting her food¡­''


    Jareth searched through his space ring, brought out a calorie bar and handed it over to her.


    "Uh.. thanks, professor!"


    Seeing the happy look on her face, a sudden thought came to his mind.


    ''If I had married Shiina, would I have had a daughter like her?'' (Jareth)


    A sudden nostalgia hit Jareth all of a sudden and he nodded at the girl before leaving.


    "Don''t wander around recklessly during night, the principal likes to play tricks on the students a lot, you might encounter his real pet wolf someday if you wander around in the night too much¡­"


    "The one in the illusion was a weaker version; his real pet wolf is quite strong¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth left the place without looking back.


    Risa nodded her head at his words and left with the calorie bar happily.


    ¡­


    While patrolling afterward, a sudden thought came to Jareth''s mind.


    ''Will I get extra CP if I alter the story and help out those two pitiful kids get together¡­''


    Mark was Allen''s rival in the game, but he was bound to be doomed by the protagonist''s halo and died horribly by being ripped to shreds by an endless siege of contaminated monsters during the later stages of the game.


    The fate of Risa is even more tragic; she was never able to get Mark to love her as he became too focused on fighting with Allen and she ended up being killed by Allen as she wanted to get rid of him.


    Her dying wish was to eat some food but she died hungry on the cold floor and even her dead body was never recovered as it was left behind in a dungeon to rot.


    ''I hope things turn out better for those two kids¡­ at least I don''t want people to end up like me¡­ separated from my loved ones forever¡­''


    At that time, Jareth didn''t know that his decision would change the whole world in a very different way.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! His decisions are so random, let''s see where it takes him in the future.


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, would you have chosen to save Mark and Risa or not?


    1. Yes (Let their ship sail!!)


    2. No (I don''t like getting involved in other people''s business¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 36 A gamble to confirm a possibility...

    Dormitory, Jareth''s training room.It''s been two weeks since the dungeon incident, and Jareth has been training intensely in this rare time of peace.


    ''Phew~''


    While lying on the ground, Jareth panted heavily and his body was covered in sweat all over.


    ''Maintaining this ''form'' is very difficult and taxing¡­''


    Jareth glanced at his stomach and smiled when he noticed that ''abs'' started to appear slightly. He made years worth of progress in just a a matter of days! If the gym rats knew about this, they would have gone crazy from the sheer shock.


    ''But this method is worth the trouble¡­''


    The Game that Jareth played was a single-player type game with a straightforward storyline.


    And as it was made by some crappy studio, it had many bugs in the game that you can exploit to improve the character.


    ''Why the heck did I even play such a buggy game in the first place¡­ ugh, the younger me was such a cringe guy¡­''


    But now that Jareth is in this real world, he can exploit some of the bugs that seemed illogical in the game.


    Jareth got up from the ground and sat in a meditative pose once again.


    ''Let''s do it once more¡­''


    The best way in the game to improve a character''s mana capacity and quality was to level up by killing monsters and using Exp.


    But there was also a slow and buggy method in the game, which was to put your character to ''meditate'' and slowly build up mana and improve its mana quality over time.


    This method was so slow and unrewarding that most players had concluded that the game developers must have placed this method of improvement purely to make the game lore relevant.


    ''But I am quite thankful that they placed this method¡­''


    Everyone who wants to improve their mana capacity and quality uses this meditation method to slowly improve over time; this is the real and most genuine way.


    Using Exp is just a cheat and Jareth doesn''t have that luxury anymore. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That''s why he has to follow the same method as everyone.


    ''But I am more than a hundred times more efficient than others when it comes to this stuff¡­''


    [Active Healing!]


    With his insane mana control, Jareth''s grasp over ''active healing'' improved tremendously in a short period of time and he consumed mana to heal the fatigue in his body easily.


    Active Healing is a skill that uses mana to force body cells to divide and heal wounds, If you improve your proficiency to grade 3 or above, you can even regenerate your severed limbs and destroyed organs.


    (It only works on yourself but you can''t use it on others¡­)


    For the past two weeks, Jareth has been constantly meditating and working his body endlessly to improve.


    After his body gets tired, he uses active healing to heal the fatigue and minor internal injuries. And then the cycle of constant training and healing continues.


    Jareth has been repeating this cycle for two weeks straight now.


    Moreover, Active healing has a major flaw: it doesn''t create body cells out of nowhere, it essentially just forces your own body cells to divide and heal naturally.


    However, scientific research has proven that a human body''s cells have a limited number of times that they can divide, which means that using this skill essentially burns your own life force.


    This means that if a random person uses this skill, they will be burning their own life-span to heal their injuries, but things are different for Jareth.


    The reason he dares to use this dangerous skill so carefreely is because of ''Mana Singularity''.


    This talent is tailor-made for him.


    Mana is a miraculous energy; if your control over it is extremely precise, you can use it to do anything, even genetic modification.


    Jareth is doing exactly that; with the help of his mana singularity talent, his mana control is at a level where he can use it in such a precise manner that even objects as small as atoms can be influenced.


    He used mana to directly modify his own DNA and with basic biological knowledge, he upgraded the limit of times his cells can divide.


    (Don''t ask me why he has such precise biological knowledge¡­ just know that he used to work for a shady person and has seen his fair share of ''things''¡­)


    [Ding! With your continuous efforts, Active healing has reached grade 5!]


    [You can now heal larger wounds¡­]


    Jareth has been using this skill continuously for two weeks, except for the time when he had to go to the classroom to teach the students.


    ''I have been doing all this because I want to confirm a possibility¡­ if I can confirm that the possibility is indeed true, then I will be able to improve¡­''


    After reducing the fatigue of his body, Jareth instantly started to meditate and use his extreme mana control to make his mana run through his massive external mana circuit.


    With each full cycle, mana circulated throughout his mana circuit, and Jareth could perceive his mana becoming more condensed and pure.


    And Jareth''s guess indeed turned out to be true; after the hard work of two whole weeks, the possibility finally turned into reality.


    [Ding! Your mana Purity has improved from Grade 6 to Grade 5!]


    [Ding! You have become a genuine Grade-5 Mage!]


    (Yes, without mana purity at grade 5, he wasn''t even a proper grade-5 mage yet...)


    Once Jareth heard that notification, a smirk appeared on his face.


    ''I knew it! It was possible to do it even without Exp!''


    Jareth has been aiming for this exact thing all along; he wanted to confirm if he can improve his mana purity or not.


    And with these notifications from the System, he has finally confirmed the authenticity of this approach.


    When he was playing the game, improving mana purity was so much easier, as you had to just kill monsters and put the exp to upgrade the character.


    But now that Jareth doesn''t have that method, he has to follow the same method that every person in this world uses.


    He has to meditate slowly to improve the mana purity of his body.


    The reason why most people in this world can''t upgrade their mana purity is because their mana affinity and control are low and improving them takes talent.


    Talent is not something that everyone has; only someone like Mark could be considered a genius-level talent.


    Talent is something that you are born with; it can''t be changed.


    Those who don''t have talent can only continue to work hard and eventually, their life ends due to old age but they are never able to reach the realm that a talented person can reach in a much shorter amount of time.


    If Jareth didn''t have ''mana singularity'' it would have taken him ten years of hard work just to reach grade-5 mana purity with Jareth''s original body.


    But now, with the support of ''active healing'' and ''mana singularity'', he was able to reach this level in just two weeks; the difference is like heaven and earth.


    ''Being able to improve mana quality confirms the possibility that I can improve my mana purity faster and easier by using continuous healing¡­''


    Mana singularity has instantly changed this talentless body into a very talented one; with this talent, it might not be a dream to reach an unbeatable level.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 1050/1050] [MP: 1200/1200]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat]


    [STR: 20] [AGI: 15] [SPE: 13] [DEF: 12] [INT: 57]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: 5]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 5)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 5100]


    [Evaluation: The source of disturbance in the threads of fate, you have defied your destined Fate¡­]


    ¡­


    The first thing that Jareth noticed was that the title ''Talentless Fool'' had disappeared from his titles and a new title had appeared in its place.


    Seeing the new title ''Jareth the goat'' shining in front of his eyes like that, black lines appeared over Jareth''s face as he was quite bewildered by this strange title.


    Jareth shook his head and then glanced at his stats.


    ''The stats have improved a bit, it seems¡­ well I have been putting my body under tremendous stress for two whole weeks.. It was bound to happen, I guess¡­''


    Then Jareth notices that his mana affinity has also improved.


    ''Did it get influenced by mana control¡­ after all, I can now command mana as I please, so my mana affinity is basically at the same level as mana singularity¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head in understanding.


    Lastly, Jareth''s eyes fell on the skills and he smiled when he saw that his active healing skill had improved.


    ''It''s a good skill; moreover, its real benefits will start to show after it reaches grade 3, I should improve it further¡­''


    Seeing his improved panel, Jareth couldn''t help but smirk at his own hard work.


    ''Sigh¡­ I have improved so much in such a short time period¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Jareth''s improvement speed has started to accelerate at a very fast speed now!


    Question of the day.


    Would you dare to use Active healing, if given a chance?


    1. Yes (Who cares about a long lifespan, I would rather live short but as a strong and muscular person!)


    2. No (I would pass; I want to live a long life¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 37 Forbidden spell!?

    Jareth''s Training Room.Jareth glanced at his Credit points and just when he was about to go for a silver lottery, he suddenly noticed that a new item had appeared in the shop.


    [Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced): 4000 Cp] (In stock: 1)


    ''Oh! I can buy a card from here now! But it only shows one in stock?''


    ''This system panel that I have is very strange¡­ how do I get it re-stocked then? Can I only possess one of these cards at one time? And it will restock after I use the previous one?''


    Jareth''s head was filled with questions.


    Right now he has no idea about what''s going on with this system of his at all. Everything seemed so different from the original that it was difficult to think that the two were the same systems.


    In the game, you could buy an unlimited number of these cards by just using in-game currency, but now he is being restricted to just one card at a time.


    ''Has this system panel got corrupted after I came here?... things are really strange...''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking further, there was no point in thinking too much about things that you don''t have enough information about.


    He will have to figure it all out in the future, but right now he doesn''t have the time or power to accomplish that.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to purchase ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)?]


    [Yes or no]


    ''Yes¡­''


    [Congratulations! You have purchased an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)!]


    ''Hmm, as for the rest of the Cp, let''s just buy a bronze lottery with it, perhaps I might get something interesting¡­''


    [Ding! You have bought a bronze lottery!]


    [Congratulations! You received the ''Forbidden spell: Test*cular Torsion!'']


    Looking at that notification, Jareth''s mouth opened wide in sheer shock as a black line appeared all over his face.


    The forbidden knowledge about how to use that spell was directly forced into his mind and Jareth''s expression turned weird instantly; the corners of his mouth twitched again and again.


    ''The f*ck!? Mind pollution!!''


    Jareth saw horrible diagrams and images appear in his brain as received that forbidden knowledge!


    ''This system is corrupt! D*mn it! It''s showing me weird things!''


    Jareth had seen this spell before in the game; the game devs added it just for joke''s sake and it was used to stun the enemy momentarily, but Jareth had no idea that he would receive this dark and twisted spell all of a sudden.


    ''Now I know why the game character would have a weird expression on its face whenever I made it learn this spell¡­ it f*cking shows weird images in your head out of nowhere!!''


    Jareth''s eyes, which used to look at the lottery system with excitement, have now changed in just a few minutes.


    Now he dare not recklessly gamble.


    ''I-I would never do a bronze lottery ever again¡­ similar type of hideous things are likely hidden behind that harmless-looking lottery¡­''


    Jareth placed his hand on his face and confessed his sins to calm his mind down.


    ''Forgive me, Shiina, I promise I am not that kind of man¡­''


    ¡­


    Market area, a dark alleyway.


    "Hmm, so someone broke my illusion trap, hehe¡­."


    Nathan has a hobby of laying traps in random places to make the students suffer.


    His hobby has traumatized many generations of wizards who have graduated from this university.


    But he is not a cruel person either, he places a reward in these traps, those who overcome the challenge can get the reward and improve themselves by leaps and bounds.


    ''Ugh¡­ this trap isn''t broken¡­ it''s obliterated¡­ such barbarism¡­''


    Nathan''s face twisted in doubt. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''A student can''t do something like this¡­ and this condensed aura¡­''


    Being a genuine grade-1 sorcerer, Nathan immediately figured out everything.


    ''It must have been a student who got stuck in the trap and then that guy destroyed the whole illusion from outside...''


    What shocked Nathan the most was the fact that he had worked hard on making the illusion as solid as possible from the outside.


    Without the mana control at the same level as his, no one can break through this illusion from the outside.


    ''Ah, so that''s how it is¡­ now everything makes sense!''


    Nathan narrowed his eyes at the mana fluctuations and thought to himself.


    ''It must be that his mana control has been very high since he was young and thus, he was always able to hide his real strength from everyone¡­''


    ''Perhaps he did so to hide his talent from his family¡­ but that doesn''t matter to me¡­ what''s more surprising is that he was able to hide in front of me too¡­''


    Nathan immediately made up things in his mind and misunderstood Jareth as a talented person.


    He originally asked Jareth about the reason for how he was able to hide his strength and Jareth had said that it was due to some rare artifact.


    ''It wasn''t an artifact¡­ from the start, his mana control has been at a higher level¡­ hehe, interesting!''


    Due to this misunderstanding, Nathan has completely regarded Jareth as a mana control genius at this point.


    Thankfully, Jareth already has the ''mana singularity'' talent, otherwise, his cover might have been blown away easily.


    Now even if Jareth tried to prove to others that he is actually a weak person, other''s wouldn''t believe him, as they will feel that his mana control is extremely good.


    It turns out that in pursuit of strength, Jareth somehow backstabbed himself and blocked his own path of redemption.


    Now he can''t tell the world that he is weak, even if he wanted to.


    Others will think that he is joking if he says that.


    ¡­


    A hidden underground church, location ''unknown''.


    A dark black mist condensed into a humanoid shape and glanced at the girl who was kneeling in front of the statue of Azazel.


    The Girl seemed to be in her teenage years in appearance, but her eyes carried wisdom that a young person could never have.


    The black mist stared at the kneeling girl for a while and then said in a hoarse, beast-like voice.


    "The previous attempt to lure that old fox failed¡­ even after sacrificing a wyvern and a cyclops, we still didn''t gather any considerable information on the powers of that Old Fox¡­"


    "We need to shake things up more wildly this time; even if we can''t lure out that old fox, gathering as much information as possible about all the professors of that university is important¡­"


    The girl who was kneeling earlier got up from the ground and smirked. A creepy smile appeared on her young-looking face. (She just looks young; she is actually in fact an old granny¡­)


    "You want me to launch a night parade then?"


    The dark mist nodded its head and gave its permission.


    "Abella, I order you to gather as much information as possible about the ''hidden dome'' from the secret archives of the university¡­"


    "Also take those ''two'' with you; other members are busy with other missions so I can''t give you more manpower¡­ take more of the corruption vials from the armory¡­"


    "Use them to create a huge night parade; when that old fox is distracted, you need to look for the information we need¡­"


    "Without that information, we can never create the path needed for our benevolent god''s descent¡­"


    Abella smiled creepily and nodded her head.


    "Understood, Master!"


    She brought out a broom from her space ring.


    The broom had hideous and distorted humanoid face-like patterns etched on it.


    When the broom appeared, those faces contorted horribly and screamed in pain in a suppressed and low voice.


    *k-KILL me.. Free me¡­ de-death.. ravage¡­k-kill¡­*


    Each facial pattern on that magical broom represented the innocent soul that was forcibly stuffed inside that broom.


    Each of those souls belonged to innocent people who were tortured and killed by Abella.


    Without caring about his screams, Abella sat on the broom and flew out from the underground church with a crazy smile on her face.


    The dark mist stared at Abella''s retreating figure for a while and then glanced at the gigantic statue of the demon.


    "Oh, my benevolent god! Bless that pitiful lamb with luck¡­"


    The stone statue''s eyes suddenly turned dark red and blood started to flow out of it like a fountain.


    That was the sign of a successful demonic blessing.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jareth literally blocked his own way back now.


    Even if he just stood there and tried to explain his situation with the help of a long presentation, others would only look at him with weird eyes and wouldn''t believe him at all.


    This abyss of misunderstandings gets deeper and deeper every single day!


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to ride a magic broom that is enchanted with the agony of thousands of innocent souls?


    1. No (I will pass¡­)


    2. Nope (I don''t wanna get nightmares¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 38 Potion making event! Part-1.

    Principal office, Meeting Room."So, what I am trying to say is, to lure the culprits who have been pulling the strings from behind, we should organize an event in the university itself¡­"


    Just when Thomas was trying to put his thoughts forward, Shin suddenly intercepted and said in a doubtful tone while staring at the empty chair of the principal.


    "Where did that old man go all of a sudden?"


    Hearing Shin''s rude tone, Thomas frowned a bit and said in a calm voice:


    "Please refrain from making rude remarks, we are in a meeting right now¡­"


    Shin wasn''t intimidated by those words in the least, he clicked his tongue and said:


    "If that old man isn''t here, then is it even worth the trouble thinking about organizing an event, We will need his permission in the end anyway¡­"


    Thomas shook his head and spoke,


    "You don''t need to worry about that; I will personally go and submit a report to him about this, It is very likely that he will agree if we all work on this project¡­"


    Jareth, who was quietly sipping the tea while watching all the drama unfold, had different thoughts than the two of them.


    ''In the first place, aren''t we just working here as employees? Why are we working so hard in the first place¡­ the employer is absent; we can just slack off and lay flat at this point¡­''


    ''We can enjoy free salary while doing the basic minimum of the work¡­ like why work more than you are paid for?''


    As Jareth used to work for a shady company in his previous life, he has quite a lot of experience in the corporate world''s inner workings.


    Most employers think that the employees should work their best while making the minimum wage.


    They want to reduce the employment cost as much as possible, thus they try to put pressure on the employees to work harder with various shady tactics.


    But the experienced employees all know these ways all too well; thus, they do the bare minimum of the work and never show off their skills.


    Those who show off too much, generally end up getting the most amount of work while still being paid the same as others.


    As they say: ''Those who stand out the most get oppressed the first¡­'' (Source: Trust me, bro¡­)


    Jareth glanced slightly at the other professors who were just sitting silently like him and were pretending to be mysterious and a thought came to his mind:


    ''It seems they also have the same wisdom as me¡­ no matter the world, money rules above all¡­''


    Jareth had no qualms against people worshipping money as the supreme truth.


    They say that you can never buy happiness with money.


    ''If you have money, you may be sad, but you will be sad while driving a supercar at least¡­''


    Just when Jareth was pretending to be mysterious and was busy thinking about how to ask the principal about increasing his salary, Shin suddenly pointed his finger at him and said:


    "Hey! What do you say, Jareth? I will agree to hold this event if I get to compete with you!"


    As his happy thoughts about bathing in money were interrupted by Shin''s unpleasant voice, Jareth frowned and glared at Shin.


    "You? Compete with me? Go look in the mirror again¡­"


    "D*mn you! You have the nerve to underestimate me?"


    "Underestimate? When did I say was even estimating your patheticness?"


    Veins appeared on Shin''s forehead as his face reddened in anger.


    "Let''s go fight right now! I will beat the sh*t out of you today!"


    "Hmph, says the guy who was done in by a mere one-eyed overgrown pest¡­"


    "Ugh¡­ you!"


    Shin became even more frustrated when Jareth mentioned him being defeated by the Cyclops just the other day.


    Just when things were about to escalate, the principal finally appeared.


    He directly teleported in his chair.


    "Ahem! Calm down everyone, It was my mistake that I got late for the meeting¡­"


    Shin and Jareth also went silent after the principal appeared out of nowhere.


    Jareth''s face remained cold but he was quite surprised in his mind.


    ''hmm, I don''t think the principal showed that he had teleportation magic in the game¡­ did the game developers give him hidden abilities that were never mentioned in the storyline?''


    Although Jareth was a bit surprised, he didn''t think too much about it.


    The world of the game has now become real and many hidden details that were not in the game have appeared, so Jareth already expected unforeseen events to happen.


    Unaware of Jareth''s thoughts, the principal glanced at all the professors and said:


    "I got late because I accidentally noticed a familiar evil mana fluctuation earlier, and went to investigate it, but it seems the other party has disappeared without leaving any traces again¡­"


    "I suspect that this evil cult ''Flase Dome'' has some kind of high-grade artifact that can conceal presence¡­ or can help the user retreat via some kind of spatial technique¡­"


    "Which means pinpointing their exact location is a near impossible task¡­"


    Hearing Nathan''s solemn voice, all of the professors nodded their heads in understanding and thought about various countermeasures in their minds.


    "So, for now, keep your guards up, everyone¡­"


    When the principal finished talking, Thomas decided to put forward the previous conversation.


    "Actually, about that, we want to hold an event that will help us lure the enemies, after all, we can''t just sit and wait for them to attack us, that''s just too passive¡­"


    A look of interest appeared on the principals face hearing that,


    "Hmm, that''s actually quite a good idea¡­ but what event are you going to organize?"


    "I don''t have a solid idea right now; that''s why I was asking the others for advice-"


    Just when Thomas was worried that the principal would flat out reject his opinion for not having a solid idea, the professor in charge of the ''Potion Crafting'' class interrupted the conversation.


    "Actually, I have a good idea! We can hold a live potion crafting competition!"


    The principal narrowed his eyes and asked the female professor for further details.


    "How will that help us lure the enemies, Ms. Aria Wainwright?"


    An excited look appeared on Aria''s face as she finally got the chance to put forward her own thoughts in this meeting.


    "We will invite the parents of the students and some famous people as guests for the event, with that, a lot of media will be concentrated over to the live-event¡­"


    "The enemy will think that the attention of all the professors and the civilians has been shifted over to the live event as it''s quite stressful to conduct it properly¡­"


    "This will seem like a perfect opportunity to them-"


    At that moment, Shin interjected and spoke in a doubtful tone,


    "Bullsh*t! Do you really think that those crafty demon cultists will get distracted by this so easily? Do you take them as idiots?"


    "W-well uh¡­"


    Aria''s confidence disappeared like a deflated balloon after Shin criticized her idea and she fell silent instantly.


    But before Aria could get depressed, the principal interjected:


    "Actually, it''s not that bad an idea; we don''t have any other ways right now, so it''s better to bet at this idea instead of just sitting here and wasting our time¡­"


    The brightness in Aria''s eyes returned as the principal took her side on this matter.


    Thomas also supported the idea further,


    "The principal will need to sit at the venue of the tournament himself so that the enemy can confirm the principal being away from the university¡­"


    "Yeah, we can take ''guarding the guests'' as an excuse and station nearly all of the professors at the venue of the event¡­"


    "As for whom to appoint the duty of guarding the university¡­"


    All the professors stared at Shin and Jareth instantly, as if they all had planned about it from the start.


    "A-actually, I am still recovering from the previous fight; I-I will pass¡­"


    The principal nodded his head at those words,


    "Well, if Professor Shin can''t do it, then we Ms. Aria, you will do it¡­"


    Aria pointed her index finger at her own face and said in a bewildered tone:


    "Me?"


    "Yes, you¡­"


    Before Aria could even process the whole thing, Nathan directly teleported away and disappeared, leaving only a few words behind.


    "I will leave the preparation to prof. Thomas¡­ the meeting is dismissed¡­"


    All of the professors, including Shin, happily left while gloating at Aria''s misfortune.


    "Hehe, you were the one who suggested the plan in the first place, you brought it upon yourself¡­"


    "W-what!?"


    Aria was so bewildered by the situation that she only came back to her senses when nearly everyone had left.


    Just when Jareth was about to leave too, she looked at him with pitiful eyes and said:


    "I-I¡­ uh, I am a wood magician, and I don''t have any major attack spells; how will I guard the university!?"


    ''Ah, yes, this character¡­. She''s useless¡­''


    Jareth has interacted with this character in the game; aside from the potion recipes that she sells in the games, she is pretty much useless.


    ''Well, she can make good potions, I guess, but when it comes to combat, she gets intimidated quite easily¡­''


    Jareth glanced at her snot- and tear-covered face; a frown appeared on his face.


    "You just need to stand guard until the enemy shows up; once they show up, others will come over as reinforcement¡­ and your job will be done¡­"


    ''I don''t have any idea why the principal decided to give this risky job to someone like her, who can''t even kill a chicken¡­ does he have some personal beef with her?'' sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth shook his head and left while ignoring the panicked woman.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that no woman''s tears can sway him anymore, as he left his heart in Shiina''s care long ago and now he can never love anyone else again¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you agree to take on this dangerous job of guarding against a demon cult?


    1. Yes (High risk, high rewards!)


    2. No (I don''t wanna get fed to the demon''s statue¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 39 Potion Making event! Part-2.

    The news that a massive live competition will be held at the university where excellent students will show off their skills to the world spread like wildfire.The whole internet seemed to have been taken aback by this sudden news and the parents of the students, immediately started to make preparations to attend the event.


    Moreover, those who couldn''t afford the tickets for the venue can watch the show live from the comfort of their home through TV or smartphones.


    ¡­


    Unaware of the chaos that was happening outside the university, the students were busy thinking about what potion to practice.


    Mark got paired up with his three lackeys and Risa. (Of course, it was Jareth''s doing¡­)


    "Earlier, when prof. Jareth told us about the competition, he didn''t specify which potion we should be working on¡­"


    Potion-making is usually a job that only healing-type mages like to do, but as this university is the most advanced in the whole empire, it has the resources to teach the basics of potion-making to all students free of charge.


    Aria is the teacher responsible for teaching the students about potion making, and in the past month, she has taught them about a few basic grade potions.


    With her careful teaching, even the most talentless student can make a simple potion like ''Mana Restoring potion'', or ''basic recovery potion''.


    Keep in mind that recovery potions and healing potions are different things, recovery potions are usually quite versatile, and they can be used to recover mana, or enhance the body''s natural healing process to recover health.


    They can be used to recover fatigue and blood loss, like minor inconveniences too, but the effects of this potion are too mild and they can''t be used to treat severe or fatal wounds.


    That''s where healing potions come in.


    Healing potions are made by condensing the ''Healing mana'' produced by the healing magic.


    Healing potions can only be made by a mage who can use healing magic; thus, most students aren''t able to make this potion.


    They usually go for the recovery potion instead if they don''t have an affinity with Wood Magic. (Healing magic is a sub-branch of Wood magic¡­)


    Risa glanced around and noticed that other groups were also talking about this matter.


    "I think the professor didn''t give us a specific potion because we are free to make any type of potion¡­"


    Just when Mark and Risa were confused, Mark''s three lackeys looked into each other''s eyes mysteriously and nodded at each other.


    "Ahem, Sister-in-law, I think we should make the Love-love potion!" (Lackey no.1.)


    "Yes! You can charm Brother Mark with it instantly!" (Lackey No.2.)


    "Go go! We support you!" (Lackey No.3.)


    Hearing their words, Risa''s eyes shined brightly and a smile appeared on her face.


    "Yes! We will make the love-love potion!"


    Mark shook his head in dismay and said,


    "Cough! Cough! Ahem¡­. It''s called a ''Charm Potion'' idiots¡­."


    ''I have gotten the most useless team out of the whole class¡­ all four of my teammates have below average grades and none of them knows sh*T about making potions¡­''


    Mark shook his head at his own bad luck, now he will have to do the whole project alone as the other four are just too useless, they don''t even know the proper names of the potions.


    "Moreover¡­ a charm potion only works on people below grade 5, it''s a very low-grade potion, its effects are very mild even on ordinary people¡­ all it can do is just increase your likeability by just a little bit¡­"


    "Aside from that, it''s total crap, just a waste of ingredients¡­ Even the weakest charm spell is better than it¡­"


    When Mark finished his speech, he noticed the other four were staring at him in shock.


    "Hmm, what?"


    One of his lackeys patted Mark on the shoulder and said in a disappointed voice:


    "Brother¡­ you know so much about such a forbidden potion¡­ you really are something else¡­ I didn''t expect you to be that type of person¡­" (Lackey no.1)


    "What are you even talking about¡­ this is just basic knowledge, you know¡­"


    In the confused eyes of Mark, the four of his teammates shook their heads while looking at him.


    ¡­


    "Okay, jokes aside, what potion should we really make¡­" (Lackey No.1.)


    Hearing that question, Mark pondered for a bit and replied with a smile on his face,


    "Hmm, I have an idea¡­ we can make ''The sleeping flame dragon¡­'', that might even be praised by Prof. Jareth too¡­"


    "Well, let''s just do as you say!"


    Risa and the others were not really into potion making, thus, their knowledge about it was too shallow, they didn''t even take Aria''s classes seriously, and thus now they are going to depend on Mark for the whole project.


    "Oh, by the way, stop calling her ''sister-in-law'' right in front of the whole class! That''s embarrassing!"


    "O-oh okay¡­" (Lackey No.1)


    Hearing Mark''s scolding, the lackeys had to back off.


    Risa just rolled her eyes at Mark being so embarrassed at that simple term, she even thought that he looked kind of cute when he was embarrassed.


    ¡­


    The Potion research lab.


    "You think the students will be able to do a satisfactory job on this?"


    While sitting on the chair opposite Aria, Jareth picked the teacup from the table and sipped the tea made by Aria with the usual cold expression on his face. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "U-UH¡­ I-I think at least half of them should be able to give s-satisfactory result¡­"


    Jareth tilted his head in confusion and asked:


    "Hmm, you are stuttering a lot¡­ Are you not feeling good these days?"


    "N-no I am just a bit tired from making preparations for the students, that''s all¡­"


    Aria wiped the sweat from her forehead with her handkerchief as she desperately avoided eye contact with him.


    ''Who the heck would feel good when someone as ridiculously strong as you is sitting near them!?''


    ''One wrong move and he will blast me off the face of the Earth!''


    Aria is indeed a grade-2 wood mage, but she has no confidence in herself, she has never been in real battles and has never faced life-or-death situations.


    Thus, for her, a person who can blast off monsters like Cyclops and Wyverns with single attacks is a very intimidating presence.


    Sitting in front of Jareth, it felt like she was being stared down at by a Demon who had crawled right out of the abyss.


    (Jareth thinks he is looking at others with kind eyes, when in fact his glares feel like he is staring right through your soul¡­)


    "I see, you should take more rest; soon we might be get involved in battle¡­"


    "By the way, talking about the battle, you should get a lot of healing potions ready beforehand, who knows how the enemy will attack¡­"


    "In case some collateral damage happened, we can use the healing potions to heal the students¡­"


    Jareth was indeed concerned about the students, but his words sounded totally different in Aria''s ears.


    ''Collateral damage!? Does he mean to say that he might accidentally blast me off too! and he will label my death as collateral damage!?''


    Aria was already making up misunderstandings in her mind at this point.


    She thought that Jareth was warning her to not get in his way, or he might blast her off too, just like he did with the Cyclops.


    With trembling eyes Aria nodded her head desperately.


    "O-okay, I will keep that in mind¡­"


    ''Someone save me! Take me out of this lab; where did all the students go!? Why did they leave me here alone with this guy!''


    Totally oblivious to her inner thoughts, Jareth continued in his usual cold tone.


    "By the way, the standard of the students still needs to be raised, I think; if only fifty percent of them can perform well in the competition, it might damage the reputation of the university¡­"


    "How about giving them a further push? Do some last-minute improvements?"


    Meanwhile, Jareth''s words from Aria''s perspective:


    "You can''t even teach properly! You are so useless!"


    "Yes! I will teach them properly next time!"


    Satisfied with the answer, Jareth placed the empty teacup down and got up to leave.


    "Well then, I have something else to do too, so I will go first, Keep up the good work¡­"


    Only after Jareth left did Aria finally calm down a bit.


    Her heart, which was about to jump out of her mouth, finally started to stabilize.


    ''Phew~ I survived¡­ thanks Mother and Father, oh dear ancestors, I survived with your blessings!''


    Just when Aria was praying to her ancestor, Jareth''s voice appeared again.


    "Ah, I forgot to tell you that you should ask the principal for any special ingredients you might need for the students¡­ he said he will provide all resources for this event free of cost¡­ "


    "Well then, I should go now¡­"


    Jareth came back so suddenly and left that Aria wasn''t able to process anything and remained stiff like a rock from the start to the end.


    ''AHHHH! He saw me praying to my ancestors!!'' (Emotional Damage +99)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that wherever Jareth goes, misunderstandings follow him¡­ Let''s see where this takes him next.


    Question of the day.


    Would you survive having a direct conversation with Jareth as he glares right through your soul?


    1. Yes (Imma fear nothing!)


    2. No (I will pass¡­ don''t wanna turn into stone like Aria)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 40 Potion Making Event! Part-3.

    Competition venue, Yodo District.A week went by in a flash and the day of the competition arrived fast.


    The competition venue was arranged at a fairly distant place from the university.


    From the current distance, providing reinforcement would only take a few minutes for the grade-2 mages and Nathan can directly teleport as this is a very small distance for him.


    Sitting on the topmost seat, Nathan glanced at the people below with his usual calm and collected look.


    Thomas came over from the side to report.


    "It seems all arrangements are ready; the whole stadium is already full of the guests and parents.... we can start the competition any time now¡­"


    The principal nodded his head at Thomas''s words.


    [Basic Magic: Spirit Voice]


    Nathan cast a basic spell to enhance his voice so that everyone can hear him without any problems.


    "Good Morning everyone, Our University welcomes you all on this special occasion¡­ We are glad that you all came to watch a show put on by our talented students¡­"


    And then, the usual half-hour-long speech that every principal in the world likes to give, started. The speech went on and on, making nearly all of the people feel sleepy.


    "Ahem, it''s time we start the competition¡­"


    Thomas whispered in Nathan''s ears in a quiet voice after he had enough of Nathan''s bulsh*t.


    Only after Thomas reminded him of the time did Nathan come back to his senses and finally end the speech, which nearly made everyone fall asleep.


    "Ahem, without any further delay, let us start the competition¡­"


    Nathan sat back on his designated chair after he completed the speech and fell silent.


    Three professors from the academy acted as judges and sat down in their respective spots.


    The three judges were Shin, Thomas, and a professor named Gazid who teaches about monster anatomy and psychology.


    All three of them have veteran-level knowledge in potion-making and are qualified to judge the potion-making skills of novice wizards without any problem.


    Aria is the one who is most proficient in potion making but the principal made her stay back at the university so she isn''t here right now.


    No one raised a voice against the choice of judges; after all, all three of the judges are famous people and are well known for being Grade-2 mages.


    But a little bit of gossip still happened all over the audience.


    The real crazed discussion was actually happening on the various social media platforms.


    "Where is the goat!?"


    "I can''t see the goat among all of the professors!"


    "Tch! I thought he would come to the competition as a judge too!"


    "Good thing I didn''t buy the ticket; it would have been such a waste as the goat isn''t even there¡­"


    People were going crazy at the fact that Jareth wasn''t at the venue.


    Netizens have always been like this; they follow trends the most.


    Recently, Jareth has been popular due to his feats but sooner or later, this trend of calling him ''the goat'' will also fade away if he doesn''t show up on the media again.


    Most people bought the expensive tickets because they wanted to take close-range photos of Jareth and then flex on their friends later.


    ¡­


    Amidst the cheerful and panicked voices of the audience, the competition finally started.


    All of the teams appeared on the stage and walked over to their dedicated potion-making table.


    Mark entered the stadium and glanced at the paper sheet in his hand.


    The paper had the number ''1'' written on it.


    "Hmm, it seems we are assigned to the first table¡­ hmm, ah, it''s there! Let''s go.."


    The other four walked behind him honestly, like chicks following the mother hen.


    Mark just rolled his eyes and thought to himself.


    ''how did we even get selected with such a line-up¡­''


    Only the teams that had shown good results were selected to go to the venue and the rest of the teams were disqualified before they even made it to the real stage.


    The reason why Mark''s team wasn''t disqualified, even with four of the members being useless, was because of Mark alone.


    While walking over to the designated bench, Mark noticed a young golden-haired girl surrounded by guards sitting on a VIP seat.


    The girl smiled and waved her hand at Mark as she noticed his gaze.


    "It seems your younger sister is also here, Mark¡­"


    Risa''s face pouted a little as she saw Mark''s younger sister stick her tongue out towards her in an attempt to taunt her with a mocking smile.


    ''Ugh, she is doing that on purpose; she knows that Risa will get annoyed at this¡­''


    Mark shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    He took out the ingredients handed over to him by the staff and placed them on the table in an orderly manner.


    "Okay, do everything as I had taught you¡­"


    The other four nodded their head and did as Mark had asked them.


    What they needed to do was pretend to be working so that they could show that they had proper team coordination; otherwise, points might be deducted.


    ''Ugh, I thought Professor Jareth would be a judge; why do I have to be judged by these three¡­''


    Although Mark respected the three as they were all strong grade-2 mages, in his opinion the true mages should be cold-hearted and decisive in nature.


    In other words, Mark thinks that an ideal mage should be like Jareth, cold, decisive, and strong.


    What he doesn''t know is that the person he was idolizing was a total fraud.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, around the same time.


    University, outside the main gate.


    Two burly men were squatting on the ground and talking with each other while drawing something with sand on the ground.


    "Idiot, big brother, what I am trying to say is that we should go from this door and then bypass this corridor first!" S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No! I am the big brother; I will decide where to go!"


    Seeing the extremely burly and muscular guys squat right outside the university''s main gate, the passersby felt quite weird, but they deliberately avoided talking to them as the two unknown guys were giving off a dangerous aura.


    The Older brother placed his finger on the ground and continued.


    "We will destroy this wall here and break through to the inner area easily¡­"


    "But won''t that bring too much unwanted attention to us?"


    Just when the two brothers were in a dilemma, a third person appeared without them noticing and placed his finger on the ground.


    "How about you go from this place and then here¡­ there is no security here either¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the two brothers were taken aback and a look of surprise appeared on their faces.


    "Oh yes! Why didn''t I think of this!?"


    "You are so smart, mister!"


    The two brothers nodded their heads for a moment before they realized that a sudden unknown person had appeared between them


    "What the!?"


    "Who are you!?"


    The two brothers immediately shot up and jumped away from Jareth.


    Jareth waved his hands at the two and said in his usual cold voice.


    "I am a spy; I work for the great heavenly master of the supreme heavenly realms¡­"


    A confused look appeared on the faces of the two younger brothers after hearing Jareth say such a ridiculous thing with such a serious expression on his face.


    "Uh, so whose side are you on?"


    "Yeah, are you an ally or an enemy?"


    Jareth tilted his head and continued¡­


    "Hmm, I am on the side of muscles¡­"


    The eyes of the two brothers shined brightly when Jareth mentioned the topic ''muscles'' and they immediately nodded their heads.


    "Yeah, muscle is the real truth¡­"


    "Indeed, so whose side are you two on then, Where is your family, little kids?"


    The two brothers glanced at each other and nodded their heads.


    "Actually, we are lost, we came with big sis Abella, but she left after leaving us here, she said we can eat a guy named Jarem or something¡­ but we don''t know where to find him¡­"


    Jareth''s eyes instantly narrowed when he found out the information he wanted.


    ''So, the ''Nightmare'' Abella was dispatched¡­ Furthermore, these two death squad members are dispatched to deal with me... This is quite the trouble we have¡­''


    From the start, Jareth already knew about the identity of these two guys when he noticed them squatting outside the university with his mana singularity.


    But he didn''t immediately attack them because he needed more information from them and as a veteran player, he knew all too well about how to communicate with these brainless NPCs.


    All members of the death squadron have reduced intelligence; they behave like seven-year-old children.


    ''Seeing them in person is really different from the game¡­ to think that these burly monstrosities are a result of excessive experimentation on innocent children¡­ this world is really as cruel as it can be¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Things are very messed up in this world, those with faint hearts might not be able to digest all of this¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who would you rather have as your project judge?


    1. Shin (He will forgive your mistakes and provide better answers¡­)


    2. Thomas (He will judge according to the rules; he will be impartial in his judgment¡­)


    3. Jareth (If he notices mistakes in your project, you will be severely criticized for it¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 41 The Nightmare... Part-1.

    Competition VenueMark wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully placed the potion in a vial using a dropper.


    At his signal, Risa closed the vial with a magically enhanced wooden cork.


    "Good, it''s finally done!"


    Looking at the liquid inside the cork takes the shape of a sleeping dragon made out of flames. Just looking at it, you can tell that if you open the cork, a powerful flame will burst out and the temperature will be extremely hot.


    This potion is called ''The Sleeping Flame Dragon''; it can be used for surprise attacks on the enemy.


    All flame magicians like to carry one or two of these potions with them for emergency use.


    Mark was sure that if Jareth was the judge, he would have given a perfect score to this potion.


    But now he isn''t so sure about it.


    The whole process of their team making the potion was broadcast live so everyone looked at him with awe.


    Mark took his group and went over to the judges immediately.


    Their group was the first to finish and thus received the most attention.


    Shin took the vial in his hand and stared at the potion for a while.


    "Hmm, you guys made such a difficult potion in such a short time; you really deserve praise¡­" S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shin nodded his head in acknowledgment and directly gave a ''9 out of 10'' score.


    "1 point deducted because the mana impurity is a little higher; you can improve it by improving your mana control over time, but again, being able to have the mana control to refine this potion is already a great feat¡­"


    Next, Thomas took the potion in his hand and observed it carefully.


    "Hmm, with the concentration of fire element in this vial, you can create an explosion with the power of a grade-4 fire magic¡­ good, it''s a good potion, you have meticulously followed all processes¡­"


    Thomas being a person who liked to stick to proper processes and rules gave a total of 9 out of 10 too.


    "1 point deducted for the lack of team coordination¡­"


    Being a grade-2 mage, it was as easy as breathing for Thomas to figure out that Mark''s team was lacking in coordination, but he didn''t blame them too much for it as all that mattered was the end result after all.


    Lastly, the professor in charge of monster anatomy observed and said with a smirk.


    "Hehe, you can certainly feed this potion to monsters and watch them writhe in pain; this is a great gem!"


    That professor gave a 10 out of 10 score to Mark''s team while smiling creepily.


    Mark knew about that professor''s weird personality so he didn''t think too much about the reason why he was smiling so creepily.


    Mark''s team''s name shined on the leaderboard and the total points ''28/30'' appeared beside the team''s name.


    Even the principal was surprised by such a high score.


    "Hmm, that kid Mark¡­ he seems to have some talent for potion making too¡­"


    The principal smiled as he stroked his long white beard with an amused expression on his face.


    ¡­


    After Mark''s team went back to their table to wait for the final results, other teams also started to bring their potions one by one.


    Only when others brought their potions did Mark see the strictness of the professors.


    "The mana is simply too impure for it to even be considered a potion; please work more on your mana control. It''s a 3/10!"


    "You didn''t even follow a single of processes properly; it''s a 2/10!"


    Barely any team got more than ten points in total and not even a single team crossed the 20-point mark on the leaderboard, thus Mark''s team remained at the first rank without any problems.


    Seeing the harsh criticism of the professors, the netizens boiled up instantly.


    "D*mn! It''s so difficult to impress the professor of the university!"


    "If I had been a student at that university, I would have failed long ago!"


    "The standards are too high for us common folks!"


    Mark is a well-known and famous talent; thus, no one doubted why Mark was highly praised, but seeing the other teams get such severe remarks, they realized why the university is so famous.


    It''s because their standards are too high.


    By the end of the event, only two other teams made it past twenty points, but Mark remained unchallenged.


    The only team left now was Allen''s team.


    ''Hmm, why are they taking so long¡­ weren''t they just making a simple ''compressed water'' potion?''


    Compressed water is a basic and very easy-to-make type of potion, you just need to gather enough water elements through the element conversion mana device given by the university and then use your mana control to compress the water elements into the vial.


    This potion is used to store large amounts of water so that you can use it to replenish your water supply during longer dungeon raids.


    ''Don''t tell me they don''t have anyone with good mana control¡­ but if that is so, then wouldn''t they end up-'' (Mark)


    *Boom!*


    And Mark''s doubt turned out to be true, the vial broke apart due to the flaws in mana control and a massive amount of water burst out in an instant.


    (Obviously, how could the protagonist remain silent and not try to get as much attention as possible¡­)


    [Grade-5 Barrier Magic: Air Barrier!]


    Thomas immediately waved his hand and cast an air barrier to stop the water on the spot, so that other students don''t get swept away by it.


    "Team No. 15 disqualified¡­"


    Thomas declared the disqualification with a straightforward face, and the looks on the team members, including Allen and Airin turned sour instantly.


    With a simple wave of his hand, Thomas made the barrier in the shape of a bubble float into the air along with the water filled inside it and dumped all of the water outside the venue in an empty spot.


    From the start to the end, Thomas didn''t even move from his judging chair and did everything by simply waving his hand.


    Shin nodded his head at Thomas and said with a smile:


    "Hoho, it seems your skills have improved recently¡­"


    "It''s nothing much, just a small improvement¡­"


    ''What do you mean, little improvement!? You clearly have much purer mana than before! This is an immense improvement! Tch! He hides too deep¡­''


    Just when Shin was about to ask further questions, the wristwatch on his hand suddenly started to blink continuously with a dark red light covering its whole smart screen.


    Shin looked toward the Principal and noticed that the principal nodded at them too.


    The principal immediately got up and announced the end of the competition at that point.


    "Thanks for coming everyone, but we shall postpone this competition here, as there''s been an unexpected situation all of a sudden-"


    "KEHEKEHKEHEKEHE! What''s the hurry? How about we have a little chit-chat first?"


    Abella the ''Nightmare'' had suddenly appeared in the sky at this moment without anyone even noticing her.


    Sitting on her flying broom, a creepy smile hung over her face.


    The witch hat on her head glowed dark red as if it were dripping with fresh blood.


    The principal looked at the old witch, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.


    "What are you doing here, Abella? I didn''t expect you, of all people, to join a demon cult¡­"


    The smile on Abella''s face widened even further at Nathan''s doubtful tone.


    "Kehkehkeh¡­ well, of course, I joined the side of the great and benevolent demon god! He is the real savior of this world after all!"


    "Also, you old fox know the truth of this world better than others, but even you dare not tell it to the common folk, kehekeh¡­"


    "But I am different, I will work for this world, I will bring salvation to this corrupted world! Kehkehe! Only in the warm embrace of my demon god can this world be saved¡­"


    Nathan''s eyes widened at Abella''s words.


    "Don''t tell me you are going after the information on ''False Dome''!?"


    "Kehekeh, smart! As expected of you, Old Fox! You are smart!"


    "But my motive to come here is different, I came here to kill you first, I can deal with other things later¡­"


    Before the other professors could even react to her, Abella immediately revealed her aura and instantly suppressed everyone in the stadium.


    Shin''s eyes widened in shock as he was unable to move due to the immense pressure of a Grade-1 magician.


    Nathan waved his hand and spread his own aura to negate the effects on others.


    "You have advanced to grade-1¡­"


    A creepy smile appeared on Abella''s face as she felt amused while looking at the principal''s surprised expression.


    "KEhekeheke, of course! This is the power given by my benevolent god!"


    With a simple wave of her hand, a massive magic circle opened in the air and gigantic monsters like demon spiders, blood-hounds, and poisonous lizards were summoned by those magic circles.


    "Let me make you all remember why they call me the nightmare!"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And everything went out of control instantly! All plans went down the drain with the appearance of another grade 1 out of nowhere!


    Question of the day.


    Would you have bought a ticket to this venue or not if you had known that this would happen?


    1. Yes (There''s no way that the principal will lose¡­ right?)


    2. No (I would rather sit at my home to watch the show¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 42 The Nightmare... Part-2.

    A gigantic demon spider fell from the sky and landed right in front of Mark and the others.Its aura was so strong that it immediately made all students feel terrified.


    "Grade-4 monster!?"


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Hollow barrier!]


    Risa brought out her wand from her space ring and immediately cast a small shadow barrier to Cover Mark in it.


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Swap!]


    Before Mark could even react, Risa swapped his position with the shadow of a flower pot placed near the wall of the stadium.


    The spider''s sharp pointed feet pierced the spot where Mark had standing just a second ago and caused the ground to crack instantly.


    A massive shockwave created by that attack swept away all the nearby students, including Risa and Mark''s three lackeys.


    *KEHEKEHEKHE*


    Abella''s evil laugh rang out throughout the area as she watched the people below make fearful expressions.


    "Yes! Fear me! AH!! THIS IS THE BEST FEELING!!"


    Abella''s face turned slightly red as she saw people looking at her with fear and anxiety. (She''s messed up in her head¡­)


    "That''s enough!"


    Nathan brought out his cane from the space ring and immediately cast teleportation.


    A smile appeared on Abella''s face seeing the teleportation spell''s magic circle.


    "You think I will just stand and watch!?"


    [Summon: Mutated Space fiend!]


    A massive worm with dark black scales and a disgusting gooey liquid covering its whole body appeared out of the magic circle.


    With the appearance of the worm, the space-time fabric instantly solidified and the teleportation magic lost effect.


    Nathan''s facial expression became solemn as he watched his magic circle get broken.


    "You came well prepared, it seems¡­"


    "Kehkehkehe! Of course! I came well-prepared to kill you today! Letting me go that day was your biggest mistake!"


    Abella touched her broom and dark red blood started to flow out of the broom, The tortured souls howled in agony as they were used to summon Abella''s pets.


    [Forced Summon: Bone titan!]


    A gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky and a titan the size of a skyscraper appeared out of the gigantic magic circle.


    The bones of the titan shined with condensed miasma and the bone sword in its hand started to spread corruption everywhere instantly.


    All the professors present at the scene immediately went ahead to fight with the summoned monsters but that gigantic titan was out of their capabilities too.


    Nathan''s eyes widened as he saw the bone titan slowly moving towards him.


    "A grade-1 summon!?"


    The sky got covered with dark clouds, as if even the weather was in control of that titan.


    The principal gritted his teeth.


    [Grade-4 Wind Magic: Fly!] S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The principal elevated himself into the sky and glared at Abella with a serious expression on his face.


    "Last warning, Abella, I can let you fight with me, but not here! Let''s move the battlefield!"


    "GAHAHAHA! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! I take no orders from anyone except my benevolent god!"


    The gigantic titan immediately swung its massive sword at Nathan and the wind pressure from its sword swing alone swept away several clouds in the air.


    [Grade-2 Spatial Magic: Spatial gate!]


    Using a massive amount of mana, Nathan opened a massive spatial gate.


    The titan''s sword entered the gate and appeared from the space behind the head of the titan.


    Nathan had linked the spatial gate to the space behind the titan''s head; thus, when the sword moved, it directly struck the titan on its head itself.


    Causing the Titan to lose balance for a moment and fall to the ground.


    "Hoh! So you can still use your space magic with this space fiend being here?"


    Abella waved her hand and three more space fiends in the shape of worms appeared.


    The space-time fabric solidified even further after their appearance.


    "KEHEKHEKHE, NOW YOU CAN''t use any space-related magic below grade-1!"


    Space fiends are worm-shaped organisms; they are extremely rare, and they are so rare that finding even one of them is like winning a lottery, but Abella currently has four of them, which shows the effort she has put into finding them.


    The main ability of these types of creatures is to solidify the space-time fabric in a certain range.


    This means the Space-type magicians will be extremely restricted in the presence of these creatures.


    Moreover, the mana in the air will also become solidified, thus reducing the strength of the spells cast by the magicians in that particular area.


    Abella knew that the principal was most skilled at space magic and his other magic was not that strong; that is why she prepared all this just to restrict Nathan.


    The battle between two magicians is all about ''who can exploit the weakness of the opponent more creatively¡­'' and Abella has done it very thoroughly.


    ¡­


    Just when the gigantic spider was about to attack Risa with its pointed feet, a massive stone in the shape of an arrow hit the spider and caused a small wound on its stomach.


    [Grade-5 Stone Magic: Stone Arrow!]


    (Don''t underestimate this simple attack; the speed of this gigantic stone arrow was nearly the same as a bullet fired from a sniper rifle¡­ yet it did negligible damage¡­)


    The spider immediately got angered by that sneak attack and immediately fired a massive thread-like substance from her back toward Mark.


    [Grade-5 Stone Magic: Stone wall!]


    The thread-like substance instantly collided with the wall and broke it apart easily, as if the stone wall were made of cardboard.


    [Basic-Magic: Float!]


    Still, the wall gave Mark enough time to cast a basic level spell and he immediately floated in the air, successfully avoiding the attack without getting injured.


    "Mark! Don''t stay here! Run! I will distract the spider!"


    Mark simply ignored her words, as he didn''t want to abandon her behind.


    He knew that Risa had swapped his position earlier because she wanted him to run away from this place, but he didn''t want to agree with her.


    ''I won''t run away, If I ran away today, I would not be able to call myself a genius anymore¡­''


    The Mark in the original game''s timeline was a competitive and mischievous guy who always opposed the protagonist at every choice, but now that Mark has started thinking of Jareth as his idol, Mark''s view of the world has changed a lot.


    ''If I can''t face the monsters like him, will I still be able to surpass him one day?''


    Mark has seen Jareth face overwhelming monsters without batting an eye; he also wants to follow in Jareth''s footsteps.


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Mud coils!]


    The ground beneath the gigantic spider instantly turned into mud and tentacles made of mud instantly wrapped around the spider to restrict its movements.


    Even while restricted by the mud, the spider still forcefully started to move towards Mark in anger.


    ''Of course, you won''t be done in by just this¡­''


    [Grade-5 Stone Magic: Stone Rain!]


    Ten small magic circles appeared beside Mark and started to firestone bullets at the spider at a speed much faster than bullets fired by a Gatling gun!


    The Spider tried to resist the raining stones by covering its eyes with its front legs, but before it could even raise its legs, Risa seized this golden opportunity instantly.


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Binding!]


    A thick shadow rope bound the spider''s front legs and stopped it from covering its mouth and eyes.


    Mark didn''t miss either; his stone bullets directly hit the eyes of the spider, instantly blinding it.


    Other students were not idiots either; they also came over to help.


    Airin placed her wand on the ground.


    [Grade-6 Wood Magic: Suffocating Tree Bindings!]


    Allen, the protagonist, finally came in clutch and cast his wind magic to make the spider open its mouth forcefully.


    Then Aiza and Allen both fired intense Fire magic into the mouth of the spider together.


    [Fire Magic: Combination Spell: Fire Beam!]


    With the efforts of all the students combined, they finally managed to defeat the demon spider before their mana ran out.


    With the combined efforts, they burned the spider from the inside out, killing it in the most horrible way possible.


    "Phew~"


    Mark heaved a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.


    Just when he was about to wave his hand at Risa to thank her for the help, the body of the spider started to twitch all of a sudden.


    Gigantic tentacles made of miasma broke out of its body and started to wriggle violently.


    In the shocked eyes of the students, the dead spider slowly got up as miasma started to cover its whole body.


    "It''s turning into a zombie!?"


    Just when Mark and the other students were about to collapse under its massive aura, a condensed icicle came flying and directly froze the whole spider on the spot.


    Before the students could react, the frozen ice broke apart, killing the spider inside in an instant.


    "You kids, evacuate now, we professors have evacuated most of the civilians, now you guys should leave too¡­"


    Blood dripped from Shin''s forehead and even his whole body was smeared in monster blood, yet his face remained as calm as always.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that things are getting really chaotic now, let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to fire a Gatling-like stone magic too?


    1. Yes (FREEEEDOOOMMMM!!)


    2. Yeah (What the f*ck is a kilometer!! Rrraaaaghhhh!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 43 The Nightmare... Part-3.

    In the sky above the competition venue.*Boom!*


    The bone sword of the titan hit with a gigantic wind lance and created a massive shockwave in the sky; the sound produced by that collision killed all birds flying in the sky nearby.


    [Summon: Snake guardian!]


    A gigantic snake the size about half a kilometer appeared in the sky and started to fall.


    Nathan immediately aimed at the snake and tried to chant magic, but before he could do so, the bone titan immediately struck him with his bone sword, destroying one of the magic barriers around the principal.


    "Tch!"


    ''She''s doing it on purpose!''


    Nathan knew that Abella was purposely using that snake to distract him.


    But Nathan had no choice either; if that snake fell, it would kill many civilians below.


    "KEKEHEKHE! I won''t let you save anyone! Watch them die miserable as you meet your end!"


    Just when the snake was about to fall on the houses of the civilians. Shin in the sky and cast his magic.


    [Grade-2 Frost Magic: Heavenly Frost Spear!]


    A gigantic spear made of condensed ice burst forth from the ground and directly pierced the snake, instantly freezing it in the sky.


    The acidic blood of the snake started to flow out from the wound and it directly melted the snow before Shin could even react.


    The acidic blood fell down, instantly killing tens of people by melting them into a puddle of meat.


    Some of the acid even Fell on Shin''s magic barrier and directly melted the barrier.


    Shin barely dodged it after the acid scratched his forehead a little bit.


    Blood dripped from his wound, but Shin''s expression remained calm.


    He waved his wand and cast another spell.


    [Grade-2 Frost magic: Ice umbrella!]


    A gigantic umbrella made of ice appeared out of the magic circle and stopped the falling acid from killing any more innocent people.


    The family members of the people who died miserably cried while looking at their relatives and friends who were reduced to a puddle of burnt meat.


    Shin had to cast three more spells just to permanently freeze the acidic blood and kill the snake properly.


    He had to do this all while ignoring the happy laughter of Abella, who was smiling at the misery of the innocent people below.


    Thomas and other professors were not faring much well either.


    Some were trying to evacuate people; some were killing the monsters that were flooding out of those gigantic summoning circles.


    Shin went over to help the students when he saw the demon spider turning into a zombie.


    He then cast magic barriers on all students before helping them evacuate.


    Although the students also wanted to help out, this battlefield was just too dangerous for them to do anything.


    Even the weakest monster summoned by Abella is a grade-4 beast.


    All the professors were trying their best yet they were not able to save the lives of many innocent people who came to watch the competition.


    Some were eaten alive, some were turned into minced meat under the feet of the poisonous Lizard demons and some were ripped apart by the demon hounds.


    Hundreds of corpses with broken and incomplete bodies could be seen all over the stadium.


    Eyeballs, guts, and human organs were splattered all over the ground.


    Demon spiders sucking on the brain matter of dead bodies and demon hounds spitting fire all over the stadium and the nearby streets outside.


    Looking at all this, Mark and the other students could not help but relate this scenery to hell on Earth.


    Fortunately, the magic alliance sent reinforcements on time and started to evacuate people in a ten-kilometer radius.


    Shin handed over the students to the reinforcements and went back to fight and provide support.


    But before he went back, he informed the reinforcements that they needed to send mages over to the university as that place was also under attack.


    Shin had no time to think and wait; he immediately flew back to help evacuate as many people as possible.


    ''Sh*t, Reinforcements may take time; you better not Die on me, Jareth! We still have a score to settle!''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in the University.


    "Hoh¡­ So your home is near a river filled with dark water?"


    Jareth sipped tea as he sat under the shade of a tree along with the two muscular brothers. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yes! Lucas and I live in a huge room there!"


    "Yes! Big brother Jacob even has a giant sword of his own! That scary uncle gave it to him!"


    The twin brothers described their home base with exaggerated expressions on their faces as they munched down on the pastries placed over the table.


    The chair they were given seemed too small for their huge bodies, and the scene of them eating like little kids seemed so comical from the distance.


    The kitchen staff member stood beside Jareth with his forehead dripping with sweat.


    There was only one thought in his mind right now.


    ''How the f*ck did I got stuck with these monsters!?''


    Just a while ago, Jareth asked the kitchen staff to arrange food for these two shady-looking guys and he had to stand and serve the food.


    This was the most dangerous job he had taken in his life.


    As someone qualified to work in the most prestigious university, the staff member is a grade-5 warrior himself.


    He can feel his whole body scream at him to run away from these two giant monsters instantly.


    The only reason why he still dared to stay on his legs without fainting was because Jareth was sitting right beside him.


    He knows full well about Jareth''s magical capabilities, that''s the only reason why he still has hope in his eyes for survival, otherwise, he would have run away long ago.


    From the earlier conversation, the staff member misunderstood that Jareth was trying to extract information from these two men and was being hospitable on purpose.


    On the other hand, Jareth was merely trying to stall for time as he was waiting for the other professors to come to his rescue.


    But after nearly half an hour passed with no one coming, Jareth seemed to have figured out the ins and outs of the situation.


    ''D*mn! They are all frauds! They said they will come back instantly, What the f*ck are those frauds doing now!?''


    The two guys ate all of the food available at the university in just half an hour without even hesitating; they didn''t even care if it was poisonous or not, as they are completely immune to poisons and various other debuffs.


    Then the younger brother, whose name is Lucas, brought out a magic scroll from his pocket.


    "Ah, I nearly forgot that big sis Abella said that we should use this scroll to find our prey!"


    Before Jareth could stop Lucas, the other party ripped the scroll, and a dark magic circle instantly appeared in the air.


    ''Sigh~ in the end, the worst-case scenario still happened?''


    Jareth glanced at the innocent kitchen staff member and waved his hand at him.


    "Go, this place is about to get chaotic soon¡­ also, ask the maintenance staff to prepare for massive renovations¡­"


    The confused guy slowly left after hearing Jareth''s words.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Barrier!]


    Jareth cast a basic spell on himself and continued to sip his tea.


    The dark magic circle shined ominously and immediately pointed towards Jareth.


    The eyes of the twins instantly changed into dark red as if they had gone mad; blood flowed out of their nostrils and ears.


    *Grrrarraaaaasgggg!!!*


    The two brothers started to scream at the sky loudly like mad wolves.


    They immediately lost their sanity when the dark magic circle deemed Jareth as their enemy.


    ''Sigh¡­ The lives of innocent people are considered so worthless in this cruel world¡­''


    Seeing the two innocent guys turn into mad beasts hungry for his blood in such a short time, Jareth couldn''t help but feel the seriousness of this world.


    He knew about the lore of this world, but seeing it all happen with his own eyes was still shocking.


    The abdominal muscles of the two brothers burst apart and huge tentacles made of miasma burst out of their stomachs.


    The organs and intestines of the two brothers flew out and splattered all over the ground, turning the ground into dark red with their blood.


    Jareth is not a good person either, he is watching all of this happen while sipping tea peacefully, he even cast the magic barrier as he knew that blood may stain his clothes.


    While working for a shady company in his past life, Jareth had seen his fair share of questionable things; he isn''t an innocent person either.


    ''Ah¡­ Forgive me, Shiina, for I am tainted with darkness too¡­ I have slaughtered even children''s now... sigh...''


    Jareth placed the empty teacup on the table and got up with a determined look on his face.


    ''If I can''t run away, I might as well just get involved in it myself¡­ this is the perfect opportunity to test out the skills that I trained so painstakingly¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Maybe Shiina was the one who was keeping Jareth sane, now she is gone he may as well become crazy himself¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which side of Jareth do you like the most?


    1. Villainous side (I like it when he conspires like a true villain¡­)


    2. Overpowered side (I like it when he blasts off his enemies in one go!)


    3. Others (Tell me about it in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 44 Broken! Mana singularity is too broken!! Part-1.

    The strength of ''Basic Magic'' entirely depends on three key things.One, the ''int'' stat or mental prowess of the sorcerer.


    Two, the ''proficiency'' in basic magic of the sorcerer.


    And last but the most important, ''Mana Control'' of the sorcerer.


    A sorcerer who excels in all of these three key things will obviously be able to cast basic magic so strong that even higher-grade individuals will have difficulty dealing with him.


    Jareth has the passive skill ''Sharp mind'' which boosts his mental prowess when casting magic, and as he has always been very untalented at fire magic, he has always used basic magic to do his bidding.


    Thus his proficiency in basic magic could be said to be in a league of his own.


    With the addition of mana Singularity, Jareth''s basic magic has strengthened a hundredfold, which means his basic magic is nearly at the level of a semi-grade 1 sorcerer now.


    Moreover, due to Mana singularity, Jareth''s control over his own mana is so high that he can theoretically never run out of mana as he can simply force the mana in the atmosphere to enter his body at any time.


    In other words, after casting the basic spell ''Mana shield'', Jareth became effectively ''immortal''.


    *Boom!*


    Jacob punched toward Jareth but the mana shield, which was nearly indestructible for him instantly blocked the attack.


    The force of that punch stirred the air and created a massive sonic boom, causing a gigantic shockwave in the air.


    The trees, the table, the chair, etc. everything was swept away due to the air pressure, but Jareth stood unharmed.


    Right now, unless you attack Jareth with an attack at the level of grade 1 or higher, it''s impossible to break through his mana shield.


    Even if you damage his shield he can repair it with mana again, and as his mana can never run out, thus, unless it''s a single massive damage attack, Jareth can''t die.


    "Is that all?"


    [Basic Magic: Mana beam!]


    A magic circle the size of a one-story building appeared beside Jareth and fired a massive beam of condensed mana at the twin brothers.


    The beam was so strong that it obliterated everything in its way and split the whole garden of the university into two.


    The ground cracked and debris flew everywhere at a speed faster than sound itself.


    *Boom!*


    The younger brother Lucas launched at Jareth, and with mana-infused punches, he launched a huge barrage of attacks on Jareth.


    [Berserker Style Martial arts: Crazed Punch barrage!]


    Even with those attacks, Jareth stood unharmed as his mana shield didn''t even budge.


    ''With that ''tanky'' body, of course, you won''t die so easily¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand and three more magic circles appeared in the air.


    Each one was the size of a one-story building, and all of them aimed at the younger brother at once.


    [Basic Magic: Mana beam Gatling!]


    *Boom!**Booom!*


    Hundreds of condensed mana beams the size of a building caused a massive, concentrated bombardment on Lucas continuously.


    The bombardment of mana beams caused the mana in the whole area to become chaotic and even the people inside university buildings could feel the changes in the atmosphere.


    That bombardment was so strong that it caused a small-scale earthquake each time the four mana beams hit the ground along with Lucas.


    Even the buildings of the university started to tremble at Jareth''s relentless attacks.


    The outer walls of the university already collapsed due to the continuous shockwaves produced by those mana beams.


    The barrage continued on and on for ten seconds.


    In those ten seconds, Jareth fired nearly a thousand mana beams on Lucas at point-blank range. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jacob, who was earlier blasted off by a beam, couldn''t do anything to save his younger brother and was only able to watch him get slaughtered by Jareth mercilessly.


    Once Jareth stopped his attacks, a gigantic crater filled with molten rocks and charred soil appeared in the view.


    *step**step*


    With the usual cold look on his face, Jareth slowly walked over to the edge of the crater and glanced down.


    What came into view was the ashes of Lucas''s body, which was so heavily bombarded by the mana beams that not even his bones were left, just some scattered ash.


    Seeing the horrible demise of his younger brother, Jacob instantly went mad, The miasma tentacles started to wrap over his body and his already gigantic body bulged up in size even more.


    ''He willingly accepted the corrosion after seeing me kill his brother?''


    A smirk appeared over Jareth''s face as he watched the dark and sticky miasma slowly cover Jacob''s body.


    ''You think you will be able to kill me that way?''


    "Useless¡­"


    Jareth raised his hand towards the sky and cast the spell:


    [Basic Magic: Glowing mana orb!]


    A magic circle the size of a gigantic skyscraper appeared in the sky right above Jareth''s head.


    ¡­


    (Sudden info dump!)


    [Spell Name: Glowing Mana orb]


    [Spell Type: Basic magic]


    [The glowing mana orb is a spell used like a torch. It is used as a light source while walking in a dark underground area or any other dark place with no source of light.]


    [Effect: Works as a torch and a light source. Also, ''it mildly repels darkness''¡­]


    ¡­


    Jareth knew that this spell could ''Mildly'' repel darkness, but he also knew one key thing, and that is, when he casts a basic magic-type spell, his spells can be enhanced due to the effects of ''Mana Singularity''.


    In other words, the spell that Jareth cast, produced a glowing mana orb so strong that its darkness-repelling abilities instantly got enhanced by a hundred times.


    The gigantic mana orb floating in the sky shined so brightly that it seemed a second sun had appeared out of nowhere.


    Its rays of light, which were condensed with mana, instantly landed on Jacob''s body, which was covered with darkness and started to burn it thoroughly.


    "GGGGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    As his body started to burn, Jacob screamed in great pain and agony, to which Jareth could only shake his head.


    ''Don''t worry, I will purify the darkness inside you with my own hands, let this take you to a happy afterlife¡­''


    Jacob''s screams of agony rang out far and wide, even the people on the streets heard his wails and felt like their ears might burst apart from that loud sound.


    Moreover, anyone who looked at Jareth''s glowing orb went blind for nearly three hours as a side-effect.


    *Gggggaaaaaahhhhhhhrrrrrr*


    With yet another beastly roar, Jacob''s body evaporated into thin air as he died miserable under the intense light of that glowing orb.


    Jareth waved his hand and made the mana orb disappear, as he figured out that his work here was done.


    ''Phew~ it took a lot of effort to get his done¡­ but I guess I have a strong footing in this world now¡­''


    ¡­


    (Info dumps)


    When Jareth started training he noticed a major difference from the game.


    Ever since he got mana singularity, his basic magic had become exaggerated and extremely strong.


    In the game, basic magic was there for just show and it never became strong no matter what.


    The game mechanics and restrictions were suppressing the basic magic and weren''t letting it bring out its true potential.


    Even if you get mana singularity in the game, your basic magic could never improve, only attributed magic could be enhanced.


    But this bug has been fixed in the real world.


    Now that Jareth is in the real world and not in a game, reality will follow the rules of its own.


    Mana singularity now applies to basic magic too, and the combination of mana singularity and basic magic is just straight-up overpowered and broken.


    You don''t need to improve your grade to upgrade your basic magic, all you need is a stronger mind and a higher proficiency.


    Although this sounds easy to achieve, Jareth was only able to do it because of how things aligned so perfectly for him.


    If he had possessed the body of someone else other than Jareth, he wouldn''t have had the passive skill ''sharp mind'' and the high proficiency of the original Jareth in basic magic.


    At that point, even if he had gotten mana singularity, without the other two things, it would have been useless.


    But Jareth didn''t face this worst-case scenario and luckily possessed the body of Jareth Blaze who already had the qualifications to become extremely strong at basic magic.


    All he needed was a push, and that push came when mana singularity entered the scene.


    Thus, even the weak third-rate villain, Jareth Blaze became as broken as any other grade-2 mage without even needing to use the attack card anymore.


    ¡­


    (Back to chapter)


    Standing near the ashes of Jacob''s body, Jareth''s facial expression remained as cold as always, he glanced at the setting sun and thought to himself.


    ''Hmm... do I even need the attack card anymore?''


    Jareth was now satisfied with his improvement.


    Although Jareth had technically cheated his way out, no one would believe that Jareth achieved all of this in just a month or so.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! D*mn! Who could have thought that all this while, Jareth was really cooking up something so fire! All hail Jareth the goat!


    Question of the day.


    Were you surprised at how Jareth overpowered those twin brothers so easily?


    1. Yes (D*mn, the author has cooked up something good!)


    2. Yeah! (We believed in the author''s cooking skills¡­ and see! The author really cooked something spicy!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 45 Broken! Mana Singularity is too broken! Part-2.

    The enigmatic cult known as "False Dome" established a death squad, of which Jacob and Lucas were both a part.Lucas and Jacob were orphans who were living a normal and peaceful life free from any worries; however, it is possible that their luck was just too bad on ''that'' day.


    In the middle of the night, the followers of the False Dome cult abducted both of them and took them away.


    Due to the fact that they were only seven years old, both of them were completely defenseless against the members of the cult, and there was no way for them to escape easily.


    The subsequent events consisted of a horrifying form of torture and an endless series of experiments.


    Hundreds of excruciating experiments were carried out on the twins by the crazed leader of the cult, who was obsessed with the idea of combining miasma with living humans while also trying to reduce the negative effects of the process.


    Out of the thousand kidnapped children, only five of the children who were kidnapped from all over the empire were able to stay alive by the time the experiment was over.


    Some passed away as a result of failed experiments, while others died as a result of shock, heart attack, or internal bleeding.


    Even among the five children who survived the experiment, they had all been subjected to severe mental traumas, which caused their minds to enter a state of shock and prevented them from ever maturing beyond their initial age.


    Because of this, Lucas and Jacob''s minds were still those of children, despite the fact that their bodies had already reached the age of twenty by this point. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Currently, the leader of the cult maintains a death squad consisting of these five individuals who are mentally disabled.


    From time to time, he dispatches them to carry out the assassinations of influential individuals.


    If they are somehow able to survive, a teleportation circle will materialize with the purpose of transporting them back to the primary base.


    Following that, the leader of the cult heals them and puts them to use once more.


    There is no end to this cycle unless they pass away while on some mission.


    Among the five children who managed to escape alive, two had already passed away while on their mission, and two more passed away today as a result of Jareth''s onslaught on them.


    There is only one of them who is still alive at this time.


    ¡­


    ''If my memory serve me right... Jacob and Lucas were late-game mini-bosses; if you kill one of them, the other one will power up and attack you like crazy with their increased strength....''


    It is possible that if you kill any of the brothers, the brother who is still alive will absorb the strength of the brother who has passed away through the soul connection that exists between them.


    This will make the fight against the boss more challenging.


    A great number of players encountered quite a bit of difficulty when battling these two in the game.


    While it is true that you are unable to stop the ''cut scene'' in the game in which one brother absorbs another, this was not exactly the case in real life.


    As soon as Jareth laid eyes on the two of them earlier, he immediately began formulating a strategy in his head.


    So, in order to prevent the power from being absorbed, Jareth utterly destroyed Lucas''s body into nothingness and transformed it into fly ash.


    Nothing was left behind as a result of such intense bombardment, which caused the energy that was contained within Lucas''s dead body to disperse before it could even be absorbed by Jacob.


    "However, that dark phase was actually quite unexpected, even for me."


    As this is the real world now, everything is open to new possibilities, and by preventing Jacob from absorbing the power of his brother, Jareth triggered one such unique possibility.


    The cult leader''s experiments led to Jacob''s partial fusion with the miasma; however, it was impossible for Jacob to fully meld with the miasma without his mental health deteriorating severely.


    There was a small amount of sanity that Jacob maintained for the sake of his younger brother, Lucas.


    However, after Lucas passed away, Jacob lost his sanity, and miasma took control of his entire body, which corrupted him from the inside out.


    ''Thankfully, I now possess mana singularity; if it weren''t for that glowing orb, I would have had to use the attack enhancement card...''


    Non-attributed magic, also known as basic magic, can''t fight against miasma in an effective manner.


    Jareth''s mana beams would have had no effect on Jacob, even if he had bombarded him like he did on Lucas.


    It would have been possible for Jareth to effectively counter miasma if he had used his fire magic, but unfortunately, his fire magic was not powerful enough to accomplish that.


    "Well, it''s a good thing that I was able to save the attack enhancement card; it''s better to keep such a good thing safe, after all, who knows when I will end up in another trouble-"


    *Boom!*


    A huge beam of condensed miasma came flying and hit the ground fifty meters ahead of Jareth.


    This caused a significant amount of debris to fly into the air.


    "D*mn you! old fox!"


    In the sky above the university, Abella, the nightmare, appeared and Nathan seemed to be pursuing her.


    Abella waved her hand and a dark magic circle fired a massive beam made of condensed maisma towards the principal.


    In an effort to eliminate the miasma beam that was coming from Abella''s magic broom, the principal waved his wand and constructed a massive spatial gate.


    Once more, Abella''s beam was teleported away and landed on the ground close to Jareth.


    Shin, along with the other professors, appeared in the sky and landed close to Jareth, when he was uncertain about what was happening.


    Shin''s expression changed to one of skepticism when he realized that Jareth had not sustained any injuries at all.


    "Did they not attack the university?"


    To that question, Jareth responded with his usual arrogant tone:


    "Hmph, of course it got attacked; you guys are so slow and useless that I ended up killing the attackers on my own..."


    Following that, Jareth looked at the other professors with a disdainful expression on his face and pointed to the two piles of ashes nearby.


    The mocking tone that Jareth used caused Shin to become instantly enraged, and blood vessels began to appear on his face.


    "Tch! We had a difficult time with it too, you know!... We had to deal with an endless number of grade two and grade three monsters... because that d*mn witch bounced so many summons on us out of nowhere!"


    Even Thomas nodded his head in acknowledgement at Shin''s words.


    "Yes, despite the fact that the grade-2 monsters in her arsenal are much weaker, the total number of them is still quite substantial..."


    The excuses that both of them offered were completely disregarded by Jareth, who instead came up with a question of his own.


    "In that case, how did the battlefield move to this location in the first place?"


    Jareth slightly glanced in the direction from where two grade 1''s came from, and sure enough, several of the civilian houses were completely destroyed in that direction.


    This means Nathan and Abella have caused the deaths of many people as a result of their battle''s collateral damage.


    Shin noticed Jareth''s gaze and realized what he was thinking about.


    "As the principal pursued Abella through the air, we made every effort to reduce the number of casualties as much as possible..."


    "However, there were still some powerful attacks that were able to penetrate our defenses and result in the deaths of a great number of innocent people..."


    Thomas glanced at Jareth and said in a solemn tone:


    "Earlier, when you used that strange purification spell, the bone titan and other monster summoned by Abella were suppressed for a few seconds, that gave the principal a great opportunity to counterattack¡­"


    "He was able to deal with that bone titan because your spell suppressed that bone titan¡­. By the way, what kind of spell was that?"


    Jareth tilted his head and said in his usual cold tone,


    "Considering that you are a professor yourself... are you not aware that it was nothing more than basic grade magic?"


    "Well¡­ it certainly did look like the ''glowing mana orb''... but I have never seen such a massive glowing mana orb¡­"


    Before Thomas could ask anything else, Shin intervened in the conversation.


    "Ugh¡­ don''t think too much about it¡­ this guy''s spells are all so mutated¡­ it was same with that dragon roar spell back in the dungeon too¡­"


    "He seems to be obsessed with practicing low-level spells to the extreme¡­"


    The misunderstanding that Shin has of Jareth is that ''he is a magic freak who enjoys practicing low-level spells to the point of extremes.''


    According to him, the reason why Jareth''s low-level spells are so powerful is because he has practiced them to the point where they are beyond their limit.


    ''Only insane people could make such a decision... Despite his outward appearance, he may be a complete maniac on the inside...''


    Even Thomas was also quite impressed after hearing Shin''s words.


    ''Indeed, low-level spells are easy to cast and take less time and mana; moreover, if you practice them to the extreme, like Jareth¡­ they might really become as lethal as any other grade-2 spells¡­''


    Unaware of the inner conflicts of the professors, Jareth, who had technically cheated his way to the top, was experiencing a lot of internal conflict at the moment.


    ''Ugh... I spent an excessive amount of mana on those enormous mana beams; it will take a few more minutes to replenish it to its full capacity...''


    *Boom!* *Crack!* *Crack!*


    Just as Jareth thought things were slowly coming to an end, massive tree vines burst out of the main building of the university.


    A figure that was dressed in a dark black robe flew out of the building like a cannonball and collided with the walls of the building that was on the other side.


    The ground beneath Jareth''s feet began to rumble all of a sudden, and thick tree roots began to emerge from the ground at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    In order to avoid being struck by those tree roots, Jareth immediately flew into the air, and the other professors followed suit shortly after.


    "This is¡­ Professor Aria''s magic!"


    "Oh wait! That black shadow¡­ Why does it look similar to Abella!? Is that a clone!?"


    As Jareth watched the scene devolve into chaos once more, he couldn''t help but feel irritated in his mind.


    ''Ah sh*t! here we go again!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that troubles will continue for a while longer and won''t let Jareth rest this easily¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Jacob and Lucas were really miserable?


    1. Yes (How dare you give them such a tragic backstory, author!!)


    2. Yeah! (Hey, somebody, stop the author! he''s cooking too much now!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation

 Chapter 46 Broken! Mana Singularity is too Broken! Part-3.

    Half an hour ago.When Jareth was still fighting the two brothers, he did not notice a dark, black shadow enter the university building quietly.


    The shadow lacked facial features and wore a black cloak covered in black mist.


    Surprisingly, the shadow''s physical structure resembled Abella.


    And, sure enough, Abella created this shadow.


    She utilized forbidden dark magic to detach a piece of her soul and transplant it into a dark magic-enhanced doll.


    Her powerful soul molded the doll into her body shape, giving it such unique characteristics.


    Abella can control her shadow from thousands of kilometers away, allowing her to sneak into any well-protected location.


    As this doll retains a portion of her soul, it has its own will and can make independent emergency decisions.


    The doll lacks mana circuits; therefore, mana detection cannot detect it.


    Even still, Abella had to get the principal away from university because it''s highly likely that he could notice the doll in some way.


    Thus, she dispatched her main body to battle the principle and keep him busy, while her shadow sneaked into the campus.


    Jareth could have spotted the small traces of mana on the doll, but he was too preoccupied with the twins to notice the shadow.


    The shadow entered the university''s main building and began to move stealthily toward the principal''s office.


    She needed to steal the secret library''s keys, because without them, even a grade-1 magician would take a long time to open the magic seal on the door of the secret library.


    When the shadow doll was going to sneak into the principal''s office, Aria, who had been depressed for the previous few days, came over to retrieve the smartphone she had left there.


    The shadow quickly created a knife from the residual mist surrounding its body and launched a surprise attack on Aria.


    Aria is a coward when it comes to fighting and killing, yet she is a genuine grade-2 mage who can maintain a mana barrier around herself at all times, much like other high-ranking mages.


    *weng!*


    Thus, when the shadow doll attacked Aria, its knife met with the mana barrier and came to a halt in mid-air, prompting Aria to go into alert mode immediately.


    "Wh-what!?"


    The shadow doll fled quickly after realizing its attack had failed.


    The shadow doll dashed towards the adjoining student classes, where other lower-grade wizards were instructing the less gifted kids.


    (The academy''s 13 grade-2 mages only educate the most gifted students, while lower grade wizards teach the others.)


    Aria raced behind the shadow as she noticed it running.


    But the shadow doll was faster than her; it entered a classroom and grabbed the nearest student''s neck, then placed the knife on the student''s neck, threatening the professor with the student''s life.


    Aria entered the room and yelled at the shadow doll impatiently.


    "Stop! Do not put your hands on the students!"


    The shadow doll ignored Aria''s words and slowly retreated, holding the pupil hostage.


    Because the shadow doll has free will, it does not want to die; instead, it wishes to live


    And if it does die, the soul fragment of Abella in its body will vanish, causing significant harm to the main body.


    Abella did not want to hurt her soul while still fighting Nathan.


    Thus, when the shadow doll became stuck in a tight position, Abella''s primary body chose to fly towards the university in an attempt to rescue it.


    But Nathan didn''t let her do what she wanted; instead, he pursued her and continued to fire deadly spatial spells.


    This resulted in a stalemate; both of them refused to let go of each other and kept pressing with magic bombardment heavily.


    But the deadlock was broken when the shadow pulled out a teleportation scroll from her coat and attempted to flee with the hostage.


    Aria realized how dark and deadly the cult was; she knew that if the shadow doll succeeded in taking the student, that student would most certainly be unable to live peacefully again.


    Aria''s fear peaked when the shadow accidentally slashed the student''s throat while attempting to activate the teleportation scroll.


    When someone''s anxiousness reaches a breaking point, their thinking becomes chaotic.


    "NOO! I won''t let you!!"


    Aria lost her temper and promptly used her strongest spell.


    [Grade-2 Wood Magic: Absolute tree of bindings!]


    Not only did she unleash her most powerful magic, but she continued to pour her entire mana into the tree as if she had gone mad.


    A large magic circle appeared, and massive tree roots and stems began to stream out of it in a second.


    One of the tree stems went directly at the head of the shadow, hitting it with such force that the shadow doll rocketed away like a cannonball, breaking through the building wall in an instant.


    Aria''s wood magic did not end there; in her fright and distress, she lost control of her own mana and poured an excessive amount of mana into the magic circle, causing it to overload.


    While the tree roots burst through the floor and dug into the ground, the tree''s shoots broke through the roof and began to grow upward.


    Eventually, giant tree branches filled the entire sky above the institution, blocking the sun''s rays.


    Even Abella and Nathan, who were fighting in the sky, were taken aback when they saw the massive tree.


    Taking advantage of Nathan''s momentary hesitation, Abella dropped down quickly and snatched the broken shadow doll before flying away at incredible speed.


    ...


    Originally, Abella''s strategy was foolproof; she knew that if she could discover the keys in the principal''s office, they were probably in Nathan''s space ring, so she began a two-front attack.


    Even if one of her bodies succeeds, the other will be able to escape in time.


    What she didn''t expect was the unpredictable element known as Jareth.


    She sent Jacob and Lucas, two grade-2 warriors, to deal with him, but Jareth not only survived but also counterattacked and killed those two brothers.


    Furthermore, his glowing mana ball magic triggered a significant suppression on the bone titan, allowing the principal to score the victory.


    Nathan instantly destroyed those space-stabilizing worms, restoring the potency of his spells, and then launched an unrelenting barrage on Abella.


    In other words, Jareth inadvertently thwarted Abella''s intention to assassinate the principal by casting some basic magic.


    After the shadow doll''s unsuccessful plot, Abella had to fly away quickly to distance herself from Nathan and use the teleportation scroll.


    Jareth shook his head as he watched the fading figures of Abella and Nathan in the sky before diving down to deal with the chaos below.


    Shin and Thomas both were shocked while looking at that tree.


    "Ugh¡­ Despite using magic, this tree continues to grow...Unless she stops pouring more mana, it won''t stop..."


    "I can temporarily control its growth by casting a barrier, but she is using too much mana... She has most certainly lost control of herself... It will be tough to stop her now."


    Jareth scoffed at the two and remarked,


    "You people are always so useless..."


    [Basic Magic: Mana Barrier!]


    Jareth created an unbreakable mana barrier for himself and entered the university building via the broken wall.


    Using the float spell, he quickly approached Aria.


    Although many of the unrestrained tree branches attempted to bind him on the spot, Jareth successfully evaded them.


    Because of mana singularity, his basic magic has become stronger overall, including his float spell. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He can effortlessly fly and avoid the branches.


    After a few seconds of flight, Jareth approached Aria, who had become unconscious while standing in front of a massive magic circle.


    The magic circle launched numerous tree branches and roots toward Jareth, but he effortlessly avoided them by shifting the direction of his float magic.


    Jareth placed his hand on the magic circle as soon as he reached its edge.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Interruption!]


    Jareth''s mana interruption ability had advanced to a new level as a result of mana singularity.


    He simply disrupted the mana flow in the magic circle, preventing it from operating.


    After losing its mana supply, the massive tree comprised of condensed mana began to lose shape as the mana within it dissipated in the air.


    ''Phew, finally done...''


    Although it took a lot of effort, Jareth was able to survive through this whole ordeal.


    His mana was already running low after fighting those twins and now that he had to deal with Aria''s spell, his mana was already down to just one percent.


    He can''t even keep up the mana barrier now. He needs atleast a few minutes to barely recover enough mana to cast the mana barrier again.


    ''Sigh... Once this is over, I must somehow improve my mana capacity...''


    ...


    ...


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Jareth has finally ended all the chaos happening in the university, let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also think that Jareth should add mana interruption in his actual combat?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 47 The Nightmare ends...

    Aria''s body fell to the floor as her wand lost its mana output.She had already gone unconscious the moment her mana went out of her control, it will take her quite a few days to recover.


    As he was done with the work, Jareth straightened up his unkempt clothes and decided to leave.


    But Just when Jareth was about to leave, Shin came over to irritate Jareth again.


    "Hey, you aren''t supposed to leave a lady defenseless like that¡­ how about sending her to the infirmary or something?" Explore more stories at empire


    Jareth shook his head at those words immediately.


    "I will pass, you do it¡­ I am out of mana anyway¡­" S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Who are you kidding? I know you definitely have tons of mana left¡­ I am the one who is actually out of mana! I had to cast grade-2 spells over and over to keep the endless hoard of monster at bay¡­"


    "Forget it then, let her catch up on her sleep, you do the same¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand and left without even looking back, he needed time to recover his mana, so there was no point in standing there and bickering with Shin.


    "Tch! You are so heartless, bruh!"


    "I am not your ''bruh''¡­ the heir of the Isaz family is indeed lacking in manners¡­"


    Thomas, who came over a bit later, shook his head in helplessness when he saw Jareth and Shin bicker like that while standing near an unconscious Aria.


    ''If people saw them, they will misunderstand that these two caused Aria to faint by making her listen to their endless bickering¡­''


    "hah! Then prove that you indeed like ''woman'' and are a true man! by carrying her in your own arms!"


    "Like I said, I don''t have any interest in carrying her to the infirmary; you do it yourself¡­"


    "Nah, bruh, I don''t believe ya anymore! Are you even a man!? Can''t you see that there''s a helpless maiden in distress right here!?"


    "At least she is not as helpless in terms of brain power when compared to you!"


    "The heck are you even talking about!? I clearly am considered better than all of the professors by the students! They prefer me more!"


    "That''s because you get swayed by the simple compliments they throw at your face!"


    A complicated look appeared on Thomas''s face as he heard them bring random bullsh*t into their bickering.


    ''Ugh, these two will tarnish the image of all grade-2 magicians if someone heard them talk like this¡­''


    (Actually, Jareth doesn''t want to bother with dealing taking extra work on his hand, anyway he doesn''t give a sh*t about Aria in the first place...)


    Just when Shin was about to come up with a counter, Jareth suddenly looked in a certain direction and narrowed his eyes.


    "hmm?¡­"


    Shin and Thomas instantly took a defensive stance and increased their perception to the highest, but they failed to find anything worth noticing.


    "Specific?" (Shin) (Decoded version: "What are the specifics?")


    "Observe." (Jareth) ("Something''s observing or keeping an eye on us¡­" )


    "Mana fluct?" (Thomas) ("What''s the fluctuation range?")


    "Low¡­ hmm? It disappeared¡­" (Jareth)


    "Tulip?" (Shin) ("It teleported out of perception?")


    "Yup¡­ it''s left my range of perception, likely teleported away¡­" (Jareth)


    The three of them conveyed immense information with each other in just some simple words, that''s the way of professionals.


    Seeing that Jareth stopped using the ''codes'', Shin relaxed his defensive stance and heaved a sigh of relief.


    Shin wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his palm as he said in a solemn tone:


    "I really am out of mana; I barely have any left¡­ I can''t afford to deal with another hassle now; it''s a good thing it disappeared¡­"


    "What was it, by the way?"


    "Hmm, it seemed like a condensed mass of miasma to me¡­ but I am not sure¡­" (Jareth)


    As Jareth''s mana perception has been enhanced by ''Mana singularity'' he noticed the strange presence while Shin and Thomas were completely clueless about it.


    ''I have a strange feeling about this¡­''


    ¡­


    An underground church, Location unknown.


    While sitting on the front bench, a creepy smirk appeared on the face of the humanoid black mist all of a sudden.


    ''This is the second time in my whole life that someone has noticed my presence¡­ interesting¡­ very interesting indeed¡­''


    Just now, the cult leader manipulated the lingering miasma in the ''Ashes'' of Jacob and Lucas''s bodies to cast a projection of himself.


    He wanted to see for himself about what the situation was and who had killed his two lab rats without his permission.


    But after Jareth noticed his presence, he immediately cancelled his mana manipulation, making the miasma dissipate.


    After all, He didn''t want to alert the prey before it was time to hunt.


    Just when the cult leader was busy contemplating about various things, a dark magic circle appeared near the entrance of the church and Abella fell out of the teleportation circle.


    Her shadow doll was supporting her at the moment, as she seemed to be in really bad shape.


    Abella bowed towards the cult leader and acknowledged her defeat.


    Her magic broom was already broken and she had suffered a lot injuries while escaping from Nathan, Her plan had failed thoroughly.


    Moreover, she hadn''t even completed the key objective of the mission, despite losing Jacob and Lucas in the process.


    "Well, forget it¡­ I got to see something really interesting just now so I will forgive you this one time¡­ By the way, did you succeed in planting the ''seeds''?"


    "Yes, I have scattered them as you instructed¡­ all that''s left is to wait and let them mature¡­"


    "Good, that will keep them busy for a while¡­ in the meantime, we can peacefully do soul-gathering ritual¡­ others are also on their way back so next time the attack will be an all-out war¡­"


    Abella''s eyes widened in surprise at his words.


    "Is the time for the seal shards to align arriving soon?"


    "haha, yes! It won''t be long before we can break the seal on the ''False Dome''! All we need is to find an ''opening'' through the ''Hidden Dome'' pathway!"


    "Once we get rid of all eight seals, our benevolent god can finally descend in this world!"


    The smile on Abella''s face returned again as she heard his words; she nodded her head and the determination in her eyes returned.


    Seeing her excited look, the cult leader waved his hand to signal that she can leave.


    "Go, you are dismissed for now¡­"


    "Understood!"


    After getting permission, Abella immediately left the church.


    The creepy smile on the cult leader''s face remained the same as usual.


    "About time, I guess¡­"


    ¡­


    Ivan''s university.


    The principal returned to the university empty-handed.


    He pursued Abella for at least a hundred kilometers before she finally got the chance to teleport away.


    Even after his various attacks, the only thing he was able to do was destroy her magic broom and free the suffering souls contained in it.


    Once the principal returned, his face twitched as he saw the state of the university with a complicated look on his face.


    The whole garden was destroyed by Jareth and the twins, the main building was destroyed by Aria''s magic; and massive holes were littered all over the ground that were created by Abella''s magic beams that he himself teleported away.


    Seeing the university in ruins, the principal felt quite angry but there was no one who he could blame; after all, it was him who approved of the tournament.


    ''Ugh, it seems my age is catching up to me¡­ why did I even agree to conducting that tournament¡­''


    Later, the principal held a major press-conference to explain the situation.


    He needed to provide a proper answer to the families of the people who died in this whole incident.


    The whole media boiled up at this devastating news and questions about safety of the citizens started to rise instantly.


    This is the first time in fifty years that such a major incident has happened in the capital city.


    Nearly a thousand innocent people died in this incident and all of this happened under the nose of the strongest mages.


    This incident was named ''Terror attack of Abella the nightmare!'', later the incident became a major topic of debate between the politicians and the government also had to face public criticism.


    Eventually, the government had to acknowledge the situation and provide proper compensation to the victim''s family members.


    All of the high-grade mages that were present in the tournament venue witnessed a significant loss in their popularity.


    Even Nathan''s popularity and reputation got tarnished by a lot of people.


    Only one person benefited from this whole ordeal.


    [Ding! You caused a minor change in the storyline!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 10000 CP!]


    Not only Jareth get a lot of credit points, a video in which he was fighting with the twins went viral overnight on the internet, giving a major boost to his popularity.


    A famous quote started to go viral on internet:


    ''Roses are red, Spells against me won''t prosper,


    With this teacup and leather coat,


    I summon, Jareth, the goat!''


    (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Don''t mind my weird quotes I just make them up on random, they are just meant to be funny don''t take them to your heart, take them to your kidney¡­. Cough! My bad, my hands slipped a bit while typing...


    Question of the day:


    Do you also think Jareth has attracted more trouble his way now?


    1. Yes


    2. Yeah


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 48 Its too unfair...

    An old house, Bedroom."Wakey wakey! Sleepy head!"


    "hmm, let me sleep for five more minutes¡­" S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Seeing that he wasn''t waking up, Shiina smiled mischievously and pinched his nose with her small beautiful hands.


    Feeling the suffocation, Jareth suddenly opened his eyes and hurriedly sat up.


    "Damn! Nearly died!"


    "Hehe! Then you should have woken up on time no?"


    Jareth shook his head at Shiina''s mischievous giggles.


    "Sigh, why are you here all of a sudden?"


    Hearing his words, Shiina pouted her cheeks and replied in an angry tone:


    "What do you mean, why am I here? Have you forgotten what day it is today?"


    "Huh¡­ there''s something special today?"


    Shiina rubbed her forehead to stop the headache coming from Jareth''s question and replied in a helpless tone:


    "How come you forgot that it''s your birthday today¡­ Do people even forget their birthdays?"


    "Ah, oh, now that I think about it, it''s indeed true¡­"


    Seeing Shiina look at him a gaze of pity, a complicated expression appeared on Jareth''s face.


    "Ugh¡­ don''t look at me like that¡­"


    "Then get ready, idiot! We are going on a date~"


    "Oh, let me take a shower first¡­"


    Jareth immediately unbuttoned his shirt, which caused Shiina''s face to blush slightly.


    "Idiot! I am also here you know¡­"


    "Huh? But haven''t we already seen each other nak-"


    "Humph! Idoit!"


    Ignoring his words, she ran away to the living room while covered her reddened ears.


    Jareth shook his head and went to take a quick shower.


    ¡­


    Outside a movie theater.


    "Hurry hurry! We are going to be late!"


    Shiina dragged Jareth inside the theater in a hurry, they were already quite late as Jareth woke up late and wasted time while getting ready.


    "How are you running so fast while wearing those heels!? What!?"


    Hearing the praise from Jareth, a cute smirk appeared on her face.


    "Hehe, of course I am good at it! I have practiced it! Aren''t I amazing?"


    ''She always says that when she wants to be praised more¡­''


    A smile appeared on his face as she stretched out his hand to pat her head and mess up her hair.


    "Yeah yeah, you are the most beautiful and amazing girlfriend in the world¡­"


    Shiina lightly punched Jareth to protest against his actions of messing up her hair for no reason.


    "Idiot! Don''t mess them like that¡­"


    The two of them finally reached their designated seat and sat beside each other.


    A movie about a world filled with magic and spells started to play on the screen.


    Shiina pointed her index finger towards the screen and said excitedly.


    "See! Didn''t I say that the villain of that movie looks so similar to you!"


    "Ugh.. why did they make me a villain¡­ and that character seems like an arrogant and edgy character¡­"


    "Hehe, I think villains are cool, though¡­"


    "Hmm, well... if you like it, then it''s okay, I guess.."


    Shiina puffed up her chest and declared proudly:


    "Of course I will like you no matter what!"


    At those words, he gave a wry smile and said in a helpless tone,


    "Ugh.. you are spoiling me too much¡­"


    But Shiina only smiled mischeviously. She replied using the internet trend instead,


    "Yeah! Get spoiled and become my pookie bear!"


    ¡­


    Market area, near the movie theater.


    Shiina flailed her arms and said in a depressed tone:


    "Sigh~ that movie was so tragic; the villain suffered so much and died so horribly at the end¡­ ugh¡­"


    Seeing her depressed mood, Jareth pointed to an ice-cream caf¨¦.


    "How about we eat ice cream to lighten up the mood?"


    Hearing those words, light returned in her eyes,


    "Oh yes! Ice-cream!"


    With stars shining in her eyes, excitement returned to her face when she heard the word ice-cream.


    She held Jareth''s hand tightly and dragged him inside the cafe with her.


    "A vanilla one!"


    When the waiter served the ice-cream, Shiina immediately pounced on it like a hungry cat.


    Even her hair seemed to be swaying in happiness.


    Seeing that cute smile on her face, Jareth felt that this birthday was worth it.


    Shiina mistook his stare and pouted her cheeks.


    "Don''t stare at it; it''s mine! I won''t give the ice-cream to you!"


    "Heh¡­ then how about I have you instead?"


    "Hmph idiot!"


    Hearing his teasing tone, Shiina''s face turned red all of a sudden. Explore hidden tales at empire


    Jareth just smiled at her cute behavior and didn''t tease her further; otherwise, she might get angry at him.


    ¡­


    Night, A fireworks show, near a small lake.


    *Boom!*


    "Whoa¡­ look at that one! the pattern looks like a bird! It''s so beautiful!"


    Amidst the cheer of the nearby crowd, Shiina and Jareth watched the night show with happy smiles on their faces.


    Shiina stared at the sky with an excited look on her face, but Jareth wasn''t even looking at the sky; he was instead staring at her happy face the whole time.


    He only pretended to be looking at the sky when she noticed him staring at her.


    Sitting on the comfy grass as the warm wind breeze brushes past your face and watching the fireworks in the sky while holding the hand of the love of your life, if this isn''t paradise, then what else is?


    Although the shouting of the excited crowd was loud, Jareth and Shiina could hear each other without any problems.


    While watching the amazing fireworks, Shiina smiled and said in a happy tone:


    "I love these firework shows; we should come back someday to watch them¡­"


    "I think they organize a massive fireworks show, even bigger than this at new year¡­"


    Shiina held Jareth''s hand and said:


    "Then promise me that you will come with me to watch the show¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head and replied in a solemn tone,


    "Yes, I promise, not only this one, let''s visit a lot of shows together!"


    Under the starry sky and the brightness of the moonlight, the two of them promised each other, their words were sincere and came from the bottom of their hearts.


    "Hehe, you better not go back on your words then¡­"


    Jareth puffed up his chest and replied proudly:


    "I won''t!"


    The two of them then laughed together at each other''s cringy dialogue and lay down on the comfy grass to watch the rest of the show.


    ''I hope I can stay with you forever, Shiina¡­''


    ''I hope I can stay with you forever, ------''


    {That was the last date for them together; they both died before New Year came¡­ the promise made with love was never fulfilled as the strings of destinies were cut off prematurely¡­}


    ¡­


    Jareth''s dorm room.


    Jareth''s eyes opened and he sat up in an instant.


    ''W-what?''


    After a momentary confusion, Jareth figured out everything.


    "Sigh¡­ it was a dream¡­"


    Although his facial expressions remained the same as usual, Jareth felt quite sad in his mind.


    He got up from the bed and walked over to the mirror.


    ''Ah, yes¡­ I have become Jareth now¡­ I can''t be with her anymore¡­''


    His heart seems to be carrying immense sadness but he had no way to get rid of these emotions.


    Jareth rubbed his forehead as the light in his eyes dimmed a bit.


    ''This is unfair¡­ if you keep coming in my dreams like that¡­ I will never be able to become happy again¡­''


    Jareth knew that he must leave these emotions behind; otherwise, he will never be able to live this new life properly.


    ''but still¡­ I don''t want to forget her¡­ maybe that''s why I had such a dream today¡­''


    Just when Jareth was thinking about his dream, he suddenly noticed a weird detail.


    ''hmm¡­ wait, why did I appear in that dream as Jareth and not in my original body¡­''


    Thinking about this, an ominous thought came to his mind that caused his eyes to widen in sheer shock.


    ''Wait, w-what was my name again? I know that I worked for a shady company but what was my name in my past life?... hmm¡­ wait what?...''


    No matter how he tried to remember it, Jareth couldn''t remember his name or face from his past life at all.


    ''Does that mean I appeared in the dream as Jareth because I have already forgotten about what I looked like in my past life?''


    ''Strange, all of this is very strange¡­''


    In his whole life he hasn''t felt more confused then he is now, everything seems more and more bizzare.


    Jareth shook his head and calmed his mind down, He stopped thinking about this further and drank a glass of water.


    While drinking water from the glass, he walked over to the window and glanced at the rising sun on the horizon.


    ''Sigh¡­ the questions in my mind keep piling up, and there''s no way to answer them¡­''


    Jareth was contemplating all of this when he noticed the date on the nearby table clock.


    ''Ah¡­ it''s 12 August¡­ it''s my birthday¡­ forgive me, Shiina, I never fulfilled our promise¡­''


    For the next hour or so, Jareth chugged down a lot of water to forget about this sadness. (He doesn''t drink alcohol because Shiina didn''t like that kind of men¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here!


    Many of you were complaining that you wanted to see Shiina again! So here she is!


    Enjoy the suffering and heartbreak that I purposely made for you! Don''t forget to praise me for it later!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Jareth will be able to move on in his life?


    1. No (He can''t forget Shiina)


    2. Nope. (The author won''t let him forget her¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 49 The Chaotic Chatgroup!

    Jareth''s class takes place at 9:00 A.M. and lasts for three hours straight.Which means students have to sit and withstand his overwhelming gaze for three hours straight; you can''t even move to grab your water bottle and drink water from it; otherwise, you will have to face his cold stares.


    It''s not that Jareth stops them from drinking water, it''s just that his eyes unconsciously fell on the person who makes the most movement in the whole classroom.


    Imagine a scenario where the whole class is sitting upright with serious faces and is listening to his words, and you suddenly start moving to drink water¡­ obviously, you will be noticed by him.


    And Jareth''s gaze is not something everyone wants to attract.


    It feels like he is evaluating your patheticness with those arrogant eyes, so it''s better to just drink water and do other things before or after his class.


    Usually, most student think of his class as stressful but useful. Enjoy new tales from empire


    Moreover, ever since Jareth has proven his abilities by one-shotting strong enemies, the students have started to respect him a lot.


    They take his teachings seriously, as they want to reach his level one day.


    Same is true for Mark, who has become the ''Class Representative'' just now.


    {Official Class Group}


    [Prof. Jareth: Mark will be the Class representative¡­]


    [Mark: Understood Professor.]


    Seeing the straightforward message from Jareth in the official chat group, Mark was bewildered a bit, but then he agreed to it as he thought of this as a chance to improve his destroyed image in Jareth''s mind.


    (He still thinks that Jareth has mistaken him for a playboy¡­)


    The official chat group includes Jareth and all of the other professors; thus, barely any student talks in this group, as no one wants to attract the dangerous gaze of the Grade-2 mages.


    For some people, it may be beneficial to try and impress the professors, but when they see that Jareth is also in this group, they don''t bother sending messages here.


    Thus, to solve this issue, students have made a secret chat group of their own, in which they haven''t included any professors. (It was an idea from Mark''s lackeys¡­)


    After Jareth sent the message in the official group, the unofficial group boiled up instantly.


    [Backsh*t_grand_master: D*mn! Prof. Jareth really favors Mark a lot!]


    [Hanging_Banana: Yeah! This is blatant favoritism! We will raise our voice in protest!]


    [I_am_bullsh*t: Bruh! @Mark_is_my_father you better explain yourself! How did you get prof. Jareth to appreciate you that much!?]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: I have a theory¡­ could it be that @Mark_is_my_father is actually Prof. Jareth''s illegitimate son!?]


    [Hanging_Banana: D*mn! That''s quite possible! Or perhaps he is some distant relative of Prof. Jareth¡­]


    Seeing the chaos that was happening in the group chat, Mark couldn''t help but rub his forehead.


    [Mark_is_my_father: First of all, who the f*ck changed my nickname! And there''s no favoritism, your grades are not good that''s why you weren''t chosen¡­]


    [Backsh*t_Grand_master: Ahem.. I changed the nickname, because I revere you as my father from now on, you got the appreciation of Prof. Jareth, you are the real legend!]


    [Backsh*t_Grad_master: I won''t mind taking backsh*ts form you¡­ cough¡­]


    [Mark_is_my_father: F*ck you! Go away!]


    [Mark_is_my_father: @Big_Brain_Crocodile take that d*mn theory and shove it up your a*s!!]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: You reacted to it.. I have a theory; you likely are trying to hide it from us¡­ you definitely are his illegitimate child¡­]


    [Mark_is_my_father: Your father is the illegitimate child! F*CK YOU x10000!]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: Hhmm, my father is Mark, So you accept it that you are an illegitimate child!? D*mn! I knew it!]


    Mark rubbed his forehead as he saw the guys mock him endlessly.


    "D*mn, these guys are shameless! They even claimed me as their father just to prove their point! Too d*mn shameless!!"


    Just when Mark was getting irritated, another familiar person entered this chaotic discussion.


    [Mark''s_illegal_waifu: Oh.. someone changed my nickname too, but this''s not bad either¡­]


    [Backsh*t_grand_master: Sister-in-law, can I borrow your husbando for a few hrs?]


    [Mark''s_illegal_waifu: Huh? What do you need him for?]


    [Backsh*t_grand_master: Ahem¡­ I will-]


    {Ding! Mark_is_my_father has placed a ''one week mute'' on Backsh*t_grand_master!}


    [Hanging_Banana: Holy sh*t! father got angry! Run guys!]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: Run!]


    [I_am_Bullsh*t: Run for your dear life everyone!]


    [Mark_is_my_fahter: Just wait you guys, once the university gets renovated and classes restarts, I will beat the sh*t out of you all¡­]


    ¡­


    Finally, with Mark taking strict measures, the chaos in the chat group ended.


    After half an hour, Just when Mark thought he could relax, the door of his room burst open and a young girl who was half height came inside.


    "Big bro!! I heard that you are Prof. Jareth''s illegitimate son!?"


    "Who told you that!?"


    "Look, it''s on trending right now¡­"


    Alice showed her cute-looking smartphone to him and sure enough, it was the guy he had ''muted'' from the group chat just now who had posted it on internet.


    Although it was being considered as a joke by everyone, and they all were laughing at it, it was still quite weird that this joke entered trending so fast.


    ''Ugh, I will beat the sh*t out of this guy!!...''


    (Fun Fact: This joke went so viral that it even reached the ears of Mark''s real father¡­)


    ¡­


    Principle office, meeting room.


    While the students were enjoying, the professors were sitting with the principle in the meeting room.


    "Uh¡­ they didn''t repair that broken wall yet?"


    One of the walls of the meeting room was broken, and cold air was blowing inside from that massive crack, and looking at that, Shin had a strange look on his face.


    Yesterday, when Aria''s magic threw the shadow doll out, it collided with this wall before falling down.


    This crack is indirectly Aria''s doing, who is sitting with an awkward and complicated expression on her face right now.


    The principal stroked his burned beard and nodded his head.


    "Quite a lot of money has been sent to aid the innocent people who died¡­ it will take some time for them to focus on the university¡­"


    "Eh!? Then what about our salary! The rare edition comic of ''doki doki moe'' is coming next month, you know! I have to buy that!" (Shin)


    "Yes, I also have to buy a rare edition watch next month¡­ is our salary going to be delayed?" (Thomas)


    Seeing the two of them distressed, Aria who had been silent all this while, said:


    "Uh, I have an idea¡­"


    Hearing those words, both Shin and Thomas retorted immediately.


    "No thanks! Last time your idea nearly killed the principal¡­"


    "Yeah, Prof. Aria you might Jinx it again¡­"


    But the principal ignored their words altogether,


    "Cough.. At least you shall tell us what you are thinking¡­"


    Seeing the positive answer from the principal, Aria smiled and nodded her head. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Okay, how about we ask the student''s families to raise a donation fund? Students like Mark are quite rich, you know¡­"


    *Utter silence~*


    Hearing her idea, everyone went silent for a good few seconds.


    "How do you come up with these strange ideas all of the time?"


    "No no, wait¡­ it''s not a bad idea, actually¡­ I can just go and talk with Mark''s father about some donations¡­the royal family might not have much power in the modern world¡­ but they certainly have a lot of money¡­"


    Nathan''s words left all the professors bewildered.


    "You know that his father is rumored to be a hot-tempered guy, right¡­ He is a grade 1 mage too; we don''t want another incident like this one!"


    "Yes, you should reconsider this; if you two end up fighting, more people will die from collateral damage¡­"


    A look of doubt appeared on the principal''s face at that moment.


    "er.. I need time to decide¡­"


    Just when they were having trouble about it, Jareth simply gave a random suggestion.


    "You know, you just need to sell one of the many secret spells you have to their family and they will give you the money without any fighting''s¡­"


    "Ugh¡­ I don''t want to sell my treasured spells¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head at the princpal and said,


    "What is more important, your spell or the reputation of the university that you have worked hard to build for decades?"


    "Ugh¡­ if you put it that way¡­"


    A determined look appeared on the old face of the principal; it seems selling his spells might take more determination from him than fighting Abella.


    ''Sigh, his character is just like how it was in the game¡­ he is obsessed with magic and treasures the spells he has learned and researched a lot.''


    Mages sell their theories to get money and resources; that''s what the original Jareth did to become a professor. He sold his theory in exchange of a permanent job.


    Nathan likely has several of these theories that he has collected in his long lifespan, he can bring out any of them and get a lot of resources.


    This is how transactions work between strong people.


    ''Even in the game¡­ he got seriously injured and retired as they laid a trap to attract him with spells and finish him off with an ambush¡­''


    ''The problem now is¡­ how do I change this plot¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved author here! It seems Mark will have to face a lot of trouble in the coming few days.


    Jareth has encountered a new challenge too it seems, let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also have friends who troll you for no reason?


    1. Yes (I have such friends!)


    2. No (Sad life, I have no friends¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 50 The Banquet of Stars! Part-1.

    The Royal Palace, Throne Room.*Tap**tap*


    The rhythmic voice of a finger tapping on a solid surface again and again rang out in the throne room.


    That finger-tapping sound made all of the members attending the ''meeting'' feel nervous.


    The only person who could make all of these grade-2 mages feel nervous here, is none other than Mark''s father and the grade-1 mage, Reynald Kalashnikov.


    His other hand held a luxurious wine glass that contained the most expensive wine in the human empire.


    As he sipped the fine wine, Reynald''s golden eyes stared at the person bowing towards him with a face covered in tears and snouts.


    "So, what you are trying to say is that your family failed to protect the town that was entrusted to you and you came running back to me after the whole town was massacred?"


    "T-that, y-your majesty, i-I had no other choice-"


    [Grade-1 Earth Magic: Gentle hand of the earth god!]


    Before the other party could bring forward any excuses, Reynald waved his hand, and a gigantic magic circle appeared above the other party''s head.


    A ''hand'' made of condensed earth elements shot out of the magic circle and hit the other party with such speed that his body burst apart and turned into a puddle of meat and blood.


    A huge amount of blood splattered everywhere and even stained the clothes of the nearby grade 2 mages, making them retreat in fear.


    After squatting a grade-2 mage like he was some random fly, Reynald waved his hand and ordered the maids to clean up the area.


    "Utter garbage; can''t even accept their failure properly, I would have given you a lighter punishment if you hadn''t tried to justify the death of so many innocent people, just to hide your own incompetence¡­" S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The person Reynald killed was the head of a vassal family under the Royal family''s command.


    His family was given the responsibility to protect a small town, but due to their irresponsibility, monsters made it past the city walls as the magic barrier was not repaired on time due to corruption.


    Only the head of the family survived in that massacre and escaped with his life.


    Reynald already had all of the information beforehand, so he knew all the ''ins and outs'' of this matter, Underestimating Reynald''s information gathering channels is a mistake only a fool can make.


    While watching the throne room getting cleaned by the maids, Reynald waved his hand to dismiss all of the other grade-2 mages, as they had already completed the reporting session by now.


    The grade-2 mages finally heaved a sigh of relief after they left the throne room.


    None of them wanted to get turned into a puddle of meat and blood, so they hurried back home, not daring to stay too long in this place.


    They only came to give their annual reports on Reynald''s summons; otherwise, they wouldn''t have come here even if someone had paid them for it.


    Watching their retreating back, Reynald shook his head and thought to himself:


    ''Corruption has started to become extremely rampant in these few years¡­ if this continues¡­ thousands of lives will be lost¡­ there are major flaws in the current government¡­''


    Reynald is a person with great insight; he knows a lot about politics and stuff.


    Originally, it was the responsibility of the royal family to take care of the populace when they were in power, but two hundred years ago, the commoners started major protests and demanded freedom.


    Seeing the major protests, the royal family had to comply, they agreed to withdraw and helped in conducting the first ever elections.


    The law and constitution were formed, and a proper government was formed for the first time.


    Although it suppressed the ruling power of the royal family, other things in the royal family were totally unaffected.


    The royal family has always produced mages of Grade 1 in each generation, so there is no one who can completely eradicate their power.


    The previous head of the royal family was a benevolent person, he agreed with the common folk and helped them gain individual rights.


    But two hundred years have passed since then, and corruption runs deep in today''s politics.


    The Royal family also had these issues in the past, but they were usually dealt with by the grade 1 mage, a.k.a. the king of that generation.


    But the current government doesn''t have anyone to keep them in check so things have become dangerous for the common folk.


    ''The vassal family head''s associated with our family have also started to receive large amounts of bribes from the government¡­ making them corrupt¡­ things are not looking good in the future...''


    ''How will you handle it, Mark?''


    Reynald knew that his son will be the next king after him, so he was interested in how Mark will handle the chaotic times that were about to come.


    Just when Reynald was enjoying the wine while contemplating about the future in his mind.


    His mischievous daughter Alice came running into the throne room.


    "Father! Big bro Mark is an illegitimate child!!"


    "cough!!! Cough!!! W-what the!? Cough!!"


    Reynald chocked on the wine and coughed violently like an asthma patient. Even the wine glass fell down, which made the maids feel frightened.


    "Ahem! Cough!!! Ahem!"


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    Reynald used his mana to control his breathing after casting a simple spell to clean the wine stains from his clothes.


    Only then did he reply to Alice calmly:


    "Who told you such nonsense-"


    *BOOM!*


    Just when Reynald was about to question Alice about it, the ceiling of the throne room broke apart and a woman wearing full plate armor appeared.


    Her whitish-pink hair swayed in the air and made her look extremely beautiful, but instead of fascination, black lines appeared on Reynald''s face.


    "L-let me explain-"


    Before Reynald could explain himself, the lady swung her sword, and a gigantic arc made of condensed mana came flying at Reynald, nearly splitting his throne it two.


    (It couldn''t harm Reynald as his mana shield is too strong¡­)


    But the lady was still not claimed by this; she walked towards Reynald and placed her sword near his neck, but didn''t thrust it forward. (Even if she thrusts it, it won''t do anything to the mana shield¡­)


    Reynald looked at Alice and said in a helpless tone.


    "Explain yourself!"


    With a creepy smile on her face, Nadia glared at Reynald in anger.


    "Alice, explain things properly to your mom; she is misunderstanding something¡­"


    "Mom, look at this news! It''s trending!"


    Nadia stepped back momentarily and took the smartphone from Alice''s hand.


    The news on trending were:


    [Conspiracy theory!! Prince Mark might be an illegitimate child!!]


    [Jareth blaze favors Prince Mark greatly! Is he his father!?]


    When Nadia and Reynald saw that news, both of them felt angry at it.


    Reynald waved his hand, summoned his secretory, and ordered him to get rid of this false rumor.


    "This is pure bullsh*t! Immediately block all accounts who are spreading about this thing and hold a press conference to show Mark''s legitimate right to the throne!"


    The secretory nodded his head and left in a hurry.


    Seeing that it was just a false alarm, Nadia placed her sword back into its scabbard with a look of disappointment.


    Reynald heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that she had calmed down a bit.


    He then smiled and asked:


    "By the way, what were you doing while wearing the armor at home?"


    Nadia puffed up her chest in pride and replied:


    "Of course I was training! A warrior must keep training to retain their wits!"


    Nadia was not born with a magic circuit, so she became a knight instead.


    Before marrying Reynald, she was considered one of the strongest knights out there.


    And even now, she is as strong as a grade-3 mage.


    "I see.. I see, good!"


    Reynald nodded his head in response to her words.


    Just when the two were busy talking, Alice pouted her cheeks and glared at them both.


    "You two are ignoring me! I am not talking to you anymore!"


    After saying that, Alice ran away with an angry look on her face.


    Nadia and Reynald could only shake their heads at their daughter''s mood swings.


    Just then, the head butler arrived at the scene and saluted Reynald and Nadia.


    "Hmm, you seem troubled¡­ what happened, Olin?"


    "Your majesty, the principal of Ivan''s university has requested for you to join an online meeting with him..."


    "Reject it! Do we even need to bother with that old fox? Just reject whatever he wants to say¡­ I have no time to waste with a traitor¡­"


    "Uh, your majesty¡­ he said he wants to negotiate with you about something important¡­ he wants to sell you a secret spell¡­"


    Hearing those words, even Reynald was shocked.


    "What? Is he pulling a joke again?"


    "No, he said he was ready to sign the mana contract too¡­"


    "hoh¡­ things just got a lot interesting¡­ what could have made him take that decision, I wonder¡­ interesting¡­"


    A look of contemplation appeared on Reynald''s face as he heard such an interesting thing.


    ''Today might not be as unlucky a day as I was originally thinking¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Reynald resembles his son a lot, he even married a yandere waifu himself! What a chad! Your next journey awaits at empire


    Question of the day:.


    Who do you think is a better grade-1 mage?


    1. Reynald (At least he has a waifu¡­)


    2. Nathan (He nearly got beaten by Abella¡­)


    3. Jareth (He is not even a grade 2 yet but, bro''s a hacker!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 51 The Banquet of Stars! Part-2.

    Royal Palace, virtual meeting room."So, which spell is it?"


    Without bothering with pleasantries and wasting time, Reynald started bringing up the main topic of the conversation right off the bat.


    The principal sighed and replied in a sad tone,


    "Do you really need to be so cold towards me?, I am your uncle-"


    Before Nathan could complete his sentence, Reynald interjected and warned in a cold tone,


    "I have no relationship with a traitor like you; don''t bother trying to please me¡­"


    "I am not the na?ve child anymore that I used to be¡­"


    Reynald''s expression turned cold as he continued,


    "I have seen my share of shrewd foxes over the years; don''t try to use that pathetic tactic on me¡­"


    "Come to the point directly¡­ I will ask again, which spell is it?"


    *cough!**ahem!*


    Seeing that his trick had failed, Nathan cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment and finally started talking about the real topic,


    "Actually, the university is in desperate need of funds right now; the government will take a lot of time as many innocent people were killed¡­"


    Nathan paused for a bit and then added,


    "So, in order to repair the university as fast as possible and give salary to all of the professors on time, I need to sell one of my spells¡­"


    A look of reluctance appeared on Nathan''s face as he continued, "If not for this, I would have never sold my precious spells¡­ugh¡­"


    Although Reynald was not sure if Nathan was really in distress or was just faking it, this situation surely brought a pleasant surprise to him.


    "Well, don''t try to draw sympathy from me; it was you who were incapable of dealing with that weak witch¡­ your incapability caused the death of so many civilians¡­"


    Just when Reynald was about to continue blaming, Nathan frowned a bit and said,


    "Oh, come on, you are also a grade-1 mage, you should have come to the scene, that way more people could have been saved!..."


    Although Nathan''s words were indeed true, Reynald simply smirked at them without thinking too much.


    "I certainly could have saved the people but¡­ why would I? What''s there in it for me? Do I owe something to you that I will help you out?"


    "Or did I ever say that I was a hero of justice?"


    Reynald smiled with an amused look on his face and said,


    "You are forgetting that, just like everyone, I am also a citizen of this nation, I am supposed to have my own rights, I can do what I want¡­ don''t mistake me for a self-sacrificing hero!"


    Reynald''s words were cold, yet they carried the truth: the royal family is not the one ruling this nation anymore, so he isn''t responsible for the safety of the nation.


    It''s his choice to do what he wants; he is not obliged to protect others at the cost of self-sacrifice.


    Hearing Reynald''s words, Nathan frowned and said in an annoyed tone,


    "Your family will also suffer if this nation gets destroyed, you know¡­"


    At Nathan''s words, Reynald simply shook his head and smiled,


    "Haha, if this nation can''t even protect itself and needs to depend on me for everything¡­ then does this nation''s people really have the right to remain free?"


    "If the people of this nation agrees to revere the royal family once again, then I might think about protecting them and safeguarding the country¡­ otherwise, forget it.."


    Saying that, Reynald sipped the luxurious wine with an amused smile on his face.


    Hearing those unsympathetic words, Nathan gritted his teeth and asked,


    "Then what about your son? What about Mark!? He could have died that day in the tournament venue!"


    A smirk appeared on Reynald''s face after hearing those pathetic words.


    "You really are losing our edge, old fox¡­ you didn''t even notice that I have already placed a grade-1 teleportation spell on him?..."


    "Haha, it seems you are going senile from old age¡­ retire early and give way to the younger generation instead of hanging on to that position of the principal¡­"


    With a mocking smile on his face, Reynald added,


    "Once you retire, my son will be the next principal and the King both! Hehe, the benefits he will bring to the royal family will be immense!"


    Reynald has always thought about the prosperity of his own family; he doesn''t care a sh*t about others, and he can go to any lengths to keep the royal family stable and secure for the next generation.


    A King''s duty is to ensure that the next generation gets to inherit the throne without much difficulty or resistance.


    If a King can''t even ensure this much, then they aren''t worthy enough to rule the populace.


    The reason why Reynald have only two children is because he didn''t want to see instability and infighting among the brothers for the sake of a lifeless throne.


    He has already planned out things ahead of time, just so that Mark won''t have to face difficulties in the future.


    ''For the sake of my children, I would not hesitate to sacrifice a million people¡­''


    Thinking this far, Reynald sipped the wine and turned his expression serious again,


    "Okay, enough chit-chat; I ask again¡­ which spell is it? This is the last time I am asking, more than this and I am leaving this conversation¡­"


    "My patience is limited¡­ don''t waste my time; I have more important things to do¡­"


    Hearing Reynald''s warning, Nathan realized that no matter what method he used to persuade him, the other party wouldn''t be swayed so easily.


    Nathan actually wanted to get resources and money for free by drawing sympathy, but all of his attempts failed miserably.


    In the end, all he could do was submit under Reynald''s pressure and agree to sell his spells.


    "Okay, the spell is called ''Ethereal dome of confinement'', it''s a grade-1 earth type spell¡­ this is one of my most beloved secret spells, I cherish it a lot, so give me a fair price¡­"


    Hearing the name of the spell from Nathan''s mouth, Reynald was extremely surprised.


    "You¡­ you stole my father''s life work!? That spell belongs to my father! You have the gall to sell that to me!?"


    *crack!*


    Read latest chapters at empire


    The wine glass in Reynald''s hand cracked and burst apart as it was not able to withstand the pressure of Reynald''s palm.


    This frightened the nearby maids but Reynald paid it no mind and continued in an angry tone,


    "Where did you steal it from!?"


    At Reynald''s angry tone, Nathan simply shook his head and replied in his usual plain voice,


    "He gave it to me himself when he was at his last breath¡­ he said I can keep it to myself until his son asks for it, but you never asked me for it so I just took it as mine¡­"


    "But let me be clear: we are both mages; what we get is ours¡­. So, this spell is mine and I am selling it to you; don''t assume that I should hand it over to you honestly¡­"


    Nathan''s words caused great frustration to Reynald, but he didn''t want this opportunity to slip away either, so controlled his emotions.


    "Good, you have killed the last bit of sympathy I had for you, I will be the first one to celebrate at your funeral now¡­"


    Reynald shook his head and continued,


    "The Banquet of stars will be held tomorrow night; come over with that spell and take the money¡­"


    "Also, make sure all professors of your university come too¡­ I will ask them if they are interested in switching places¡­"


    Nathan frowned a bit and shook his head.


    "No way, none of them is so fickle-minded that they will start working with you for no reason¡­"


    At Nathan''s words, Reynald smiled in amusement and said,


    "Who knows¡­ it depends on what benefits I give¡­ I am sure I can sway at least that man¡­ I have a very good piece of information for the illegitimate child of the Blaze family, hehe¡­"


    The principal shook his head and replied in a serious tone,


    "No way; I could have believed you if you had said it about others, but swaying that cold-faced guy¡­. That''s going to be impossible; his resolve is not that fickle, in my opinion¡­"


    A hint of curiosity appeared on Reynald''s face.


    "Hoh¡­ we will see about that tomorrow¡­"


    With that said, Reynald waved his hand and ordered the maids to stop the projector.


    Reynald got up from his seat and left the meeting room with an amused smile on his face.


    ''Jareth Blaze¡­ I wonder how you will react if I tell you the information that I have¡­ Mark praised you a lot, so I look forward to meeting you¡­''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in Jareth''s training room,


    ''hmm, I feel like someone is talking about me behind my back¡­ what a strange feeling¡­''


    While thinking about that strange feeling, Jareth glanced around him.


    Mana singularity lets him command and converse with mana; thus, the mana itself seemed to have conveyed this thought to Jareth.


    ''D*mn, mana singularity is too broken; can it can give me subtle hints about an incoming danger? I better prepare for what''s coming¡­''


    With a newfound motivation, Jareth started his hellish training once again.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Quite a few of you were complaining that when listening to the audio of the chapter, the words added behind the conversation in brackets felt odd.


    So, I have tried to change the writing style a bit. How is it? Do you prefer it this way?


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 52 The Banquet of Stars! Part-3.

    While Jareth was still training, a notification sound rang out on his smartphone, waking him from his endless training sessions.''Hmm, who could it be?... I don''t have any friends that will message me all of a sudden out of nowhere¡­''


    As the original Jareth was weak guy, he feared that someone will discover his truth; thus, he always kept his distance from others.


    Which became the reason why he had no friends at all. Although this saved him from exposing his secrets, it also caused him to be excluded from the social life.


    ''Well, these bluffs saved his life for so many years, so I can''t blame him either¡­''


    Jareth shook his head while thinking about it and walked over to see the message on his smartphone.


    As he was busy training, he was shirtless and covered in sweat.


    But Jareth didn''t care about that at all; due to continued training for the past month, his body has seen rapid growth.


    Now he looks like an ''aesthetic type body-builder'' who has lean and strong looking muscles.


    (This is all the result of continuously destroying his own body cells and rebuilding them again and again through active heal¡­)


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    After casting some basic magic to clean himself, Jareth grabbed the phone and saw the message.


    [Message from: Old Fossil]


    All[The negotiations with the head of the royal family has succeeded, All professors are invited to the Banquet of Stars that will be held today in the evening, Make sure each of you arrive on time¡­]


    Seeing that it was a message from the principal, Jareth was disappointed, He was expecting a message from bank saying that your bank account has received the money. (He hasn''t received his salary yet...)


    But seeing the message from the principal only made Jareth''s mood sour.


    He placed the phone in his pocket and thought to himself.


    ''I was thinking that the principal will end this deal all by himself and I could just sit back and enjoy¡­ ugh, that old fossil is so useless, can''t even properly make a deal¡­''


    Jareth shook his head in annoyance, He walked out of the training room and went straight to take a comfortable bath.


    ¡­


    The butler handed over the clothes to him, and Jareth immediately got ready.


    Although there were still a few hours left, Jareth knew that it was not a good idea to be late.


    ''That king have a very strict personality¡­ he killed my player character in the game quite a few times as I was late to complete the mission¡­ wouldn''t want that outcome in reality¡­''


    Jareth knew that he was in the real world right now; he couldn''t just go and spam attacks on random people for no reason.


    Although he can easily defend himself, it''s still a bad idea to get on the bad side of a guy who literally has limitless money.


    Jareth doesn''t fear anyone, as he has the attack enhancement card, but as he also knows that it''s not idea to just go and kill the king of a country for no good reason.


    ''I have no idea if my attack will really work on a grade-1 mage either¡­''


    As Jareth buttoned up his coat, the butler bowed towards him and said in a respectful tone,


    "You look handsome today; may fortune be with you, Master¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth suddenly remembered a past memory.


    ¡­


    (A sudden flashback)


    *Whistle~*


    "Oi, Oi handsome~ where are you going~ How about this young lady accompanying you?~"


    It was the day of the 35th anniversary of the company that Jareth worked for.


    He bought new expensive clothes, just so that he could escort Shiina that day to the venue.


    It was a task from the boss, but Jareth was happy with it.


    Listening to Shiina''s playful tone, he felt quite embarrassed and out of place.


    "You are exaggerating it; I am not really that handsome-"


    Before he could continue, Shiina placed her index finger on his lip and stopped him from talking.


    A beautiful smile hung over her face as she said,


    "For me, you are the most handsome man in the world, hehe¡­"


    Her cute giggles melted his heart and made him feel that buying those expensive clothes was worth it.


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    Although his face remained the same as always, Jareth was taken aback by that sudden rush of memories.


    He paused for a moment and nodded his head at the butler.


    "Is that so¡­"


    That''s all Jareth could say in the end; his character didn''t know how to speak kind words, so he could not thank the other party even if he wanted to.


    ''Maybe¡­ this is the retribution I brought on myself¡­''


    Thinking this far, he stopped worrying about this topic further and ordered.


    "Tell the driver to get my car¡­"


    Just when Jareth was about to walk out of the room, the butler mentioned another thing.


    "Master, two young kids have arrived outside; they said that the principle asked them to stay with you during the banquet¡­"


    Experience more tales on empire


    A confused look appeared on Jareth''s face and he asked back in a doubtful tone,


    "Hmm¡­ kids? Did he send some students over?..."


    The butler nodded his head and replied,


    "Yeah, they are waiting for you in the drawing room¡­"


    Although it sounded like trouble, Jareth still nodded his head and went over to the drawing room without hesitation.


    He opened the door and saw two familiar faces, both were dressed in luxurious clothes.


    ¡­


    "Why can''t you let me sit beside you!?"


    At Risa''s annoyed tone, Mark waved his hand and smiled in a helpless tone.


    "No, no, it''s Prof. Jareth''s place; he will scold us if he saw us sitting too close¡­"


    Risa pouted her cheeks and snatched the cookies that the butler had given to Mark from his hand.


    She stretched out her hand and said,


    "Then let me feed this cookie to you!"


    Mark knew that she wouldn''t stop, so he had no choice but to comply.


    He wanted to get it done with quickly.


    But just as she was about to bite the cookie, Jareth opened the door.


    Seeing Jareth appear so suddenly, the two of them froze on the spot.


    Jareth glanced at the strangely close distance between them and said, in his usual tone,


    "ahem¡­ continue.."


    Ignoring the bewildered look on the two, Jareth slowly closed the gate and left.


    He didn''t want to be considered a third wheel so he decided to back off.


    ¡­


    A few minutes later,


    Inside the drawing room.


    Ignoring the awkward mood caused by the earlier misunderstanding, Jareth said,


    "Hmm, so the principal wants me to bring you two along in my car?"


    A strange look appeared on Jareth''s face.


    Noticing Jareth''s questioning gaze, Mark nodded his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Uh¡­ he said that it would be much safer if you were the one escorting us, so¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Jareth''s tone became colder in an instant.


    ''Tch! Does he take me for a babysitter? Such blatant mockery! That old fossil really know how to annoy people¡­ tch!''


    After cursing at the principle in his mind, Jareth questioned Mark again,


    "So, why didn''t he do it himself¡­ wouldn''t it have been safer if you had gone with him instead?"


    At Jareth''s question, Mark shook his head and replied,


    "I asked him about it, and he said that Prof. Jareth is our teacher; he himself is not well acquainted with us, so he wants you to stay by our side¡­"


    While relaying the principal''s words accurately, Mark made sure that Jareth doesn''t misunderstand anything and thinks that the principal is the only one to blame.


    Mark doesn''t want to face the wrath of a strong grade-2 mage like Jareth.


    ''I better not make him angry or he might blow us both away in one spell, ugh¡­''


    Mark himself doesn''t know that his father has cast a defensive barrier on him, so his life won''t be in danger, so he always do things with utmost caution.


    Hearing Mark''s words, Jareth contemplated for a bit and then nodded his head.


    "Forget it¡­ you can come with me; it''s not like my car lacks space or anything¡­"


    (Fun Fact: Jareth would have never agreed if it was any other student asking him... he shows favoritism over Mark and Risa alone...)


    Jareth got up from his seat and started to walk towards the main door.


    Just when Mark and Risa were about to follow behind him, Jareth turned back for a moment and added,


    "By the way¡­ keep yourself restrained in the car¡­ you young people are quite bold after all¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth shook his head and left through the main gate.


    But Mark''s facial expression turned sour at those words. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Ugh! He misunderstood me again!! My reputation is ruined!! Ahhhh!!!''


    Seeing Mark''s sad face, Risa smiled cutely and stretched out her hand.


    "You want a cookie?"


    Mark shook his head and screamed in his mind,


    ''Ahhh! Just kill me now!! This is so embarrassing!!'' (Emotional Damage +99)


    Although his face remained calm, Mark was already dying inside from the cringe.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Mark has been caught red-handed for the second time now; perhaps Jareth has really started to think of him as a bold guy now.


    You guys kept pestering me to add Shiina, so here she is. Don''t blame me later that the flow of the story was broken by that sudden flashback...


    Question of the day:.


    Have you been caught in an embarrassing situation like this by someone?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 53 The Banquet of Stars! Part-4.

    (random world lore)in the legends and myths, it is said that a great king once descended to this world from beyond the stars.


    he shined with golden radiance and his benevolent gaze made everyone feel at peace.


    that mysterious king only stayed in this world for a few moments but the sensation he caused was immense.


    those who witnessed his overwhelming presence started to worship him as the ''divine prophet''.


    that king bestowed the world with two prophecies.


    one was lost to time and was thus forgotten, but the other one remained till now.


    {go home; there is still hope there¡­}


    that prophecy was very mysterious and vague, none of the people alive at that time understood its true meaning.


    it''s been nearly a thousand-years since then, generations came and went, empires rose and fell, and eventually the prophecy became just a topic of stories and myths.


    with its purpose lost, it was recorded in history books, but never came into light again in the past millennia.


    maybe it was the vague hint of crisis or a remark on a forgotten past, but no one was able to understand the true meaning of those words.


    till this day, this myth remains a mystery.


    ¡­


    jareth closed the book as he finished reading the last line of the book and shook his head.


    ''there really are many hidden facts about this world that i don''t know yet¡­''


    jareth had borrowed this history book from the university''s library, he knew that the ''lore'' of the game that he played had many loopholes in it.


    to figure things out in more details, jareth decided to read the history books.


    in the past month, he has been reading his thick book whenever he has some spare time.


    now that he was traveling in the car, he had enough time to spare so he decided to read the book to pass time.


    but who could have thought that his reading speed was so fast that he read through the last few pages in just fifteen minutes of traveling.


    ''sigh, when did i become so smart¡­ i didn''t have such a good brain before; is this also the effect of my talent?...''


    while jareth was contemplating the mystery of this world in his mind, mark and risa sat quietly on the back seat of the car.


    they were both ordered by jareth to wear those safety seatbelts, which made them both feel like they were being treated as kids.


    other students may fear jareth, but risa who was bold and courageous, didn''t fear anything.


    she immediately started a conversation after noticing that jareth was done with his book.


    "prof. jareth, i wanted to ask a question¡­"


    although jareth''s face remained as cold as ever, he was certainly taken aback by that sudden voice.


    without glancing behind, jareth nodded his head.


    "hmm, ask away¡­"


    after getting jareth''s approval, a smile appeared on her face and she immediately asked:


    "who''s your most favorite student?"


    seeing how bold risa was in front of a strict person like jareth, the driver was taken aback for a moment.


    "cough! cough! ahem.."


    all three of them looked at the driver with strange eyes.


    the driver dodged their gaze in embarrassment and said in a quiet voice.


    seeing that the driver was embarrassed enough already, jareth shook his head and replied to risa in his usual cold tone.


    "in my opinion, only talented ones are worth the praise¡­ there are quite a few talented students among your peers though¡­"


    jareth thought for a moment and then added,


    "although most of the students in your batch are just straight-up garbage, a few of them are still decent¡­"


    "but of course there are some talented ones too, like the heir of the blaze family, aiza, that commoner kid, allen, the younger sister of professor aria, airin is also quite talented¡­"


    then jareth glanced at the blue sky outside and said, in his usual tone,


    "you yourself are talented too, student risa¡­ but believe it or not, none of you come close to the genius that is mark kalashnikov¡­"


    as if the unmoving body had a sudden reaction, a slight smile appeared on jareth''s face for the first time.


    "any professor will be honored to have him as their student¡­ including me, of course¡­ being able to teach a student like him is the dream of all teachers¡­"


    jareth''s words carried the truth; there was no falsehoods in them.


    unlike the blessed child of heavens called ''protagonists'', people like mark have real talents that should be praised as much as possible.


    people feel envy over others talent and want to somehow tarnish their image, but those who are born talentless like jareth know the real importance of talent.


    as he had memories of the original jareth, he knew how much struggle a talentless person has to go through in order to earn a place in this world.


    this cruel world is full of hungry hyenas; only with overwhelming talent can you rise above others.


    mark have the talent that jareth never had.


    as a person who knows the true worth of talent, jareth knows the true worth of mark.


    jareth glanced at the birds flying in the sky and said,


    "in simpler words, talent is like ''wings''; the one with stronger wings flies the highest¡­ and there is nothing wrong with it¡­"


    jareth''s words struck mark right in the head, at that moment, mark achieved a sudden enlightenment and realized the importance of his own self.


    with those few words from jareth, mark broke through to the peak of grade-5 in an instant.


    a look of shock and awe appeared on mark''s face as he figured out what just happened.


    "thanks professor-"


    before mark could complete his sentence, jareth shook his head and replied,


    "no need, it''s your own talent that has helped you, don''t place your own achievements on my name¡­"


    mark nodded his head at jareth''s words, stopped talking and started to regulate his mana after entering a state of meditation.


    seeing the improvement in mark, risa''s eyes shone, and she became even more enthusiastic to ask questions.


    "what about me, professor, am i not your favorite?"


    seeing the excited look on her face, jareth nodded his head.


    "well, you are indeed talented too¡­"


    the smile on risa''s face turned wider and she asked,


    "will i become stronger and taller than mark one day then?"


    "i want big muscles! i want to be 2 meters tall!! hehe~" (she wants to become as strong and tall as a gorilla...)


    at her question, jareth replied in his usual cold tone.


    "it depends on the efforts you put in; if you put more efforts than mark, maybe you will be able to surpass him in the next decade, i guess¡­"


    jareth was not mocking her; he was really telling the truth, mark''s speed of improvement is beyond the thinking of everyone else.


    thus, competing with him is only possible for the cheat like existence called the protagonist; others can''t possibly surpass mark so easily.


    thinking about it, a thought came to jareth''s mind.


    ''talking about mark¡­ the mark in his prime in the game lore was many times stronger than his father¡­ as expected of a genius like him¡­''


    jareth nodded his head at mark''s brilliance and thought to himself. discover stories with empire


    ''i guess i need to train harder; it would be such a weird sight if i ended up becoming weaker than him in the future¡­ better be prepared than sorry¡­''


    while jareth became busy in his thoughts again, risa smiled from ear to ear after hearing the praise.


    she also knew that she was weaker than mark, but if there was even the slightest possibility of surpassing mark, that was already enough for her.


    she wanted to stand by his side, so she couldn''t just watch him progress while sitting still.


    to stand beside him as an equal, she need to work harder than him.


    ''and once i am stronger than you, i will forcefully marry you!! then we will go and travel all over the world!!''


    risa is still clueless when it comes to adult matters.


    as she is a social outcast from her peers, she has no access to knowledge on subjects like love.


    in her opinion, she needs to become stronger than mark and then make him submit to her. (i don''t know what her logic behind this is either¡­)


    an hour passed by in a flash and the car finally arrived at the front gate of the royal palace.


    two grade 3 knights that were standing on guard duty hurriedly opened the gate when they noticed jareth and mark sitting in the car.


    the car entered without any problems but just when it entered the palace, massive pressure appeared and tried to suppress them.


    jareth waved his hand and instantly dissipated the aura, using mana singularity to command the mana in the atmosphere.


    the other party withdrew their aura and allowed them to pass, seemingly impressed by jareth''s move. sear?h the n?velfire(.)net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    seeing this, jareth only shook his head and thought.


    ''this old trick again? does he have nothing else in his arsenal?''


    jareth knew that this was reynald''s doing, as he had faced this same situation in the game.


    he has seen it so many times that he is already numb to it.


    ''in the game, the player character has to knee in the direction of the throne room to pass this test, but now that i have mana singularity, i don''t need to follow the rules at all¡­''


    mana singularity is jareth''s backbone and source of confidence. as long he has that, he will fear nothing.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    author''s note.


    yo! it''s your beloved author here! finally, we are at the banquet! let''s see what happens next!


    do you think risa will be able to fulfil her dream of making mark submit to her?


    1. yes


    2.no


    by the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. comment your opinion about the chapter. your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 54 The Banquet of Stars! Part-5.

    the royal palace, front door.when jareth got out of the car with mark and risa, a butler came over to escort the trio inside.


    two knights standing opened the door slowly, and a gigantic banquet hall appeared in the trio''s sight.


    "whoa! it''s so bright and beautiful!"


    risa''s eyes shone with excitement as she glanced around everywhere.


    but jareth was not focused on the luxurious items.


    his eyes fell directly on a man who was sitting on one of the chairs beside a wide table, and a wine glass was in his hand.


    wearing a red coat and various luxurious rings in his hand, the smile on the other party''s face solidified instantly when he saw jareth''s face.


    his dark purple hair waved in the wind, and his purple eyes shone with wisdom.


    before the other party could say anything, jareth raised his hand to cast magic. the grimoire of the night witch flew in mid-air and amplified jareth''s magic.


    [ding! are you sure you want to use the ''attack enhancement card (advanced)''?]


    [yes or no]


    immense pressure began to build up around jareth, and the mana started to condense into such a pure state that it nearly became solid. s§×ar?h the n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    the whole palace started to rumble like crazy, and even the knights guarding the area bent down on their knees under that immense pressure.


    a look of genuine fear appeared on the other party''s face as he felt ''death'' in that one moment, but fortunately for him, jareth stopped himself on time.


    ''no''


    as jareth denied the attack card''s activation, the mana dissipated once more, and everything returned to normal.


    mark and risa panted heavily as they were nearly chocked by that immense pressure.


    *clap**clap*


    "you are strong! jareth blaze!"


    reynald, who was wearing the king''s attire, flew out of the palace''s inner area and clapped with a smile on his face.


    jareth glanced at the king for a moment before nodding his head to greet him gently.


    "greetings, king reynald, may the royal throne remain glorious¡­"


    reynald landed on the ground and nodded his head to acknowledge jareth''s greeting.


    as if he was impressed by jareth''s polite manners and his wild power, reynald said in a satisfied tone,


    "you are stronger than the rumors describe you to be; it seems my son is under the protection of a great mentor¡­"


    jareth shook his head and replied in a polite yet cold tone.


    "no, the pleasure is all mine. i get to teach such a genius student; that''s my fortune in itself¡­"


    at that moment, reynald''s eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a meaningful tone.


    "well, it''s a good thing you didn''t blast off my palace just now, though¡­ it will take a lot of money to get it rebuilt¡­"


    jareth nodded his head and replied in an equally meaningful tone,


    "no problem, your highness¡­ it''s just that i lost my cool for a moment after seeing an unpleasant face... i will certainly get into a lot of debt if i destroy your palace and have to pay it all back¡­"


    reynald laughed at jareth''s words and nodded his head.


    "well, the time is not ripe yet, so let''s continue this talk later¡­"


    jareth nodded his head at those words, and reynald flew away again.


    the reason he even came out was to stop jareth from destroying the palace.


    if jareth had used his attack, reynald would have immediately cast massive barriers to prevent the deaths of all people in the area.


    he had to leave a meeting to come here before the set time; the banquet hadn''t even started, and this wasn''t the time for the main star to appear.


    once reynald left, jareth walked over to the other man and stood in a fairly distant spot from him.


    jareth stared at the sweat-covered head of the other party, who bowed in shame.


    "the only reason you lived through today was because you were under the king''s protection¡­ next time won''t be so lucky¡­"


    after saying that, jareth shook his head and went over to sit on a faraway seat from the other party, as if he were avoiding a plague.


    seeing jareth''s retreating back, the head of the blaze family, kaiden blaze, could only bow his head in shame and sit back down on his seat.


    your journey continues with empire


    as all major family heads will arrive at this banquet, he also had to come, but the reason he came so early was to avoid meeting jareth outside the palace.


    if kaiden was outside the palace and jareth caught him off-guard, then his death would have been fixed and no one would have tried to save him, but if he stays inside the palace, then even jareth will have to respect the limits.


    to save his life from jareth''s claws, kaiden had no other choice. no grade-2 magician will volunteer to help him out, and no one will try to offend jareth for no reason.


    since the day jareth killed off that wyvern with one attack, kaiden has been living in fear of death every single day.


    he knew how many bad things he had done, and there was no salvation for him. the moment he steps out of the capital city, jareth will kill him in that instant.


    kaiden laments his past decisions now more than ever.


    if he had acknowledged jareth in the past, then nothing like this would have ever happened, and with two grade-2 mages, the blaze family would have been the strongest family today, just below the royal family.


    ...


    unconcerned about the previous matter, jareth asked a waiter to serve him tea.


    mark and risa sat down beside him in an awkwardly quiet manner.


    just before entering the palace, they were happily talking with jareth, and now that they had witnessed jareth''s immense strength once again, they fell silent from shock.


    but, disregarding all that, jareth tilted his head and inquired in confusion.


    "hmm, you are already at the royal palace; shouldn''t you go and greet your father, student mark?..."


    only after hearing jareth''s words did mark snap out of the daze.


    he nodded his head and hurriedly ran off to greet his parents.


    previously, he only talked with them on the phone, and this is the first time he gets to see them after so many months; thus, he didn''t want to let this opportunity go to waste.


    seeing mark leave, jareth glanced at risa and said,


    "you should also go; your father is already in the meeting room inside, and your mother and siblings should be in the waiting area¡­"


    hearing those words, risa nodded her head and ran away instantly.


    she didn''t even ask how jareth knew about all this. (jareth sensed their mana presence with his mana singularity¡­)


    sitting alone while sipping tea, jareth felt so out of place.


    he already wanted to go home.


    he''s not a big fan of such massive events himself; the only reason he ever liked to go to such events was because he wanted to eat amazing food.


    but now that he is in jareth''s body, all food feels bland and tasteless to him, as if he has lost his taste buds or something.


    ''this body certainly has some defects too¡­''


    while thinking about it, jareth glanced at his palm and saw many cut marks on it.


    ''i have so many scars all over my body¡­ i can''t even heal them, as they are already too old¡­ but i guess i can reduce them once my ''active heal'' reaches a high enough level¡­''


    jareth sighed and thought,


    ''maybe i should regenerate my taste buds first, though¡­ not being able to enjoy food is a real issue¡­''


    the original jareth lost his taste buds as he lived in poverty and ate unhealthy food for quite a long time.


    before getting adopted by the vassal family, he had no money to buy food after all.


    (fun fact: the original jareth has even eaten raw dead mice before; it feels nauseating to eat, though¡­)


    ¡­


    while waiting for the other guests to arrive, jareth sipped the tea quietly and thought about his future plans.


    he was bored and out of topics to think about.


    then jareth''s eyes fell on the door, and he noticed shin''s arrival.


    he was wearing luxurious clothes today and was accompanying a beautiful lady.


    ''oh, i nearly forgot that he is a married guy¡­ i don''t know if he had kids, though¡­''


    jareth shook his head and thought to himself.


    (d*mn! even shin rizzed up a girl! this world is so unfair!! let chaos take this world!!)


    ¡­


    meanwhile, in front of the meeting room in the inner area.


    reynald wiped the sweat from his forehead and gritted his teeth.


    ''the f*ck was that aura!? how could a grade-2 mage have such immense strength!?''


    ''he clearly showed the aura of a grade-1 mage just now!''


    earlier, when jareth was just about to attack, reynald was already ready to use his strongest attack to counter the force.


    he knew that jareth''s attack was at the same level as his own.


    ''sigh~ the old fox is really shrewd; he said that jareth is only a grade-2, but that power is clearly at the same level as mine!''


    although reynald was sure that he was still the stronger one among them both, he would not be able to walk away unscathed if he fought jareth now.


    (and thus the misunderstandings continues¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    author''s notes


    yo! it''s your beloved author here! it seems no matter where he goes, misunderstandings follow jareth everywhere, let''s see what happens next!


    question of the day.


    do you also agree that shin has too much rizz?


    yes yeah, of course!


    by the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. comment your opinion about the chapter. your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 55 The Banquet of Stars! Part-6.

    the banquet of stars is an event that''s very famous among the upper-ranking people of this nation.this banquet typically invites all major family heads.


    every year during the royal family''s reign, all of the ministers and families would gather to greet the king at this banquet.


    the banquet served as a pretext for important meetings.


    nobles have always liked to arrange banquets and parities when they need to do a meeting; this has been a long-standing tradition.


    however, now that the nation''s ruling body is a government, the royal family arranges this meeting once every five years or so.


    on this occasion, many well-known politicians are also invited as chief guests.


    in the game, this encounter marks the protagonist''s first meeting with the king.


    the principal himself is responsible for bringing the protagonist to this meeting.


    ¡­


    *clink*


    jareth toasted the juice glass with shin''s wine glass.


    shin smirked at jareth and spoke in a mocking tone.


    "you can''t drink wine? pfff~"


    jareth was surprisingly calm at shin''s mocking tone. with a thoughtful look on his face, he glanced at the juice glass and replied in a strangely calm voice.


    "i have promised someone that i won''t drink wine¡­ can''t break that promise¡­"


    shin''s smile solidified instantaneously as he posed a serious question.


    "is it a mana contract?"


    explore more stories at empire


    hearing shin''s words, jareth shook his head and replied,


    "no¡­"


    shin''s facial expression turned complicated at those words.


    "you are surprisingly loyal compared to how you look¡­"


    jareth glanced at shin and replied,


    "you are surprisingly irritating compared to how you look¡­"


    shin shook his head and continued to sip his wine.


    "tch! talking to you gives me a headache¡­"


    ignoring shin''s words, jareth glanced at a woman who was talking to other ladies and inquired in a doubtful tone.


    "when did you get married, by the way¡­. did you kidnap her or something?"


    blood veins appeared on shin''s face due to anger instantly, and he replied to jareth in an angry tone.


    "you take me for a hooligan or something? also, i am not like those ''young master'' type people; we had an arranged marriage, you know¡­"


    jareth nodded his head and added,


    "indeed, now that i think about it¡­ you really don''t have the face to charm a woman anyway, so the only way must have been an arranged marriage¡­"


    shin rubbed his forehead to stop the headache.


    (fun fact: after mark, shin is literally the most handsome guy in the whole university¡­)


    a smirk appeared on shin''s face as he said,


    "you think too lowly of me; i am literally the most handsome guy in the whole capital city, you know¡­ just how bad is my image in your eyes?"


    jareth nearly choked on the juice when shin described himself as ''the most handsome guy around''.


    "hmm¡­ from my perspective, your face looks the same as that of a pig that rolls around in mud¡­. ahem¡­ no, comparing you to a pig will be an insult to the name of pigs¡­"


    shin almost broke the wine glass out of sheer anger, but decided against it because he knew it would attract too much attention at this massive banquet.


    "what about you, then? i don''t see you rizzing up any girls either! have you even dated someone before?"


    jareth sipped the juice and replied in a calm tone.


    "i am a sage; i don''t care about mortal desires¡­ those who aim to become sages don''t bother themselves with worldly things¡­"


    jareth''s words rendered shin speechless.


    before shin could come up with a proper counter to that sentence, the star of the event, king reynald, arrived with his family.


    the massive inner door opened, and the royal family entered the banquet hall.


    all individuals gave a slight bow to the king and the royal family.


    although in today''s modern world everyone is equal and there''s no need to bow, reynald is still a grade 1 mage, so showing some respect to his power is not a bad thing either.


    a maid handed over a wine glass to reynald and retreated quietly.


    the king smiled at all of the people gathered at the banquet and raised the wine glass to give everyone a big cheer.


    "may the empire last forever!!"


    following the king''s lead, everyone else also raised their glasses and cheered along with him.


    and thus the banquet party officially started.


    the king and the queen both sat on their dedicated seats to greet the guests one by one. s§×arch* the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    mark had to deal with all the noble young masters, and princess alice assisted the noble young ladies.


    observing all this, shin let out a sigh and spoke quietly.


    "thankfully, we don''t live in an aristocratic type of society; otherwise, everyone in this party would have been carrying out their selfish hidden agendas¡­."


    shin sipped his wine and added,


    "truthfully speaking, i don''t really like things like politics and stuff. i would rather stay in my room all day long and research magic spells instead of wasting brain power on such matters¡­"


    hearing shin''s words, jareth nodded his head and replied in a sympathetic manner.


    "indeed, being forced to figure out the hidden politics when you clearly lack brain power, that''s such a cruel task¡­."


    although jareth''s words sounded sympathetic to shin, he kept feeling that something was wrong with them.


    but before he could think further, jareth asked another question.


    why didn''t i receive an invitation to your wedding? did the isaz family become so poor that they couldn''t afford a meal for me?"


    shin''s face appeared strange when jareth asked a question.


    "i sent you the invitation; you didn''t come on your own! and now you are blaming me?"


    after hearing shin''s words, jareth thought for a moment before responding.


    "hmm, perhaps i ended up forgetting about it¡­ or i might have considered that you were joking or something¡­ forget it¡­"


    ignoring jareth''s words, shin said,


    "forget about me¡­. when are you getting married, by the way? are you really planning on becoming a real sage?"


    "that would be such a waste of your legacy¡­ if you have kids, your children will have amazing fire magic talent, you know¡­"


    jareth sipped the juice from the glass and nodded his head.


    "no, even if i don''t have kids, my legacy won''t be lost¡­. i am planning on taking a disciple¡­"


    a look of doubt appeared on shin''s face at those words.


    "you know that you can''t take mark as your disciple, right? he will always be destined for the throne, even if you try to influence him¡­"


    jareth nodded his head and said in a solemn tone,


    "i am not talking about mark¡­ i have yet to find that disciple, but i am planning to¡­ perhaps in the future, i guess¡­"


    shin simply shook his head in disappointment.


    "tch, good disciples aren''t just cabbage; you can find them anywhere!" they are rare! you are just daydreaming!"


    jareth ignored shin''s words and continued to sip his juice with a mysterious smirk on his face.


    ''i know where i can find one such student¡­ the main issue is that the guy is a villain-type character too¡­ also, he is a bit crazy, so i need to get a bit stronger before i can go find him¡­''


    jareth wanted to go through this trouble because he wanted to leave a legacy of his own behind before he died.


    in his previous life, he lived in obscurity, and no one cared about his life or death except for shiina.


    but in this life, jareth wants to leave some imprints of his journey so that people can at least remember him in the future.


    ''but is this really even worth it?...''


    in any case, jareth had lived a life filled with happiness prior to his death, with his only unfulfilled wish being to marry shiina.


    and now that he has a new life, he has basically no real motive to live at all; the real reason he has been trying to survive is because he doesn''t want to die again.


    but there''s no real reason to live either.


    currently, he''s like a captainless ship that sails in random directions along with the wind and has no clear destination to reach.


    ''first thing i need to do is find my motivation to live¡­ a person with no goals in life is just as good as dead. i better find some goals of my own¡­''


    although clinging to life like this seemed quite weird, jareth still wanted to be strong and improve himself.


    while jareth was busy contemplating his future plans, the principal finally arrived, along with allen and airin.


    (yeah, even if jareth changed the plotline, he couldn''t change the principal''s favorability of the protagonist¡­ this is how broken plot armor is¡­)


    allen hasn''t even achieved anything major in the past few months, but his favorability with the principals is already quite high, which is a very strange thing.


    the moment reynald and nathan''s eyes met, the whole banquet hall went dead silent, and the temperature dropped in an instant, making everyone feel cold for some reason.


    fortunately, the two of them avoided starting a fight, sparing the lives of many innocent people.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    author''s notes.


    yo! it''s your beloved author here! it seems that thing are going to get uncertain soon, let see what happens next!


    question of the day.


    what path would you choose if you became a mage?


    1. mortal path (live life like while co-existing with your mortal desires, like marriage, money, fame, etc..)


    2. sage path (live your life in self-improvement and searching stronger magical abilities¡­)


    3. others (tell me in the comments)


    by the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. comment your opinion about the chapter. your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 56 Hidden Schemes... Part-1.

    "you finally decided to show your face, old fox¡­"at reynald''s words, nathan smiled a bit and replied in a nostalgic tone.


    "well, it''s been a while since i came back to the palace, so i took my time watching it from outside¡­"


    the two of them glared at each other with narrowed eyes for a few more seconds before deciding to leave for the meeting room. s§×ar?h the n?vel?ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    both of them were wary of each other; they didn''t trust each other at all, so the tension caused by the two of them made everyone feel intimidated.


    only after the two of them left for the meeting room did the rest of the people calm down a bit.


    ¡­


    palace, inner area, meeting room.


    "if not for the negotiations, i would have directly attacked you right here right now¡­"


    nathan smirked at reynald''s hateful words and replied in an amused tone:


    "seriously, kiddo, why hate me that much? all i have done is what a real wizard should do~"


    blood veins appeared on reynald''s face as he heard nathan play innocent.


    reynald''s father was an excellent grade 1 mage; moreover, he was a good-hearted person.


    he died while fighting an invading demon who successfully crossed the ''false dome'' seal.


    if nathan had helped out at that time, reynald''s father wouldn''t have had to sacrifice his life for the sake of the empire.


    reynald hates nathan for this betrayal.


    nathan refused to help his older brother because there were no profits in it for him.


    unlike reynald''s father, who was a kind person, nathan is a wizard through and through; he follows the rule of equivalent exchange.


    if there are no profits to be made, he won''t bother helping others.


    even during the fight with abella, he didn''t really care about the lives of innocent civilians who were dying from collateral damage.


    however, we cannot hold this against him either. stay updated via empire


    given that nathan is a wizard, one would expect him to be naturally self-centered and cunning.


    those who are kind aren''t really fit to be wizards; they are fit for knighthood.


    since the founding years of magic, this is how wizards have always existed; they have survived by being selfish, and that''s just how things are in this world.


    "moreover, it was me who obtained this spell, so it''s my property now¡­ as a fellow wizard, you need to give an appropriate amount of benefits in exchange for this spell book¡­"


    hearing nathan''s words, reynald felt irritated; he didn''t even want to hear that old fox''s voice, but to obtain his father''s lost legacy, and he had no other choice.


    reynald waved his hand, and a maid brought a written ''magic contract'', while another maid brought a few scrolls and space rings, placing them on the table between reynald and nathan.


    reynald pointed at the scrolls and said in a calm voice:


    "these are the scrolls and lists of items you wanted; also, these space rings contain all of the money and resources that you asked for¡­ sign the mana contract, and all of this is yours¡­"


    nathan smiled at reynald''s words and grabbed the mana contract.


    he opened the seal and began reading through the terms and conditions.


    after reading through the contract for a few good minutes, nathan nodded his head and said,


    "good, everything''s okay with the contract too. with this contract, you can''t sell this spell book to others, and only the royal family''s members can inherit it¡­"


    nathan then proceeded to check the space rings, and only after confirming that everything was in order, did he sign the contract.


    signing a mana contract is a big deal; if any of the two parties break it, they will receive massive mana backlash, causing fatal wounds in their bodies.


    and recovering from such wounds takes decades or even more time; thus, no one dares to break the mana contract.


    a mana contract works on the basis of ''mana'' itself.


    if the two people participating in a mana contract are equal in realm, then they both will have to face the same amount of damage if they break the contract.


    but if one side is weaker and the other is stronger, then things change a bit.


    in the event that the stronger party breaks the contract, they will receive a much stronger mana backlash as they have more mana in their body.


    on the other hand, if someone weak breaks the contract, then they will only get a small mana backlash as they have less mana.


    that''s why mana contracts tend to favor the weaker side most of the time.


    ¡­


    once nathan was done signing the contract, reynald also signed, and the mana contract burned in an instant, eventually disappearing into thin air.


    it didn''t even leave ashes behind.


    ignoring that phenomenon, nathan handed over the spell book to reynald and got up from his seat.


    "that''s it. now that we are done with the official work, i should leave¡­ i still have to take care of the university''s restoration and all¡­."


    reynald waved his hand at nathan as if he were signaling him to leave as fast as possible.


    nathan ignored reynald''s actions and left with steady footsteps. he didn''t want to stay here for too long; otherwise, reynald might get irritated at him more than necessary.


    if the two of them engaged in combat here, many innocent people would perish.


    (not like they cared about the lives of innocent people either, though¡­ they just thought that it would be troublesome to explain the deaths of so many people to the media¡­)


    watching nathan''s retreating back, reynald shook his head and opened the spellbook to check the contents one last time.


    ''good, this is the genuine version; if he really dared to give me some fake¡­ ''i wouldn''t have let him leave this place alive today.''


    reynald respected his father a lot, and safekeeping his legacy is like a very important job for reynald.


    ''i need to go into seclusion for the next few months and study this spell properly¡­ once i am done with it, i will give it to mark. this should be very beneficial for his growth...''


    helping mark grow into a capable ''king'' is also one of his most important responsibilities, which he must fulfill at all costs.


    reynald placed the spell book in his space ring, left the meeting room, and returned to the banquet with a slight smile on his face.


    regaining his father''s lost legacy certainly put him in a good mood.


    his eyes fell on a purple-haired man who was standing near the window with a juice glass in his hand.


    as reynald was in quite a good mood now, he immediately walked in jareth''s direction without hesitation.


    wherever he went, people gave way and kept a proper distance from him out of respect.


    seeing reynald come his way, jareth also stopped talking with shin and nodded his head to give a light greeting.


    "your majesty, what brings you to me?"


    although jareth''s face remained as cold as usual while saying those words, doubts appeared in his mind.


    ''why is this stern-faced guy smiling today? did the principal give him such a good deal that it made this stone-faced guy smile?


    jareth''s perception of reynald was that he was a stern and strict person.


    however, that was only true in the game world; in the real world, even the king displays more emotions than his game character did.


    in the game, reynald always remained sitting on his throne with a stern and expressionless face that never showed any expressions.


    that''s why seeing reynald smile like this now caught jareth off-guard.


    unaware of jareth''s inner monologue, reynald smiled a bit and said in a curious tone:


    "well, i just wanted to meet you in person, prof. jareth; my son has praised you a lot in his messages¡­"


    reynald paused for a moment before continuing.


    "i originally tested you with my aura when you entered the palace grounds, but you proved that you are much better than i was expecting you to be; you are indeed a remarkable person, prof. jareth¡­"


    hearing reynald''s words of praise, jareth shook his head and replied,


    "haha, you praise me too much, your majesty; i am still much weaker when compared to your immense presence¡­"


    reynald raised his wine glass, and so did jareth; both of them toasted their drinks to show trust.


    a look of confusion appeared on reynald''s face when he saw juice in jareth''s glass instead of wine.


    "juice?"


    jareth nodded his head and gave a vague and simple answer:


    "yeah, i made a promise to someone that i wouldn''t drink wine¡­ forgive my rudeness, your majesty¡­"


    reynald simply shook his head and replied,


    "haha, no worries; promises shouldn''t be broken that easily; you are a man of your words, prof. jareth!¡­"


    although reynald said those words, he was thinking something totally different in his mind.


    ''i did hear that his mother was poor¡­ could it be that he made a promise to her or something?...''


    reynald misunderstood jareth''s words and mistook that jareth had promised this to his dead mother or something.


    after a few more words of sweet- talk, reynald finally arrived at his main topic.


    "by the way, what are your thoughts on the position of ''the head of the blaze family''¡­?"


    reynald''s question seemed vague and simple, but it had a deep, hidden meaning, which caused jareth to narrow his eyes a bit.


    ''is he trying to provoke me or something?...''


    no matter how jareth looked at it, this was clearly a signal to ask jareth a hidden question which was:


    ''do you want to take the position of head of the blaze family?''

 Chapter 57 Hidden Schemes... Part-2.

    "my thoughts?... hmm, in my opinion, the blaze family is not worth mentioning¡­ furthermore, i am not a member of the blaze family, so i don''t consider the role of the ''head'' to be significant.jareth''s words were clear and confident.


    with those words, jareth made it clear that he had no interest in taking the seat of the head of the blaze family; moreover, he wanted nothing to do with the blaze family either.


    before reynald could come up with something else, jareth continued,


    "but yeah, the head of the blaze family certainly is a daring man¡­ he should invest in more safety measures; otherwise, the day he laments is not too far¡­"


    hearing those words from jareth, the smile on reynald''s face returned.


    "hehe, indeed, there are many monsters roaming in the capital these days; who knows if one of them ends up being too aggressive¡­"


    with that statement, reynald made it clear that he didn''t care whether jareth killed the family head or not; he was free to do whatever he wanted, and reynald wouldn''t interfere.


    although they were talking in a roundabout manner, both of them could easily understand each other''s hidden meaning.


    as the maid poured more wine into his wine glass, reynald raised it and spoke in an amused tone.


    "similar minds think alike... the lamb''s been getting fat by eating a lot of meat; it''s about time someone deals with its notorious behavior¡­ keheh¡­"


    jareth nodded his head at reynald''s words.


    after the maid left, reynald took a sip of the wine and proceeded.


    "i recently got my hands on a juicy piece of information; would you like to hear it?"


    jareth nodded his head and replied in his typical cold tone.


    "enlighten me about it, your majesty¡­"


    "the hometown of the blaze family, ''artavia'', has been hit by the ''nightmare'' in secret¡­. what do you think will happen soon?"


    jareth''s eyes widened in surprise at those words; he knew all too well what reynald meant by ''nightmare''.


    "i see, so that''s how it is¡­ then i guess i will visit the lamb''s grave soon¡­"


    hearing a satisfactory answer from jareth, reynald nodded his head and smiled meaningfully.


    "by the way, this information was just the tip of the iceberg¡­ if you want more information..."


    reynald stretched out his hand towards jareth and said it with an enthusiastic smile.


    "become my vassal, jareth blaze; let''s dominate this empire together!"


    hearing those words, jareth shook his head and replied in a calm tone,


    "those who aim for the sky don''t bend under the might of a mountain¡­ forgive my rudeness, but i have my own path to follow, your majesty reynald¡­."


    reynald took his hand back and smiled wholeheartedly.


    "hahaha¡­ that old fox was indeed right; you are a tough nut to crack. it seems my persuasion won''t work on you¡­ but that''s okay too¡­"


    jareth nodded his head and replied,


    "well, if you are worried about your son, then don''t be¡­ as long as he stays a student at the university, he won''t die under my surveillance¡­"


    reynald nodded his head at jareth''s words and said,


    "i see, so you have decided to treat him as your disciple¡­ that''s quite fortunate; if you are his mentor, then i am not really worried about his safety¡­"


    at reynald''s word, jareth gave an appropriate counter-reply.


    "well, i don''t really think either of us needs to protect him for too long; he''s going to surpass us both eventually anyway¡­"


    "a genius who works harder than a whole construction team¡­ he has put the entire younger generation to shame¡­" read new chapters at empire sea??h th§× n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    hearing jareth''s words, reynald smiled in amusement and replied,


    "hahaha, i heard that prof. jareth rarely ever praises someone, but here you are praising mark that much; people will really misunderstand this as blatant favoritism, you know¡­"


    jareth simply shook his head.


    ''this game has three endings; each one of them is a bad ending¡­ to create a proper future, i would rather choose to believe in a better probability called ''mark''¡­''


    ''the protagonist did win in the end, but the core problems of this world will remain the same. we need a better option to create a better route¡­''


    although jareth was planning according to the bigger picture, others didn''t have the same mentality as him, so they misunderstood him greatly.


    "i think mark is the possibility that will elevate humans to the next realm; don''t you also believe in that, your majesty?"


    reynald''s eyes narrowed momentarily as he contemplated something in his mind before speaking.


    "i see, so you have noticed it too?... as expected from your amazing perception skills, prof. jareth¡­ indeed, mark is born with the potential to explore the next realm¡­ he is the possibility for the next realm¡­"


    reynald''s words were solemn; he knew just how precious this possibility was, and he dared not gamble on it.


    "i would prefer it if prof. jareth kept this to himself¡­. if this ''possibility'' is lost, humans might not get another chance to reach the pinnacle of sorcery¡­"


    after saying that far, reynald decided to leave. he waved his hand and dispelled the ''voice silence'' magic that he had cast before he started to talk with jareth.


    (you really thought they were talking it out in public? of course not! by the way, if you really fell for that trick, then don''t worry¡­ author did it on purpose to give you anxiety attacks¡­)


    jareth was also aware of the spell due to his ''mana singularity'', but he didn''t care why it was occurring.


    what made jareth feel quite amused was how reynald has cast this magic without using any ''chants''.


    ''grade-1 magicians are indeed something else; they can cast basic-grade spells without even using chants and magic circles¡­''


    watching reynald''s leaving back, jareth''s facial expressions remained cold, but his mind was already working at full capacity.


    [ding! due to your ''mana singularity''s inherent properties, you saw through the ''chant-less'' magic cast by a grade 1 mage!]


    [ding! as your command over mana is extremely strong, you can now command mana without the need to chant!]


    [ding! you have learned a new passive skill ''chant-less magic''!]


    a smirk appeared on jareth''s face as he sipped the juice from his glass.


    ''you shouldn''t have tried to show off in front of me like that¡­ see, i stole your skills without even doing anything¡­.''


    ''mana singularity'' is a mage equivalent to legendary skills like ''sword intent'', ''dao rhythm'', etc.; it gives the user the ability to see through all magic''s and techniques at one glance.


    in this world, ''sword intent'' is the pinnacle level skill for all swordsmen, and ''dao rhythm'' is the pinnacle level technique for all martial artists; similarly, ''mana singularity'' is what all mages aim for.


    (fun fact: all of these skills involve the power of the ''laws'' of the world itself; learning them is a very difficult and daunting task¡­)


    due to ''mana singularity'', jareth saw through reynald''s chant-less ''basic magic'' in an instant and figured out how to use it himself; he literally just ''copy-pasted'' that skill on himself.


    this is the horror of a ''legendary'' rank ability; underestimating a user of these types of skills is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in combat.


    although this chant-less magic will only work for ''basic magic'' and will be unusable for attributed magic, it''s still an amazing ability to have.


    with this skill, your basic magic will be extremely fast and much more effective.


    ¡­


    once king reynald left, shin came back with a curious look on his face.


    "what did you talk with the king for so long in such a secretive way? was he trying to recruit you or something?"


    jareth nodded his head and said in a calm tone,


    "he wanted to adopt me into the royal family for some reason; i declined it as it felt kind of weird and awkward¡­"


    hearing those words, shin looked at jareth as if he had heard the most unfunny joke in the world.


    "where did you learn these unfunny ''dad'' jokes? that one was so cringeworthy. never cook again!"


    "tch! you don''t have a proper knowledge of jokes, so your weak brain can''t comprehend them, and believe it or not, i can indeed cook great food!"


    (fun fact: jareth learned to cook in order to impress shiina, but then he found out that her cooking was 100 times better when compared to his ''half-burnt food'', so he never cooked again¡­)


    shin rolled his eyes and pointed at his wife.


    "who cares about how good you are at it¡­ i have a loving wife to cook it for me; do you have the same privileges as me?"


    jareth glanced at shin and asked,


    "then how many times do you do the dishes?"


    black lines appeared all over shin''s face as he knew that he was a ''lazy bum'' who never helped out at home and always slept like a log.


    "cough! w-we don''t talk about that¡­ cough!"


    ¡­


    meanwhile, at the same time,.


    in the border town of artavia.


    *kaaaahhhh!!!* *heeellpp!!!*


    a massive worm sucked a man''s "life force" and killed him instantly by turning him into a mummified corpse.


    even after death, horror and fear remained visible on the corpse.


    a woman wearing ''witch'' style clothing appeared and patted the gigantic worm with her hand.


    "good! just like this, keep extracting souls; my broom got broken; i need a thousand more souls to remake it¡­"


    the worm wriggled in excitement after hearing abella''s praise and launced at a nearby group of innocent children.


    what followed after that was an absolute massacre.


    [report of that day: 669 civilians died in a gruesome way, their bodies mummified and their souls extracted from their bodies, cause abella ''the nightmare''¡­]

 Chapter 58 Hidden Schemes... Part-3.

    while jareth and the others were busy with the banquet, abella had murdered more than six hundred innocent people in the border town of artavia.to repair her broken magic broom, she massacred the people living in that area without holding back and forcefully extracted their souls.


    while looking at her minions working tirelessly to collect souls for her, a satisfied smile appeared on abella''s face.


    ''a few hundred more, and i can start the ritual¡­ kekehe, watching the souls of innocent people howl in pure agony and fear is indeed the best way to pass time. i will never get tired of this~''


    to abella, people were just playthings; even her summoned monsters seemed more precious to her than the lives of other humans.


    although the master of the organization did ask her to lay low for a while, she wasn''t really going to do exactly as he had asked.


    after all, mutual benefits served as the foundation for the ''false dome'' cult.


    abella provides her services to the cult in exchange for more summonable monsters and rare materials.


    she isn''t absolutely loyal to the cult either.


    all she wants is to see the destruction and pure carnage the demon gods will create once the ''seal'' on ''false dome'' is broken.


    she will be happy to see people suffer horrible torture.


    her interests aligned with the cult, so she joined it, but she wasn''t bound by anything.


    she doesn''t fear the leader of the cult, either, as he is also a grade 1 mage like her, and she can definitely fight him as an equal.


    the leader refrained from punishing her because he was aware that abella would not comply with a harsh penalty. (that warning he gave was immediately ignored by her¡­)


    abella shook her head and flew towards a hidden cave in the nearby forest.


    outside the cave, a massive hill of mummified corpses stood, and the spider monsters were slowly rearranging the corpses within.


    without stopping to look at the gruesome sight, abella entered the cave and reached the innermost area.


    they were building a gigantic altar out of the skulls and bones of those mummified corpses.


    many spiders were working hard to build the altar using their own solidified webs.


    abella nodded her head and smiled as she noticed the altar was already 1/3 complete.


    ''a few more days, i guess, kehehe, and i will be back to my full combat prowess¡­''


    *step**step*


    just when abella was feeling satisfied, heavy footsteps rang out, and a knight wearing dark black armor walked inside the cave.


    noticing the other party''s arrival, the smile on abella''s face disappeared in an instant.


    "what are you doing here, norton ''the bane''? i remember telling you not to meddle in my business¡­ do you not take my words seriously?"


    the death knight ignored abella''s words and walked over to the altar.


    he stared at the altar for a few seconds before he spoke.


    "master said¡­ prepare¡­ another one¡­"


    norton''s voice was hoarse and weird; it seemed like a beast''s groan instead of a human''s voice.


    abella''s eyes twitched at norton''s words, and she rubbed her forehead to stop the headache.


    "ugh¡­ i was just about to complete this one in a few days, and he wants me to make another one now?"


    at abella''s words, norton nodded his head and spoke.


    "he said¡­ if you are¡­ doing it¡­. then do it¡­. large..."


    abella sighed as she heard those words.


    find more to read at empire


    ''i really underestimated that man; he really is much crazier than i was originally expecting him to be¡­''


    thinking this far, abella glanced at the death knight and asked in a doubtful tone,


    "how big does he want it to be then?"


    the death knight nodded his head and replied,


    "ten thousand¡­ summon an incarnation¡­"


    hearing those words, abella''s eyes widened in shock,


    "ten thousand!? do you even know what you''re saying?! if we kill that many people, we will attract the attention of that monstrous guy, you know!"


    (she is referring to king reynald, as he is considered the strongest man under the heavens in this world¡­)


    reynald typically avoids addressing the empire''s issues due to his lack of obligation, but a significant massacre like this one would infuriate him and the entire empire.


    (yeah, he has no other choice but to come forward when a massive amount of people start pestering him¡­ otherwise, he won''t even care¡­)


    the death knight shook his head and replied,


    "orders¡­ have to follow¡­"


    the death knight norton is extremely loyal to his master, and he won''t refuse any order from the leader of the cult, but abella is different.


    she doesn''t want to die, and she doesn''t want to get involved in a situation in which her death is certain.


    "this is such a big event; who else is going to be here? we need more firepower if we want to go against the whole nation¡­."


    the death knight pointed to himself and replied in his usual hoarse voice,


    "me, you, and¡­. a death squad member¡­ we need only¡­ summon the incarnation¡­ then we can retreat¡­"


    hearing norton''s words, abella heaved a sigh of relief.


    if she had to do such a big massacre all alone, she certainly wouldn''t agree, but now that she knows the ins and outs of this plan, she has decided to give it a chance.


    ''i will retreat immediately after the incarnation of the demon god is summoned, and then i will watch the massacre from afar keheheke¡­''


    abella knew about how powerful an incarnation of the demon gods usually is, and she also knew that this was an amazing opportunity.


    although there were many risks in this plan, if it succeeds, not only will she get to watch thousands of people howl in fear and pain, she will also get to collect an immense number of souls to use.


    recently, she discovered a new method to enhance her minions, which is to imbue the souls of five or more people into their bodies. sea??h th§× n?vel(f)ire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    this way, the minion becomes much stronger after consuming those five weaker souls.


    (fun fact: if for some reason your soul gets destroyed or consumed, you will have no chance to return to the natural samsara, and you won''t be born ever again¡­ you existence will cease to exist¡­)


    abella clearly didn''t care that this plan would destroy the lives of countless innocent people; all she wanted was to profit greatly from this troubled situation.


    moreover, the most unfortunate aspect is that we cannot hold her accountable for her actions.


    neither reynald nor nathan will stop her out of chivalry or concern for the innocent people; even if they stop her, they will be doing so in a situation where they get some profit out of it.


    both of them are ''wizards'' in the truest sense.


    despite their strength, they have no obligation to protect anyone.


    the wizards are considered ''selfish'' and ''profiteers'' in this world, and this fact is not really wrong either.


    {being weak is the original sin in this cruel world¡­}


    ¡­


    the banquet of stars ended late at night; the head of the blaze family had already sneaked away for fear that jareth might kill him.


    seeing that people were leaving one by one, jareth also got up from his seat and decided to head home early.


    he didn''t really have any friends to talk with, so he didn''t need to stay here for too long.


    he had already completed his task of attending the banquet at the principal''s request; there was no need to stay here any longer.


    moreover, he now has an amazing piece of information with him.


    many plans were already formulating in his head, and he was thinking about his future steps beforehand.


    ''before going to artavia, i need to do some preparations¡­ rushing ahead in the enemy camp without any preparation is a bad idea¡­''


    just when jareth was about to leave, mark''s younger sister, alice, came running towards him.


    she caught the hem of jareth''s coat and said it in an excited tone.


    "professor! take big bro mark as your son!"


    jareth was momentarily confused upon hearing her words.


    he stretched out his hand and patted her small head.


    "why does the princess want me to take mark away? don''t you like your brother?"


    although jareth was trying to speak in a much softer tone, his voice still came out cold.


    fortunately, the bold princess was not intimidated by his cold tone.


    at jareth''s question, the princess widened her arms and said it excitedly.


    "if big bro mark leaves, then all of the candies and pastries that the maids make will be mine alone!!"


    the corners of jareth''s eyes twitched at her words.


    ''this girl really is reynald''s daughter; she''s also a profiteer like her father! the entire royal family consists of eccentric individuals!


    ''even this little princess got affected by this weirdo syndrome!''


    after a few seconds of contemplation, jareth replied to alice''s words:


    "let me tell you a trick, then: you should directly steal all of his share of candies and pastries and put the blame on risa¡­"


    hearing jareth''s words, alice''s eyes shone with excitement.


    "th-this! this is an amazing idea! thank you, professor!"


    after giving that advice, jareth waved his head at her and left.


    once he was out of the banquet hall, his thoughts wandered once again.


    ''alice.... the npc who got turned into a ''human chimera'' and became the reason for mark''s downfall¡­ i hope she doesn''t end up like that this time¡­''


    although jareth had seen the horrific ending of this little girl, he didn''t want her to end up like that in this timeline.


    ''not even the worst criminals deserve that horrifying end...''

 Chapter 59 Chaos and plans... Part-1.

    jareth''s training room.jareth wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and stretched his body to relax a bit.


    ''sitting on one spot for continuous meditation is really a difficult task¡­ my legs are feeling quite sore from this five-hour continuous training session¡­''


    [active heal!]


    to get rid of the soreness in his legs, jareth used active healing once again. (bro is literally spamming the forbidden technique on random things¡­)


    for other''s, using ''active heal'' is a last-ditch effort for survival, but for jareth, this was merely an auxiliary skill that he could use at any moment, without worrying about the consequences.


    ignoring his own extravagant usage of ''active heal'', jareth opened the lottery panel.


    ''now that i have ten thousand cp, i can do two silver lotteries, but¡­''


    jareth''s eyes fell on the golden lottery,


    [3. gold lottery: 25000 cp]


    ''no matter how i look at it, this thing is so expensive¡­''


    right now, jareth was facing a dilemma: he wanted to immediately spend his cp on the silver lottery, but he also wanted to save the cp to do a gold lottery.


    his brain was telling him to save the cp, and his heart was saying,


    ''just one pull won''t hurt¡­'' (ah, those days of splurging on one-pulls in gacha games, how nostalgic! never touching grass and never seeing the sun for two years, how nostalgic~)


    just when jareth was still contemplating in his mind, his phone suddenly rang and woke him from his imaginary world.


    ''hmm, who is it now¡­''


    jareth waved his hand in the air, and the phone flew at him on its own.


    [basic magic: telekinesis!]


    ''telekinesis is so convenient¡­''


    (fun fact: a lazy mage invented telekinesis because he wanted to grab the tv remote without moving from the bed¡­)


    once the phone landed in jareth''s hand, he accepted the call, and a familiar voice rang out in his ears.


    "hey, check the official chat group; things are going crazy there!"


    hearing shin''s words, jareth felt quite weird.


    he ended the call and then opened the chat app to take a look.


    there was already a sign of 99+ messages in the chatgroup.


    with a frown over his head, jareth opened the group, and what he saw was that a huge number of ''shorts'' were being spammed in the group by all of the professors.


    ''the f*ck are these guys doing? do they not have anything better to do?''


    jareth was about to close the app in disappointment, but then he noticed a video with his own photo on it.


    ''what''s this..''


    curious, he tapped at the video reel, which began with a gigantic cyclops standing with a stern look on his face.


    a text column appeared beside the cyclops, as if the cyclops were saying those words.


    the words were: ''nah, i would win!''


    and then the scene changed; jareth was shown unharmed while the cyclops were split in two, and half of his body was splattered on the ground.


    the scene changed as deep phonk music began to blast, depicting jareth in a buddha pose while speaking.


    ''stand proud; you are strong, but nah~~, because throughout the spell and theories, i alone am the speed-runner one!''


    seeing that weird reel, a black line appeared over jareth''s face.


    then he noticed that nearly all of the memes that the professors were spamming appeared to be similar.


    the other one started with a wyvern glaring at jareth, while jareth simply placed one of his fingers on his face, and the music started.


    *bye-bye~*


    then it showed jareth ''mewing'' at the wyvern.


    jareth rubbed his forehead while watching this brain rot to stop the headache.


    he immediately closed his phone and went back to training in order to forget about it all.


    ''forget it; i will gather more cp first and then do a gold lottery¡­''


    that brain rot affected him, so he wasn''t in the mood to do anything else right now aside from staring at his own status panel.


    <status>


    [name: jareth blaze]


    [hp: 2580/2580] [mp: 1469/1469]


    [titles: theory genius, wyvern killer, jareth the goat, speed-runner]


    [str: 30] [agi: 21] [spe:23] [def: 35] [int: 65]


    [talent: fire affinity (grade: 6), mana affinity (grade: x), mana singularity (grade: x)]


    [mana purity: grade: 5]


    [skills: fire-magic (grade: 5), null-magic/basic-magic (grade:--), active healing (grade: 4)] (basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''int'' and mana control¡­)


    [passive skills: sharp mind, external mana circuit]


    [personality traits: cold, arrogant, ruthless, fearless]


    [shop] [credit points: 10100]


    [evaluation: the source of disturbance in the threads of fate, you have defied your destined fate¡­]


    seeing that ''speed-runner'' title, jareth shook his head and sighed continuously.


    ''people do random bulsh*t outta nowhere!''


    then jareth''s eyes fell on his ''defense'' stat, and the frown on his face deepened.


    ''ugh, spamming active heal so many times caused my stats to rise fast, but¡­ i didn''t think that i would end up becoming so ''tanky'' all of a sudden¡­''


    at that moment, jareth remembered a quote from a famous work.


    ''mages without a strong body don''t have a soul!'' (source: trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    artavia, a medium-sized city.


    *yawnnn~*


    one of the patrol squad members yawned loudly and spoke in an exhausted voice.


    "sigh, why do we have to patrol in such hot weather¡­ ugh, i just ate, and now i feel so sleepy¡­"


    the taller patrol guard punched the shorter guy lightly and laughed a bit.


    "haha, lucky you! your wife makes such good food for you after all! i am quite jealous of you, man¡­"


    the shorter guy waved his hand at those words and spoke them in a complex tone.


    "you''re not married, so you still don''t understand, man; marriage is a struggle!" my wife scolds me every time i drink even a little bit of wine! ugh!"


    "the other day she kicked me out of the house for drinking too much, and i had to sleep on the footpath, ugh¡­ my back still hurts from sleeping on that cold floor¡­"


    upon hearing his friends'' words, the tall guard shook his head and spoke.


    "well, that''s your fault; if you keep doing that all the time, i won''t be surprised if she beat you''re a*s one day¡­"


    the short guard was about to continue his complaints when a stone spike suddenly flew into the air, blasting the man''s head off in an instant.


    before the other guard could react, another spike came flying, which blasted off a massive hole in his chest, killing him instantly too.


    just a few seconds ago, the two of them were still chatting happily about their lives, and now they lay there as corpses. (as they say, life is strange and unpredictable¡­ enjoy it to the fullest when you still have the time...)


    *kahhaaahaaakkkkkkk*


    a huge swarm of demonized bees came flying from the forest area and rushed inside the city to massacre people without wasting a single second. continue your journey with empire


    the city guards stared at the sky in horror and shouted.


    "what happened to the magic barrier! how are there monsters here-"


    as more and more people began to die immediately, chaos ensued.


    *kekekekehhehehehe*


    abella, the ''nightmare'', appeared in the sky and began to laugh at the misery of the people below.


    "yeah! this is it! kill them all! harvest all of the souls here!"


    abella summoned a large number of demonized worms to mummify the dead bodies and suck their souls out of them.


    no one was spared, not even children and newborns.


    the demon spiders transformed the city''s government officials into a liquefied, acidic substance before they could even send an sos.


    abella laughed wholeheartedly at that senseless slaughter and shouted in a happy tone.


    "yeah! die, you pathetic ants! i am stronger, so i can rule those below me!.... i am stronger, i am smarter, i am better! i am better than you all!!"


    at abella''s words, the whole populace was terrified, but a bold young man still dared to look abella in the eyes.


    the young man mustered his courage and shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "can you beat g*ku, though?"


    abella was momentarily stunned upon hearing the young man''s words.


    she was not some ancient witch; she knew all too well about modern shows and other things, so she was shocked at the boldness of that young man.


    *dead silence~*


    the terrified people and the monsters all stopped to look at the young man for a second.


    abella cleared her throat and said,


    "cough, ahem¡­ w-we don''t talk about that...."


    as if he understood her words, the young man nodded his head,


    "understandable¡­ very relatable¡­"


    the young man, along with the others, began to flee. (he was trying to buy time, actually¡­ it may seem strange but it was an excellent move...)


    abella waved her hand and shouted at her minions.


    "kill them all!"


    and the carnival of death continued in an instant.


    the affected person moaned in excruciating pain as the parasitic worms forcefully entered their bodies through their mouths or ears and ate them up from the inside.


    gigantic bees blew holes into people''s bodies. s~ea??h the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    internal organs, guts, and blood splattered everywhere. blood flowed through the streets like water, and dense miasma covered the whole city in its grasp.


    (fun fact: the only survivor of this incident was the guy who questioned abella as he got buried under the rubble and made it out alive later¡­)


    eventually, the news about this incident reached the ears of the blaze family that ruled over this territory, and chaos ensued right after.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    author''s note


    people were complaining about the question, so i have shifted the questions into the ''author''s thought'' below, so check them out if you miss them.


    from now on, this will not affect the chapter''s word count.

 Chapter 60 Chaos and Plans... Part-2.

    abella slaughtered a whole city overnight, and the entire nation became active.all of the government''s higher-ranking officials received emergency messages.


    every registered grade 3 or higher level individual received an emergency message from the government.


    abella''s unrestrained murder of thousands of civilians was a slap in the face of the nation''s guardians.


    the media immediately covered this shocking news, and people organized massive protest groups to wake up the government and ask them for an explanation.


    the blaze family was the first to bear the brunt of this incident, as artavia was their territory, and so many casualties happened under their surveillance.


    the government immediately organized a meeting with nathan and promised him a lot of benefits in exchange for hiring him to deal with this problem.


    the government certainly possesses weapons such as mana-powered nuclear bombs, but they prefer to use them as last resort methods.


    these weapons not only create chaos in the area but also pollute it with radiation, rendering the area uninhabitable for hundreds of years.


    thus, it''s better to hire a grade-1 mage instead of using such destructive weapons on fertile land.


    nathan was happy to accept the request.


    although he got enough resources from reynald, who will deny more free resources?


    he was already planning to defeat abella, as she had been the main reason he had to sell his secret spell, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.


    the government representatives also sent their ministers to ask reynald for help, but reynald simply declined the offers.


    the royal family itself controls half the ''gdp'' of this entire nation, so there''s no way that reynald could be swayed by money.


    unless abella directly attacks the vassals of the royal family, reynald won''t take any action against her, as there''s no profit in it for him.


    in fact, his weapon-making factories will profit if a full-scale war happens, so he wasn''t going to interfere at all.


    ¡­


    official chatgroup.


    principal: "i have accepted a commission from the government to enter the battle against abella the ''nightmare''; all of the willing professors can accompany me to the battle."


    shin_isaz: "no way, i am not going; my favorite anime, ''doki doki moe'', is going to release soon."


    principal: "those who will participate in this battle will get a massive bonus and a free vacation trip to the beach!"


    shin_isaz: "count me in!!"


    thomas: "i am in¡­"


    aria: "i will go too!"


    aside from the three, other professors were still hesitating to choose, but then another message came.


    jareth_the_goat: "i shall accompany you in this battle too, then¡­ by the way, who changed my nickname?"


    everyone ignored jareth''s complaint about someone changing his nickname and decided to join the battle as soon as they saw jareth enter it.


    not all of them are strong; some, like aria, are on the weaker side, but as long as jareth is leading their group, they have nothing to fear.


    (they are misunderstanding that he is extremely strong and can protect them all¡­)


    principal: "all students who want to experience real military combat can also tag along!"


    the government will fund this battle, deploy the army, and allow students to accompany the soldiers if they wish to experience real combat in the army.


    this is an excellent opportunity for those who want to improve their combat knowledge.


    allen: "i will go!"


    how can the protagonist stay out of such a high-profile event? of course, allen will be going.


    and with allen, his future harem will also tag along.


    mark and risa also agreed to participate in this battle because they knew jareth would be there and didn''t need to worry about safety.


    (everyone is placing their trust in a real fraud¡­ how ironic¡­)


    aside from these few students, not many agreed to join this battle, as they all knew how dangerous things could become.


    only talented and strong people like mark could jump into battle without worrying; others don''t have the same amount of courage as them.


    ¡­


    artavia, destroyed city, central area.


    norton got up from the meditative state and nodded his head towards abella, who was sitting on her repaired magic broom.


    "they have started to move¡­ i hacked into the government servers¡­. i have figured out all of their plans¡­"


    norton''s abilities are not limited to combat only, he has special skills that can interfere with the internet on a deeper level.


    not only did he figure out the secret military plans beforehand, he also saw the conversations in ivan''s official chat group at the higher arcane university.


    "i can take care¡­ of the grade 2... but i am not¡­ sure about, jareth blaze¡­"


    norton might be undead, but even he has a basic thought process.


    not only is fire magic a big weakness of all undead-type monsters, but jareth himself is quite strong.


    thus, even norton was not sure if he could deal with him.


    abella will be busy with the principal, so she also doesn''t have the time to deal with others.


    just as the two of them were contemplating in their minds, a young girl wearing an assassin''s robe walked out of the shadows and spoke in a calm voice.


    "leave him to me¡­ i am proficient in assassinating grade 2 or below-level mages¡­"


    upon hearing the girl''s words, abella nodded her head in agreement.


    "i see, so you want to take revenge for those two other members of your squad?" s§×arch* the novel?ire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    the girl nodded her head.


    "yeah, he killed my younger brothers¡­. he must pay for what he did to them¡­"


    norton shook his head and said, in his usual hoarse voice,


    "if you use¡­ ''that'' ability on him, you will also die¡­"


    the assassin girl nodded her head and replied with a determined tone.


    "it doesn''t matter¡­ as a member of the death squad, i don''t fear death¡­"


    unlike other death squad members, she has always been the sanest of them all.


    and she has always tried to protect the other members of her squad, but now that they are all dead, it is her duty to avenge them.


    ¡­


    in an unknown location, a hidden church.


    the eyes of the gigantic demonic statue shone, and an evil and beastly voice resounded throughout the church.


    "how are things progressing¡­ i have limited patience; if you take too long, i will leave this place¡­"


    hearing his benevolent god''s voice, the cult leader kowtowed to the statue and replied in an excited tone.


    "everything is going as planned! all pieces are in place! soon you can manifest your incarnation on this land!"


    hearing those words, the devilish whisper resounded in the church once again. this time, the other party seemed in a much better mood.


    "haha, good! good!, once my incarnation manifests, i will be able to pinpoint the weak spots of this seal accurately!"


    the cult leader nodded his head and replied,


    "yes! then we won''t need to worry about the records in the hidden library of the university¡­ we can open the seal without them!"


    upon hearing the cult leader''s words, the devilish whisper spoke.


    "fool! don''t underestimate this seal! the ''bearer of the promised destiny'' himself cast this seal! the only way to open this seal is to find the ''key'' and open it from inside!"


    after receiving a reprimand from his god, the cult leader bowed once more to acknowledge his error.


    in an instant, the demonic statue''s glow vanished, leaving behind only a rough voice.


    "just keep going with the current plan; there is no need to rush."


    the cult leader got up from the ground, and his dark, mist-covered body disappeared in the darkness once again.


    ¡­


    royal palace, throne room.


    reynald suddenly glanced in a certain direction and frowned a bit.


    ''hmm¡­ this sudden disturbance in the ''flow'' of the world''s space-time fabric?... something''s not right¡­ something just interfered with the ''flow''¡­''


    reynald was the only person who was able to sense the sudden disturbance in the space-time fabric. (it was created by the astral projection of the demon god¡­.)


    but what he sensed was too vague, he even mistook it to be a regular fluctuation created by someone''s teleportation magic for a moment.


    ''strange¡­''


    although reynald was unaware of what was happening, he had a bad premonition about all this.


    and the premonition of a grade 1 mage is usually very accurate.


    reynald shook his head and thought to himself. your journey continues at empire


    ''mark, grow up soon; i have a bad feeling about this¡­ the human race can''t always remain in a state of degradation like this¡­ we need someone who can forge the path ahead¡­''


    reynald knew about the seals of ''false and hidden dome''; he also knew the true nature of this world.


    all first-grade individuals in this world are aware of how fickle the existence of the human race actually is.


    ''our only salvation is the new realm¡­ without that, there''s no future for the human race¡­''


    reynald shook his head and got up from his throne, and decided to take a walk outside to lighten his heavy mood.


    ''in the face of the ''authority'' of the gods¡­ mortals are just weak ants in the end¡­''


    reynald walked towards the back garden of the palace and admired the flowers that were blooming in the garden with a relaxed look on his face.


    seeing the gardeners working peacefully with smiles on their faces, reynald could feel both the ''simplicity and complexity'' of life at the same time.


    staring at the setting sun, a thought came to reynald''s mind.


    {sometimes ignorance of certain truths is the best way to live a happy life. some truths are never meant to be known by the world of mortals, as they do more harm than good¡­}

 Chapter 61 To Artavia! Part-1.

    artavia, central city, blaze mansion."why do we have to hide from that incompetent fool!? i can''t believe it dad! how can you let that rat slip away!?"


    a young man''s annoyed voice rang out in the dining room of the mansion.


    although it was quite rude to speak to the head of the blaze family in such a loud voice, nobody reprimanded the young man for his behavior.


    the young man didn''t stop there; he took the food plate and threw it on the ground along with the food, frightening all of the maids nearby.


    "i can''t believe it! you''re a grade 2 mage father! you always told us to be decisive and straightforward! and yet! you didn''t kill that rat right away!"


    hearing the tantrums of his son, the family head, kaiden blaze could only shake his head and sigh.


    "i always considered him to be nothing more than a rat that i could kill off whenever the opportunity came, but... i had no idea how much strength he was hiding¡­"


    from the start, jareth has always been doing his best to survive.


    he entered a prestigious academy and survived the massacre at his adoptive parents''s house.


    then, as a student, he entered the university and spent his time under the protection of the university''s professors.


    and later, he worked on his theories while staying in a place near the royal library.


    kaiden couldn''t send his lackey to that area.


    eventually, jareth entered the university as a professor, thus saving his life again.


    overall, jareth had been planning everything from the start.


    he knew his own weakness, so he prepared accordingly. to survive the pursuit of the blaze family, he worked hard to become a professor.


    "that guy has always had a shrewd mind; he hid his strength from¡­ he knew that i would go to any lengths to kill him if he had shown his magical talent beforehand¡­" s~ea??h the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    kaiden''s words were filled with regret.


    he lamented the fact that he didn''t personally go to assassinate jareth in his childhood.


    if he had done so, then he wouldn''t have had to face the humiliation that he is facing today.


    not only has jareth become strong enough to kill him, but he likely has no intentions of sparing the blaze family either.


    just when kaiden was feeling depressed and regretful, his wife also took the side of his son and said it in an angry tone.


    "see! i had already told you beforehand! i told you years ago that this calamity will certainly come to bite you back if you don''t deal with it now!"


    the woman''s tone was filled with immense anger and hatred.


    "i had told you to get rid of that filthy rat before he grows up! and you! you didn''t agree at all!! you kept delaying it again and again!!"


    "your carelessness has brought this calamity upon us now!"


    kaiden''s wife glared at him with eyes full of anger and disappointment, and his son also shouted at him disrespectfully.


    this showed just how little respect his family has for him.


    (fun fact: if kaiden had raised jareth with love and care, jareth would have respected kaiden greatly¡­ moreover, with his amazing brain, jareth would have taken the whole blaze family to a new level by improving their earnings!)


    even though his own family members were disrespecting him, kaiden dared not refute their words, as he was feeling regret for not dealing with jareth early.


    only aiza was sitting with a relaxed look on her face, as if she had nothing to do with whatever was happening near the dining table.


    she was slowly eating the food and watching the drama unfold with a calm look on her face.


    ''i knew it¡­ the moment he killed that cyclops, i already knew how strong he was¡­.''


    aiza had witnessed the horror of jareth''s capabilities with her own eyes. she had seen how he blasted off that grade-2 monster from the face of earth.


    after that attack, not even the ashes of the cyclops''s dead body remained.


    moreover, jareth had already given her a straightforward answer.


    ''he said i have nothing to do with the sins committed by my father, so i shouldn''t get involved¡­''


    aiza is a smart girl; she knows her limits.


    she''s barely a grade-5 mage right now, and reaching jareth''s level of strength will take her nearly 7-8 years at least, which is a long time.


    even if she tried to protect her father from him, she wouldn''t last a single second against him if he really became serious; thus, it was pointless to try to defend his wrongdoings.


    in the end, aiza chose the most obvious choice.


    she decided to take a ''neutral'' stance in this conflict.


    she did not accuse her father of his obvious wrongdoings, nor did she attempt to obstruct jareth''s path.


    this way, she could ensure her own safety.


    aiza shook her head, glanced at her older brother, and said in a calm tone,


    "brother¡­ prof. jareth said that his grudges are against father and mother¡­ it has nothing to do with us both, so it''s better to stay out of this matter¡­"


    "let the elders take care of it themselves¡­ you don''t need to stress yourself with it-"


    before aiza could complete her words, the young man punched the dining table and retorted in a loud voice.


    "i don''t care! if something happens to our father, it will cause a significant disruption to our family industries! we will lose money!"


    "i don''t want to lose a single coin from my inheritance because of that rat! we must deal with that rat as early as possible!"


    hearing those words, aiza shook her head and got up from her seat. continue reading at empire


    now that her brother had rejected her proposal, she had no reason to stay here at all.


    "okay, then, you guys do what you want to do with this¡­ i am not getting involved in this plan; in the first place, all of this was started by my father¡­ i have nothing to do with it¡­"


    kaiden is certainly guilty of the crimes that he committed against jareth, but his children have nothing to do with them.


    {as the saying goes: a criminal''s child is not born as a criminal; the punishment for a father''s sins shouldn''t be given to the children, as they don''t deserve it¡­} (source: trust the homie!¡­)


    jareth is not a bloodthirsty murderer; he won''t kill children for the sake of revenge, which will make him no different than kaiden after all.


    jareth is 28 years old, and aiza, mark, allen, risa, etc. are all only 18 years old this year. therefore, jareth considers them to be children.


    he would like to avoid killing children, but if they really came in his way, then he would have no other choice.


    working for a shady company has taught him many things. he isn''t a soft-hearted person either, and this isn''t the first time he has killed a human.


    (he has killed people in his past life too; he isn''t an innocent guy¡­ (he is a villain for quite a few¡­)


    ¡­


    ignoring the stares of her family, aiza left the blaze mansion in her car and went back to the university dorms.


    while on the way, she received the principal''s message in the official chat group, in which he asked for the students who wanted to join the army for an early trial.


    aiza thought for a few moments and then sent a message of approval.


    she wanted to distract her mind with something else, and this military training camp was the best way to do that.


    not only will several of the professors be protecting the students, but it will also be a good way to get some real-life combat experience.


    ''allen is also going¡­ i should go too¡­''


    as a future member of allen''s harem, how could she not have some good thoughts about him?


    just the other day, allen was the one who carried their team to the potion-making event.


    (she totally ignored the fact that allen was also the one who messed up their potion in the end too¡­)


    allen is good at sweet talking and has a way with words; he knows how to impress people and raise his favorability; even aiza has started to notice him nowadays.


    airin is already in love with allen, and his journey to become a harem king has already started.


    on the other hand, mark has yet to make any significant progress in his love life. he''s still obsessed with becoming strong and getting jareth''s recognition.


    jareth''s attempts at helping mark and risa get together are all going down the drain, it seems.


    ¡­


    jareth''s training room.


    ''phew~ i got it on time!''


    [ding! congratulations! your skill ''active heal'' has been upgraded to grade 3!]


    [ding! from now on, you can regenerate all of your limbs and body parts, except for your brain!]


    looking at that notification, jareth wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed.


    after the hard work of several days of continuous usage of ''active heal'', jareth has finally upgraded it to the level where he doesn''t need to be afraid of losing any limbs at all.


    unless the opponent destroys his brain in one massive attack, there''s no other easier way to kill jareth now.


    with cells that can divide without side effects, jareth is now a walking tank! his endurance is off the charts now!


    even if he stands there and lets people attack his body, he still won''t die!


    ''once again, it has been proved¡­ mana singularity is just too broken; nothing comes close to it¡­''

 Chapter 62 To Artavia! Part-2.

    artavia, military airport.a private airplane landed at the airport, and its door slowly opened when it stopped.


    nathan led the way, and the professors and students followed behind him and exited the airplane.


    soldiers formed two lines on either side of the red carpet as the general in charge of this operation came in person to welcome nathan and the others.


    not only nathan himself is a grade 1 mage, he also brought a large group of strong people with him, so the general was more than happy to welcome this much-needed help with open arms.


    "principal nathan, i have heard a lot about your achievements! i have no doubts that with your help, this mission will definitely succeed!"


    while saying those words, the general smiled and raised his hand to do a handshake with the principal.


    nathan nodded at the general and shook his hand in return.


    "you praise me too much, general ferdid kheihran; it''s an honor to meet an excellent person like you actually¡­"


    nathan returned the compliment to the general without showing the slightest hint of embarrassment.


    after exchanging basic words of flattery, the general shook hands with each professor individually.


    "prof. shin! it''s been a while! the last time i saw you was when you won the national level dueling tournament!"


    shin scratched the back of his head and smiled a bit,


    "haha, i didn''t expect you to remember my face from that time, general. you came over as a chief guest at that time, and i thought you might not remember me¡­"


    the general shook his head at those words and replied in a confident tone.


    "no way, i never forget the name of the brilliant people whom i have rewarded with medals with my own hands¡­"


    "i already knew that you would have a bright future when i first noticed your talents¡­ and see! you''ve achieved the same grade as me in such a short time!"


    after a few more seconds of chatting with shin, the general stretched out his hand towards jareth too.


    jareth nodded his head and shook hands politely.


    "pleased to meet you, general ferdid¡­"


    "y-yeah, i am happy to meet you too¡­"


    although jareth was speaking politely, his overwhelming gaze was enough to easily scare an old man like ferdid.


    ferdid didn''t talk too much with jareth and moved on to the next professor, as he wasn''t ready to withstand jareth''s intense stares.


    ferdid is already in his late 80s; although grade-2 mages have longer lifespans than ordinary humans, that too has a limit.


    grade 2 individuals can live for 150¨C180 years if they haven''t suffered any severe injuries in their lives.


    but usually, most people die before making it past 120.


    after all, throughout their lifespan, a mage goes through many battles and suffers many fatal injuries.


    they might heal over time, but their lifespan will shorten in the end.


    rarely does a grade 2 mage live more than 125 years.


    the average age of a grade-1 mage is 300 years.


    nathan himself is past the age of 120 by now. the reason he looks old is because he has shortened his life span by going through many intense fights and battles.


    it would be challenging for him to survive beyond the age of 125 years at most.


    moreover, he has sacrificed quite a bit of his own life span to gain more knowledge; now he is already too old to even wear his own clothes.


    he uses magic to keep himself functional every single day. (there is a reason why jareth has saved his name as ''old fossil'' in his contacts¡­)


    the general personally escorted everyone after the introductions.


    several luxurious cars were already waiting for the group, so jareth and others immediately entered.


    a huge number of military vehicles surrounded the luxurious cars, and the whole convoy started to move towards a nearby hotel.


    the principal and the general occupied the front car, the professor occupied the middle car, and the students occupied the third car.


    looking at this arrangement, nathan nodded his head at the general and said it with a smile. s§×arch* the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "you seem to have arranged everything quite well! i wasn''t expecting such a warm welcome from a territory attacked by a monster like abella.


    the general smiled awkwardly at those words and replied,


    "well, we wouldn''t have been here to receive you all if you had arrived one day later¡­"


    the general pondered for a moment before continuing,


    "we have already prepared everything; we will leave for the battle tomorrow morning¡­"


    upon hearing those words, nathan nodded his head in inquiry.


    "by the way, what''s the situation on the frontlines now?"


    at nathan''s question, the general shook his head and sighed,


    "that monstrous witch has already destroyed a small town and a medium-sized city; nearly ten thousand deaths are expected¡­"


    "fortunately, she has stopped moving forward and is staying in one place now¡­"


    the general sighed again before continuing.


    "our soldiers are monitoring her movements; if the monster army advances, we will receive immediate notification!"


    nathan nodded his head in response to those words.


    "good, i wouldn''t want there to be any delays¡­ "too many lives are lost by now¡­"


    nathan glanced outside the window and glanced in a certain direction,


    "what about the ''blaze family''¡­ are they going to join or not?"


    hearing that question, the general shook his head,


    "they have yet to give us a proper answer¡­ we sent them the emergency summons two days ago, but they haven''t responded yet¡­"


    the smile on nathan''s face vanished after hearing those words.


    "tch! they are behaving as if all this has nothing to do with them¡­ this territory belongs to them, yet they didn''t find out about this incident until things went out of hand¡­"


    "how inefficient¡­ it would have been better if someone else took over the command of this area¡­"


    the general sighed and shook his head.


    "we can''t blame them either, actually¡­. the blaze family has ruled over this land since the time of kings and emperors¡­ but now that the government is the ruling body¡­"


    "the blaze family is not responsible for whatever happens to the common populace¡­"


    nathan sighed at those words.


    "still, their major industries and business headquarters are located in this territory; after all, they should consider basic aspects like ''safety''¡­ sigh~ forget it¡­"


    "it''s all the work of my own brother anyway¡­ he was the one who ended the rule of the king and allowed the formation of a government¡­"


    "if not for that, the king would have punished the blaze family for neglecting their duties¡­"


    the general could only smile at those words.


    due to his affiliation with the government, he is unable to express his opinions in the same open manner as nathan.


    thus, he refrained from talking about the problems in today''s government structure.


    instead, he decided to change the topic. experience new tales on empire


    "by the way, isn''t prof. jareth here¡­ can''t he represent the ''blaze'' family?"


    upon hearing those words, the principal chuckled a little before continuing,


    "no, he can''t represent the blaze family¡­"


    "in the first place, he isn''t a member of that family at all; they have erased his name from the family records; he had been disowned by them at a very young age¡­"


    few people are aware of jareth''s true past, so the general was taken aback when he discovered that some individuals had the audacity to discard such a remarkable talent as jareth without any compassion.


    today, jareth is famous all over the nation for his amazing strength.


    parents use his name to soothe their misbehaving children to sleep.


    {good children should sleep on time; otherwise, the demonic eyes of the wyvern killer will turn you into stone!!}


    making an enemy of someone who can one-shot a wyvern is definitely the biggest mistake the blaze family made.


    the general himself is a grade-2, yet he was unable to detect jareth''s mana fluctuations at all.


    this demonstrated jareth''s superior mana control over the general.


    ''i would rather fight three grade-2 mages instead of fighting a monster like jareth blaze¡­''


    suddenly, a thought came to the general''s mind.


    "oh wait¡­ if he''s not a member of the blaze family, can we still add ''blaze'' at the end of his name?"


    hearing that question, even the principal was taken aback for a second,


    "oh right¡­ now that i think about it¡­ i have never heard him say that he is jareth blaze, by his own mouth¡­"


    while looking at the sky outside from the window, nathan said,


    "i guess i will need to ask him about it when i get the chance¡­"


    the principal''s voice sounded calm, but he was actually quite excited in his mind, as he had found this fact quite interesting.


    he couldn''t wait to ask jareth about this now.


    ¡­


    (random fun facts¡­)


    the principal has a peculiar habit of making fun of others'' sensitive thoughts, as he is doing now.


    he knows that jareth will be irritated if he asks what he uses as his surname, but he still dares to ask because he has an interest in these kinds of things.


    .


    jareth has learned active healing, so his body can''t age anymore, but this skill isn''t too effective on the brain yet, so his brain will continue to age¡­


    this is quite a strange phenomenon indeed; maybe jareth will overcome this limitation in the future too¡­


    .


    shin accepted to enter this battle because he wanted to enjoy the free vacation with his beloved wife.


    if not for this, he wouldn''t have bothered to come here¡­


    ¡­


    (people were complaining that the fun facts were breaking immersion, so i have placed them here, instead of adding them in this ch¡­)

 Chapter 63 The Battle of Artavia, starts! Part-1.

    frontline, a small hill."so¡­ all of them got killed, and we didn''t get a single message at all?"


    while looking at the piles of skulls and bones scattered all around the area outside the city walls, nathan questioned the general.


    "t-this!?"


    even the general was shocked at this sight.


    in order to avoid drawing abella''s attention, he had stationed a small battalion of soldiers nearby to monitor the city.


    however, it turned out that all of those soldiers had not only died, but also had their corpses completely consumed, leaving only their bones.


    they didn''t even get the time to send an emergency signal back.


    upon witnessing this devastating scenery, all the soldiers accompanying the group this time felt immense fear.


    the only reason they haven''t run off yet is because strong people like nathan and jareth are standing in front of them right now.


    with their protection, they didn''t need to worry about ending in the same way.


    in addition to receiving the standard equipment that all soldiers receive, mark and the others also received a soldier''s uniform with excellent defensive capabilities.


    ¡­


    (sudden info dump)


    the army of today uses guns made of rare metals enhanced by magic circuits.


    these guns can do damage equivalent to a fifth-grade spell.


    even though most soldiers are low-grade warriors, they still have the attacking ability of a grade-5 mage.


    you can''t achieve the versatility of a real mage with guns, but at least you can spread ''freedom'' with them, and that''s all that matters.


    there are many other weapons in the arsenal of the military, but the reason why mages are preferred more is because of their versatility.


    mages are great killing machines; they can turn the tide of a war in an instant.


    with his mana shield, a single grade-2 mage can easily tank the most powerful nuke and continue to fight without much trouble. your journey continues on empire


    and grade-1 individuals rarely ever enter the battlefield themselves; they are simply overkill.


    currently, there are no technologies available that can kill a grade 1 mage.


    still, technology advances extremely fast; the day when the era of mages ends might not be that far away.


    ¡­


    "so, what to do now? do we rush straight in? or should we try to scout it out first?"


    shin simply ignored the pile of bones and asked the question, as he was in a hurry to end this battle and go back.


    he had nothing to do with the deaths of these soldiers, as they were unrelated to him; all he wanted was to end this all fast enough.


    the general shook his head at those words and then glanced at nathan,


    "well, i think we should rush in. what do you think, principal?"


    just when nathan was about to give his opinion, jareth suddenly intervened and said,.


    "the overlord-class magic barrier of this city is still intact¡­ you can''t rush in even if you want to¡­"


    at jareth''s words, everyone was quite surprised, except for nathan.


    aside from jareth, only nathan could sense the presence of the magic barrier; others couldn''t do so.


    nathan nodded his head at jareth''s words and said in a solemn tone,


    "things seem to have become a lot more complicated¡­. the magical barrier of this city is intact, which shows that abella came here with a proper plan¡­"


    usually, all medium-sized cities have an "overlord" class barrier protecting them from monster attacks.


    it can easily stop any monster in grade 3 or below for several days without breaking.


    on the other hand, the capital city is equipped with a king-class magic barrier that can stop grade-2 or below-level individuals.


    no matter the type of barrier, they all have one thing in common.


    these barriers can detect the presence of monsters, and if a monster tries to enter the city, they will activate in an instant and stop it from getting inside.


    the only way to break through this barrier is to use the secret code that the government officials in charge of that particular city have received.


    you need to use this secret code and enter it into a high-end computer that''s located in the control room at the center of each city.


    reaching that hidden room requires permission and a high-ranking official''s biometric information.


    this means that security is as tight as it can be.


    moreover, you need permission from the parliament situated in the capital city if you want to shut down the barrier to your city.


    without their permission, the super computer that controls the barrier won''t open.


    as nathan contemplated all of this, a thought occurred to him.


    ''they used some way to mind-control a government official and then hacked into the main system¡­ thus, they didn''t even need the permission of the parliament members¡­''


    nathan raised his head and stared at the barrier.


    "they likely shut the barrier down from the inside when they attacked, and after they were done killing everyone, they redeployed the barrier to defend against us¡­"


    after hearing nathan''s words, shin inquired in a tone filled with confusion.


    "but doesn''t this barrier only restrict monsters? we shouldn''t face any trouble entering through it, right?"


    at shin''s question, nathan shook his head and said in a solemn voice,


    "i can sense the power of souls¡­ abella likely used some forbidden magic to torture the civilians and harvested their souls when they were filled with the most amount of fear and pain¡­"


    "using that kind of tormented soul, she likely corrupted the core functionality of this barrier¡­ its properties have been forcefully changed¡­ monsters can enter and exit it without worries, but humans can''t¡­"


    nathan has studied about barriers a lot in his long life, he easily saw through what was going on in front of him.


    he wasn''t the least bit surprised at how inhumane abella was, as he was aware of her personality all too well.


    but the others weren''t like him.


    the idea of using tortured souls as energy to corrupt the barrier even caused some of the nearby soldiers to start vomiting.


    it''s a cruel and forbidden process; you wouldn''t even wish such torture on your enemies.


    nathan mumbled in a quiet voice, ignoring the soldiers'' situation.


    "but what is she trying to achieve with this?didn''t she know that i can destroy this barrier with a single attack, no matter what¡­."


    "no, she isn''t that foolish¡­ there''s definitely something else to this¡­"


    just when the principal was contemplating everything in his mind, abella exited the barrier and flew into the sky.


    her eyes locked with nathan''s in an instant.


    nathan also didn''t cower; he soared into the air as he spoke. sea??h th§× n?vel_fire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "so you finally decided to come out of your fickle tortoise shell?"


    hearing nathan''s mocking tone, abella smiled a bit and replied,


    "kehehe, i knew you would come here, old fox! i knew it! i could feel it in my bones! this is it!"


    "today''s the day you will die."


    nathan abruptly interrupted her.


    "oh, come on, how many times are you going to say that? i am already bored of that statement. use something new!"


    while saying that, nathan brought out his staff, but just as he was about to get ready to fight, a massive teleportation circle appeared in the sky.


    the teleportation circle manifested without any chanting or even the use of mana.


    it was purely powered by the soul energy that abella collected by torturing innocent people.


    even nathan was taken aback by the sudden appearance of that teleportation circle.


    abella grinned slightly and spoke loudly.


    "you underestimated the power of souls, old fox! you will regret it now!"


    before nathan could do anything, the teleportation circle activated and teleported abella and nathan away from the area in an instant.


    no one was able to react to that amazing speed.


    jareth pulled his hand back.


    ''tch, that magic circle wasn''t made of mana; otherwise, i could have easily broken it with my ''mana singularity'', but to make such a massive teleportation circle purely out of soul energy...''


    ''she really killed a lot of people.''


    abella was given the title ''nightmare'' exactly because she is the greatest nightmare for innocent people.


    not only does she enjoy torturing people to death, but she also enjoys manipulating their souls even after they have passed away.


    she has thousands of enemies, but no one dares to take revenge on her because she is too strong for them.


    ¡­


    upon noticing the principal''s absence, shin let out a sigh and expressed his frustration.


    "ugh, now we will have to deal with that barrier on our own¡­ ugh, how will we break that strange barrier?"


    before shin could continue, jareth moved forward and said, in his usual cold tone,


    "it doesn''t matter; i will break it off myself¡­ you guys deal with her summons in the meantime¡­"


    a massive number of monsters started to rush out of the city in an instant.


    all of them had bloodshot eyes, and they looked extremely hungry and crazy. getting caught up in this massive monster tide will definitely cause a lot of trouble.


    but they had no other choice but to fight it head on.


    seeing so many high grade monsters rush out of the city, the soldiers felt their legs tremble in fear.


    they wanted to run away this instant, and now that the principal has disappeared, their cause for worry has increased even more.


    but jareth and the other professors didn''t care about that at all, they took out their respective wands and got ready to fight.


    none of them wanted to be held responsible for the death of the students, thus, they covered mark and the others behind them.

 Chapter 64 The Battle of Artavia, Starts! Part-2.

    it is common knowledge that basic magic is not supposed to be lethal.it''s used for daily life purposes and doesn''t play a major role in battles. most mages don''t even bother to learn too many basic magic spells.


    still, every mage starts their journey by learning basic magic.


    that''s because basic magic is easy to learn and control, making it an excellent way for novice mage to improve their mana control.


    barely any mage learns more than ten basic magic spells, and then they move on to focus on their own attribute magic.


    the same is true for thomas.


    he grew up in a family of ordinary people and worked his way up to the peak of grade 2.


    in terms of barrier magic, he''s only second to grade-1 individuals, and his wind magic is heavily focused on defense.


    but as a child, he was fascinated by the basic magic spells.


    his favorite basic-grade spell was ''rotating mana beams'', which is an advanced version of another basic spell called ''mana beam''.


    this spell created multiple small magic circles that fire mana beams, and these magic circles rotate at a high speed like a motor.


    as a result, the mana beams appear to fire in all directions in a circular motion.


    this spell was created as a joke by a bored mage.


    in the early stages of your journey as a magician, you can use this type of spell to train mana control, but as you learn stronger spells, this spell quickly becomes obsolete.


    thomas enjoyed this spell so much that he didn''t want to learn anything else after it.


    but as he had high ambitions, he had to move on eventually.


    he wanted to master this spell to its full potential, but he didn''t have the luxury to do so.


    but today was different.


    when jareth said that he would break the mana barrier in the town, a massive number of monsters started to rush at them.


    in response to their actions, jareth cast his mana barrier before jumping down.


    he took a step forward, and ten massive magic circles the size of two-story buildings appeared around him in all directions.


    without a doubt, that spell was


    [basic magic: rotating mana beams!]


    once the spell was cast, what followed was an absolute massacre.


    jareth walked unharmed through the chaos, but the ten gigantic magic circles rotated around him five times faster than sound itself.


    all those magic circles spewed out gigantic mana beams in all directions, blasting off all the monsters that dared come near jareth into smithereens.


    jareth used ''mana singularity'' to enhance the range and power of that basic grade spell by more than a hundred times.


    with those massive rotating mana beams, jareth became a walking disaster for the monster.


    he kept walking towards the city walls at a steady and slow pace, mowing down hundreds of monsters in a single second, as if he were chopping some vegetables with ease.


    seeing the insanity that jareth was creating, thomas''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    he knew all too well what spell jareth was using, but the power difference was just too big.


    find your next adventure on empire


    "what the actual f*ck!? is that really the same ''rotating mana beams'' spell that i know of!? why does it have the power of grade 2 magic!?"


    hearing thomas''s shocked words, all of the people nearby were equally bewildered.


    black lines appeared all over their faces as they had all learned that same spell in their childhood, but none of them could use it as efficiently as jareth was.


    shin was the only one who wasn''t surprised at all; he just shook his head and said, in a complicated tone,


    "uh¡­ well¡­ i think this guy is obsessed with low-grade spells; all of his low-grade spells have immense power¡­ i have yet to see him use a high-grade spell¡­"


    shin had seen jareth kill a cyclops with a grade-5 fire magic, so he wasn''t surprised by the fact that jareth was good at basic magic too.


    "those mana beams seem huge, but jareth is barely using any mana, in my opinion¡­ after all, his mana control is insanely good¡­"


    thomas and others also nodded their heads in acknowledgement of shin''s words; they also knew how amazing jareth''s control over mana was.


    "he''s just walking there¡­ menacingly!!"


    hearing thomas''s words, shin nodded his head, and his tone became serious as he stared at jareth''s back,


    "what is more insane about all this is¡­ fire magic is his main magic, and he isn''t even using it right now, which means he is still holding back¡­"


    the expressions of all the professors turned serious as they witnessed jareth''s immense magic capabilities with their own eyes.


    shin was the first to break out of this stalemate; he immediately waved his wand and said it with an excited look on his face.


    "let''s go! we can''t let him steal the whole show! we must not get outdone by him!"


    with that said, all of them nodded their heads and entered the battlefield one by one.


    unaware of the thoughts of the professors behind him, jareth simply walked towards the mana barrier as if he was taking a walk in a park.


    the professors misunderstood that jareth must be exceptionally skilled at fire magic, given the strength of his basic magic, when in fact, jareth''s fire magic is not yet exceptional.


    even though mana singularity enhances his magic, its effect on attribute magic is significantly lower.


    moreover, jareth hasn''t yet learned any fire spells above grade 5, so he can''t use them even if he wanted to.


    which means he still has a long way to go.


    ¡­


    as he walked, his face remained as cold as always, and his mind remained relaxed.


    ''hmm, i think i can break the barrier¡­ with''mana singularity'' i have the cheat that can deal with most of the situations in this world¡­''


    after half an hour of leisurely walking, jareth crossed the whole battlefield without any trouble.


    he killed thousands of monsters in the past thirty minutes as he walked straight through the monster siege.


    anything that came in his way was obliterated and killed automatically by those mana beams.


    jareth didn''t even have to bother targeting monsters one by one; his magic did all the work for him.


    ''finally here, it was a long walk¡­ if i had used float magic, i would have been faster, but then i would have consumed more mana as it would have been triple-casting¡­''


    not only was jareth using ''mana shield'', he was also using ''rotating mana beams'' both at the same time, which means he was dual-cast continuously for half an hour, and that consumed a lot of his mana.


    he doesn''t have the massive mana reserve of a genuine grade-2 mage, so he can''t keep stacking more spells on another.


    if he had more mana, he could have used triple-casting instead.


    ''forget it; i will improve my mana quality and capacity more lately¡­. i guess there will be some peace after this battle ends.... i will use that time to improve¡­''


    while thinking about that, jareth placed his right hand on the city wall, which was covered with a mana barrier.


    the barrier seemed to reject jareth strongly and was pushing him away.


    but jareth remained unfazed by all this.


    ''here we go¡­''


    [basic magic: mana interruption!]


    mana interruption is a spell that is compulsory for every mage to learn.


    it can be used to deactivate mana bombs or other types of harmful mana powered equipment.


    people who are skilled in this magic usually join the anti-terrorist military squads and work for the government to ensure the safety of the common people.


    disarming mana bombs is one of their most basic tasks.


    and that''s not all; ''mana interruption'' can also be used to break mana barriers and magic circles cast by others.


    mana interruption is a handy spell that is particularly useful in emergency situations.


    however, like other basic magic spells, its output is simply too weak.


    it''s useless against high-grade mana bombs and mana barriers, and it is ineffective against mages in grades 4 or above, so it can''t be used in combat either.


    but that''s only true for others.


    jareth has ''mana singularity''; his mana interruption is at an insane level, and he can analyze and destroy high-grade mana barriers easily if given enough time.


    and that''s exactly what he''s doing right now.


    ''although abella used soul power to change the properties of this barrier, its core magic circuit remains the same¡­ it''s still primarily made up of mana; i can interfere with it¡­''


    after a few seconds of analysis, jareth had already figured out everything.


    jareth had stopped using the ''rotating mana beams'' at this point, and he used his mana barrier to defend against the endless monsters that were swarming out of the city.


    he increased his mana output and focused himself on the barrier.


    *crack**crack*


    ''this is it!''


    massive cracks appeared on the mana barrier, and it slowly started to collapse and dissipate into nothingness.


    jareth''s relentless mana interruptions caused the core of the magic barrier to collapse, opening the way for the army to enter the city.


    [basic magic: float!]


    jareth flew into the air and glanced inside the city from above. s~ea??h the n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    his face turned even colder when he saw what was going on inside.


    ''this is¡­ forbidden magic!? they are summoning a demon''s incarnation!?''


    jareth''s face remained as cold as ever, but he was truly shocked in his mind.


    ''i have to stop this right now! if the demon''s incarnation gets summoned, millions will die!''

 Chapter 65 The Battle of Artavia, Starts! Part-3.

    magic that results in extremely cruel and horrible results is called forbidden magic.for example, the ''t*sticular torsion'' spell that jareth got from the system is one of the cruelest methods of torture.


    it was especially designed to torture people and give them as much pain as possible with minimal effort.


    every type of magic, may it be fire, water, earth, etc., has one or two forbidden spells that always result in dangerous results.


    however, of all the forbidden magic, the magic associated with miasma and corruption poses the greatest threat.


    it not only gives birth to demonized beasts, but it also corrupts the surrounding area and kills all vegetation.


    since ancient times, demons have always tried to infiltrate this world via various methods.


    the most effective method, however, is to create loyal believers and brainwash them to carry out the forbidden magic that summons the demon''s incarnation.


    the incarnation of a demon is usually at the peak of rank-1 from the moment it appears.


    this implies that it possesses unfathomable strength and extraordinary magical abilities.


    the last time a demon succeeded in creating his incarnation was more than a thousand years ago.


    it took three grade 1 mages'' sacrifices to finally destroy that incarnation.


    humanity has learned from these past mistakes.


    whenever a new group of demon worshippers appears, they are hunted down by the whole empire.


    due to this, in the past thousand years, a new demon incarnation has never appeared again.


    but that is not the case now.


    ''false dome'' is a cult filled with strong individuals, so it''s very possible for them to summon a demon incarnation without much trouble.


    to summon a demon, you must build an altar out of human bones, and then you must use the power of ten thousand souls to cast a forbidden spell on the altar.


    the altar then absorbs the life force of all the ten thousand corpses that had lost their souls, eventually condensing that life force and soul power into the form of a demon.


    this is the process of creating a demon''s incarnation.


    the cruelty of this whole magic is the reason why it is called a forbidden magic.


    killing thousands of people and harvesting their souls and life force is no small matter.


    if you do so, you''re bound to attract the attention of the strongest people.


    ¡­


    just as jareth was contemplating what to do next, the other professors came flying and stood beside him.


    unlike jareth, who couldn''t do triple casting yet, it was not a problem for them to do ''triple casting or quad casting'', as they all had immense amounts of mana.


    after eliminating all high-grade monsters, they left the low-grade monster to the army and rushed to support jareth.


    but even they couldn''t help but feel shocked when they saw what was inside.


    broken houses, shattered roads, monsters wandering everywhere, and at the center of it all, a huge altar was under construction.


    demon spiders were using human bones to create that altar, and gigantic worms were wriggling around in the gigantic hills made of mummified bodies near the altar.


    that scene looked like something straight out of hell.


    if it were a novice mage who saw this scene, they would have vomited instantly.


    the professors are all grade-2 mages and have been through quite a few battles before, but even they were shocked after seeing this insanity. s§×arch* the nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "i kind of know why the sky in this place is shrouded in dark clouds... even the ''nature'' can feel the sheer resentment condensed in this place¡­"


    shin''s voice was solemn, and it carried a faint hint of worry.


    "they are trying to summon a demon''s incarnation here; this is a big deal; we should send this information back to the capital¡­"


    thomas and the others nodded their heads in approval of shin''s words.


    shin quickly grabbed his smartphone and began taking pictures of the scene. however, just as he was about to send them back to the capital, jareth abruptly interrupted and said,


    "wait, send it to mark, and tell him to forward this message to his father¡­ even the king won''t be able to stay out of this matter if a demon is being summoned here¡­"


    hearing jareth''s words, shin''s eyes shined, and he immediately did exactly that.


    although reynald doesn''t like doing favors for free, he still has a bottom line.


    if too many people die and the empire''s economy suffers, it will also impact his own family''s business.


    to protect his interests, reynald would have no choice but to come here when he saw that a demon''s incarnation was getting involved.


    once the message had been successfully sent,


    all five of them nodded their heads and started to formulate a plan.


    just like aria, others were too afraid to come here, so only five of them are here right now.


    jareth, thomas, shin, and two others were the only people here right now.


    discover hidden content at empire


    just when jareth and others were still thinking about their next action, a death knight in pitch black armor came flying at them at an insanely fast speed.


    jareth had already sensed his arrival with the help of mana disturbances created by him in the air, and he immediately signaled the other professors with a hand sign to disperse.


    the others immediately noticed jareth''s signal, as they were all well versed in this code language.


    none of them is a fool; they have trained for so many years, and they all have some trump cards of their own.


    only shin and aria are the same age as jareth; the others are several years older than him, and each one of them has a vast amount of combat experience.


    [miasmic sword style: ray of miasma!]


    immediately recognizing the lethality of that attack with his mana singularity, jareth said,


    "dodge, corruption type!" (it''s a corruption-type attack; mana barriers can''t stop it, so dodge it immediately!)


    the information transfer between professionals is fast and efficient. jareth only said three words, and the others understood him immediately.


    jareth himself poured more mana into his ''float'' magic and dodged the attack by leaving the attack range before it could even hit him.


    due to his mana singularity, his flying speed is insanely fast, making it quite easy for him to dodge such attacks.


    after successfully dodging the attack, jareth glanced at the death knight with a serious look on his face.


    ''the f*ck is this guy doing here!? isn''t he one of the late-stage bosses of the game!? the death knight norton¡­ this guy is trouble!''


    when jareth was still bewildered by norton''s sudden appearance, norton also glanced at him and gave him a proper knight salute.


    "jareth blaze, the wyvern killer.. the cyclops destroyer¡­ i have heard a lot¡­ about your strength¡­ alas, i can''t fight¡­ you right now¡­"


    "if you survive today, i will be¡­. happy to fight¡­ you one day¡­"


    hearing those words, jareth''s arrogant self couldn''t hold back.


    "hoh, you speak as though you are certain that i will perish; do you truly believe that you will be able to escape after having appeared in front of me?"


    norton shook his head, and his dark black armor made clattering sounds.


    "no¡­ i am not¡­ your opponent today¡­ i shall deal with your¡­. comrades first¡­"


    before jareth could reply, he sensed a sudden disturbance in the mana flow from behind, and he immediately dodged the incoming attack by flying away.


    when he looked back, a girl was standing in his previous spot with a dagger in her hand.


    her dagger was covered in condensed miasma, which means it was a very lethal attack.


    if jareth hadn''t dodged it, she would have used miasma to corrupt his mana barrier and injure him in an instant.


    but jareth wasn''t worried about that.


    ''ugh, it''s this troublesome woman! why the f*ck are these high-grade characters appearing one after another? tch, it seems i have really caused a massive butterfly effect this time¡­''


    although jareth was quite unhappy in his mind, his face remained the same as usual.


    the eyes of the woman had already turned bloodshot when she first laid her eyes on jareth.


    she was already determined to kill him at any cost, just as he had killed her brothers.


    "you b*stard! you killed my brothers! i will avenge them today!"


    hearing those words, jareth sneered and replied.


    "brothers? are you referring to those sewer rats who infiltrated the academy when i was enjoying tea?"


    seeing the arrogant look on jareth''s face as she insulted her brothers, the girl became even angrier in an instant.


    a crazed look appeared on her face.


    but jareth was actually quite happy to see this.


    ''good, it''s working just like in the game¡­ taunting her with such words will make her lose her sanity much faster¡­ and that will be in my favor¡­''


    jareth might not have been a hardcore gamer, but he certainly played this game quite a few times.


    he knew one or two tricks of his own; there was no way a veteran player like him wouldn''t take advantage of these tricks now that he has the ability to use them more freely than ever before.


    in the game, you can only click on certain pre-determined dialogues to anger and taunt the other party, which is very inefficient.


    however, he is currently free from the limitations imposed by the game mechanics in the real world.


    he can use crueler words to taunt her and make her lose her sanity faster.


    while jareth was scheming all this in his mind, the woman rushed at jareth with her dagger at an immense speed.


    [dread bee style: thousand miasmic rains!]


    she immediately swung her dagger toward jareth and fired a thousand small needles made of condensed miasma at him.


    "die!! you fiend!!"

 Chapter 66 Zero and the ultimate rank skill!

    test subject number ''0'' is the girl who became the first victim of the cult leader''s cruel experiments.she has been working for the ''false dome'' cult for a long time under the name ''zero''.


    she has always succeeded in her missions and is considered a highly successful assassin.


    players had to fight her in the late stages of the game, where she would assassinate one of your heroines.


    it''s a cannon event; you can''t stop it.


    this assassination is bound to kill at least one of the heroines.


    there are three endings in this game; each one of them ends well for the protagonist but has a bad ending for the rest of the world.


    although the protagonist lives happily with his harem, the fundamental issues facing this world remain unresolved.


    the protagonist never ascended past grade 1, and things remained in the same stalemate as before until the end of this game.


    but things have changed a lot now.


    zero has personally come forward to kill jareth, as she blames him for killing his younger brothers.


    she doesn''t have her past memories, so she considered the members of the death squad to be her true siblings.


    now that they are dead, she is hell-bent on getting revenge for them.


    ...


    but clearly, jareth wasn''t going to let her outdo him so easily.


    ''her ultimate skill is the most dangerous; i need to make her go insane if i want her to avoid using ''that'' skill...''


    jareth is not a good person, either.


    he is aware of zero''s hardships, including the deaths of her two younger brothers, but he won''t allow her to kill him so easily.


    although he clearly doesn''t have any purpose to live, he doesn''t have any reason to die so easily either.


    he is a selfish person who cares about himself a lot; he won''t let zero kill him, even if she has a legitimate reason to do so.


    in response to her thousand miasmic needles, jareth waved his hand, and a gigantic magic circle appeared in front of him.


    [basic magic: rotating mana beams!]


    jareth instantly cast the spell, eliminating all miasma-covered needles with concentrated mana beams rotating all around him.


    his attack also damaged the ground and city walls, but he didn''t care about them, as there were no civilians alive in the whole city anyway.


    "heh, is that all? you were rambling a lot, but that''s all you could do?"


    hearing jareth''s words, zero''s eyes became even more bloodshot.


    she brought out another dagger and held it in her other hand.


    [dual-dagger style: miasma type: twin charge!]


    zero launched at jareth at an incredible speed; her speed was so fast that jareth wasn''t able to react properly to her.


    although he has the mana singularity to do detection, his body moves slower as he is a mage, not a warrior.


    zero''s daggers pierced jareth''s mana barrier as they were covered in condensed miasma and directly cut off jareth''s right arm in an instant.


    if not for the fact that jareth was able to dodge due to the early warning he got from the mana singularity''s detection, he would have lost his heart in that attack.


    "heh! see! you are wea-"


    before zero could laugh for too long, a condensed mana beam hit her directly and blew her away at an immense speed.


    her body went right through the city walls and fell outside of it in an instant.


    she misunderstood the fact that jareth would stop attacking for a few seconds after losing his arm.


    she was unaware that jareth possesses ''active heal'' and is indifferent to losing an arm or two.


    when she cut his arm off, jareth immediately ignored his own injury and fired a lethal blow towards her, which caught her off guard.


    immediately, jareth flew out to finish her off.


    jareth''s hand regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye, and zero''s bloodshot eyes nearly popped out of their socket from shock.


    "y-you aren''t human! you are a monster!! i will kill you!!"


    jareth shook his head in response to those words.


    "heh, me? a monster? you are mistaken¡­ i am more evil than that!"


    [basic magic: concentrated mana rays!]


    a gigantic magic circle the size of a five-story building appeared in the sky in an instant.


    thousands of condensed mana needles shot out of the gigantic magic circle, raining down at a speed five times faster than sound.


    the ground shattered from their impact, and the shockwaves created by their immense speed spread far and wide, making all the nearby monsters feel fear on a cellular level.


    jareth''s magic instantly transformed all nearby monsters into sieves, and debris flew everywhere.


    jareth single-handedly cleared half the battlefield immediately.


    the soldiers who were fighting the monsters were shocked to see this overwhelming scene.


    zero''s situation was the most severe of them all.


    those magic needles stuck in her entire body and caused her immense pain, despite not turning her into a sieve like the other monster did.


    such immense pain caused her to lose her sanity even further.


    when she looked at jareth''s figure standing in the sky like a god, she felt immense hatred in her heart.


    she could help but loathe those dark purple eyes that looked down at her as if she were a pathetic worm in front of him.


    she lost her mind after witnessing such blatant mockery.


    as jareth raised his hand to fire a massive mana beam to finish her off in one go, tears appeared in zero''s eyes.


    ¡­


    (sudden flashback)


    "big sis! here! take this bread! i sneaked into the storeroom and stole it!"


    seeing the happy smile on her little brother''s face, zero smiled a bit and slowly sat up.


    she has been ill for a week due to an injury she sustained during a mission, and jacob was concerned about her.


    all the members of the false dome cult are strong people; they either eat human flesh or don''t even bother eating.


    so for the three of them, who were still quite weak, it was common to starve because they had no food to eat.


    they slept on the cold floor regardless of whether it was winter or summer, and they lived to die for their master.


    for them, it was not that unusual to fill their stomachs by eating mice or cockroaches; getting to eat bread was a rare luxury. s§×ar?h the n?vel(f)ire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "what if master finds out?"


    upon hearing zero''s worried voice, lucas, who was standing on the side, placed his finger on his mouth and spoke quietly.


    "if you don''t tell him, no one will know hehe¡­"


    zero was still concerned, but greed took hold of her.


    "okay, then, if something happens, i will protect you two!"


    she divided the half-rotten bread into three pieces, and each of them ate a piece.


    the conditions in which they lived were not good, but for zero, that was the happiest time of her life.


    as long as she could enjoy food with her two brothers, there was nothing more blissful for her in this world.


    but that happiness didn''t last long.


    jareth killed jacob and lucas just a few months later, and zero was heartbroken.


    they were her last family members in this world, and their deaths were a great blow to her mind.


    ¡­


    (back to present)


    in that moment of life and death, zero suddenly remembered her oath to protect her younger brothers, and her sanity returned in those last few seconds.


    "i broke my promise to protect them¡­ but i won''t break the promise to avenge them!! i will be your death, jareth blaze!!!"


    [ultimate skill: sacrifice type: field of absolute null!]


    that skill seemingly altered the space-time fabric itself, as the mana within a 100-meter radius instantly solidified.


    jareth''s mana stopped responding, and he landed on the ground.


    fortunately, he was not flying too high; otherwise, he would have broken his leg.


    the look on his face remained as cold as ever, but he was already panicking in his mind.


    ''sh*t! i underestimated the power of ''reality''¡­ this isn''t a game anymore; anything could happen at any moment''


    ''my plan to make her insane was successful, but she suddenly gained clarity out of nowhere! and the thing that i didn''t want to see still happened! sh*t!''


    jareth knew about zero''s ''ultimate skill'' all too well.


    her ultimate skill is her last resort attack.


    she sacrifices her soul, mana, and life force in this one attack, and forcefully nullifies all mana in a hundred-meter radius for a minute!


    when she unleashes this ultimate skill, the entire space-time fabric warps, preventing her enemy from using even a small amount of mana or leaving this ''field''.


    seeing that jareth fell from the sky and his mana circle dissipated mid-attack, a creepy smirk appeared on zero''s head.


    your next chapter is on empire


    "like i said, i am your death, jareth blaze! you took everything from me! and now i will kill you with my own hands!!"


    "no matter what grade, a mage is still a mage after all; they can''t fight melee battles!! you are dead meat now!!"


    skills have their own rankings.


    the first category includes ordinary skills such as body strengthening, basic magic, and attribute magic. above these are the ultimate skills that can influence specific phenomena, and only a select few exceptional individuals possess them.


    the legendary rank skills like ''sword intent'', ''dao rhythm'', or ''mana singularity'' hold the highest rank.


    however, the impact of each skill varies depending on the user''s proficiency.


    jareth has barely been using ''mana singularity'' for less than two months now, but zero has been using her skill for years now!!


    usually she only sacrifices a limb or two to improve her attack, but today she sacrificed her whole existence to kill jareth.


    clearly, the effectiveness of her skill far exceeded jareth''s capabilities; despite his mana singularity, he was still unable to use mana against her ultimate skill.


    ''sh*t! why does these sudden changes happen outta nowhere!?''

 Chapter 67 Out of mana? Catch these hands then!!

    on the other side of the city."master''s order¡­ i must fulfill¡­"


    [miasmic sword style: corruption of hell!]


    norton stood in the air without the use of any spells and swung his sword towards the four professors without any hesitation. this sword fired a massive amount of miasma, and the professors had no choice but to dodge it.


    the mana barrier can''t protect them from miasma''s corruption.


    fortunately, they were good at using flight magic, so dodging the attack was possible.


    mages generally use ''float'' or ''fly'' magic to stand in the air or travel through it, but warriors have it differently.


    warriors in grade 2 or above can use their ''body strengthening'' skill and walk on air, making temporary mana platforms under their feet.


    still, mages has an advantage in this field.


    even the most talentless mage on earth can learn basic magic, which means that learning ''float'' ability is not that big of a deal for a mage.


    with the ability to fly, mages are always in an advantageous position against warriors of the same rank.


    warriors need to reach grade 2 before they can eliminate this disadvantage.


    however, reaching grade 2 is already a daunting task in the first place, let alone trying to compete with mages who have been using flight magic since the novice stage.


    ¡­


    the miasma produced by norton''s attack fell on the ground after it missed its target.


    the miasma was so strong and condensed that it instantly dissolved and killed all the monsters that were wandering in the city below.


    seeing the lethality of that condensed mana, even shin felt a chill run down his spine.


    ''if i get touched by it, it will be dangerous!''


    although shin can use his mana to forcibly remove miasma from his body, this requires a significant amount of mana. if he runs out of mana, it will be impossible to fight the death knight.


    other professors were not fools either; they also figured out the things that shin had, and all four of them split apart to make ample room for dodging.


    shin raised his wand and pointed it towards the sky. s~ea??h the n??elfir§×.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [grade-3 frost magic: benevolent frost confinement!]


    two gigantic magic circles appeared in the sky, and gigantic hands made of condensed ice rushed out of those two magic circles.


    the two ice hands immediately caught norton between their palms and started to crush him with full force.


    shin added a lot of mana to increase the spell''s crushing power.


    but still, it was impossible to stop norton so easily.


    [miasmic sword style: tenth miasmic arc!]


    norton twisted his sword and fired ten arcs made of condensed miasma, instantly destroying the two ice hands that were confining him.


    but before he could do anything else, thomas was already prepared to take action.


    [grade-2 wind magic: condensed arrow of rotating winds!]


    beside thomas, a magic circle the size of a three-story building appeared, and a massive condensed wind arrow fired at norton at a speed much faster than the speed of sound.


    the arrow struck norton directly, causing him to fly away like a cannonball.


    norton''s body collided with the ground and continued to slide away for quite a few meters before he hit a broken house wall, and the wall fell on him instantly.


    shin cast a weaker spell first because he wanted to buy some time.


    explore stories on empire


    he poured a lot of mana into that spell to keep norton in place for as long as possible.


    it was all up to thomas and others to cast their grade 2 magic spells.


    a mage can cast lower-grade spells much faster, but it takes some time to cast spells of the same grade.


    shin has been through many battles before, and the same is true for the other professors.


    shin took the initiative to restrain the death knight, and the others immediately understood what they had to do next.


    there wasn''t even a need for any communication or planning; veteran battle mages like them have good knowledge about how and when to use their spells more effectively.


    the four of them haven''t cooperated in a real fight together before, but each of them is a veteran, and none is a fool.


    and with the instinct of a veteran, they all assumed their roles in an instant, without wasting a single second doubting each other.


    after thomas finished his attack, the other two professors simultaneously launched their own attack.


    [grade-2 earth magic: meteor blast!]


    [grade 2 water magic: fist of dominating waters!]


    they both cast magic at the exact same time, as if they were in sync with each other and could read each other''s minds.


    a gigantic meteor appeared in the sky and rushed towards norton at a crazy speed.


    norton knew that it was dangerous and wanted to dodge this attack, but before he could do so, the gigantic water fist instantly hit the meteor in the back and accelerated its speed by many times.


    seeing this insane cooperation between the two, norton was really taken aback.


    this is the difference between those who follow the evil path and those who follow the righteous path.


    those with evil schemes in their hearts can never trust others and can never truly cooperate with others on the spur of the moment.


    however, individuals such as shin, thomas, and others have consistently upheld their own strength while also never undervaluing others.


    they know how to cooperate with others and how to trust their colleagues.


    this is also the reason why none of the four professors tried to go and help jareth.


    they all have faith in their hearts that jareth will not be defeated.


    although too much trust can sometimes backfire, without trust, society won''t be able to function at all.


    when you go to a doctor, you will trust him sincerely, or when you ask a mechanic to fix your car, you will trust him. in other words, the world works properly on mutual trust.


    those who walk the path of evil end up losing this crucial factor in their hearts, and trying to resolve everything on your own often leads to defeats.


    (perhaps this is the reason why protagonists usually win with the power of friendship and love¡­ perhaps the protagonist gets blessed by the laws of the world when they purge those who have lost faith in the world¡­)


    ¡­


    meanwhile, on jareth''s side,.


    "die!!"


    with daggers in her hand, zero rushed at jareth and immediately aimed at his heart.


    although this manaless field has caused her to lose control over mana, she is still an assassin.


    her physique is naturally much stronger than jareth''s, as she has fought many battles. she has already honed her reaction time and combat skills to the extreme.


    even though jareth had already improved his physique quite a bit by using ''active heal'', he still wasn''t an opponent to a real veteran in close combat.


    jareth doesn''t know martial arts or anything else, and he hasn''t fought anyone without his magic.


    this implies that his options against zero are limited now that he is unable to use magic.


    since zero has already sacrificed her life, she won''t be able to live after this short duration of her skill expires.


    she wanted to finish everything in one shot.


    her best choice was to aim for jareth''s heart. as she ran towards him, she easily dodged the desperate punch he threw at her, and then she stabbed straight through his heart.


    her attack was successful; a smile appeared on her face, but before she could be happy for long, a sinister smile appeared on jareth''s face.


    "you think i can''t fight without mana? the hands are rated e for everyone!!"


    jareth immediately caught zero''s right hand, which was holding the knife, and then raised his other hand to form a fist.


    [ding! [are you sure you want to use the ''attack enhancement card (advanced)''?]


    [yes or no]


    ''yes''


    although it was like using a nuke to kill a chicken, jareth had no other choice left at the moment.


    zero had forced him into a corner; not only had she completely sealed his magic, she was also aiming to kill him.


    right now, she has only stabbed his heart, but the next attack could be on his brain, which will be fatal.


    jareth didn''t dare take chances.


    he wasn''t her opponent in close combat; even if his fist struck her, it wouldn''t have any effect on her.


    even without their mana, a grade-2 warrior still has the strength to kill a grade-4 warrior at his peak.


    right now, zero had let her guard down after successfully stabbing jareth''s heart. she had no reason to fear jareth''s punch, as it was not even as strong as that of the lowest-grade warrior.


    jareth also had only one chance; with his sharp mind, he could easily see that if he let this chance go, he would die here.


    [ding! you have used the ''attack enhancement card (advanced)!]


    [your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    "let me reunite you with your brothers¡­"


    *bam!!!* *crack!*


    when jareth''s punch hit zero right on her face, the space-time fabric began to tremble.


    in that moment, jareth''s punch was so strong that a broken glass-like crack appeared in the space-time fabric itself.


    jareth directly destroyed zero''s whole upper torso, along with the space-time fabric itself.


    even jareth lost his hand when it became entangled in that shattered void.


    thankfully, the crack in the void didn''t continue to spread for too long and disappeared in a few seconds without leaving any trace behind.


    jareth could feel his consciousness start to blur, as he had already lost too much blood in this fight.


    not only was his heart destroyed, but even his arm was bleeding now.


    fortunately for him, zero''s destroyed body immediately turned into fine dust after he blew her whole upper torso along with the space-time fabric.


    and since she had died, the mana-less field collapsed instantly, and jareth regained control over his mana.


    [active heal!]


    jareth poured a lot of his mana to repair his broken heart and stop the bleeding further.


    this fight was the most difficult one he has faced until now.

 Chapter 68 The Calm Before a storm...

    above the city."hmm¡­ i don''t know why he would try to attack four grade-2 mages all alone¡­ could it be that he has more friends nearby?"


    seeing that the death knight was buried under the gigantic meteor, shin glanced all around but couldn''t find any other strong individuals.


    even with his detection, he wasn''t able to find anyone who could help the death knight.


    aside from abella, norton, and zero, there are no high-ranking individuals on the other side.


    most of them are just mindless summoned beasts of grade 3 or lower.


    these weak monsters were not in shin''s consideration at all.


    he didn''t think that these weak monsters could help norton in any way during this fight.


    (grade-3 monsters aren''t weak; it''s just shin, and others are too strong¡­)


    "keke¡­ if things are done here, then how about i take a few monsters for myself¡­ kekeke, i have a lot of new methods that i need to test on the monsters¡­"


    the grade-2 earth magic user, gazid bultak, has always had a creepy and weird personality.


    his words caused shin to frown a bit, but he didn''t say anything.


    he didn''t want to interfere in others'' business, and he had no reason to try to protect these human-eating monsters from gazid''s hands.


    in excitement, gazid raised his wand and licked the gem above it.


    "kehekeheheh¡­ i will skin them and bisect all muscles one by one¡­ how exciting would it be!!"


    at the university, gazid teaches earth magic and monster physiology.


    he has vast knowledge of the weaknesses and strengths of monsters, as he has encountered and experimented with thousands of monsters in his career.


    instead of a dorm room, he lives in a lab, where all of his test subjects are kept locked in enchanted cages.


    gazid is also responsible for teaching interrogation and threatening methods to the students, as he has amazing mastery over these things.


    he knows many horrible torturing methods, and it''s his hobby to read books related to ancient tortures and punishments.


    he''s definitely crazy in his head.


    just like jareth is mark''s idol, gazid is risa''s idol!


    moreover, he favors her a lot, as he can see her talent and crazy personality.


    risa gets full marks in her subjects, as she is just as crazy about learning these things.


    this is the only subject in which her grades are better than mark''s.


    risa frequently borrows torture-related books from gazid to read and pass time. (there''s a reason why jareth doesn''t want to get involved with this crazy girl¡­)


    ¡­


    just when gazid was smiling like a villain, the grade-2 water mage, yoseh uneme, clicked her tongue and said,


    "you never learn; last time you nearly ended up getting sued by government officials for conducting dangerous and cruel experiments¡­"


    "if you get caught, then don''t beg me to help you again like the last time!"


    yoseh is a member of the uneme family, which is famous for its devotion to the army.


    most of her family members are either in the army or in the police.


    she has a lot of connections; that''s why she was able to keep gazid from being sent to jail.


    (the government only asks for compensation; they don''t dare send a grade 2 mage into jail as they don''t want them to turn into terrorists..)


    hearing yoseh''s words, the excitement on gazid''s face vanished in an instant, and he smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck.


    "haha¡­ no, no, i don''t do any illegal things, ms. yoseh; believe me, i am innocent and pure like milk!!"


    when shin heard those words, he frowned and said,


    "innocent and pure, my a*s! you b*stard like to trick students into buying your heinous research papers that contain horrible torture methods! you are corrupting the children!!"


    gazid also had thick skin; he wasn''t going to admit his wrongdoings at all. he smiled shamelessly and said,


    "cough¡­ mr. shin, you misunderstood me! i just sell those things for ''research purposes''! reading them can help the students understand the anatomy of monsters in a much better way!!"


    gazid immediately began to act as though someone had wronged him.


    "i even give refunds if the students want to return them, but the students like those research papers so much that they never return them¡­ you can''t blame me for it¡­"


    he wiped away the non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes and shook his head, as if he were truly experiencing mistreatment.


    yoseh couldn''t stand it anymore, and she kicked the guy in the back.


    "f*ck off! your skin is as thick as a city wall! how can someone be so shameless! ugh¡­"


    gazid then started to pretend to be hurt.


    "ugh! you broke my spine! ms. yoseh, no man will marry you if you are so aggressive!"


    blood veins appeared on yoseh''s forehead after hearing that shameless guy''s words.


    "whatever! it''s not like i want to marry so soon!"


    gazid wasn''t going to stop there thought; he continued talking while maintaining that harmless smile on his face.


    "so soon, you say? you are already past 30! children will start calling you grandma soon-"


    before gazid could finish his words, yoseh punched him in the face as her expression twisted in anger.


    "who are you calling a grandma!!"


    as the two were arguing, shin shook his head,


    "tch, how childish¡­"


    thomas looked at shin with complicated emotions after hearing those words.


    ''you bicker with jareth like children too, you know¡­''


    thomas wanted to say that out loud, but he didn''t want to get in unnecessary trouble, so he didn''t say it.


    ¡­


    an underground church, location unknown


    in the center, a small magic circle appeared, and norton instantly teleported above it.


    without wasting a single second, norton bent his knee and saluted the cult leader, whose figure was hidden behind a black mist.


    "master¡­ i have returned¡­"


    the cult leader nodded his head and said,


    "good¡­ it seems you have succeeded¡­"


    norton nodded his head at those words and replied,


    "yes¡­ i did as you ordered¡­. bought enough time, the plan has succeeded¡­"


    indeed, norton was ordered to just buy some time if things went south, but when he was buried under the massive meteor, he sensed that the altar was already complete and there was no need to stay there any longer.


    he used a teleportation magic scroll to leave the area, and his presence disappeared.


    shin and others misunderstood the disappearance of his presence and thought that norton had died after being hit by that massive meteor.


    yoseh''s water magic enhanced the meteor''s speed, resulting in a massive impact that created massive shockwaves and even cracked the ground far and wide.


    "good¡­ did you add ''that'' to the altar?"


    norton nodded his head and replied,


    "yes, i did it¡­. without alerting abella¡­"


    hearing norton''s answer, the cult leader burst into hearty laughter.


    "hahahaha¡­. good good!now we can move forward to the next step! it''s our victory!!"


    the cult leader then waved his hand at norton.


    "you have completed your mission; you can go¡­"


    norton gave a salute to his master before departing.


    "understood!"


    ¡­


    above the city.


    "hmm¡­ why do i feel that i am forgetting about something¡­"


    shin rubbed his chin and tried to remember what he was forgetting about.


    at that moment, thomas said,


    "it''s jareth¡­ he got separated from us, and we don''t know what happened to him¡­"


    shin waved his hand at thomas''s words and said,


    "no, not him¡­ you don''t really think that he will be in trouble, do you?"


    even gazid and yoseh nodded their heads.


    "yeah, he is strong; we don''t need to worry about him..."


    (these guys are literally misunderstanding him to be a super strong guy who can deal with any difficulties that might come his way¡­ so they aren''t planning on going to his side¡­)


    just then, shin noticed the altar in the corner of his eyes and immediately remembered what he had forgotten.


    "ah yes! we have to destroy that altar!" enjoy new tales from empire


    shin glanced at gazid and yoseh and said,


    "you two go and deal with the rest of the monsters that are left in the city; me and thomas will go and deal with that altar¡­"


    gazid and yoseh both nodded their heads and flew away in two different directions to deal with the monsters.


    thomas and shin instantly increased their flying speed and arrived near the gigantic altar.


    "ugh¡­ fortunately, i am using a mana barrier; otherwise, i think the smell in this place must be horrible¡­"


    thomas also nodded his head at those words.


    thousands of human skulls decorated the altar, and he could see muffified bodies piled up everywhere.


    "this place is horrible¡­"


    [grade 3 frost magic: ice rain!]


    shin used his frost magic, and gigantic icicles fired at all of the monsters nearby, killing them in an instant.


    shin cleared all of the monsters from the central area with a single spell.


    but what surprised him the most was that his attack had no effect on the altar.


    when the frost icicles were about to hit the altar, a barrier made of pure soul energy appeared and protected the altar from shin''s magic.


    "ugh¡­ it''s this type of restriction¡­"


    after nathan, thomas is the most knowledgeable about barriers in the entire university.


    he quickly identified the type of barrier on the altar.


    "ugh¡­ this barrier is the self-repair type; it won''t break unless the energy stored inside the altar runs out¡­ but i am sure the energy reserve of this altar is definitely massive!"


    ten thousand souls are being used to generate energy for this altar; obviously, it has a massive energy reserve. sea??h th§× n??el fire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "breaking this altar is going to be troublesome¡­"


    thomas and shin couldn''t help but frown at this situation now, as they were both out of options.

 Chapter 69 A Tarnished hero... Part-1.

    an unknown space."this is the place i prepared for your death¡­"


    hearing abella''s mocking tone, nathan glanced all around him, and no matter where he looked, he could only see a never-ending space loop.


    the floor and surroundings in this place are pure white, and no matter what direction you look, the place seems to have no end.


    nathan is a spatial magic user; he easily figured out what kind of place this is, and his expression turned sour in an instant.


    "a death cage¡­"


    seeing the solemn look on nathan''s face, abella laughed loudly.


    "hahaha, so, you still have some wisdom in that senile brain of yours! yes! this is a death cage! unless you die! or i break the spell myself; you can never escape this place! ahahhaha!"


    the look on nathan''s face turned even more solemn when he heard her mocking voice.


    as a spatial magic user, he knew all too well just what kind of sinister place this ''death cage'' is.


    ¡­


    (spell intro)


    [forbidden spell: corruption/spatial type: cage of unavoidable death]


    [spell description: a forbidden spell that was taught to humans by the demons to create chaos in the world.


    it is one of the most twisted and dangerous forbidden spells in existence. to use this spell, you need the power of more than twenty-five thousand souls, or the souls of ten grade 1 mages.


    this spell is used to deal with ''obstacles'' that stand in the way of the demon worshippers.]


    [spell effects:


    1. create a looped sub-space.


    2. trap the opponent for eternity.


    3. it can gradually erode the trapped entity''s sanity.


    4. it can function even after the user dies.]


    ...


    the concept of time doesn''t exist in this small sub-space, as it''s not a perfect ''space'' with proper ''laws and rules''.


    if someone gets trapped in this place, they get stuck in a loop.


    the person never ages in this place as time doesn''t exist, and if the trapped person''s magic control is below grade 1, then they can''t even move freely in this place.


    you need at least grade 1-level mana control to resist the non-existence of the ''rule of time'' in this place; otherwise, your body will freeze as time doesn''t exist here, and you can''t move in a place where time itself is non-existent.


    in this place, even photon particles stop moving, making it impossible to see. if you don''t have grade-1 mana control to forcefully keep your body functional, you become blind.


    (nathan and abella are both using their mana to work like photon particles and detect everything around them¡­. otherwise, they couldn''t even see¡­)


    but this is not even the worst part of it all.


    ''the biggest problem is¡­ that even if i kill abella here, i will still remain trapped, as it''s near impossible to break out of here so easily¡­''


    unless your grasp of mana and space-time fabric is at a level above grade 1, you can''t break out of this place by sheer force.


    either you need to make this space run out of energy, or you need to force abella to cancel this spell.


    but both of these conditions are difficult.


    this spell can only be cast with the help of an immense energy source, and abella used 25 thousand souls as the energy source of this space, which means it will take hundreds of years for this spell to run out of power.


    moreover, there''s no mana in the surroundings; thus, nathan only has the mana contained in his body; he can''t replenish his mana after he runs out of mana.


    this implies that if he runs out of mana, he won''t be able to withstand the absence of the ''time rule'' and will immediately freeze.


    if he froze here, then no one knows how long he will have to stay in this space. he might really go insane from being stuck in a place like this. (white rooms are a mental torture method, actually¡­)


    nathan glanced at abella and said it in a serious tone.


    "you know, even you can''t leave this space as long as i am alive¡­. are you preparing for your death too?"


    hearing nathan''s words, abella laughed like a maniac who had lost her brain.


    "kehehehehe, who cares! i don''t care about my death at all!! my life''s goal was to take revenge on you! and i have finally completed it!!"


    "kekekeekke now even if i die, you will suffer in this place for hundreds of years! no one can save you!!"


    hearing that maniacal laughter, nathan''s mood became sour, and he asked,


    "why go this far? you used to be one of my favorite disciples! why are you putting me in this tough spot, abella-"


    before nathan could finish his sentence, abella gritted her teeth and shouted at him,


    "don''t you dare take my name with your filthy tongue!! you were the reason for rahnan''s death!! had you not sent him to investigate the ''fifth seal of the false dome,'' he would still be alive!" s§×arch* the n?velfire.n§×t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    tears appeared in abella''s eyes as she shouted at nathan at the top of his lungs.


    her eyes were already bloodshot, and she was already losing her sanity to the darkness that she had consumed to forcefully become stronger. continue reading stories on empire


    nathan immediately refuted abella''s words and said,


    "you are mistaken! i only assigned him that mission! i never said that he couldn''t reject the mission! he went there on his own! it was his fault that he died-"


    before nathan could continue, abella raised her magic brook and shot a massive beam of condensed miasma in nathan''s direction.


    [grade 2 dark magic: ray of absolute corruption!]


    that ray of miasma and corruption was so dense and strong that even the space became a bit distorted around it.


    but nathan didn''t let her outdo him; he used his spatial magic right away.


    [grade-2 space magic: portal of misdirection''s!]


    the space in front of nathan distorted, and the beam of miasma got caught in that spatial portal.


    the other end of the portal opened right above abella''s head, and her attack nearly hit her own body.


    [grade-5 dark magic: wings of miasma!]


    two bat-like wings made of condensed miasma appeared behind abella''s back, helping her dodge the miasma beam.


    but nathan wasn''t going to stop there; another portal appeared on the ground and absorbed the beam of miasma in it, and the other side of the portal opened above abella''s head once again.


    this series of dodging and portal openings continued on and on for five hundred times before abella finally came up with a counter.


    [grade 1 dark magic: the insatiable maw of corruption!]


    a gigantic gate made up of condensed miasma appeared in front of abella, and the chains on the gate broke apart in an instant.


    a monstrously huge mouth appeared from those gates of corruption, and the mouth directly absorbed the beam of miasma, eliminating it in an instant.


    the gate teleported as the giant mouth finished devouring the beam of miasma, attempting to engulf nathan in its razor-sharp jaws.


    [grade 1 space magic: spatial distortion!]


    nathan didn''t even flinch when he saw that gigantic mouth trying to eat him; he pointed his staff directly at the gate of corruption and cast his spell.


    in an instant, the space-time fabric trembled and became distorted, destroying the corruption gate.


    abella had to board her magic broom and fly away to avoid the spell''s effect due to its extremely wide effective range.


    nathan wasn''t going to let her leave so easily; he immediately opened a portal to appear in front of abella and then cast another spell to attack her.


    [grade-2 space magic: spatial crush!]


    he pointed his wand towards the space beside abella and forced it to collapse on its own in an attempt to crush abella under the pressure of that compressed space.


    but abella has always been on guard; she immediately countered nathan''s move.


    [grade-1 dark magic: miasmic expansion!]


    a magic circle appeared above her head, and the space near her got covered in darkness and miasma, thus getting rid of nathan''s spatial magic effect by expanding the space forcefully by using too much miasma.


    her moves surprised even nathan, as he didn''t anticipate her to perfectly counter his attacks.


    "you are strong, abella! how about you stop doing the wrong things and turn over a new leaf! if you decide to apologize for your actions, then i will personally help you restore a safe identity in the human nation!!"


    nathan doesn''t really care about how many humans abella killed to achieve her current strength.


    her strength was all that mattered, and if she could join the human race, she would be of great assistance.


    those at the top of the world, like nathan, don''t really care about the life or death of ants that can''t even defend themselves.


    most grade 1 mages are arrogant people, and they think of ordinary people as mere ants. wizards are selfish beings; there''s no point in trying to correct their mindsets.


    hearing nathan''s words, abella laughed mockingly.


    "bahahahaha, how pathetic can you be! i knew all along that you were nothing but a f*cking leech! you enjoy immense benefits and gain an amazing reputation from others!"


    "yet you still dare to ask someone who has killed more than fifty thousand people over the past night to enter the human world and start over as a good person!?"


    nathan''s expression turned cold at those words.


    "i am just trying to stop you from further doing harm-"


    abella''s eyes started weeping tears of blood, and as she shouted,


    "shut up!! your hypocrisy makes me sick!! if not for a hypocrite like you, rahnan would have been alive!! die, you piece of sh*t!!"


    abella wasn''t going to listen to nathan''s words, and she had already lost her sanity by now.

 Chapter 70 A Tarnished Hero... Part-2.

    rahnan was a grade-4 mage and was one of the few disciples of nathan.unlike most mages, he had a kind and compassionate personality; he was like a bright light shining in the dark.


    abella studied under nathan, and she frequently encountered rahnan due to his frequent visits to nathan.


    nathan favored abella because of her extraordinary talent for summoning magic, but she was completely preoccupied with rahnan because she had fallen in love with him.


    nathan wanted abella to reach great heights and provide benefits to him when she grows up to be a strong wizard in return for his tutoring, but abella wasn''t making much progress as she was thinking about rahnan all day long.


    this was intolerable for nathan.


    not only was rahnan a great disappointment for nathan, he was also stopping his other students from making progress.


    nathan took rahnan as a disciple because he had the extremely rare ''light magic'' aptitude.


    but later, nathan figured out that rahnan didn''t have much talent at all; he was barely progressing at all, so nathan sent rahnan to travel around the nation and improve his skills.


    but even after years of training, rahnan barely reached grade 4.


    nathan''s previous disciples had reached grade 2 at the least, and rahnan became the greatest stain on his reputation as a great teacher.


    but abella didn''t care about all that; she was a young girl with an innocent mind that was still untainted by the cruelty of the real world.


    she had fallen in love with rahnan because of his ''personality'', and his magic skills had nothing to do with that.


    abella simply accepted him as he was and didn''t care if his magical talent was weak or not.


    nathan noticed everything, and he figured out that he would need to get rid of rahnan if he wanted abella to make progress.


    a disciple who can''t grow up and provide benefits to him is of no use to nathan.


    this may sound harsh, but that''s how a master-disciple relationship works in this world.


    any wizard who teaches a disciple does so out of a desire to get something in return from them.


    nathan wanted an inexhaustible supply of monsters for his experiments at a cheap price, and abella''s summoning talent was perfect for that.


    but if she couldn''t meet his requirements, then it would have been a great loss.


    so nathan made an easy plan.


    he took rahnan to the secret library and explained to him the "reality" of this world.


    usually, only grade 1 mages are supposed to know about all this, but in rare cases, a grade 1 mage can tell his disciples about ''it'' to his disciples through a magic contract.


    rahnan signed the magic contract and swore not to leak the secret, even if he died.


    nathan had always been good at manipulating others.


    he brainwashed rahnan into thinking that the ''fifth seal'' of the ''false dome'' was about to be broken and needed immediate repair, and only ''light magic'' could do that.


    although that was only half true, rahnan believed nathan without any suspicions, as he had great trust in his master.


    nathan had always helped him, and now it was his turn to return the favor.


    without any hesitation, he left after saying goodbye to abella.


    years went by, and rahnan never came back.


    abella urged nathan to search for rahnan, but nathan refused to do so and said that if abella became a grade 1, then he would help her out. find your next read on empire


    but that was all a fa?ade.


    abella didn''t have the talent to reach grade 1 in this lifetime, and nathan knew this all too well.


    he knew that abella could barely make it to grade 2, but it was impossible for her to reach grade 1 in this lifetime; in other words, he wasn''t going to lend her a hand in searching for rahnan. sea??h th§× n??efire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    as time passed, abella worked hard to improve, but she was never able to go past grade 2.


    she had hit a wall.


    years of hard work and struggles made abella mature, and she was no longer a na?ve girl.


    she figured out the truth behind nathan''s words when she failed to ascend to grade 1, even after years of hard work.


    she went to confront nathan, but he simply denied everything without feeling even a little bit of shame.


    abella was helpless; she had already signed a mana contract to deliver the summoned beast to nathan for five years, and there were still two more years left for that contract to end.


    nathan is a shrewd and smart person; he squeezed all of the benefits from abella until the end date of the contract, forced her to keep summoning more and more beasts for him, and even sold some of those beasts for his own profit.


    nathan calculated everything and planned it meticulously.


    he had been planning this since the day he accepted abella as his student.


    nathan is the true embodiment of a selfish and shrewd wizard; he can go to any lengths for his own benefits.


    manipulating and brainwashing children is child''s play for him.


    (he may sound like a villain, but he''s literally the most beloved mentor of the protagonist of this game.)


    ¡­


    abella cut off all contact with nathan after the contract ended and left her wand, which nathan had gifted her at her graduation ceremony, behind in her temporary house.


    she didn''t have the courage to fight nathan one-on-one, as she also knew the difference between a grade 1 and a grade 2 mage.


    if she fought him, she would have died in a single attack.


    but abella wasn''t going to sit back and sigh in sadness. her love was immense; she followed her heart and started to look for ways to find rahnan''s location.


    nathan refused to tell her the location, but she wasn''t going to stop.


    she traveled to all the hidden places in search of clues, but aside from nathan''s secret library, she didn''t find any other clues at all.


    there was no way for her to be able to sneak into nathan''s secret library so easily, and she was already starting to lose all hope.


    but then she met the cult leader of the ''false dome'' cult.


    she was resting near a bonfire at night in a forest outside the human empire''s borders.


    the cult leader stretched out his hand and made an offer to her.


    "become a demon believer, abella¡­ do so, and you will be able to reach the next realm¡­"


    if it were usual, abella would have rejected that offer right away, but she was already desperate at that moment.


    her year''s long search didn''t bear any fruit, and she was at the end of her patience.


    and the cult leader had promised that if she accepted ''darkness,'' she would ascend to grade 1 and be able to find the ''truth'' of this world on her own.


    abella hesitated for a long time, but then she sighed and accepted the offer with a heavy heart.


    she already had no family or relatives in the world, and her master was merely a profiteer who harbored no affection for her talents.


    even rahnan, the only person she loved, was missing.


    so, to pursue her goal of finding rahnan, abella accepted the ''darkness'' and became a demon believer after joining the cult of ''false dome''.


    soon after accepting the darkness, she ascended to grade 1 with the blessing of the demon god and became capable of sensing the world''s laws.


    {once you are able to sense the ''laws'' of the world, you end up finding out the truth of the world itself¡­}


    abella found out the horrifying truth of this world, and she figured out how worthless her existence was in the face of ''reality''.


    despite facing existential crises, she remained committed to her goals, maintaining her sanity despite the darkness''s heavy corruption.


    miasma took over her mind bit by bit, and she became a cruel sadist who took pleasure in other people''s suffering.


    with the power of the forbidden spells the demon god himself bestowed upon her, she killed many and extracted their souls.


    there was now only one obstacle in her way of finding rahnan, and that was nathan himself.


    if abella gets rid of nathan, she can access the secret library and find rahnan''s location, as well as the location of all seven seals that hold the ''false dome'' in place.


    this was also the reason abella went to such great lengths to split a small part of her own soul in order to sneak into the secret library.


    which ultimately failed in the end because of jareth''s interference; if he hadn''t interfered with that massive glowing mana orb, abella would have killed nathan that day.


    still, even though she lost, she got another chance.


    now that she has decimated an entire city, she has not only constructed an altar capable of summoning the incarnation of a demon god, but she has also repaired her magic broom and constructed a ''death cage'' with the sole purpose of trapping and killing nathan.


    abella''s plan is extremely thorough; even if she dies here, her soul will escape and enter a pre-prepared body that she placed in a hidden cave.


    this way, not only will nathan remain stuck in that spatial loop forever, but she will also be able to exit that place without any problems.


    and once she takes over her new body, she will immediately rush to the university and find out the seal''s location via the secret library.


    she isn''t going to depend on the demon god''s incarnation for that; she wants to find rahnan with her own ability, as she doesn''t trust others with this important task.


    for the sake of her love, abella killed thousands of innocent people and murdered them without regard for the world.


    her actions are indeed wrong and punishable, but in her mind, she has already devoted her whole existence to rahnan; there''s no point in reasoning with her anymore.


    she has lost her sanity, except for one simple goal.


    and that goal is to find her loved one.


    {corrupted by miasma, abella has become a ''tarnished hero'' of her own ''broken path''¡­ she has lost her ''humanity'' and her ''existence'' in the pursuit of ''love''¡­ that was already long gone¡­}

 Chapter 71 Nothing more than a Pawn...

    "i will make sure that you die here today..."tears of blood flowed from abella''s eyes as her hatred for nathan was so strong that even the space-time fabric was trembling due to her anger.


    abella waved her hand, and just when she was about to cast another spell, something unexpected happened.


    abella suddenly found herself standing on the same altar that she had asked her summoned beasts to build.


    "what?"


    the magic circle on the altar began to glow dark red, as if made of blood, before abella could understand what was happening.


    abella glanced all around her, and she also saw shin and thomas, who were standing right outside the altar''s protective barrier.


    she glanced at the sky and sensed that the death cage was still intact.


    ''what''s going on? i clearly planned that i was going to die in that cage, and then i would have escaped with my soul. but right now i am outside the death cage with my real body?''


    abella was the one who cast the death cage, so she can sense that the cage is still intact. she can also sense that nathan is still trapped in there, but only she exited that place without dying.


    ''how is this even possible-''


    before abella could understand what was going on, she felt an immense gravitational force weigh down on her.


    abella was caught off-guard, and even her mana barrier broke apart under that immense gravitational force.


    she collapsed on the ground, and even moving her fingers became impossible.


    ''m-my magic¡­ my magic isn''t working!? wh-what the heck!?''


    not only wasn''t abella able to move her body, she wasn''t able to control her mana either.


    as if something were interrupting her mana, abella had lost the ability to use magic, and now she was nothing more than a helpless ordinary girl who was stuck at the center of the altar.


    *step**step*


    a humanoid figure made of dark mist and miasma appeared on the altar and walked slowly over to abella''s side slowly.


    the voice of that being''s steps felt so heavy and intimidating that even thomas and shin could feel it from outside the barrier.


    as a result, they both backed away from the altar, ready to run away at any time.


    the humanoid figure made out of dark mist didn''t seem to care about the two thoughts; it was only interested in abella.


    abella knew that figure all too well, as she had seen him countless times by now.


    this entity is none other than the cult leader of the false dome himself.


    ''no this is just a shadow of his¡­ his real body isn''t here¡­''


    abella had many questions in her mind, but due to that immense gravitational force, she was having difficulty even breathing; there was no way to speak.


    the cult leader squatted down near abella, and a sweet yet creepy voice rang out from the dark mist.


    "ah, my sweet and silly abella¡­ you fell for this silly trap¡­ but, oh well, you haven''t been very smart since childhood; you were always like this¡­"


    "you focused on your goals so much that you forgot about the things around you¡­"


    hearing that familiar yet intimidating voice, abella''s eyes widened in sheer shock, and she uttered it with great difficulty.


    "r-rahnan? h-how can this be!? t-this is impossible!!"


    despair, shock, etc.¡ªmany complicated emotions appeared on abella''s face at that moment.


    she couldn''t accept the fact that what she had been chasing for so long was already so close to her, yet she never noticed it.


    not only did rahnan make her accept the darkness, but he also sent her on various death missions when he knew all along that all she wanted was to meet him and confess her love to him.


    but rahnan kept watching her go down the path of darkness silently, never doing anything to save her.


    many questions flashed through abella''s mind in that one moment, but all she could say was,


    "w-why!?"


    rahnan stretched out his hand and wiped the tears from abella''s eyes.


    the dark mist over his face condensed, and a humanoid face that resembled rahnan appeared.


    but unlike the rahnan that abella knew, the current one had a creepy smile hanging over his face while he was wiping her tears.


    enjoy new stories from empire


    "well, you see¡­ i have hated you for a very long time, abella. a very long time¡­"


    at that moment, rahnan told abella the real truth¡­


    not only was abella favored heavily by nathan, but she was getting a lot of resources from him for free, and rahnan was jealous of it all.


    he had to always put on a good senior fa?ade whenever she came looking for him.


    nathan even warned rahnan several times to keep his lowly talent in mind and stay away from abella.


    "every time i looked at your face, i felt like skinning you alive and boiling you in hot oil! i hated you to the core!!"


    but rahnan didn''t have the power to go against nathan, and he didn''t dare harm abella under nathan''s watch.


    when nathan finally carried out his sinister plan to send rahnan away to the fifth seal.


    rahnan found his chance, and he left his human identity behind.


    he worshipped the demon god and established the cult that became famous as the ''false dome cult''.


    the demon god gave him immense power, and the very first person that rahnan chose to corrupt was abella herself.


    he waited till abella became mentally weak from searching for him, and then he seized the moment and corrupted her with miasma.


    "i was gloating at your misfortune! i took great pleasure in destroying the talent that the old fox held so dear!


    but abella still had some use. sea??h th§× ¦Çovelfire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    she became a grade 1 mage, and rahnan waited for her soul to get fully corrupted to bring out the full potential of her darkened soul.


    when rahnan said all this to abella''s face with the same creepy smile on his face, abella could only feel immense despair.


    from the start to the end, she was just a mere pawn that was dancing in the palms of others.


    first nathan exploited her talent to the limit, and then rahnan gloated on her misery as she searched for him wholeheartedly.


    rahnan''s words ultimately caused abella to lose her sanity, as he cruelly stripped her of her life''s sole purpose, causing her soul to become completely tainted with miasma.


    "in the end, all i would say to you is that you were nothing more than a disposable pawn, abella¡­"


    rahnan got up and kicked abella to the side, then placed his hand at the center of the magic circle.


    "the ritual to summon the incarnation of a demon god needs many souls¡­ you worked hard to collect them for me, so i praise you for that¡­"


    "but this ritual still needs the fully corrupted dark soul of a grade 1 individual to fully activate it¡­. and yeah, that''s the real purpose of why i let you wander around freely for so long¡­"


    the creepy smile on rahnan''s face became even wider.


    "i have waited for a long time¡­ i waited for the perfect opportunity to appear in front of you to finally push you to the depths of corruption¡­ and now you are nothing more than an empty vessel of pure despair¡­"


    rahnan''s words carried so much cruelty that even shin and thomas felt a chill run down their spines after hearing all this.


    they had never thought that such evil schemes were involved in this incident.


    their foreheads were already covered in sweat while looking at abella, who was lying down like a dead body with endless despair in her eyes.


    it was clear from a single glance that her ''will'' had already been broken and her existence was already tortured beyond measure.


    ¡­


    rahnan didn''t care about all that; he imbued a bit of his own mana in the center of the altar, and then the circle finally activated.


    first abella''s darkened soul was sucked out of her body and used to activate the summoning ritual, and then those ten thousand souls were used to carry out the actual summoning ritual.


    rahnan glanced at the sky and mumbled.


    "that old fox has been trapped in the death cage by you, abella. i really appreciate all that you did for me¡­ i will remember you as long as i live¡­ thanks for working so hard for my sake¡­"


    now that nathan was out of the picture, there was no one who could possibly interrupt the summoning ritual.


    only half an hour is needed now.


    in this half hour of time, the altar will refine all of the ten thousand innocent souls and then turn them into power that will condense into the form of the incarnation of the demon god.


    the incarnation will then take abella''s soulless body as its vessel and will put it to good use.


    rahnan wasn''t going to let even abella''s dead body rest in peace; he had already planned everything out over the years.


    he wanted complete revenge from nathan and abella.


    seeing his revenge turn into reality, rahnan couldn''t help but smile creepily.


    "finally, my dreams are turning into reality¡­ all thanks to my benevolent god¡­"


    while the alter continued to refine those souls, rahnan brought out a smartphone from his dark, mist-like body and then pressed a few buttons on it.


    "good, i have sent the details¡­ all i need to do now is wait¡­ soon, the whole world will find out how big of a hypocrite the person they love actually is¡­"


    rahnan had already collected a lot of evidence against nathan, and he was ready to ruin his reputation in the human world.


    if he had only killed nathan, then people would have still continued to think of him as a great hero, as they already have a statue of him in the national hero memorial.


    but rahnan knew all this, so he chose the other way.


    not only did he subtly persuade abella to trap nathan in the death cage, but he also made the decision to destroy nathan''s remarkable reputation.


    ''calling me ''trash'' and ''talentless'' was your biggest mistake, my dear teacher¡­''


    ...


    ¡­


    author''s note.


    some people were complaining that the story seemed too dark and that everyone seemed like a villain, so let me clarify.


    this novel is tagged ''dark'', and the setting of this world is in a world that is filled with ''cruelty and misery''.


    you can become another''s pawn without even noticing. if this story is too strong for your pure heart, i recommend going to my other novel; that one is more lighthearted.


    but if you like stories that depict the cruelty of a world corrupted with power and demons, then this is for you.

 Chapter 72 The Small Trick... Part-1.

    outside the city.[grade-5 earth magic: mud lake!]


    mark stomped his feet, and a magic circle appeared on the ground, turning the sand in a radius of 50 meters around him into mud.


    only the ground below mark and the other soldiers remained normal.


    risa seized that chance in an instant.


    [grade-5 shadow magic: shadow bind!]


    the shadows of the monsters immediately moved and bound the monsters, preventing them from moving too much in the mud lake.


    mark smiled at risa''s timely cooperation and then raised his wand towards the sky.


    [grade 4 earth magic: stone arrow shower!]


    a massive magic circle appeared in the sky, and gigantic stone arrows started to fall from it.


    the speed of those stone arrows was much faster than the speed of a sniper rifle''s bullet.


    this implies that each of those arrows carried a significant amount of momentum.


    in a 50-meter radius, they easily killed all of the grade-five and lower-grade monsters.


    but this also consumed a lot of mana.


    mark and the other soldier have been fighting for more than two hours non-stop, and nearly all of them are exhausted by now.


    casualties among the soldiers have piled up to hundreds by now.


    if not for the fact that mark and the other students are much stronger than these soldiers, they would have also gotten injured by now.


    still, all this fighting has nearly drained all of the mana from the students.


    however, the horde of monsters is still rushing endlessly.


    mark and risa leaned their backs against each other and panted heavily while looking at the monsters that were rushing towards them from all directions.


    "i am impressed; i never expected that you would be able to keep up with me even though you are nearly out of mana."


    hearing mark''s words, risa smiled and cast a low-grade shadow condensing spell to create a sword out of her shadow magic.


    "hehe, you underestimate me too much¡­ i can fight even if i don''t have mana; if you feel like quitting, i won''t mind carrying you out of here¡­" sear?h the novelfire.net* website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    a smirk appeared on mark''s face after hearing those words.


    "heh, being carried by a girl? no thanks; i would prefer if i were the one to carry you out of here..."


    [grade-5 earth magic: stone spike graveyard!]


    spikes made up of condensed stone elements rose from the ground and hit the vitals of the rushing monsters accurately.


    mark''s precision and amazing mana control have earned the respect of all soldiers, as none of them got hit even when mark used such wide-area attacks.


    risa ignored the impressed expressions on the soldiers'' faces nearby and thrust her shadow sword into the ground.


    [grade-5 shadow magic: support type: shadow extension!]


    risa''s shadow magic penetrated into the magic circle that mark had made, and she enhanced it further with the small amount of mana that she had left.


    risa''s enhancement turned mark''s magic circle dark black, and shadows covered the stone spikes.


    the shadows expanded the range of that spell even further and damaged the monsters even more badly.


    mark and risa''s teamwork was so efficient that they didn''t even need to use any words to figure out what the other party was going to do.


    mark had purposely reduced his own control over his magic circle so that risa''s mana could get into it and enhance it further.


    although this was a risky move that other mages could have taken advantage of, right now they are fighting monsters, and there are no mages on the opponent''s side.


    so the two of them didn''t need to hold back.


    with their amazing teamwork, mark and risa killed nearly 50 low-grade monsters in one attack.


    still, this wasn''t enough.


    as time passed, more monsters began to rush them.


    risa had already used the last bits of her mana to enhance mark''s magic. she ran out of mana, and her legs couldn''t hold her standing any longer.


    before she could collapse on the ground, mark caught her and prevented her from falling.


    "heh¡­ so i lost first¡­ sigh~ okay, you win¡­"


    risa pouted her cheeks a bit as if she were upset that she lost to mark, but her eyes were showing that she was happy to be held by him.


    but mark didn''t have the time to notice all this; he was worried about the monsters that were rushing towards them.


    ''tch! is there no end to them?''


    just when mark was about to take risa and retreat, the monsters suddenly stopped.


    *dead silence~*


    as if they had all suddenly lost their motive to attack, all the monsters stopped mid-battle and stood still.


    even the soldiers, who had been fighting fiercely up until now, stopped after witnessing this unusual scene.


    before mark and others could figure out what was going on, all of the monsters started to turn into magic particles.


    "w-what''s going on?"


    a confused look appeared on mark''s face as he saw this strange phenomenon.


    when the summoner dies, a magic circle appears, which brings the summoned beasts back to the spirit realm.


    but right now, things are extremely strange.


    as if the summoned beasts were being sucked out by a strange power, all of them were turning into magic particles, and those magic particles were flying towards the inner area of the city together.


    "this is?"


    mark wanted to go inside the city and find out what was going on, but before he could move, a hand appeared on his shoulder and held him in place.


    "stay here; that place isn''t for you to play yet¡­ also, take all these soldiers and retreat far away from here¡­."


    a familiar voice appeared in mark''s ears as he glanced at the person who was standing beside him.


    the man looked extremely handsome, and his golden hair was waving in the gentle breeze.


    a calm look hung over his face. his very presence gave people the feeling of ''protection'' and ''hope''.


    "father¡­"


    king reynald ignored his son''s voice and flew away instantly.


    that insane speed surprised mark, but he could only shake his head.


    "everyone! the monsters are all dead! let''s retreat now! this place is about to become a playground for the grade mages! we shouldn''t stay here any longer!"


    hearing mark''s words, all of the soldiers nodded their heads, and they relayed the message to the general.


    the general immediately gave the retreat order, and the soldier rushed back to the military vehicles instantly.


    mark glanced at the city walls one last time before leaving with risa in his arms. (she''s pretending to have fainted; she succeeded in making him carry her princess-style¡­)


    ¡­


    ignoring the retreating army below, reynald rushed towards the city and landed on the city wall.


    a solemn look appeared on his face when he saw that all the magic particles were slowly rushing towards the altar in the center.


    his eyes met with rahnan, who was standing on the altar, and rahnan smiled at reynald creepily.


    enjoy new stories from empire


    but reynald''s face didn''t change much after seeing that creepy smile.


    ''that thing¡­ it''s not his real body; he''s likely using some type of forbidden magic to appear here without his real body¡­''


    reynald glanced at the altar once, and he figured out everything in an instant.


    ''destroying that shadow form is pointless; moreover, it likely doesn''t have any combat capabilities either; it''s just for show¡­''


    ''moreover, the ritual won''t stop even if the altar is destroyed or that vessel is killed¡­''


    just as reynald was contemplating in his mind, another person flew down from the sky and landed beside him.


    "what took you so long, your majesty?"


    reynald glanced at the other party, and his eyes widened a bit,


    "hmm, you seem quite angry for some reason, jareth blaze¡­"


    blood veins were twitching all over jareth''s face as he was staring at that altar, and his well-built muscles were on full display as he didn''t have his shirt on at the moment.


    "a certain someone''s minion dared to destroy my favorite shirt¡­ i am quite upset over that¡­"


    zeros'' attacks tore apart his shirt, revealing a massive hole where she had pierced his heart.


    jareth wasn''t particularly the type of person to get upset over a torn-up shirt, but the original jareth liked this shirt a lot, and thus, he is feeling quite upset now that he lost the shirt.


    ignoring jareth''s words, reynald glanced at jareth''s well-built six-pack abs, then glanced at himself.


    ''this guy¡­ he seems more like a warrior than a mage¡­ come to think of it, i lost my six-pack abs after i got married. i used to be more well-built in my younger days.


    it''s been two decades since reynald''s marriage, and he has become so accustomed to his wife''s amazing cooking that he has lost the will to work out like he used to do in his younger years.


    ''sigh, it''s good to be young¡­''


    (jareth is ten years younger than reynald¡­)


    as reynald continued to contemplate all of this, jareth abruptly spoke:


    "so¡­ what do you say? should we go for a combined one?"


    reynald immediately understood what jareth was talking about, and a smirk appeared on his face,


    "would you be able to keep up with my maximum output?"


    after hearing reynald''s words, jareth responded in his usual cold tone.


    "what''s your maximum?"


    reynald smirked and said,


    "ten layers¡­"


    even jareth felt a bit shocked after hearing those words, but then he nodded his head and said,


    "i will manage it somehow; let''s go for a combined one¡­ fully immersion one¡­"


    the smile on reynald''s face widened even further after hearing those words from jareth''s mouth.


    "you are really an interesting person, jareth blaze¡­ this is the first time someone has said that they can ''manage it'' after hearing about my abilities¡­"


    jareth just shook his head at those words and thought to himself.


    ''anyway, i have become a professional fraudster by now¡­ i can do simple tricks like this now¡­''

 Chapter 73 The Small trick... Part-2.

    "oi oi¡­ this sh*t is getting outta hand!"the expression on shin''s face turned solemn as he said those words in an annoyed tone.


    he could see that if this altar kept working, then a demon incarnation would likely appear, and the destruction it would cause would be unimaginable.


    the demon god''s incarnation can be considered a pseudo-grade-0 existence.


    its power is unimaginable, and dealing with it requires the sacrifice of many grade 1 wizards.


    shin and thomas were aware that they needed to stop this altar, but they were both powerless.


    the barrier around that altar is of the self-repair type, and it won''t break unless the whole altar runs out of power, which is nearly impossible to do for them.


    thomas glanced at rahnan''s smiling face with a solemn look and said,


    "there''s nothing we can do here; it''s actually better if we retreat now¡­"


    hearing thomas''s words, shin couldn''t help but rub his forehead in frustration.


    "f*cking bullsh*t! where will we retreat!? once fully summoned, the demon incarnation will likely attack the human race! a war for survival will start at that point!"


    demon incarnations usually have a single goal in mind, which is to ''destroy the human race'', and the reason for this motive is that the demon gods fear humanity.


    it was a human who once created the seal of ''false dome'', and the human indomitable human spirit isn''t something that should be underestimated.


    there are many evil people among humans, many of whom are profiteers, but in every era, a ''hope'' also emerges amidst this worldly filth.


    a ''being'' that carries the ''hope'' of humanity itself.


    in peaceful times, this ''hope'' doesn''t show up much, but when the need arises, a selfless existence is born.


    an existence whose brilliance can rival the stars, and whose presence can make the demon gods tremble in fear.


    that existence is the reason why the demon gods want to destroy the human race thoroughly.


    if they don''t get rid of the human race, then an existence that rivals them in the future will surely appear if given enough time.


    and that''s not something a demon wants to see.


    they don''t want humans to become their equals, and oppressing the weak is ingrained in the nature of demons, so they want humans to remain weak.


    if not for the seal of ''false dome'', the demon gods would have directly descended themselves and would have slaughtered the whole human race with their own hands.


    still, although the real body can''t descend into this world, the incarnation is still strong enough to rival the most powerful people in this world.


    unless a ''hope'' finally comes true and conquers the new realm, there''s no redemption for the human race.


    ¡­


    just when shin and thomas were thinking about whether they should retreat or not, they got a message on their smartphones at the exact same time.


    shin removed his smartphone from the inner pocket of his coat and read the message.


    [from: arrogant punk] (that''s the name that shin used to save jareth''s contact info¡­)


    [retreat to the city walls¡­]


    the message that jareth sent was extremely short; he didn''t even bother explaining the reasons behind that retreat order.


    but shin and thomas didn''t dare ignore that message.


    if it was a long message, then they would have thought something was wrong, but such a short message meant that the other party was serious and action must be taken immediately.


    it''s the logic of veterans of this world when in combat, don''t think too deeply about it.


    they have been trained for swift battle communications during their years at the university, so they have mutual understandings on some things.


    seeing the message, shin and thomas both nodded their heads and immediately flew away from the central area of the city, retreating towards the city walls.


    while flying away, shin said,


    "what plan do you think he has?"


    to that, thomas only shook his head, indicating he had no idea about it; he was just as clueless as shin was.


    when the two of them arrived at the city walls, they noticed reynald and jareth standing nearby, so they flew down towards them.


    gazid and yoseh also arrived at the same time.


    "d*amn! why are you flexing your muscles like that? but you look cool, i guess¡­"


    shin gave a thumbs up to jareth when he saw him standing there shirtless.


    jareth sneered at those words and replied in his usual cold tone.


    "if you dare to say anything else, i will burn your clothes too¡­"


    jareth was already feeling annoyed after his shirt got torn, and now that shin was making fun of it, he felt even more irritated.


    thomas brought out a coat from his space ring and gave it to jareth.


    "well, i keep ten of them in my space ring just in case i need to change¡­ you can have one¡­" s~ea??h the n?velfire(.)net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    jareth nodded his head and accepted that gift without hesitating.


    yoseh was also there, and jareth didn''t feel comfortable that a woman other than shiina was looking at him, so he accepted that coat.


    (bro used to get anxiety attacks in his past life when a beautiful woman stared at him; shiina cured that habit¡­)


    gazid glanced at jareth and said,


    "kekekeke, those well-built muscles! i wonder how it will feel to dissect them! kekekeke"


    all of the professors looked at gazid with strange eyes.


    even shin shook his head and thought to himself.


    ''the heck is he on about? don''t he know that jareth will blast him off the face of the earth if he dares to attack him?... well whatever¡­''


    jareth ignored gazid''s weird way of talking, as he knew that was just how his character was; there''s no point in correcting him.


    that guy sounds and acts like a mad scientist-type villain, but he isn''t actually a villain; he''s just a random character with a weird personality who sells information about monster weaknesses in the game.


    simply put, he used to be a friendly npc in the game, so jareth didn''t take much offense from his words, as they were just empty words, spoken due to his peculiar personality.


    he''s just like jareth in that essence; jareth can''t speak kind words and always ends up speaking coldly. the same is true for gazid, who can''t talk normally and ends up saying weird and creepy things.


    ¡­


    just when all of them were busy chatting with each other, the altar was working at full capacity to digest the souls.


    why are they doing nothing about that alter, you ask?


    it''s because they can''t do anything about it, even if they wanted to!!


    rahnan''s shadow is laughing at them while watching them from far away, and all of the professors can sense the mockery in his eyes.


    however, they are all powerless against it.


    they can''t break that barrier, and there''s no point in getting angry over that mere shadow''s infuriating acts.


    even jareth can''t break that barrier, as it''s made out of souls, not mana.


    if it was made from mana, then he could have destroyed that barrier easily, but things are different now.


    ten thousand souls are powering that barrier; it won''t break so easily.


    reynald glanced at the altar and said it in a calm voice.


    "so, what is the plan then?"


    jareth buttoned his coat and replied.


    "we will do a perfect combination spell¡­ we five grade-2 mages can make up for one grade-1 if we do a ''perfect combination''¡­''


    reynald shook his head and replied.


    "syncing the mana of five grade-2 mages with a grade-1''s mana is impossible; a perfect combination is only possible in theories¡­ it''s not achievable, unless¡­" find exclusive stories on empire


    reynald''s eyes widened as if he had thought of something.


    he looked into jareth''s eyes and said,


    "you have awakened the legendary rank skill ''mana singularity''?"


    reynald is not a fool; he has immense knowledge, and he certainly knows all about mana singularity too.


    but even he hasn''t been able to achieve that skill in his lifetime.


    even though he''s a grade-1 mage, his magic control can''t match up to the control that the skill ''mana singularity'' gives to its user.


    hearing reynald''s words, jareth simply nodded his head.


    now that things have come to this, there is no denying it.


    "i was born with it¡­ that''s why i was able to hide my talents from the prying eyes of the hyena''s¡­"


    reynald knew who jareth meant by ''hyena'' and he also knew what jareth was talking about.


    but even then, reynald was quite surprised.


    ''i see¡­ that explains everything! i was also thinking how a person who was rumored to be talentless could have reached grade 2, but it turns out¡­ this guy was hiding his talent all along¡­''


    ''truly an amazing move! as i thought, you truly are a remarkable person, jareth blaze¡­''


    a smile appeared on reynald''s face, and he walked towards the edge of the city wall.


    "well, if that''s the case, then let''s do this¡­ i also want to see the results that can be achieved through the perfect combination of different magic''s¡­ it is rare to see such a phenomenon in a life time¡­"


    the appearance of a person who can awaken ''mana singularity'' is extremely rare; thus, being able to see a perfect combination spell is extremely rare.


    reynald certainly didn''t want to miss this amazing opportunity, and the other professors were also just as excited as him.


    in the hands of ordinary mages, ''combination spell'' is just a small trick to improve damage.


    but in the hands of a person blessed with a ''mana singularity'' combination, it can perfectly shine brightly.


    as the saying goes, only a true professional can bring out the real value of an asset. (source: trust me bro¡­)

 Chapter 74 Mortals cant kill god? Thats skill issue!!

    ''combination magic'' is generally used when wizards cast large-scale magic.like creating a giant altar or a massive seal.


    but sometimes these types of magic are also used to fight extremely strong enemies.


    combination magic is always unstable due to the conflicting nature of different wizards'' mana''s, and if even one mage in the group stops releasing their mana, the entire group becomes unstable.


    then the whole magic will collapse, as it is quite unstable.


    but in the history books, there is a mention of an existence that can make the combination magic stable.


    every mage in the world wants to reach perfect control over mana, but it is not possible unless you awaken the legendary rank skill, mana singularity.


    mana singularity can not only stabilize combination magic; it can even amplify its effects.


    {the one who holds mana singularity can rule over the law of mana itself¡­}


    mana singularity has only appeared a few times in the long annals of history, but each time it appears, it gives immense power to its user.


    in his whole life, reynald had always believed in himself the most, but today, he believed in someone else''s words and decided to place his trust on jareth''s shoulder.


    a thought came to reynald''s mind.


    ''father¡­ you once said that a mortal cannot kill a god¡­ but father, i will prove you wrong!''


    reynald stretched out his hand and extracted his wand from his space ring.


    he pointed his wand towards the altar and cast his magic.


    a gigantic magic circle appeared in front of the city wall.


    following reynald''s lead, shin and others also poured their mana into the giant magic circle and enhanced it with their own mana.


    the more mana they poured, the more unstable the magic circle became, and just as it was about to reach its limit,


    jareth also stretched out his hand and instantly stabilized the whole magic circle with his own mana.


    [mana command: law of mana stability!]


    with the help of mana singularity, jareth commanded mana to do as he wanted.


    and as if mana had really acknowledged his words, it stopped resisting, and the chaos in the magic circle ended.


    seeing jareth''s success, reynald and others were pleasantly surprised, and they all started to pour their mana into the magic circle without any worries in the world.


    reynald''s earth magic became the core, while the other four''s magic worked as support to boost the spell''s power.


    even the soldiers that were retreating far away could feel the immense might of that magic.


    ¡­


    rahnan''s smirk didn''t change even after all that.


    while standing on the altar, rahnan''s sneered at jareth and others who were attempting to destroy the altar.


    "how pathetic; they really have no idea how much power is held within ten thousand innocent souls¡­ they really don''t know that their attempts are all futile¡­"


    rahnan shook his head in disappointment.


    ''it won''t be long¡­ once their attack shows no results, they will find out how powerless they are.


    while rahnan was feeling amused in his mind, an old and sinister voice rang out from abella''s lifeless body.


    "i have already projected my ''will'' here; the refinement of souls is nearly complete; now i will start taking over this vessel¡­"


    abella, no¡­ the vessel rose from the ground slowly and walked over to the center of the altar.


    rahnan saluted his god, but the vessel ignored him and stood directly at the altar''s center.


    the refined soul power started to pour into the vessel, and its transformation began.


    the vessel started to increase in size, and its nails became sharper.


    its eyes went pitch black, and its pupils became dark red. a sinister aura started to appear on the vessel as its body slowly transformed into that of a demon.


    the vessel lost its feminine features and transformed into a deformed amalgamation of flesh and meat.


    "hmm, it will take some time to get into a proper combat form¡­"


    a giant eye appeared on that blob of flesh and miasma.


    as more and more soul power entered its body, it kept becoming more and more sinister and eerie-looking.


    rahnan glanced at the city wall and saw that jareth and others were still crazily putting their mana into that magic circle.


    ''hmph, idiots, once my god''s incarnation descends, you guys will become his food-''


    before rahnan could laugh at them, he noticed a sudden change.


    the magic circle started to change in form, and it became even bigger.


    originally, it was just the size of a five-story building, but now it has become nearly as big as a skyscraper.


    ''w-what''s going on¡­ how are they able to keep such a massive magic circle stable!? this is impossible!''


    the magic circle grew to such a size that it could dwarf a mountain.


    "impossible! this is insanity! no mortal can use magic of that level!"


    even the gigantic blob of flesh trembled at the sight of that massive magic circle.


    although only a small portion of the demon god''s ''will'' had descended on the vessel, it was still possible to see that the magic aimed at him was not so simple.


    the giant eye opened wide, as if it were shocked at that insane sight.


    ¡­


    above the city walls, a few seconds ago.


    except for reynald, everyone else was already out of mana, and they had already stopped pouring mana by now.


    only reynald was still pouring mana, and jareth was keeping the magic circle stable.


    reynald ignored the sweat on his forehead and said it in a solemn tone.


    "can you feel it too?"


    jareth nodded his head at reynald''s words and replied.


    "yeah, even though we have poured all the mana we have, this is likely still not enough¡­"


    reynald had sensed that the soul barrier around the altar was extremely powerful, and it was impossible to break it with only this much.


    he didn''t want to admit it, but the truth was that he could feel his defeat at that moment.


    "should we start saying our last words then?"


    a smirk appeared on reynald''s face as he said those words.


    in his whole life, he had never lost so badly before, but today he could feel powerless against the might of a demon god.


    he could sense that once they initiate this attack, they likely won''t see any results.


    and after they run out of mana, they will be the first target of the demon god''s incarnation.


    which means it was time to tell each other their last words.


    but jareth shook his head and denied reynald''s question.


    "no¡­ every one of us will die eventually¡­ but not today at least¡­"


    [are you sure you want to use the ''attack enhancement card (advanced)''?]


    [yes or no]


    ''yes''


    after jareth used his only attack enhancement card on zero, one more appeared in the shop.


    this proved jareth''s previous hypothesis correct. s~ea??h the nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    jareth can only keep one attack card at a time, and the shop will only be refreshed after he has already used the attack card in his inventory.


    after the refresh of the attack card, jareth immediately purchased it for ''4000 cp'' and proceeded to fly towards the city wall.


    in other words, from the start, jareth was already planning on using this attack card to settle things with that demon incarnation.


    jareth has always liked to plan thoroughly; he knew that if he enhanced his own attack, it wouldn''t have enough firepower to destroy the demon god''s incarnation.


    but if he works with reynald and others to create a combination spell, then the attack enhancement card will shine even brighter than before.


    with that enhancement card, jareth can''t improve others'' attacks.


    but he has also poured his own mana into that combination spell, so it is also technically an attack of his own, so the attack card will work on it.


    [ding! you have used ''attack enhancement card (advanced)''!]


    [your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    jareth''s fire magic seized the core part of the magic and pushed reynald''s magic to be a support.


    then the whole magic circle burned bright red, as if it were made of condensed flames.


    reynald ran out of mana and stepped back a bit to lean his back against the nearby wall.


    but the smile on his face widened more and more.


    jareth alone was controlling that massive magic circle at that moment, but reynald could feel immense trust when looking at that capable back.


    a rare smirk appeared on jareth''s face when he noticed the shocked expression on rahnan''s face.


    ''a mortal can''t kill a god? hold my beer~''


    [semi-grade-0 combination magic: flame of heavenly punishment!]


    a gigantic arrow made of condensed flames and other elements combined in it appeared out of the gigantic magic circle.


    the inexhaustible flames surrounded instantly evaporated all of the moisture in the air in a thirty-kilometer area.


    explore more at empire


    ''farewell¡­''


    jareth waved his hand, and the giant flame arrow launched towards the altar at a speed of mach 100!


    it was so quick that no one could even sense it coming.


    the air pressure created by that insane speed split the clouds in the sky and destroyed the buildings below.


    the arrow obliterated everything in its path, ultimately striking the soul barrier.


    even the soul barrier wasn''t able to withstand that insane power, and it broke apart like glass in an instant.


    the flame arrow landed on the altar, causing a massive explosion of unimaginable magnitude.


    in an instant, a mushroom cloud rose into the sky, turning everything within a twenty-kilometer radius into molten lava.


    fortunately, all of the soldiers had already retreated far away with the help of mana-powered vehicles, but even they felt the massive shockwave created by that attack.


    some of the soldiers even lost their hearing for quite a few hours after facing that shockwave.


    the shockwave from that attack spread far and wide; it traveled nearly 500 kilometers before fully dissipating.


    all of the forests and hills in a 100-kilometer radius were destroyed by a massive earthquake.


    that one attack changed the geography of half of artavia in a single instant.

 Chapter 75 Partial Success?

    [ding! you have affected the plotline greatly! subtle changes have happened in the world..][ding! you received 15,000 cp!]


    although jareth heard the sound of the system notifications, his attention wasn''t on them at that moment.


    his eyes were fixed on the location where the attack had landed.


    jareth had used a mana shield to protect himself and the others from the effects of that attack.


    that attack not only wiped out the whole city; it even destroyed the city walls, turning them into broken rubble or molten lava.


    the earth had already cracked in the area where the attack had landed, and everything in the city had turned into a massive lava lake.


    but that wasn''t all; the most terrifying part of it all was that a massive crack in the space-time fabric had been created due to that attack.


    jareth and others were aiming to destroy the altar and the incarnation of the demon god, but they ended up destroying the space-time fabric itself.


    which automatically turned the demon god''s incarnation into nothingness.


    jareth landed on a massive boulder while carrying the others in his mana shield, and he said it in a solemn tone.


    "uh¡­ it seems we overdid it¡­"


    although jareth and others came here to save people, they ended up turning this whole area into a destroyed wasteland.


    the mana in this place has become chaotic, and the geography of the whole area has changed.


    if left unattended, it will take at least a hundred years for this place to become habitable again.


    hearing jareth''s words, others couldn''t help but look at each other with complicated emotions on their faces.


    none of them thought that they would end up creating such a big scene here.


    fortunately, that massive spatial crack was healing at an extremely fast speed; if it had become a permanent crack, then things would have become extremely bad.


    reynald got up from the ground and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that the spatial crack was closing on its own.


    "okay¡­ there is no need to think too much about it; we still prevented a lot of casualties by destroying the demon incarnation right here¡­"


    "also, if others blame you for this mess, just say that i was the one who caused it¡­ no one will dare blame me for what i did¡­"


    reynald''s words were filled with unwavering confidence.


    he didn''t care about what others said about him, and he wasn''t worried about taking the blame.


    rather, this could potentially enhance his reputation even more, making it a fortunate coincidence.


    reynald glanced at jareth and said,


    "of course, i will give you some credit too, i will hold a press conference about this matter and will also mention all of you¡­"


    the others were pleased after hearing those words.


    not only did reynald take responsibility for this place getting destroyed, he also took the promised benefits for them too.


    this means that the trip to this place was a huge success for all of the professors.


    at that moment, jareth suddenly pointed to the sky and said,


    "all that aside¡­ what''re we going to do about ''that''?"


    shin and others couldn''t see what jareth was pointing to, as they couldn''t sense the existence of that ''death cage'' with their mana detection, but reynald understood what jareth was talking about.


    "erm¡­ even i don''t know how to break that thing¡­ it''s a death cage¡­ moreover, i can feel it¡­ that the death cage is infused with more souls than the altar was!"


    "which means its defensive power is much stronger than that altar¡­ we likely can''t destroy it at all¡­"


    jareth also nodded his head at reynald''s words.


    the altar required significant effort to manage, and the death cage has more than twice as many souls as the altar.


    to deal with that death cage, jareth would require an attack that is at least 2.5 times more powerful than his current one.


    but currently, there''s no way to do that.


    after hearing reynald and jareth''s statements, thomas understood what they were talking about, and he figured out that the principal is likely trapped in a mysterious space.


    he glanced at the sky and said in a solemn tone,


    "i guess we should retreat for now. i will look into the ancient records and try to find a way out for the principal¡­"


    jareth and others have not been in contact with the online world for a while now, so they don''t know that there is currently massive chaos going on on the internet, and nathan has become a public enemy by now. sear?h the novel(f~)ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    rahnan revealed a lot of dark secrets about nathan, and all of that is circulating on social media like wildfire.


    nathan''s reputation as a war hero has already started to crumble!


    ¡­


    jareth and others brought out their mana potions and mediated for a few minutes before flying into the air.


    the area surrounding this place has become hell on earth, and the temperature here is unbearably hot. staying here for long is not a good idea.


    thus, all of them took off almost instantly after they recovered enough mana to fly.


    while flying, shin glanced at jareth and asked,


    "what to do next? should we go back to the university or should we stay at the hotel prepared in the capital city of artavia?"


    nathan was gone, and there was no one here to decide what to do next, so shin simply asked jareth for advice.


    now that all of them know jareth''s amazing ability to control mana, they have already regarded jareth as a senior, and they won''t mind going along with what jareth has in mind.


    seeing that all of them were staring at him so intently, jareth nodded his head and replied in his usual cold tone.


    "let''s go back to the hotel¡­ you guys can take some rest before we head back¡­"


    upon hearing jareth''s words, shin inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "we should take a rest? what about you, then? where are you going?"


    jareth shook his head in response to shin''s words.


    "i still have some unfinished business left¡­ i will meet you guys tomorrow morning¡­"


    before others could say anything, jareth waved his hand and flew away in the direction of a barren plain, which was exactly opposite artavia''s capital city.


    shin wanted to follow behind jareth, but reynald stopped him from doing so.


    "don''t go; he has to deal with some personal matters¡­ you guys should focus on recovering your mana; you need to take care of the students too¡­"


    reynald said goodbye and left, heading for his royal palace.


    he didn''t want to stay in this place, and he also promised his wife that he would return before dawn, so he was in a hurry to go back.


    reynald''s hasty retreat surprised shin and the others, but they had no choice but to shake their heads and search for the students who were returning with the soldiers.


    they can afford to lose a professor, but the university will suffer greatly if a student passes away.


    ¡­


    meanwhile, in an underground church, the location unknown.


    rahnan fell on his knees and pleaded for mercy.


    "forgive me! my benevolent protector, i have failed you! i am unworthy! i have brought disgrace to your great name!"


    hearing rahnan''s self-blaming words, the statue of the demon god didn''t react much, but its eyes turned red, and a creepy and sinister voice rang out in the church.


    "i am letting you live because this is the first time you have made such a mistake; if something like this happens again, i won''t mind taking all the power back that i gave you¡­"


    hearing those words from the demon god, rahnan begged for mercy.


    "forgive me, my benevolent god; i will not make the same mistake again! i swear!"


    after quite a while, the demon god replied to rahnan''s desperate pleas for mercy.


    "my power''s influence in the world has become significantly weaker after that incarnation got destroyed¡­ it will take a lot of time to infuse my ''will'' in here again¡­"


    "but¡­ not everything is lost¡­ before the incarnation got destroyed, it still was able to manifest my ''will'' partially, and thus, i was able to use my power to vaguely detect the seven seals of the false dome¡­"


    a bright red light radiated from the eyes of the demon god''s statue and fell on rahnan''s body.


    that bright red light gave a lot of information to rahnan, directly via his brain.


    rahnan kowtowed to the statue again and again.


    "i thank the benevolent god for forgiving this sinful lamb! i will definitely complete the missions given by you!"


    the light in the statue''s eyes slowly dissipated after giving all the information to rahnan.


    only a few words were left by the demon god before he disappeared.


    "although the incarnation didn''t cause as much chaos as i was expecting it to, it still fulfilled its primary purpose of providing information about the seals¡­ it can be considered a partial success..."


    "hurry up and deal with the seals; once i descend into the world with my real body, i will reward you greatly!"


    hearing the promise of the demon god, rahnan felt extremely happy.


    although he has grown stronger since receiving the power of the demon god, he still wants to live a long life.


    he wants to avoid getting old and wants to live eternally.


    originally, his goals were to destroy abella and nathan''s lives thoroughly, but now that they have already been completed, his new goal is to pursue immortality.


    although it sounds quite clich¨¦ and something that a fool would want, rahnan still wanted to pursue it as he had no other goals left in life.


    now that he has tasted the delicacy of immense power, he wants more!


    as they say, human greed knows no bounds¡­ continue your adventure with empire

 Chapter 76 A Dark Night... Part-1.

    "so, you are here after all¡­"standing on the vast barren plain, kaiden blaze smirked a bit as he saw jareth land on the ground.


    jareth simply nodded his head and said,


    "i know your shrewd personality¡­ you won''t let that incompetent son of yours get harmed; you left the blaze household to come here so that i don''t target your loved ones¡­" sear?h the ¦Çovelfire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    jareth had received a message from kaiden earlier as he was flying back to the capital city of artavia.


    kaiden had invited him to the barren plains for his final talk.


    ''he likely must have thought that i would get weaker after fighting monsters in that border city...''


    jareth was already well versed in kaiden''s shrewd thinking methods, so he could figure out what kaiden must have planned.


    kaiden nodded his head at jareth''s words.


    "yeah, i have already cleared up things with my son and wife¡­ i have told them that no matter what happens, they don''t need to take action¡­"


    "even if i die, they don''t need to take revenge for me, as i have already given the position of head to my son¡­"


    kaiden stretched out his hands and said it in a playful tone.


    "even if you kill me here, the blaze family won''t be affected, and my son will continue it as i have given all of my properties and everything to him¡­"


    kaiden shook his head and said it in a calm voice.


    "just like you know me well, i know you too¡­ i have been in politics for a long time¡­ i know the hearts of people¡­ you won''t attack unrelated people; that''s why i have brought a gift for you¡­"


    jareth shook his head and stretched his hand out.


    "no point talking to me; you are bound to die today¡­ i will think about what to do with the blaze family later-"


    just as jareth was about to start attacking, kaiden pulled out a gift box from his space ring and opened it in front of him.


    "before doing anything else, you should see this first¡­"


    kaiden flipped the gift box, and a head fell out of the box.


    it was the head of a woman.


    explore more stories with empire


    although the skin on the face had dried up a lot, it was still easy to distinguish who''s head it was.


    a mocking smile appeared on kaiden''s face after seeing the shocked look on jareth''s face.


    "hahahaha! yes! this is the head of your mother!! yes!! i preserved her dead body in cold preservation!!"


    when he heard that mocking laugh, veins appeared on jareth''s forehead from sheer anger, and he said it in an extremely cold tone.


    "do you think i will let you live after you show me this? have you gone insane, kaiden blaze?"


    hearing jareth take his name without any respect, kaiden frowned a bit before speaking.


    "you have lost your manners, it seems¡­ however, it''s reasonable to anticipate such behavior from a humble maid''s son!


    at this point, jareth was already very irritated by kaiden''s mocking voice; he couldn''t understand why kaiden was still laughing even though his death was standing right in front of him.


    jareth titled his head, and his eyes looked at kaiden as if he were staring at dead meat.


    "you really have the nerves of steel, kaiden blaze¡­ you still dare to mock me? even though you are going to get killed by me soon? has the stress caused you to lose your mind?"


    at jareth''s cold and chilling words, kaiden didn''t back down at all.


    he smiled slightly before speaking.


    "jareth, you are still a na?ve guy; you don''t know the world of shrewd people too well¡­ you see, i still have the rest of the corpse of your mother, preserved in the basement of the blaze household¡­"


    "and i have cast a simple spell on the basement¡­ if i die here, then the whole basement will self-destruct, and the corpse of your mother will be lost forever¡­ this means you won''t be able to give her a proper funeral¡­"


    after saying this, kaiden looked at jareth from head to toe and said,


    "although you are showing a cold appearance to the world, i know you well¡­ you loved your mother a lot; you surely don''t want me to destroy her corpse, right?"


    "think about it, jareth; if you kill me now, you will never get the chance to properly put her body to rest¡­ her soul may never be able to get peace!"


    at kaiden''s words, jareth replied in an increasingly cold tone:


    "so? you want to bargain for your life with a corpse? how much lower can you fall, kaiden blaze¡­ i am simply too ashamed of the fact that i once even considered you a decent human being¡­ you are worthless garbage in the human body¡­"


    hearing jareth''s criticism, kaiden was unfazed.


    "hahaha, no, no~ that won''t do. you better not show that attitude to me boy¡­ or i will really detonate the basement¡­"


    even though the basement is directly beneath the blaze mansion, its construction ensures that the blaze mansion above it remains unaffected.


    which means, in all of this, only jareth will be on the losing side.


    if he hadn''t known about his mother''s corpse, he still could have rushed at kaiden without any worries.


    but now that he knows about it, he has a chance to put his mother''s corpse at rest and give her soul peace.


    if that corpse gets destroyed, this last chance of bringing her soul to peace will also be lost.


    her soul will likely not be able to enter the cycle of samsara, as she has died with lingering hatred and worries.


    if her soul is not put to rest, it will continue to linger around until some necromancer gets their hand on it.


    and that''s not the outcome that jareth would like to see.


    if a person dies with peace and no remaining desires for the world, then they enter the natural cycle of samsara and get a new life after forgetting the past memories.


    but if they still have some lingering hatred or desire, then the soul will find it difficult to move on to its new life.


    if not for the existence of these wandering souls, the necromancers wouldn''t have any familiars at all.


    but even then, a remnant soul can only linger for a few months or so before it dissipates into nothingness, but if you use some forbidden methods, the soul can be maintained.


    if you preserve the corpse of the dead person and cast forbidden magic to feel life force in their soul, then you can maintain the soul for a long time.


    "i preserved that corpse to one day show it to you and push in despair, but who could have thought that my decision to save that corpse would end up becoming a lifesaving factor for me¡­"


    "hahahaha! although your mother was useless in her life, her corpse still has some use, right? ahahaha!"


    jareth wanted to just go ahead and kill this guy right here and right now, but his body refused to move.


    it was likely because the original jareth still hoped to ask for forgiveness from his mother, and thus his body was refusing to move.


    that day, jareth figured out that anything can happen in this cruel and degrading world.


    people are corrupted by power and like toying with the weak.


    although jareth could just ignore that long-gone corpse, it held sentimental value to the original jareth, and thus¡­. he retracted his hand.


    jareth retracted his hand and decided not to attack.


    at that point, jareth was already disgusted by kaiden; thus, he didn''t bother with beating around the bush and asked,


    "what do you want to achieve with this?"


    a satisfied smirk appeared on kaiden''s face as he knew that his plan had worked. he knew that he had finally secured his life.


    "hahaha, i knew you would say that!!! ahahahaha¡­ good good!!"


    "okay, then, let''s sign a contract!!"


    kaiden brought out a contract from his space ring and threw it at jareth''s feet.


    "sign it! acknowledge that you will become my slave!! you will work for me!! from now on!! and you won''t threaten the blaze family!!"


    "you only deserve to work like a slave!! you are nothing more than a maid''s son!! sign this contract if you want your mother''s soul!!"


    *dead silence~*


    a heavy silence appeared in an instant.


    everything went silent, and dark clouds slowly covered the sky over the barren plains.


    only kaiden''s maniacal voice resounded throughout the area.


    "what are you waiting for!? you worthless scum!! know your place and sign this contract, or i will really destroy your mother''s corpse!!"


    kaiden was extremely confident at that moment.


    he knew that jareth loved his mother, and he would do anything to preserve her corpse.


    everything was going according to his plan¡­ but what he didn''t know was that the jareth that was standing in front of him was not the same person anymore.


    there is a more ruthless person''s soul in that body now.


    after hearing kaiden mention that jareth needed to become a slave for him to save that corpse, the hesitation in his eyes disappeared in an instant.


    his trembling hands became firm again, and his heart went cold once again as he raised his hand once again.


    [basic magic: mana interruption!]


    with the help of ''mana singularity'' jareth figured out the mana fluctuation of kaiden''s magic.


    he easily interrupted with his magic and cut off the mana connections that kaiden was using to manipulate the detonation magic in his basement.


    at that point, kaiden not only lost that last bit of lifeline, but his mana shield was also destroyed by jareth''s mana interruption.


    [basic magic: mana beam: heavenly bombardment!]


    hundreds of magic circles appeared in the sky, and all of them faced toward kaiden.


    each magic circle was the size of a two-story building, and the momentum they carried was insane.


    but kaiden was unfazed, even after all that.


    "hahaha, you think i didn''t know that you could cut off my connection to it!! jareth, you are na?ve! once that connection is broken, my son will sense it immediately! and will destroy that basement!"


    "you still have a few seconds to choose, jareth! become my slave, and i will send a signal to my son to stop him!"


    a crazed smile appeared on kaiden''s face as he said that, but all that had no effect on jareth anymore.


    ''the jareth you are trying to swindle is already gone¡­. and i''m not as soft as that guy!''


    jareth didn''t care about anything anymore; the mana beams rained down in an instant, and the bombardment was so powerful that it created a massive earthquake.


    kaiden saw that jareth wasn''t going to stop, so he grabbed the severed head and used his magic to crush it in front of jareth.


    "stop right now, or i will crush this head!"


    but jareth didn''t care one bit!


    *boom!*


    finally, the mana beams landed directly on kaiden.


    it rained from all directions, so he had nowhere to run; moreover, jareth''s mana interruption was interfering with his magic, so he could not use magic either.


    in other words, jareth cornered kaiden and bombarded him with mana beams for ten minutes straight.


    "aaahhh!!! ahhhhh!! ahhhhhh!!!"


    "stopp!! aaahhhhhhhhh!!! it hurrrrtsss!!! stop!! i beg you stop!!"


    the direct hits from that endless bombardment were so heavy that kaiden screamed in pain endlessly till he died miserably.


    not even his ashes were left and jareth tortured him to death with those powerful mana beams.


    the dark clouds in the sky started to rain water as jareth stopped firing mana beams after killing kaiden thoroughly.


    although he had killed kaiden, it was a sure thing that his mother''s corpse was also gone by now.


    rain fell on jareth''s face, hiding the sorrow that he was holding back.


    no one knew if the water that fell from his face was rain or his tears of sadness.

 Chapter 77 A Dark Night... Part-2.

    artavia, capital city, blaze mansion.main gate.


    dark clouds hung in the sky, and it rained heavily on that moonless dark night.


    *step**step*


    a sound of heavy footsteps rang out in front of the main gates.


    the security guard hurriedly rushed out of his small resting room with an umbrella in his hand.


    the old guard had a disapproving expression on his face as he had to go out in this heavy rain to open the door.


    he opened a small window in the giant metal door to look outside, but he saw no one standing there.


    "who''s there? state your business! the blaze family is closed to visitors right now-"


    *rumble*


    before the old guard could finish speaking, a violent tremble shook the massive metal gate, crushing it into a small ball.


    even the walls that were holding the gate in place got destroyed in an instant, as if they were made of paper.


    the old guard was horrified after seeing this scene.


    "s-such insane telekinesis!?"


    as the old guard has been a warrior all his life, his experience is vast.


    he immediately knew that the other party had used telekinesis, but this is the first time he has seen such an insanely strong telekinesis ability in person.


    before the old guard could think about anything, a man with an extremely cold expression on his face walked inside, throwing away the crushed metal door with his telekinesis.


    rainwater soaked the man''s dark purple hair, giving the impression that he had been wandering in the rain for a long time.


    not only was that man''s aura extremely suffocating, but even his dark purple eyes carried immense indifference and coldness in them.


    the old guard wanted to shout and alert the people, but the man only glanced at him for a moment, making it difficult for him to breathe.


    he dared not even move a little bit from his spot.


    the man stopped for a second after seeing the old guard''s face, and he suddenly stretched out his hand to pat the old guard''s shoulder.


    "old man olin¡­ you should go home early today¡­"


    the guard was taken aback after hearing that unknown man say his name, but as if a sudden memory came back to his head, he immediately understood who that unknown man was.


    but before the old guard could say anything else, the man had already walked away inside the mansion.


    "n-no way¡­ t-that was¡­ that was¡­"


    the old man didn''t delay; he immediately packed his stuff and left for home.


    he took jareth''s words seriously and didn''t stay there for long. he has his grandchildren waiting for him at home; he can''t risk his life here.


    ¡­


    jareth ignored the elderly guard''s retreating figure and pushed his mana into the ground.


    [basic magic: mana detection!]


    ''ten grade-4 warriors patrolling the area¡­ thirty ordinary guards, and then there is a grade-3 mage inside the mansion¡­ likely that old butler¡­''


    jareth''s mana control is at an extreme level due to his mana singularity; thus, when he uses mana detection, none can sense his prying eyes and none can dodge his perception.


    he''s like an unstoppable force that you can''t guard against if he tries to spy on you.


    ''as for that basement¡­''


    after determining the strength of the entire mansion, jareth used his detection skills to bypass all protective magic barriers and search the mansion''s underground area.


    he immediately found the hidden basement, and sure enough, it had already collapsed.


    ''even with legendary rank skills¡­ even with the power of a system, i still couldn''t save a corpse?... sigh¡­ this world really is something; if you aren''t careful for one moment, you lose things that are dear to you¡­''


    jareth shook his head and removed the night witch''s grimoire from his space ring.


    [basic magic: mana constraints!]


    jareth''s spells have an extremely wide effective range due to mana singularity.


    thus, he easily pin-pointed the location of all guards and warriors with his mana detection and then accurately bound them on the spot in an instant.


    ''the useless distractions are gone; let''s move on to the main course¡­''


    with a cold expression on his face, jareth walked towards the main door of the mansion and crushed the door with his telekinesis, just like how he did with the outer main gate.


    "you are finally here! i almost dozed off while waiting for you! your rat-" enjoy new chapters from empire


    [basic magic: silence!]


    jareth didn''t even bother listening to the ranting of a spoiled brat; he simply used the silence spell on his half-brother and made him silent.


    he then glanced around and found that quite a few grade-3 warriors and mages were standing in ambush.


    but jareth already knew about them all from his earlier detection, so he wasn''t much surprised.


    those warriors and wizards were recruited by kaiden because he wanted to add extra protection for his son.


    although he was already very sure that jareth wouldn''t deny his offer to save his mother''s corpse, he still wanted to plan ahead.


    kaiden never expected that jareth would neglect his mother''s corpse in the end and will attack him indiscriminately.


    after kaiden''s death, his son immediately destroyed jareth''s mother''s corpse before assembling his minions to fight jareth.


    but, unlike kaiden, this new head of the family is still quite inexperienced, and he thinks that many grade-3 mages and warriors can deal with a grade-2 mage if they attack together.


    [basic magic: mana suppression!]


    mana suppression is a very weak and useless spell in the basic magic category; its only use is to suppress weak creatures like insects into a confined box by forcefully suppressing their mana.


    although this spell is weak in the hands of others, it''s extremely powerful in jareth''s hands as he holds ''mana singularity''.


    once jareth cast that spell, all of the wizards and mages that were about to attack jareth immediately fell to the ground, and their heads were directly pressed against the floor.


    a massive mana pressure forced them all to kneel in jareth''s direction as if he were the supreme being here, and they had to pray to him for their survival.


    jareth didn''t care about the panicked look on his half-brother''s face when he got pressed to the ground by jareth''s mana suppression magic, and he directly walked over towards him and placed his feet on his head.


    "rat, you say? i think that word suits you better, no?... oh wait, calling you a rat will be a huge disrespect to the rats of this world¡­ you are a mistake born from the pathetic genes of your trash parents¡­"


    *bam!*


    with all his strength, jareth raised his feet and kicked his half-brother''s head, causing the floor to shatter, his nose to break, and small pieces of broken floor tile to pierce his right eye, destroying his eyeball.


    blood flowed out of his nose and shattered his eyeball. instantaneously, a look of pain appeared on the guy''s face.


    but he couldn''t do anything at all; he couldn''t even dodge jareth''s attack as his mana suppression spell was forcefully making him kneel.


    moreover, jareth has used ''active heal'' continuously in the past few days, due to which his body has become extremely strong recently.


    thus, the damage his kicks can do to a defenseless mage like this guy is very high.


    "aleid! my son, aleid! stop!! stop you trash-"


    jareth waved his hand and made that woman shut up with his ''silence'' spell in an instant.


    after witnessing her son''s injuries, the woman hurriedly descended from the upper floor.


    jareth wasn''t going to let her go once she showed her face in front of him.


    he used his telekinesis to make her float, and then he immediately made her face collide with the floor at an immense speed.


    *crack!*


    her jaw broke apart in an instant from that strong attack, and tears appeared in her old eyes.


    but jareth remained indifferent to it all.


    he squatted down, grabbed aleid''s hair, and forcefully made him look at his mother.


    "as an older brother, let me demonstrate to you how it feels to see your mother get killed right in front of your eyes¡­ don''t worry, i have experience in this field¡­"


    aleid wanted to scream and beg for mercy, but the ''silence'' spell didn''t even let him scream.


    "yes, exactly! at the time of my mother''s death, i couldn''t even scream for help! that''s exactly it!! you have talent, little guy! you are learning it fast!!"


    a crazed smile appeared on jareth''s face as he waved his hand once again and caused that woman to hit the floor again and again!


    he did this until she was about to lose consciousness.


    and all this time, he forced aleid to look at all of this.


    "i had no grudges against you, little guy¡­ but you went ahead and did what you shouldn''t have¡­ if you had left my mother''s corpse intact, i could have spared your life¡­. but yeah, you brought all of this on yourself¡­"


    [grade-5 fire magic: slow-burning flame of torture!]


    jareth waved his hand, and a small magic circle appeared below the woman.


    dark purple flames burst out of the magic circle and started to slowly burn the body of that woman.


    the woman wasn''t even able to scream to express her pain; only her bloodshot and tearful eyes could express the immense torture she was suffering. s§×ar?h the n?vel_fire.¦Çet website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "that slow-burning flame is a torture method¡­ you know what? i learned it just so i could one day use it on you all¡­ isn''t my magic beautiful?"


    the more jareth talked, the more crazy his expression became, as if he were possessed by a demon, his face looked like a sadist serial killer at that moment.


    aleid shed tears of blood when seeing his mother''s face, which was twisting from sheer pain as she wasn''t even able to express it.


    that fire lasted a whole ten minutes; eventually, it burned the woman and turned her into ashes, and it didn''t even leave her bones intact.


    she died an extremely horrible and traumatizing death.


    aleid was already on the verge of going insane after he was able to do nothing to save his mother''s life.


    his happy memories with his mother flashed by in his eyes as he saw her die in such horrible way.


    "yeah, that''s the expression, aleid! exactly!! that''s exactly how i felt when your father got my mother killed¡­ doesn''t this feeling seem quite overwhelming?"


    seeing that aleid had already lost his sanity at that point, jareth smiled in satisfaction and nodded his head.


    "yes, any sane person will lose their mind if something like this happened to them¡­ i was a rare one¡­ i pulled through that trauma and came back to haunt you guys¡­"


    a look of satisfaction appeared on jareth''s face and a rare smile hung on his face.


    he threw another ''slow burning flame at aleid and burned him to death too.

 Chapter 78 A Dark Night... Part-3.

    seeing jareth treat his own family members in such a cruel manner, all of the recruited warriors and wizards trembled in fear.who could have thought that the famous jareth blaze was such a cruel-hearted person, he even tortured his family members to death.


    just when they were thinking that jareth was already done with this place and should leave soon, jareth''s grimoire shone with mana once again as he raised his hand towards the ceiling.


    "you guys have seen too much, and you know a bit too much¡­ i can''t let you guys leave this place just like that¡­"


    when those wizards and mages heard jareth''s words, desperate looks appeared on their faces.


    they are just innocent people, after all; they didn''t even know who they had to fight before seeing jareth''s face.


    originally, they thought that it was just some small family conflict, but who could have thought that jareth blaze, the strongest fire mage in the entire nation, would end up becoming their enemy.


    if they had known about this, they wouldn''t have accepted this commission at all.


    some of them already had the idea of running away when they first laid their eyes on jareth''s face.


    the pressure that jareth emits is just too strong for weak people like them; they didn''t want to lose their lives here, but under the overwhelming strength of a grade-2 mage, they were helpless.


    enjoy exclusive content from empire


    not to mention fighting back, even breathing felt difficult under jareth''s intense aura.


    however, in order to survive and grab the last chance of hope, a courageous wizard mustered all of his strength to shout in a loud voice with great difficulty.


    "mr. jareth, i''m ready to sign a life-and-death mana contract! if you spare my life today, i will sign the contract and will never reveal what happened here toda-"


    but before the other party could even complete his sentence, jareth had already completed his magic.


    [basic magic: condensed mana bomb!]


    a massive magic circle appeared in the sky above the whole blaze mansion, and a gigantic orb the size of a two-story building emerged from the magic circle.


    this orb was made up of condensed mana, and it was descending towards the blaze mansion at an extremely fast speed.


    all warriors and wizards could feel their ''death'' coming towards them at this moment.


    they wanted to run away, but their bodies refused to move, and their mana refused to react due to jareth''s mana interruption.


    "the only people who can keep secrets are dead people¡­ so go ahead and keep my secrets with you¡­"


    *boom!!*


    the massive mana bomb descended on the blaze mansion, and a gigantic explosion happened.


    jareth had already encircled the entire blaze mansion with a massive mana barrier, ensuring that no one outside the barrier suffered harm.


    in fact, no one even heard the sound of an explosion outside the barrier.


    jareth''s mana control was so precise that he even interfered with the sound and light; thus, no one outside the barrier noticed anything at all.


    moreover, jareth''s mana barrier stirred the mana on its surface, thus causing it to get blurry.


    which means people couldn''t figure out what was going on inside the barrier if they tried to look from outside because the barrier itself was acting like a wall that didn''t let anything out.


    in other words, jareth caused the disappearance of the whole blaze mansion overnight, and not even a single soul found out about it.


    when the barrier finally disappeared, jareth walked out unharmed and unbothered.


    a smaller mana barrier kept him safe, so he was okay.


    moreover, he used all of his mana this time, so he was able to do multiple castings at the same time, as he wasn''t intending on saving mana at all.


    during the battle at the border city, jareth was only doing double-casting because he wanted to save mana, but right now he had no such need.


    he used mana interruption, mana suppression, two mana barriers, and a mana bomb all at the same time.


    which means he was capable of casting five different spells at the same time.


    jareth glanced back at the destroyed blaze mansion and sighed.


    ''even a big family can turn into rubble after offending the wrong person¡­ if they hadn''t made me feel so disgusted¡­ i wouldn''t have needed to kill innocent people¡­''


    jareth shook his head and slowly started to walk away from the scene.


    the whole blaze mansion was turned into broken rubble by him, and not a single person was left alive inside the whole mansion.


    except for that old guard who left early due to jareth''s warning, none had survived this disaster. s~ea??h the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''if i remember correctly, that old guard is a distant relative of jareth''s mother¡­ he showed some kindness to jareth''s mother when she tried to escape with the baby¡­''


    ''i guess¡­ leaving him alive can return this favor¡­ in the first place, even if he revealed the truth to the world, i don''t think i would be much affected¡­''


    jareth can destroy a blaze family overnight, so he can also destroy a few ungrateful people too.


    ''but i think he is a sensible person; he won''t reveal it as he doesn''t want his children to get into trouble¡­''


    although jareth came here for revenge, he''s not a bloodthirsty murderer who will go and kill every single living being related to the blaze family.


    ''the main culprits have been dealt with¡­ next, that assassination organization is left¡­''


    jareth''s mother and the vassal family that raised him were both assassinated by the same assassination organization on the order of the blaze family.


    although they had only been doing their duty and they had no personal grudges with jareth, how could jareth let them go after they messed up his life three times in a row!


    yes! not only did that organization kill his mother and the vassal family, but they were likely also involved in turning jareth into a miasma-infected beast.


    although this was not a confirmed fact, after meeting kaiden for the last time, jareth already has many thoughts in his mind.


    kaiden has a very shrewd and twisted personality.


    he enjoyed messing up jareth''s life as much as he could. he even preserved the corpse of jareth''s mother for more than twenty years!


    this shows how much of a sadist that guy actually was.


    it won''t be wrong to assume that he must have hired the assassination to infect jareth with miasma or something in the original plot of the game.


    this way, jareth''s already-destroyed reputation would have been completely wiped out, and the blaze family would also have a legitimate reason for killing jareth.


    demons, demon worshippers, and miasma-infected people¡ªall three of them are not tolerated inside the human empire, and they will be killed on the spot if found.


    in other words, kaiden likely used miasma to deal with the already struggling jareth in a more cruel and sadistic way.


    ''not that i have dealt with the blaze family, i will need to dig up some information about this assassination organization¡­ i will butcher them all after i find out about them¡­''


    jareth had already killed people in his previous life; he wasn''t an innocent guy at all.


    he''s not affected by the fact that he has to kill some fellow humans.


    while walking through the empty streets of the city, jareth glanced at the moonless sky and sighed.


    ''shiina¡­ i think i might have become more corrupted now¡­ i may not be able to look into your eyes after death¡­''


    although shiina is not in this world, jareth thinks of her as an emotional support. to him, she is the reason why he hasn''t become corrupted by the cruel nature of this world.


    with power come arrogance and evil thoughts; great power brings corruption with it, and if your mind is not firm enough, you will end up becoming a bloodthirsty murderer.


    that''s not what jareth wants to do.


    he wants to keep himself sane even after facing the cruel nature of this world.


    ''i kind of understand the meaning of that quote that showed up in the game menu every time i logged in¡­''


    {a world corrupted with power cannot progress further,


    a genius with an overwhelming ego can''t lift the sky further,


    a stalemate cannot be maintained in front of increasing corruption,


    and in a world where returning to ??r? is impossible,


    maintaining your sanity is not easy either.}


    -prophecy of the first great king


    ''although i still don''t know who this ''first great king'' is¡­ the game really has some great quotes in it¡­''


    jareth did indeed finish that game many times, but he wasn''t a big fan of game lore at all.


    he only played it because of its great combat system; he was uninterested in the rest of it.


    aside from the menu screen, there are no mentions of the ''first great king'' in the game''s main story, so jareth has no idea about him.


    ''it''s likely that the game developers were planning some kind of dlc content, but since the game didn''t earn them much, they must have cancelled it later¡­''


    jareth was not too worried about it all, though. although it wasn''t in the game, this world still has various records of history hidden in secret places.


    he may find those records eventually when he goes on some explorations.


    ''i need to improve my grade first¡­ only then can i have the confidence to go out and explore this vast world¡­''


    jareth has finally come to a vast magical world; it would be a huge waste to spend the rest of his life teaching students.


    he has decided that he will train a few excellent disciples, and then he will leave the human empire to travel the world.


    ''let''s stop thinking about it now... this goal is still too far away...''

 Chapter 79 A new surname?

    capital city of artavia, hotel sun-ray.to celebrate their victory in this difficult and long battle, shin and the other professors arranged a small party for themselves and the students.


    "tch! that guy ran off somewhere on his own; he hasn''t returned until now¡­ "maybe he is afraid that we will ask him to pay for this party?"


    shin shook his head in disapproval. jareth hadn''t returned until now, and the party was already about to end soon.


    it was rare for him to arrange a party, and jareth''s absence caused considerable dissatisfaction in his mind.


    all of the professors had already decided not to ask jareth for money, as he was the real star today.


    without his help, the demon incarnation couldn''t have been destroyed, and they all have been killed by now; not even their corpses would have been left intact.


    this small trip to artavia has brought them a lot of troubles this time.


    who could have thought that grade-2 mages like them would nearly end up dying in this battle, which was originally supposed to be just a short battle?


    abella not only sealed nathan in the infinite loop, but also destroyed the entire city, leaving no one alive.


    this implies that their mission was only partially successful.


    although they were able to stop the problems from spreading, the reinforcement arrived too late, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.


    actually, none of the professors even cared about how many people died or survived.


    in this cruel world, where even grade 2 mages can be defeated so easily within just a few moments, it was already a good outcome that they made it out alive after encountering that demon incarnation.


    the matter of casualties and compensation was left to be handled by the government.


    soon, the government will put in the military there to close that area, and it will turn into no-man''s land as it''s already suffering from chaotic mana.


    the attack they unleashed on that place utterly destroyed the geography of that area; not even a single plant will grow in that place for more than ten years now.


    ¡­


    just as everyone was busy eating delicious food and drinking tasty drinks, the main gate of the hotel slowly opened.


    the door gave out a very dramatic horror movie-type gate opening sound effect, which attracted everyone''s attention.


    *step**step*


    jareth walked in with heavy footsteps, his extreme murderous intent still lingering around him, and his facial expressions were even colder than usual. discover hidden tales at empire


    soaked in rainwater, he seemed like a serial killer straight out of a horror movie.


    his entrance seemed so dramatic that the hotel staff hurriedly backed off in fear.


    shin rolled his eyes and spoke loudly.


    "where have you been, dude? we have been waiting for you! and what''s going on? you look like you fell into a river!"


    jareth frowned a bit at his words and then placed his hand on his chest.


    [basic magic: clean!]


    he had used all of the rest of his mana to fly here, and he was really out of mana now.


    he used the last bit of mana to get rid of the rainwater and clean himself.


    with the help of that spell, he returned to his usual tidy and neat self.


    ''if i had enough mana, i would have kept my mana barrier up, and i wouldn''t have gotten soaked in rainwater at all¡­''


    ignoring shin''s questions, jareth walked in without hesitation.


    he glanced at mark, who was being hand-fed by risa, and a complicated look appeared on his face as he said,


    "don''t mind me, i am just passing by¡­" s§×ar?h the nov§×lf~ire.net website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    without waiting for a response, jareth walked past them and sat on an empty chair near the table where all the professors were sitting.


    thomas sipped the red colored wine from his glass and asked in a calm voice,


    "so¡­ you seem so serious¡­ how about relaxing a bit? this place has amazing food¡­"


    jareth didn''t reject the offer and took the knife and fork to eat. the vassal family members who raised him taught him the table manners of large families.


    as a matter of fact, he''s always been good at maintaining these ''noble''-like manners.


    "by the way, what about that army general? he isn''t here?"


    shin glanced at thomas and asked in a confused tone, to which thomas shook his head and replied solemnly.


    "he died¡­ the monsters rushed out of the city like crazy; his elite battalion wasn''t able to stand for too long and got destroyed by the crazy charge of monsters¡­"


    thomas then glanced at mark, who had a troubled look on his face as risa was attempting to forcefully make him drink with her own hands.


    "student mark seems to have performed better in that monster tide, though¡­ he was the reason all of the students survived; he single-handedly killed more than three hundred monsters alone¡­"


    even jareth was surprised by that statistic.


    although mark has already reached grade 4 and is the strongest among his peers, it''s still quite an amazing feat to be able to kill more than three hundred monsters.


    and he did all that while still protecting his fellow classmates and the soldiers behind him.


    on the other hand, the protagonist, hiding behind his harem members, barely managed to kill ten monsters; the gap is simply too large.


    seeing that the other professors were praising mark, gazid sipped the wine and said it in a calm voice.


    "aside from him, student risa is the one who slayed and seized the position of second by defeating nearly a hundred and twenty monsters¡­"


    "also, she assisted mark in his fight; she''s an excellent support¡­ if she wasn''t from the shadowfallen family, i would have taken her as my direct disciple¡­ she has excellent talent for torture and stuff¡­ tch! what a shame~"


    upon hearing gazid''s words, yoseh sneered at him, saying,


    "no need; you will turn her into a weird person like yourself; your illegal research work is already a headache, and we don''t need another of your kind¡­"


    "i think airin''s contributions are not small either; not only is she an excellent wood mage, she also knows some basic healing magic; she saved the lives of quite a few soldiers by giving first aid healing to them¡­"


    shin and others also nodded their heads at those words.


    although she didn''t slay a single monster in the battle, her healing and barrier spells were still praiseworthy.


    aside from her, aiza also seized the third position by killing a hundred monsters during the battle.


    he just tagged along with her.


    aiza and risa are currently at equal levels of strength, but both of them are extremely far away from mark''s level.


    aiza was the reason allen didn''t have to worry about fighting too much.


    airin is already in love with allen, and aiza has become friends with him too, which means allen already has a powerful damage dealer and a good healer in his team now.


    he can just sit back and enjoy while his harem members do the bidding for him. (such an amazing and carefree life¡­ as expected of a protagonist¡­)


    shin ignored the professors who were gossiping about their favorite students, and asked jareth something else instead,


    "before leaving for battle, we stayed at this same hotel¡­ at that time, the principal said that you had long been kicked out of the blaze family, so i have been meaning to ask if you still use ''blaze'' as your sir name?"


    jareth sipped the juice from his glass and looked into shin''s eyes with a serious look on his face before saying,


    "hmm¡­ i haven''t thought about it too deeply¡­ but, i indeed don''t use blaze as my sir name anymore¡­ it''s better if you start calling me jareth aadhira from now on¡­"


    shiina''s surname was ''aadhira'', which means ''the moon''. jareth had no other good name in mind to make it up at the spur of the moment, so he just went with her name.


    ''although that moon is long gone, i can still keep its last memories with me at least¡­''


    after hearing jareth''s words, shin inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "this is the first time i am hearing such a name¡­ quite a unique name you chose¡­"


    at shin''s words, jareth simply shook his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "whatever, i just came up with it at the spur of a moment; there''s no deeper meaning behind it¡­"


    up until now, shin was taking jareth''s words as a joke; he had no idea that jareth had already exterminated nearly all of the blaze family members, and only aiza was the sole survivor of the blaze family now.


    you can say that jareth has dealt a heavy blow to the blaze family.


    it''s very likely that most of its major industries will collapse and the vassal families will run off with the money by the time aiza is selected as the new head of the family.


    even though he had killed quite a few people just an hour ago, jareth was sipping juice without showing the slightest bit of strangeness in him, so none of the professors suspected him at all.


    they just thought that he likely went to do some random thing in the barren plain; none of them expected that he would exterminate a whole family in the span of a few hours without batting an eye.


    while jareth was still enjoying the juice, shin glanced at thomas and asked in an excited voice,


    "when are we going on the vacation trip, by the way? we finally survived this great catastrophe; this is the best time to relax!"


    although thomas wanted to agree, he also had no idea what to do.


    the principal had said he would bear the expenses, but now that the principal is gone, he''s not sure if this vacation will still be feasible.


    thomas sighed and lamented in his mind.


    ''ugh, my workload has increased¡­''

 Chapter 80 Anger of the common folk... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, National Airport.Jareth and the others got off the plane after a five-hour flight and finally returned to the capital city after dealing with all that trouble in Artavia.


    Yesterday, they partied all night, and then they slept on the plane after boarding it in the early morning.


    All of the students had sleepy looks on their faces, and Risa was even clinging to Mark''s arm as she didn''t want to open her eyes at all.


    For some reason, all of the professors are tacitly not disturbing the students from getting into relationships.


    Their thoughts on this matter are simple: ''Let the children enjoy their lives; why burden them with the cruel world before they are ready for it?''


    If you look at it, all five of the professors have some kind of family issue.


    Putting Jareth aside, Shin''s parents scold him all the time, as they want him to come back to the family and take over the head position.


    Yoseh had fights with her parents before she decided to leave the family and become a professor.


    Thomas comes from humble origins, and his parents were always busy earning money, so they didn''t give him love.


    Gazid''s mental state deteriorated significantly due to the trauma he experienced from his abusive parents.


    In other words, all five of them have always had issues, and none of them has been loved a lot. Now they are fearful of interfering in the love lives of the students, and they don''t want similar things to happen to them.


    Even though they may not have received the love they deserved, the students in their care shouldn''t lose their innocence.


    {When faced with life''s challenges, an individual has two options:


    Either he creates the same difficulties for others so that they can suffer as he did.


    Or that person helps others so that others don''t suffer in the same way as he did.


    It all depends on a small decision, but the outcome of both paths is vastly different.}


    (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    While walking towards the parking area of the airport, Shin''s had a disapproving look.


    "Ugh¡­ I don''t want to go to work now~ I just came back from that sh*thole of a place!! I want to lay on the couch and watch TV all day long!!"


    "Why is life so unfair~ Why can''t society let me sleep peacefully!! I hate work!!"


    Yoseh also nodded her head in support of Shin''s words.


    "Yeah, I would rather try various new clothes or go shopping instead of doing so much work¡­ ugh! I hope we get some raises in our salaries soon¡­"


    Hearing Yoseh''s words, Thomas shook his head and said in a calm tone,


    "Forget about raising wages¡­ The principle is still stuck in that infinite loop, which means we might not even get our salaries and bonuses this time¡­."


    "Worst-case scenario¡­ we will all become unemployed soon!"


    When they heard those words, black lines began to appear all over their faces.


    Raise in salary? They are on the verge of losing their jobs!


    Unless a new principal is chosen and a new contract is formed with the government to continue the funding for the university, the university will go bankrupt soon!!


    Even Gazid shook his head in disappointment.


    "Sigh~ I was thinking of ordering a new type of acid to experiment with it on my test subjects¡­ But without money, I might not be able to produce any results this time, ugh¡­"


    Yoseh gave Gazid a disapproving look and spoke in a disgusted tone.


    "Tch, it''s not like you produce any results anyway¡­ All you do is torture those monsters all year long¡­ If not for me helping you dodge the police, you would have been in jail by now¡­"


    Upon hearing Yoseh''s words, Gazid avoided her gaze.


    "Cough! Cough¡­ ahem! I-I certainly do give some results on monsters anatomy, though¡­ That can''t be denied, Ms. Yoseh¡­"


    Yoseh was even more angered after hearing those words.


    "Shove those weird anatomy books up you''re a*s!! Who the f*ck even reads those types of sh*tty books!"


    (Risa sneezed immediately at those words¡­ and look around to see if someone was talking about her¡­)


    Jareth ignored the useless chatter and looked at Thomas before saying, in a calm tone:


    "The university used to get funding because the principal had an official contract with the government; if a new principal is appointed, we can ask him to sign a new contract with the government¡­"


    Hearing those words, Thomas nodded his head in agreement.


    "Yeah, that right¡­ Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Don''t tell me-"


    Before Thomas could complete his sentence, Jareth placed his hand on his shoulder and patted him twice.


    "I support you; become the principal, Thomas Abrego¡­"


    Before Thomas could refute Jareth''s words, the other professors also nodded their heads in support.


    Shin gave a light punch to Thomas''s back and said, in an excited tone,


    "Well, if Jareth was trying to seize the position of the principal, then I would have definitely objected, but if it''s you, Thomas, then there''s no problem; you will make good decisions, I think¡­"


    At this point, Thomas already has the support of four professors on his side; he only needs to go back and get the support of other professors, and he will be appointed as the principal without any difficulty.


    Thomas is the most senior of them all, at thirteen; he''s been a professor in this academy since even before Jareth and Shin graduated.


    Even Nathan always relied on Thomas for all the work of the principal, and thus Thomas has a vast amount of experience in this aspect.


    That''s why it was the best choice to make Thomas the next principal.


    (In truth, none of the professors want to take on all that excessive work; they are literally pushing Thomas to the position so that they don''t have to do too much work¡­)


    Although Thomas was aware that assuming the role of principal would entail a significant amount of work, he remained open to the idea.


    He rose from a poor family, and he has always strived for a better future.


    Getting the position of principal has always been his greatest dream, and now that it is about to come true, he won''t back away from the difficulties.


    "Thank you everyone for your support; I won''t let you guys down¡­"


    The professors got to avoid excessive work, and Thomas got to complete his dream; it was a win-win situation for all.


    As for the opinion of the students, That doesn''t matter to these grade-2 mages at all.


    ¡­


    The endless chatting continues till all of them reach the parking area.


    However, before they could get into the car, the driver unexpectedly asked,


    "Uh¡­ How about we don''t go back to the university for the time being¡­ You know, with the things going on on the internet, a massive crowd is surrounding the university right now¡­"


    Jareth and others were confused by those words.


    They immediately took out their smartphones and searched the internet to see what was going on.


    And sure enough, they immediately found the news in the headlines.


    [Shocking news! The principal of Ivan''s higher arcane university actually plotted such devious plans against his own students!]


    [Thousands of people died because of the principal''s wrong way of teaching his students!]


    Jareth and others were unaware of the fact that Rahnan had spread a massive amount of evidence against Nathan on the internet.


    Millions of people have currently seen that evidence, and it is rapidly spreading.


    The whole internet is erupting over this news, and people are launching massive protests to demand justice.


    In theory, Nathan''s inadequate teaching of his students led to the death of every individual in that border city, and Nathan''s actions led Abella down a dark path.


    If he hadn''t done all that, Abella wouldn''t have murdered so many innocent people to extract their souls.


    People are furious after learning all of this, and widespread protests are taking place across the country.


    Citizens from across the nation have surrounded the university to ask Nathan for an explanation.


    But as Nathan is already trapped in the death cage, there''s no one to clarify this situation, and the anger in the general populace has increased even further.


    Fortunately, all of the students are currently out of the university as it is still under repair.


    The university is still undergoing repairs after Abella caused significant damage not too long ago.


    Students have still not returned to the university, so it''s currently empty, and there''s no danger to the lives of the innocent students.


    However, if the common people''s anger doesn''t subside quickly, they will undoubtedly destroy the university sooner or later.


    Because of the massive crowd of people, the driver advised Jareth and others not to go to the university at this time.


    If they go there right now, they will definitely suffer the wrath of so many people.


    Although Jareth and others are grade 2 mages, they can''t just go and kill people in broad daylight.


    Read new chapters at empire


    The military will be deployed to deal with them if they dare to massacre innocent people without any reason.


    And if you end up fighting the military, then you will become the enemy of the whole nation at that point.


    Rahnan''s evidence was so strong that not even the government could defend Nathan''s crimes, and not even the most accomplished lawyers could exonerate him from his guilt.


    He''s bound to get a major punishment if he comes out of that death cage. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    People are currently so enraged that they stormed the national hero museum and destroyed his statue with sticks and hammers.

 Chapter 81 Anger of the Common folk... Part-2.

    Jareth and others finally came to the conclusion that they shouldn''t go back to the university for the time being.If they really went there, the frustrated crowd would smash their cars and spit on their faces like crazy.


    Shin and Yoseh went back to their respective families; Gazid went to his shady lab to hide; and the students were also sent back to their homes for the time being.


    Aside from that, Thomas was given the responsibility to contact the government employees who usually came to visit Nathan and were responsible for the funding.


    Although it''s very unlikely that any politician will dare to fund the university under these extreme circumstances, they still had to try it; otherwise, they really will lose their jobs.


    Nathan might have been a wicked person with a twisted personality, but his presence was the reason for the university''s proper functioning.


    Without him, the university is going to face a lot of difficulties soon.


    Moreover, people all over the internet are going crazy and spouting curses at Nathan endlessly.


    ¡­


    (On the internet)


    "D*mn! Who could have thought that the principal was such a scammer!! He took money from the common folk to improve their magic circuits, but all of those people ended up becoming disabled!"


    "Yeah! He cast his space portal spell to divert the river''s water towards a dam, as if he were doing some great work¡­ It turns out that he was the cause of the massive flood in the southern area!"


    "Yes! I live in the southern regions! That d*mned old fox! He caused the deaths of nearly three hundred innocent people with that flood! And the reason was¡­ he wanted to dig an old relic buried under the river!!"


    "It turns out that he was responsible for the outburst in the Mkara dungeon. He taunted the monsters because he wanted to test the effectiveness of his spells! He''s absolute trash!!"


    ¡­


    Rahnan had collected a massive amount of evidence against Nathan; he did all this to one day ruin Nathan''s reputation completely.


    And that''s exactly what''s happening right now.


    Not only were all of Nathan''s crimes making people angry, but they were also making people feel cold towards the university.


    Jareth rubbed his head after looking at the people posting all the evidence and arguing over it again and again.


    ''If this continues, the university is done for¡­''


    He gritted his teeth and signaled for Thomas to stop for a second when he was about to leave.


    Shin and others had already left; only Thomas and Jareth were the ones left on the scene.


    "How about we organize a press conference? If things aren''t cleared soon, they will keep escalating, and even we might become people''s target¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Thomas thought for a moment and then nodded his head.


    "Okay, let me finish my meeting with the government employees first. We will organize the conference in the evening when people will get tired from shouting all day long¡­"


    Thomas''s words made some sense, so Jareth agreed to them.


    He boarded the car and left.


    The driver glanced at Jareth through the rearview mirror and asked in a calm voice.


    "Where should we go, Master Jareth?"


    Hearing that question, Jareth contemplated for a moment and then replied.


    "Let''s go to Hotel Supernova for the time being¡­"


    Discover more stories at empire


    The driver nodded his head and started the car in an instant.


    Although he was afraid that the frustrated crowd of people might spot their car, he still didn''t run away because he knew that a grade-2 mage was sitting in the back of the car.


    If something happens, Jareth will be able to deal with it all easily.


    ¡­


    Evening.


    Reporters from all of the major news channels were invited to a massive press conference.


    Given that the conference took place in the university''s backyard, the reporters encountered significant challenges in maneuvering through the dense crowd to gain entry.


    Eventually, police were stationed to clear the path and control the angry crowd.


    Thomas didn''t dare take a car; he directly cast the ''float'' spell and entered the university through the air.


    A look of sadness hung over Thomas''s face. He had just ended the meeting half an hour ago, and the government has decided to temporarily stop funding for the university.


    If the situation worsens, the university may have to close soon and transfer all of the students to other universities.


    Thomas and others will lose their jobs and will have to find other places to work.


    Although his head was filled with uncertainties, he still decided to follow Jareth''s advice and organized this press conference.


    If a proper explanation is not given today, then there is no saving the university anymore.


    When Thomas landed on the stage and sat in his designated chair, all of the reporter''s eyes became bright in an instant, as if they had found their prey and it was time to feast.


    Although he has been to many press conferences before, Nathan was the one who spoke most of the time, and Thomas had no experience on how to give proper answers.


    ''Ugh¡­ that guy Jareth gave the idea, and he hasn''t arrived yet¡­''


    "Welcome everyone! Today I have arranged this press conference to give a proper explanation to all of the common folk."


    After saying that, Thomas was out of words.


    However, ignoring his difficulties, one of the reporters stood up and immediately asked him a question.


    "Professor Thomas, is it really true that the principal of your university has been doing shady things for years?"


    Before Thomas could even answer the question, another reporter stood up and said,


    "Professor Thomas, is it true that Principal Nathan liked to play with the lives of innocent children? He even laid traps in the university." S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Professor Thomas, are any of the other professors also involved in the things that Principal Nathan did?"


    Thomas was totally overwhelmed by those endless questions. The reporters were too excited; they wanted Thomas to say some controversial things and increase the ratings of their channels.


    No matter the world, reporters always like to exaggerate the news.


    "Professor Thomas, is it true that the principal is a ped*phile, and he harasses female students?"


    Thomas nearly spit a mouthful of blood after hearing that question.


    He had seen Nathan favor some talented students, but he had never seen him do that kind of thing, so he wasn''t sure, but hearing that question was still shocking.


    Even Thomas himself was confused.


    ''Wait¡­. It might really be possible¡­ d*mn!!''


    Just when the reporters were bombarding Thomas with hundreds of questions, an overwhelming pressure came from the sky, and a man with dark purple hair and pupils landed on the stage.


    His cold eyes emitted a palpitating sense of oppression.


    All of the reporters went silent in an instant and sat down on their seats with straightened backs.


    They dared not make any weird moves after Jareth appeared in front of them.


    The people who were watching the live press conference immediately went crazy.


    "The goat!! The legend!! THE GREAT SAGE HAS APPEARED!!!"


    "Ahhh!!! That cold face!! That overwhelming pressure!! My goat is the best, no doubt about it!!"


    "Let me see!! Why is the camera shaking!? Does the cameraman not know how to take proper videos!? Ahhh!! Let me see the goat a bit more!!"


    (It''s not that the cameraman is shaking the camera on purpose¡­ Jareth''s overwhelming aura is making him tremble!)


    Unlike other professors, Jareth has been quite popular in recent times, and he has a massive fan base now.


    Moreover, the soldiers who came back from the battle of Artavia said that Jareth was a tremendous help in this mission.


    Although the principal''s reputation has been dragged through the sewers, Jareth''s reputation has skyrocketed once again.


    Jareth took the mic from Thomas''s hands and sat down on the empty chair.


    "Everyone, the principal was the one who committed all of the crimes that are being circulated on the news¡­"


    "But the students of the university are innocent. I would like to request that the people stop blaming the university for what the principal did; those crimes are his to shoulder, and others shouldn''t be punished for them¡­"


    When Jareth spoke, his voice was as cold as always, and no one dared to interrupt him at all.


    Everyone misunderstood Jareth''s strength; people are already thinking that Jareth is very close to breaking through grade 1, and no one wants to offend a future grade 1 who has always worked to protect the people!


    Only Jareth himself knows that he is a fraud who isn''t even a Grade 4 mage yet! Even Mark has become a grade-4 mage by now, and Jareth is still stuck in the same realm!


    However, no one suspected Jareth''s tricks, and no one thought that he was a total fraud. They misunderstood that Jareth is likely only a little bit weaker than Nathan and Reynald.


    A courageous reporter raised his hand at Jareth''s words to show that he wanted to ask something.


    Jareth glanced at him and nodded his head, giving his approval to ask the question.


    "Uh, Professor Jareth, could you please tell us where the principal is at the moment?" As you said, he is the one who committed all of the crimes, but we still need to find his location to bring him to justice¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and replied in a calm voice.


    "Everyone, don''t worry, the principal has already been captured; he''s actually imprisoned inside a ''Death Cage'' and he will suffer endless mental torture for hundreds of years inside that place¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, all of the reporters were taken aback, and some of them even sucked cold breath after hearing the word ''Death Cage''.


    The people in this world aren''t ignorant of the ways of magic.


    Many people are knowledgeable about the various types of magic spells.


    The most interesting are those forbidden spells.


    People like to see mysterious and forbidden things; thus, the forbidden spells are quite famous among the people.


    Thus, when the reporters heard about ''Death Cage'' they immediately knew what Jareth was talking about.


    That spell is, after all, designed specifically for torture! If caught in it, even a grade 1 mage will suffer!

 Chapter 82 Zenobia, A Forgotten Past...

    The reporters went silent in an instant; they all knew what it meant to be caught in a ''death cage''.Jareth nodded his head before continuing.


    "In other words, the principal has already been given one of the worst punishments possible; moreover, there''s currently no one who can free him out of that death cage, so the people don''t need to worry about him escaping."


    "The sins he committed have brought him this hellish punishment, but the students of the university are innocent¡­"


    "By blocking the university, you are stopping the students from studying and progressing; that''s a huge loss for the nation, and this act makes you no different than the principal who selfishly manipulated his students¡­"


    Jareth''s words made the people who were angry at the university wake up from their intense emotions.


    His calm and firm voice pierced through people''s minds and made them realize that what they were doing was not good.


    Experience more content on empire


    If they really destroy the university, they will be destroying the future of many innocent students with their own hands, which is no different than what the principal did.


    If they had done something similar, they would be just as guilty as him.


    Even the reporters who came to the press conference felt ashamed after hearing Jareth''s words.


    "Also, since so many innocent people died in this incident, we are going to create a memorial for the people in the main garden of our university. All of the people will be allowed to freely visit the memorial¡­"


    "Although we can''t bring the dead back to life, we can still pray for their happiness in the afterlife¡­ I hope that everyone will pray for the sake of those fallen souls¡­"


    Jareth''s solemn voice made people feel guilty for thinking badly about the university, and some even started to cry.


    Jareth glanced at Thomas for a moment before speaking.


    "Also, we have decided to make Professor Thomas the new principle. I assume you all know that Professor Thomas rose from humble origins, and he can represent the common folk the best!"


    "You can place your trust in him; he has been working with the university for a long time, and his talent is known to all!"


    All professors have something unique about them that makes them famous.


    Jareth is famous for one-shotting powerful monsters; Gazid is famous for inventing effective and efficient methods of dealing with monsters; and Yoseh is famous for her amazing water magic.


    Similarly, Thomas is famous for being a commoner who reached the peak with his own talent. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He is famous for being the idol of people who are born into poverty and want to rise to the top of the world.


    He was born poor, but he carved out his own path to the top of the world with his own talent, which has made him a role model for the youth.


    "I hope that people will not object and will accept him with open arms¡­"


    Jareth continued his speech for a few more minutes and praised Thomas''s achievements to make the people accept him.


    After that small speech, Jareth ended the conference and left the same way he came here. He flew away instantly, leaving Thomas, who had a bewildered look on his face, behind.


    Until the conference ended, Thomas hadn''t recovered from all that praise; this was the first time someone had praised him so much right in front of his face.


    ¡­


    (On the internet)


    "UGH!! Why was I thinking so badly about the university? Clearly, the principal is the only person who is guilty¡­ Ugh, I feel bad for thinking wrong about the university¡­"


    "Waahhhh! I am crying after hearing that speech! My goat is indeed the most knowledgeable! I knew he would not betray us! I knew he would clear up the misunderstanding!"


    "All hail the goat!!"


    "But why are they making Thomas the new principal! I want my goat to become the new principal!!"


    "Yes, make Jareth the new principal!"


    ¡­


    In the sky.


    ''Ugh, I kept spouting random bulsh*t at the spur of the moment¡­ It feels so weird now that I think about it again¡­''


    Jareth had a complicated look on his face while flying in the sky.


    He saw that Thomas was being overwhelmed with questions, and the situation wasn''t good, so he took the situation into his own hands.


    But who could have thought that once his mouth started to speak, it didn''t stop at all.


    He started to spout random bulsh*t out of nowhere, and even he didn''t know what he was saying.


    Thankfully, this body has some automatic filter correction abilities, and his speech turned out to be fine.


    ''I just hope that the university keeps on working fine, just like before¡­ I would want the plotline to twist so much that it gets uncontrollable¡­''


    While thinking about that, Jareth glanced at this status panel.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 2580/2580] [MP: 1469/1469]


    [Titles: Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat, Speed-runner]


    [STR: 30] [AGI: 21] [SPE:23] [DEF: 35] [INT: 65]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: 5]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 25,100]


    [Evaluation: The source of disturbance in the threads of fate, you have defied your destined Fate¡­]


    ''I got another 4000 CP for destroying the Blaze family; now I have enough to do my very first golden lottery¡­''


    Jareth has yet to use a single golden lottery until now; only now does he have enough points to do one.


    Jareth already had 10,100 before going to Artavia, but then he used 4000 to buy an attack card to use on that demon incarnation; thus, after he got 15,000 from that demon incarnation, he only had 21,100 credit points.


    However, destroying the Blaze family caused some minor changes in the game''s plot, giving him more CP.


    Not only was the Blaze Family supposed to act as a villain group for the protagonist, but it was also supposed to be a way for the protagonist to conquer Aiza''s heart.


    In the game, Aiza would have had a fight with her parents, and then the protagonist would help her deal with the pursuit of the Blaze family, thus winning her heart.


    Although the plot is quite clich¨¦, that''s what was supposed to happen.


    However, Jareth has already decimated the entire Blaze family, and the vassal families are presently squabbling over the money and fleeing frantically, thereby destroying this plot.


    Aiza won''t learn about the Blaze family''s demise for several days, by which time the greedy vassal families will have destroyed most of the family''s industries and funds.


    Kaiden wanted to give all his money to his other son and didn''t want Jareth to have a single coin, but things turned out completely differently.


    Not only the money got looted by the vassal families, but even both of his favorite children didn''t get to enjoy the family wealth.


    A fitting end for a corrupted family, right?


    ''I should find a secluded place to use this lottery¡­ The university is currently under the watch of too many people. I don''t want to attract too much attention¡­''


    Thinking about a secluded place, Jareth suddenly remembered something important, and he changed his flight direction.


    He flew towards the outskirts of the capital city with a solemn look on his face.


    ¡­


    Capital City Delta, Outskirts.


    A dilapidated cemetery.


    Jareth landed inside the cemetery with a solemn look on his face.


    This place has fallen into disrepair, and no one even comes here anymore. There are no guards to keep watch in this place, and no one comes to clean the area.


    This is, in essence, an abandoned place that the government has ignored for years.


    However, for Jareth, this place holds some special memories.


    He slowly walked towards the corner area and stood in front of the tombstone. The tombstone''s crude markings looked child-made.


    [Here lies the best mother, Zenobia Ayad.]


    Looking at that tombstone, memories came rushing through his mind and made him feel sad.


    A rare look of sadness appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''I had the chance to bury your real body¡­ But in the end, I was too powerless once again¡­ Forgive this useless child, Mother¡­''


    Although he wasn''t the real Jareth and another soul has come to this body, he still has all the emotions that the original Jareth had.


    He knows the pain of losing your parents all too well.


    His parents died early in his previous life, and in this life, he was not even able to save his mother''s corpse.


    Jareth stretched out his hand and used the spells.


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    The whole tombstone became as clean as new.


    Actually, it would be wrong to call it a tombstone; it''s just a random slab of stone that the young Jareth bought for a few coins and then carved the letters on it with his own hands.


    He had to sneak into this cemetery at night to place this tombstone because he didn''t have the money to pay the cemetery owners properly.


    They wouldn''t have allowed him to place this tombstone here without paying fees, so he had to sneak into the cemetery at mid-night to do so.


    Surviving without money had taught him a lot about the cruel world, and he matured earlier than other children.


    Fortunately, he was able to complete his revenge; otherwise, he couldn''t have come here, as he would have been too ashamed to stand in front of the tombstone knowing that his mother''s killers were still alive.


    ''Only that assassination organization is left now¡­ I will send them to hell soon too¡­''

 Chapter 83 Ruler of Mana! Part-1.

    Outside the capital city, Delta.A man with dark purple hair stood above a mountaintop; his eyes shone with coldness, and the look on his face remained cold.


    If someone had been nearby, they would have mistook his intense aura as if he were going to fight something.


    However, Jareth is actually feeling quite nervous right now.


    He glanced at the gold lottery, and his eyes shook a bit in nervousness.


    [3. Gold Lottery: 25000 Cp.]


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to buy the gold lottery?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    This is the first time that Jareth is trying out the golden lottery, and this is no small matter.


    He''s using twenty-five thousand credit points for this single lottery; after using this, he won''t even have enough points left to buy another ''attack enhancement card''.


    So the outcome of this lottery will be critical to his future progress.


    If something strange and insignificant emerges from it, Jareth will encounter numerous challenges in the future, and without an attack enhancement card, he might not even be able to survive long enough.


    However, a lottery is always about betting on your luck.


    Currently, Jareth is gambling his life on this lottery; if he loses, he won''t have enough left to buy a new ''attack enhancement card'', which would make his survival chances go down a lot in this cruel world.


    Although he has ''mana singularity'', he can''t always rely on just that trick to deal with all of his enemies.


    Just like how Zero caused his ''mana'' to become ineffective, if something similar happened, he would be left at the mercy of others.


    Ever since he was a kid, he has always tried his best to learn from his past mistakes and never repeat those mistakes again.


    So, he doesn''t want to find himself in a dangerous situation similar to the one he was in with Zero.


    And to do that, he must become stronger.


    In this world, the person with the biggest fist decides the rules. If you are weak, you can only accept others ruling over you. Only true strength can make the world work the way you want it to.


    ''Although active heal can help me a lot when injured, that alone can''t guarantee my life¡­''


    The best example of why ''Active Heal'' is not as powerful as one might expect is that demon incarnations eventual death.


    Jareth and others worked together to destroy the space-time fabric itself in order to kill that demon incarnation before it could take a proper shape.


    If Jareth had been in the place of that demon incarnation, he would have no doubt died too.


    His mana shield is unable to fend off attacks that could disrupt the space-time fabric itself, and his active heal won''t be able to heal him if all of his body''s atoms are blasted into nothingness, as was the case with that demon incarnation.


    Jareth added the attack enhancement card to make that attack so powerful, but it also served as a wake-up call for Jareth.


    He was frightened by how powerful his own attack was.


    To counter such an attack, he needs to get stronger, or he might not be able to survive past the mid-stage of the game.


    ''The leader of the false dome cult¡­ That guy is strong enough to influence the space-time fabric, and also, a whole demon god is staring at this world with his eyes wide open.''


    Even if Jareth dies, it is very likely that the demon god will find a way to locate his soul, and then his fate will be in the hands of that demon god.


    Jareth doesn''t want that at all.


    There is forbidden magic in this world that can be used to torture the souls of individuals, and if his soul gets caught by that demon god, he will be tortured into nothingness.


    ''I was involved in the eventual death of that demon incarnation, thus I must have already been marked as an enemy by that demon god¡­ Now I can''t even die peacefully anymore¡­''


    Jareth was more and more confused the more he thought about his soul.


    ''How did my soul even come to this world without getting noticed by that demon god? And will my soul be able to go back if I die?''


    Jareth had many questions in his heart, but there was no way to find a proper answer to these questions at all.


    Jareth initially had no real motivation to survive and grow stronger; he was simply following the natural course of events.


    But now he has a solid reason to survive and a motivation to become stronger.


    He wants to find the truth about his existence and the reality of this world, and to do that, he must become stronger.


    (No, if you guys think that he will find out that this world is still a game or something, that''s not true; this is an actual world of its own; it''s not a game¡­)


    ¡­


    Just when Jareth was having a lot of thoughts in his mind, the golden roulette finally stopped spinning, and what Jareth wasn''t expecting came as the result.


    [Congratulation! You have received the ''Permanent Ability Maximizing Card''!]


    Seeing that result, ''black lines'' appeared all over Jareth''s face as a look of great disappointment appeared in his eyes.


    ''Scam!! As I thought!!! Gacha is always a scam!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!!'' (Mental damage +999)


    Jareth was expecting a new amazing talent, like ''Mana Singularity'' or something similar, to emerge again, but instead, this pitiful thing was what came out.


    [Item Name: Permanent Ability Maximizing Card]


    [Item Description: An ability is only considered supreme once it is enhanced to perfection! Go ahead! Enhance your abilities to perfection with this card!!]


    [Effect: Permanently enhances ''one'' ability to the state of perfection!]


    The description and the effects of this card are simple; you can use it to enhance your ''Abilities'' to perfection.


    But keep in mind that the card says ''Abilities'' not ''Skills'', which means Jareth can''t use it to enhance his skills like ''Fire Magic'', ''Active Heal'', ''External Mana Circuit'', etc.


    This card is only useful against ''Abilities'', which are essentially a character''s innate abilities to perform tasks such as clothing, laundry, brushing, or other daily life tasks.


    They are not ''Skills'', they are just ''abilities'' that everyone in the world has.


    In the game, whenever a player got this card, they knew that it was a total waste as it could not be used for any great purposes at all.


    ''Ugh¡­ What do I even use this thing for now¡­ If it were in my previous life, I could have just used it on my ''Ability to Flirt'' and I would have flirted with Shiina all day long¡­ But this thing is useless to me now¡­''


    Just when Jareth was having a major headache, his eyes suddenly fell on the status panel, and he noticed a detail.


    In the game, the player can only improve their mana purity by accumulating experience points or meditating.


    ''But if I remember correctly¡­. isn''t mana purity an ability too!?''


    He suddenly recalled a forum debate where players had argued that mana purity is an ability, and that using a ''perfection card'' on it should enhance it.


    The game developers said that such a thing would break the game, and they patched the game and made it so that the card doesn''t recognize ''Mana purity'' as an ability at all.


    ''But¡­ this is a real world now¡­ what if...''


    Jareth immediately tried to confirm his guess. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Permanent Ability Maximizing Card'' on the ability ''Mana Purity''?]


    [Yes or No]


    [Warning: This choice is permanent; please choose wisely¡­]


    ''Yes''


    Jareth had no idea if it would work or not, but he had to try this out. He had already thought that this lottery had ended in failure, so he wasn''t worried about taking this risk at all.


    Even if it doesn''t work, he will only lose a useless card at most, but if it works¡­


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have used a ''Permanent Ability Maximizing Card'' on the ability ''Mana Purity''!]


    [Ding! Choice successful, upgrading ''Mana Purity'' to ''Grade: X''!]


    Before Jareth could even react to that message, the sky was covered with dark clouds in an instant.


    A massive amount of mana started to flow towards the mountaintop on which Jareth was standing.


    That phenomenon instantly affected the mana within a radius of a hundred kilometers, causing it to flow crazily towards Jareth.


    The spectacle was so huge that even the sky turned colorful from the glow of the flowing mana, as if the world itself were welcoming something great.


    People in the whole capital city stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the sky with shocked looks on their faces.


    All of the mages in the area were even more shocked than ordinary people, as they could see the massive flow of mana.


    The spectacle was so huge and so tremendously overwhelming that some people even started to scream that it was God''s blessing on this world.


    At this moment, not even grade-2 mages dared to fly in the sky for fear of coming into contact with that tremendous flow of mana.


    A massive cyclone made of condensed mana was slowly forming above a mountaintop near the capital city.


    ¡­


    Royal Palace, Rooftop.


    *crack!*


    Reynald glanced in the direction of the gigantic mana cyclone, and a look of sheer shock appeared on his face.


    He was having a drink while looking at the scenery from the rooftop, and then suddenly this strange phenomenon appeared out of nowhere.


    Reynald was so bewildered that he didn''t even care about the wine glass that had fallen from his hand.


    "T-this is!?¡­ someone''s ascending to grade 1!?"

 Chapter 84 Ruler of Mana! Part-2.

    A gigantic tornado made of condensed mana started to form above the mountaintop, and the whole world could feel the disturbance caused by that storm of mana.It was such a massive event that even Nathan could feel it happening from inside the death cage.


    ¡­


    Royal Palace, Rooftop.


    Reynald''s mouth widened in sheer shock. He has only seen this phenomenon once in his whole life, that was when he himself ascended to grade 1.


    Mana is a ''Law'' of this world, and it exists in everything in the world, so usually it never gets this chaotic.


    Only when someone is ascending to grade-1 does mana respond so fiercely.


    The sky turns dark, and a vast amount of mana starts to rush towards the person who is ascending.


    Then the mana steadily enters the body of the person and enhances their overall abilities.


    As if they get genetically modified, the people who ascend to grade 1 get longer life spans and a tougher body.


    Their mana control and other skills get boosted tremendously, and their combat capabilities get boosted even further.


    When Reynald ascended to grade-1, he had influenced the mana in a radius of 40 kilometers, but the scene that is happening currently is even more overwhelming than that.


    Reynald was able to become the strongest of the current century by just influencing mana in 40 kilometers of area, but Jareth is currently influencing the area in a radius of 100 kilometers, which is just too insane.


    Even Reynald couldn''t help but feel shocked at that discovery.


    ''A new monster is born it seems¡­''


    Then Reynald suddenly remembered something, and his eyes widened even further in shock.


    ''Wait¡­ currently only Jareth Blaze is the one who is extremely close to ascension¡­ could it be that he finally broke through!?''


    Reynald''s guesses were justified.


    His mana detection ability stretches far and wide, and he can sense that no one in the whole capital is close to ascending grade 1, not even Thomas who''s already a peak grade 2 mage.


    The only person Reynald was not able to assess with his mana detection was Jareth Blaze.


    ''Now that I know that Jareth has the legendary rank talent Mana Singularity, I think I know why I can''t detect him at all¡­''


    ''Mana Singularity'' gives extreme control over mana, thus unlike other mages, Jareth doesn''t create mana disturbances no matter how big spells he casts.


    He can simply command mana to stop the disturbance, and no one will be able to sense him at all.


    Mana detection works by detecting the mana fluctuations and disturbances created by the individuals in the atmosphere around them.


    But as Jareth can simply command the mana itself with the help of mana singularity, he doesn''t produce any mana fluctuations at all.


    Which means using mana detection on him is simply a waste of effort, as he is undetectable through it.


    That''s also the reason why Reynald isn''t able to properly assess Jareth''s true grade, as the only way to detect that is by seeing the mana fluctuations or mana density of an individual.


    Usually, the higher grade the mage, the more mana fluctuations they create, and the higher the density of their mana.


    That high density of mana and fluctuations in the air is what creates the overwhelming and suffocating aura of a strong person.


    Jareth simply has no mana fluctuations; he looks intimidating and overbearing just because he''s cold and scary, and his aura is naturally like that.


    But there''s no real way to assess his realm with that little information.


    The only reason why Reynald was sure that Jareth was close to ascension was because he has seen Jareth use magic, and his abilities are really very strong and overpowered.


    Even those mana beams that he fires casually are at the level of an early grade 1 mage.


    Under all these circumstances, the first person Reynald associated that mana storm with was obviously Jareth.


    After all, in Reynald''s eyes, there was no one else who was as close as Jareth to ascension.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Thus, to confirm his own suspicions, Reynald flew into the air and drifted off towards the mountaintop. Unlike lower-grade magicians, he isn''t afraid of that chaotic mana flow in the atmosphere.


    ¡­


    An Underground Church, Location Unknown.


    Rahnan glanced in a certain direction, and a frown appeared on his face.


    "Another obstacle has appeared? Tch¡­"


    Rahnan was already quite irritated by the fact that his benevolent demon god was temporarily not able to contact him after the incarnation''s destruction caused him to lose a lot of power.


    Now even more obstacles have been created in their way with the appearance of a new grade 1, which is quite the bad news for his cult.


    ''It must be that guy¡­''


    Even Rahnan knew that only Jareth was the closest to ascending to grade 1, and his suspicions also fell directly on Jareth. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''That gigantic fire arrow was also mostly his doing¡­ he''s proving to be a real headache now¡­ I must get rid of him as soon as my benevolent god recovers¡­''


    Rahnan''s powers are all given to him by that demon god, and in his absence, he''s quite weaker, so he''s not sure whether he can fight Jareth who has become a genuine grade 1 now.


    (Rahnan isn''t a genuine grade 1 mage; he''s just borrowing someone else''s powers and calling them his own¡­)


    After a few minutes of contemplating, Rahnan waved his hand in the air, and Norton appeared in a matter of seconds after getting his command. He kneeled down towards Rahnan and said in his usual hoarse voice,


    "What can I do for you this time master?"


    Hearing Norton''s voice, Rahnan replied in a calm tone.


    "Call that fatty back, tell him that he''s been wasting too much time outside and I need him to do some work for me¡­"


    "Although he has a very greedy, irritable personality, he''s still reliable¡­"


    Norton nodded his head and left immediately after getting orders from Rahnan.


    Seeing that Norton had left, Rahnan brought out a small dark black gemstone from his space ring and embedded some mana in it.


    "We have figured out the location of the seals, it''s time to return you all¡­"


    After saying those words, Rahnan broke that black gemstone by clenching his palm tightly, and the broken gemstone turned into miasma particles and disappeared in the air.


    Seeing that his message was delivered successfully, a smile appeared on his face.


    ''No matter what, I will help my dear God to achieve his vision¡­ I will be the one who will make the whole human race tremble in fear¡­''


    ¡­


    In a certain lush forest.


    Two extremely beautiful elven women stared at the sky with looks of worry.


    "Sister¡­ it seems the human race has three Grade 1 mages now¡­ how about we ask them for help in subjugating the corrupted lake?"


    "If we don''t purify it soon¡­ I don''t think we will ever be able to revive the world tree¡­"


    The younger elf had a look of worry on her face, and she couldn''t help but persuade her sister for the sake of the elven race.


    But her older sister didn''t hear her words at all; she just shook her head and walked back towards the inner area of the lush forest while saying,


    "You are too young¡­ you don''t know about the reality of the world¡­ even if humans have more Grade 1 it''s hopeless¡­ this world is already on its way to doom¡­"


    "Moreover, it''s near impossible to purify that lake of rotten miasma¡­ I hate to say it but¡­ we will have to give up on growing a new world tree¡­"


    "Even a grade 1 healing magician can''t heal the corruption on the sacred branch¡­ much less others¡­"


    The younger sister was still not convinced by her sister''s words; she still wanted to refute and persuade her older sister.


    But the Elven Queen had already made up her mind, and there was no persuading her now.


    "Humans are not a trustworthy race¡­ you shouldn''t be looking for cooperation with them¡­ don''t you know what they do with the elven women they capture?"


    The younger sister went silent after hearing those words.


    She was also aware of how cruel this world can be; for the untalented, it''s a bane to be born in this unfair world.


    The elven queen shook her head after seeing that her younger sister had gone silent. She glanced in a certain direction and said in a solemn tone.


    "Let''s go, the army is waiting for us. We must find a new sacred branch in this expedition to the lake of rotting miasma¡­"


    "Otherwise, the world tree is really done for¡­"


    The younger sister glanced in the direction of the flowing mana once more and then shook her head before following in the footsteps of her sister.


    Although she has lost in this negotiation, she still thinks that there might be some hope in the future.


    Maybe a mage of great caliber will stumble upon their small tribe while travelling with his disciples in the future.


    ¡­


    Outside the capital city, Delta.


    Unaware of how much chaos he had created in the world, Jareth had fallen unconscious at this moment, and his whole body was floating in the air while wrapped in the flow of the gentle mana.


    Mana slowly entered his body and increased his mana density and purity continuously.


    What takes other mages decades of effort to do, Jareth had accomplished it in just a few hours.


    His mana purity level was slowly rising steadily, and he was absorbing more and more mana like crazy.


    The mana flow near him was so intense that even Reynald had to stop far away from the mountaintop to observe the situation.


    If he tried to get too close, it''s very likely he will get affected by the mana flow. So he waited for the ascension to end.

 Chapter 85 Ruler Of Mana! Part-3.

    [Ding! Congratulations!.Your mana purity has been upgraded to grade-X!][Ding! You have seen through the law of mana and have learned extreme command over mana!]


    [Ding! Your mana density has increased ''greatly''!]


    [Ding! Your maximum mana capacity has been enhanced!]


    [Ding! Mana has strengthened your physique ''greatly''!]


    [Ding! You have achieved a feat of impossible levels by reaching an extreme state of mana control!]


    [Ding! Due to your achievement, you have been rewarded with the title ''Ruler of Mana''!]


    Wrapped in the flow of the mana, Jareth felt that his body had become much lighter and stronger.


    His senses became much faster and better compared to before.


    When he opened his eyes, he could feel the massive improvement that the mana purity has brought him.


    Still, he glanced at the status window to see it in numerical values.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 5280/5280] [MP: 7200/7200]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat, Speed-runner]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 100]


    [Evaluation: The Ruler of mana, the dominator of an era¡­ you are on the path to becoming a new ''King'' of the human race...]


    Looking at that amazing status panel, Jareth felt quite happy at the moment. Mana purity is the fundamental of every mage.


    Some mages have spent decades upon decades to just improve their mana purity, and those who have low mana affinity can''t even reach mana purity of grade 3 in a hundred years!


    The difference in talent is just too huge.


    Only with high mana affinity can you improve your mana purity at a much faster speed.


    Although Jareth already had amazing mana affinity due to mana singularity, he would have still needed at least five or so years to reach grade 1 mana purity, which is extremely fast when compared to others, but for Jareth, it''s still quite slow.


    But now with the help of the ability improvement card, his mana affinity has been upgraded to the very extreme limits.


    Grade ''X'' here indicates extreme, or the limit of what this ''World''s Laws'' can allow.


    For now, not only Jareth''s mana control but also mana purity has been upgraded to the very limit.


    After appreciating that massive buff in mana purity for a while longer, Jareth''s eyes fell on the physical stats of his body.


    ''ah yes¡­ Now that I think about it, there was a limiter on the stats¡­''


    ''99'' is the max limit for a human body. A human body at its maximum peak can only reach the stats of ''99''.


    If you want to go past what a human body is usually capable of, you need to break through to grade 1 and break the genetic limiter.


    Only then will your stats be able to past 99.


    ''But still¡­ these stats are already quite overpowered¡­''


    Usually, even a peak grade 2 warrior may not have such insane stats, but Jareth already had such a strong body even though he is just a mage.


    A complicated look appeared on Jareth''s face as a thought came to his mind,


    ''I better not use too much strength from now on otherwise people will start suspecting that I am a warrior disguised as a mage¡­''


    Jareth''s eyes then fell on his ''Hp'' bar, and he nearly fainted from shock after seeing the numbers.


    ''5280!? How the f*ck did I become so tanky!? Not even grade 2 warriors have such a massive health bar!... I have become a literal walking meat-shield!!''


    The enhancement that mana brought to his physique was indeed massive.


    Jareth was really taken aback by that number.


    Moreover, what surprised him the most was that his mana had also increased by a lot, like literally! It increased by 7 times!


    ''I have broken through to grade 3 now¡­ this is an unexpected surprise¡­''


    Originally, Jareth thought that mana purity would only increase the purity of his already existing mana.


    He hadn''t expected that it might even increase his maximum mana capacity.


    ''I think the external mana circuit and this strengthened body must have played a role in this increase of mana¡­''


    ''Sigh~ now I feel guilty for calling that ability enhancement card ''useless''¡­ that thing is indeed very broken¡­''


    Jareth''s expectations were already quite low from the start, but after getting such a great improvement, he was pleasantly surprised.


    ''Good¡­ now that I have reached grade 3, I can learn more higher grade fire type magic spells¡­''


    Although Jareth''s fire elemental affinity is still quite low, he can forcefully learn and use higher grade fire magic as his grade has improved.


    Moreover, he has mana singularity; he can make up for the lowered power by using more mana.


    Elemental affinity and mana affinity are different things. There are many factors that influence the power of a spell.


    If Jareth can enhance them all, then it would increase the power of his spells tremendously.


    The main factors are, mana control, mana purity, INT, magician''s grade, and elemental affinity of that particular spell.


    Jareth''s mana affinity is indeed high, but his fire affinity is low.


    Thus, if he uses fire spells that are above the grade of fire affinity, the power of those spells will be reduced considerably.


    But now that Jareth has extreme mana purity and mana singularity both, he can make up for that power loss by increasing the output.


    Moreover, he has a high ''INT'' stat, and even his own grade has been improved, thus the weakness of low fire affinity can be easily ignored at this point.


    He can still forcefully make the fire elementals obey his command through mana singularity.


    In other words, although Jareth''s grade has only increased to grade 3, taking raw power into consideration; Now, Jareth is not weaker than a genuine grade 1 mage in any way.


    ¡­


    Just when Jareth was busy looking at his own improvements, the massive cyclone made of condensed mana slowly dissipated, and the sky cleared up slowly.


    When the condensed mana flow disappeared, Reynald flew towards the mountaintop and landed right beside Jareth.


    A pleasant smile appeared on his face after seeing that his guess was really true.


    Jareth was indeed standing there, and he was the one who created this massive tornado.


    *Clap!**Clap!* sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Amazing! Congratulations on breaking through to grade 1! You have become my equal now!"


    Hearing such abrupt praise from Reynald, Jareth was taken aback for a second, but then he remembered how big of a scene he had created while improving his mana purity.


    ''Ugh, this guy misunderstood that I have ascended to grade 1!... Wait, if even he was alerted, does that mean the whole capital saw that phenomenon happening!?''


    Jareth didn''t know that Reynald had already sent a message back to the royal castle with his phone when he landed.


    He has already told his butler to tell the media that Jareth has ascended to grade-1. He originally wanted the university to collapse after the disappearance of that old fix, and then take Jareth as his own subordinate.


    But now that Jareth has become an equal to him, it''s obviously impossible to do such a thing. Jareth won''t accept subordination no matter what the deal is.


    This, Reynald had no choice but to try befriending Jareth. If you can''t go against them, just make friends with them!


    Reynald had followed this policy quite well for a long time.


    At that moment, Reynald''s face turned serious, and he said to Jareth in a solemn tone.


    "You have become a Grade 1 mage now¡­ you must have realized the true nature of the world¡­ I just want to say one thing, ''Never ever tell anyone about all this¡­''. This information is too heavy for the world¡­"


    Although all grade 1 mages are usually extremely selfish and indifferent people, even they have some bottom lines.


    They are not demons who want the world to become a hell hole, thus they all have a tacit understanding between each other about the harmful secrets of this world.


    So, even if they are extremely selfish, they do not tell anyone about this event if they die. And Reynald was advising Jareth to do the same. He had misunderstood that Jareth has become a grade 1 mage and has found the forbidden truth of the world.


    Although Reynald doesn''t give a single sh*t about the lives of ordinary people, he doesn''t want his family and its influence to get affected.


    Thus he warned Jareth to be sensible and not say anything that shouldn''t be said in public.


    "Okay¡­I am sure you must also be in a panicked state after knowing the ''truth'', so I should leave now. We can talk some other day when you have figured out everything calmly¡­"


    Without waiting for Jareth''s reply, Reynald flew away just as fast as he had arrived.


    He didn''t even give Jareth the chance to clear up the misunderstanding at all.


    ''The real ''truth''? What was this guy even blabbering about? I have literally no idea at all¡­''


    In the end, Jareth could only sigh and fly towards the direction of a hotel.


    The original Jareth had always lived in rented houses before getting a dormitory room in the university, which means he had no houses at all.


    Moreover, now that the university is currently closed, he has nowhere else to stay, so he decided to spend the night at a hotel and think about all the complicated stuff tomorrow.


    ''Today, I really hit gold¡­ I really got a massive improvement¡­ Perhaps I should save points and only use gold lotteries from now on¡­''

 Chapter 86 The Crazy people of this world... (Skippable)

    (A random chapter just for fun; if you are saving your coins, then skip this one... It has no important lore, just some jokes...)...


    Following Jareth''s persuasion, people eventually retreated from the university and stopped surrounding it.


    His words worked like a charm, and everyone slowly retreated.


    The crowd''s anger subsided, and shocking news swept the internet.


    The entire nation shook at the news that Jareth had become a Grade 1 mage yesterday and that his ascension had created a massive mana storm.


    The appearance of a new Grade-1 mage is not a small matter; not even nukes can kill a Grade-1 mage, and they are walking nuclear weapons that can influence the whole nation with their words.


    Every time a new grade-1 mage appears, all of the media channels go crazy, covering this news and showing it repeatedly.


    Despite the fact that the majority of grade 1 mages are not positive individuals, the media''s massive hype still excites the general public.


    To the common folk, grade 1 mages are just too far above them, so they think that their actions have nothing to do with the common people, and such strong people will not bother to do anything to the weak. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But this mentality is very wrong.


    Firstly, achieving Grade 1 without being selfish is extremely challenging.


    You need to be selfish to snatch resources and other things to survive the competition and make continuous progress to grade 1.


    Those who aren''t selfish enough will not be able to convince themselves to manipulate others to get resources out of them, and due to a shortage of resources, you might never be able to reach grade 1.


    Unlike Jareth, who just upgrades by doing some lottery at random, ordinary mages need magical herbs, potions, and other auxiliary things to improve.


    Jareth has ''Mana Singularity'', so his mana will never go out of control, and he knows that he can ascend without worry.


    But that''s not the case with normal mages.


    They need to buy potions that enhance mana control for short time periods so that they can safely ascend to the next grade without worrying about their mana going out of control in case their mana ends up increasing.


    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University provides Mark and all of the other students with a variety of resources, including mana purification herbs, supporting potions, mana stones, etc.


    For a mage, mana stones are an absolute necessity.


    Mages place mana stones in their hands and then meditate, slowly absorbing the mana in the stone into their bodies. Alternatively, they can meditate and absorb the mana in their surroundings, making it their own.


    This way, their mana capacity slowly increases over time.


    Talented individuals have a higher affinity for mana, can absorb more mana in less time, and have purer mana when compared to others, giving them an advantage over others.


    This is the reason why talented people are favored.


    If you have good talent, you will achieve much better results during training when compared to less talented people.


    It''s not that untalented people are being targeted on purpose; it''s just how this world works. People are born different; your talent for magic is already determined at birth.


    But even in this cruel world, there is still a way for the untalented to reach enormous heights.


    The power to transcend the limits placed upon you by your talent and the power to make breakthroughs that couldn''t have been possible in normal circumstances¡ªthat power is called ''Enlightenment''.


    If you can achieve ''Enlightenment'', you can break out of your shackles easily, and you won''t be much worse than a world-class genius at that point.


    But in the long annals of history, there has only been one person who has ever achieved Enlightenment successfully.


    And that person was the First Great King.


    He was the one who taught humanity the way of magic, the path of mana, and the power of spells.


    If not for him, this world might have developed in the direction of ''technology'' instead of ''mana''.


    People still revere him today as the ''Founder of All Magic''.


    ¡­


    Capital City, Hotel Hanging Moon.


    While sitting on the couch, Jareth watched TV to see how things had turned out and if the crowd of people had left the university.


    He wanted the people to leave so that he could go back to his comfortable dormitory room, and then the first thing that came up when he opened the TV was.


    [Shocking News! Jareth Blaze shattered the moon and reversed time to play volleyball with dinosaurs!!]


    *cough!!**COUGH!!!!!*


    Jareth was so taken aback that he immediately spit out the tea that he was drinking and coughed violently, as if he had some sort of lung disease or something.


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    He calmed down for a moment and then used the cleaning magic to clean the floor and his clothes. Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn''t thought that people would make such weird remarks about him.


    Jareth was hesitant to continue watching after seeing that strange title, but his curiosity peaked, and he opened the TV once again. (Yeah, he closed it abruptly in shock after seeing it once¡­)


    Once the TV opened, the news anchor started to explain the title.


    ¡­


    (TV News)


    The news anchor waved his hand to say hello and then started his explanation.


    "Yesterday, after many people witnessed the phenomenon of extreme mana flow in the sky, it has been confirmed that the famous Professor Jareth Blaze of Ivan''s higher arcane university has successfully ascended to Grade 1!"


    When the anchor said those words, an AI-generated image of him standing in the sky wearing a weird superhero uniform appeared on the screen.


    "According to our sources, Professor Jareth was feeling quite moved after seeing that the common people were hearing his voice, and he had a certain realization, and he broke through to the next realm!"


    "Not only is the professor valiant and heroic, he even felt moved after seeing the enthusiasm of the common folk!! Have you ever seen a man more heroic than him!!"


    "That waving cape! THAT AMAZING WELL-BUIT BODY!!! Jareth Blaze is the hero of the century!!!!! Yeahh!!!"


    The anchor''s eyes were already turning bloodshot; it was evident that this individual was undoubtedly under the influence of something, and he was merely spewing nonsense at this point.


    "Moreover, just a few hours ago, our reporters interviewed an old man on the street, and they found out that Jareth Blaze actually saved him 80 years ago from a great disaster!!"


    "This proves that Professor Jareth has the power to influence time!! He must have gone back to the prehistoric era, and dinosaurs might have been his pets! This is entirely possible!!"


    The anchor looked a bit sensible and smart when the show first started, but as time went on, he continued to spit more and more crazy bulsh*t out of nowhere, and the strange fact is, this literally increased the ''TRP'' of their channel like crazy!


    People even believed his randomly made bulsh*t like it was the actual truth!


    ¡­


    Jareth nearly smashed that TV in sheer anger, but he held his hand back and didn''t do so only because he was in a hotel room right now; if he broke something, he would have to pay for it.


    ''Ugh¡­ Where are these brainless people coming from? It was okay that they misunderstood that I was grade 1. The f*ck do you mean that I was playing volleyball with dinosaurs!?''


    After rubbing his forehead for a while, Jareth changed the channel and decided to watch some other news channel.


    And the first thing he saw in the headline was:


    [Shocking NEWS!! Jareth Blaze has been recognized as the god of flames, and his fans have created a cult to worship him!!]


    ''F*cking bulsh*T! The people in this world are crazy!''


    Even in his previous world, people used to believe in superstitions, but the people of this world are even crazier; they literally opened a cult and put his statue in it to worship.


    Sooner or later, the police will obviously raid their illegal cult, and they will all be in jail, but they are really destroying Jareth''s image at this point.


    Even on the internet, a war is going on between keyboard warriors. People are making random bulsh*t to gather attention by using Jareth''s name, and he''s been dragged to the center of this storm.


    ''Ugh, I want to retire already.''


    Although Jareth didn''t give a single f*ck about what the world was talking about him outside, he still didn''t want others to use his name to increase their popularity.


    ''Sigh~ it''s the era of the internet; everyone is after fame¡­ There are medicines for diseases, but not for stupidity¡­''


    Even if Jareth tries to stop these people from making random false claims about his name to gain popularity, there are just too many of them, and he doesn''t have that much free time to waste on it.


    ''Forget it; if push comes to shove, I will go to the headquarters of the social media companies and threaten them to remove things about me¡­''


    Now that Jareth has the power to fight for his own survival, he fears nothing.


    If anyone dared hinder his progress, they will get kicked in the A*s!


    Then Jareth opened the back statement on his smartphone, and a smirk appeared on his face.


    [Current Balance: 999999999/-]


    ''I have so much money now that I can''t spend it all in my whole life¡­''


    When Jareth killed his fake family in the Blaze mansion, he obviously snatched their space rings, leaving no evidence behind.


    He even took the space rings of all the wizards and warriors that gathered there to attack him.


    Now that he has a lot of money, he''s extremely rich.

 Chapter 87 Empty hearts...

    When Jareth killed his fake family members in the Blaze mansion, he picked up their space rings, in which he found the ''Family Card''.A family card serves as a unique ''ATM'' card for making purchases under the family''s name.


    Jareth immediately sent a large amount of money into his own bank account using the ATM card, never pausing until it was completely full.


    Now the Blaze family will have to pay all that money to the bank, as all that was a credit taken in the name of the Blaze family.


    The Vassal families will have to bear the consequences of this action.


    They are currently looting the family resources, but they don''t know that they are already millions in debt.


    Even their own companies and businesses will soon go bankrupt to pay this massive sum of money that Jareth has added to his own bank account.


    This type of family card doesn''t have a password or anything; it can be used directly by anyone, and you can take out as much money as the card allows.


    Given the extreme wealth of the Blaze family, the card in the hands of the family head is clearly of a high level and has a substantial limit.


    That''s why Jareth was able to get all that money and make it his own.


    Normally, the head of the family holds the family card, ensuring its safety and peace of mind. However, after killing his fake brother, Jareth took control of the card, resulting in a significant debt for the entire Blaze family.


    Now, the bank will approach the vassal families and request that they return the money, leaving them in a state of shock and helplessness.


    Jareth is already rumored to have become a grade 1, and they wouldn''t dare blame him even if you gave them the courage of steel.


    The Vassal families always created a lot of problems for the Vassal family that adopted Jareth; thus, he also did the exact same thing to them.


    He created such a massive problem for them that they can''t recover or run from it even if they want to.


    The vassal families own a large number of industries and companies, but these things are ultimately part of the Blaze family, so the bank will have a legitimate reason to seize them.


    The vassal families will have no way to stop these legal procedures.


    Jareth had laid such massive traps for revenge that if others knew about what he had done, they would feel chills run down their spines.


    ¡­


    A week has passed since coming back from Artavia.


    In the past week, Jareth used the money to buy a small and beautiful mansion for himself. He bought a luxurious car and hired a lot of bodyguards and maids to take care of the house.


    Then he hired an old butler to arrange the servants in the house.


    He put the name plate ''Ayad'' on the mansion.


    Ayad was Jareth''s deceased mother''s surname, so he took it as a family name and decided to take a long surname for himself, ''Jareth Aadhira Von Ayad''.


    He held a small press conference to calm people down by officially declaring that he had become a Grade 1 mage.


    This will make people stop making weird posts about him online, and people will stop saying things like, ''He played volleyball with dinosaurs!''


    He also announced a change of surname at the end of the conference.


    After a moment of shock, the reporters nodded.


    They possess exceptional news networks; they have already discovered that the Blaze family is currently experiencing significant turmoil, and it is likely that Jareth has no desire to interact with them.


    The conference ended in the evening, and the reporters left one by one.


    Jareth stood on the mansion''s rooftop and sipped tea while gazing at the setting sun with satisfaction in his eyes.


    "It''s already been more than three months since I came to this world; time passes so fast¡­"


    When he first came to this world, Jareth was on the verge of expulsion from the academy, and he wasn''t even sure about his own survival.


    But he kept working hard for his future, and now he has achieved so much in just a few months that it feels quite unbelievable.


    In a few months, he went from an unknown random person to a guy who is famous all over the nation.


    Although the people have misunderstood that he is a grade-1 mage, it''s not wrong that his power is equal to that of a grade-1 mage now.


    The improvement brought by mana purity was extremely huge; it enhanced his overall capabilities by a lot.


    Jareth hadn''t expected such a massive improvement so suddenly.


    ''Standing on the roof of this mansion, I seem to have achieved everything back¡­''


    Before becoming an enemy for his boss in the previous life, Jareth already had a mansion and a lot of subordinates.


    He was living a comfortable and satisfactory life by that point, but everything went downhill when his boss found out that he was dating Shiina secretly.


    He lost everything and became a street dog that any random passerby could beat at their will.


    His miserable life ended with being beaten to death in a brutal manner; he can still remember the immense pain he felt during that torture.


    ''I have regained everything that I had lost, but¡­ does it even mean much now?''


    A goal only feels amazing when it''s unachievable; once you achieve it, you will start losing interest in it, and your life will feel empty.


    It''s similar to how you always want to make a dream PC when you grow up, but when you finally finish building that dream PC, you just don''t have the time or energy to play games on it anymore.


    {A goal once achieved becomes similar to a tasteless juice; it''s good for show, but you don''t wanna drink it¡­.} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth regained all the past glory in just a few months, but all this money and assets held no appeal in Jareth''s eyes now.


    The only reason he bothered to get them was so that he could have a place to stay whenever he wasn''t at the university.


    Although he can simply use magic to carve out his own home in any random forest or mountain, he wants to stay in society and not become a secluded master like in novels and comics.


    Jareth was staring at that setting sun when a thought came to him.


    ''It seems you really took away all my happiness with you, Shiina¡­ I can''t even feel happy anymore, even if I want to¡­ You really are too unfair on me¡­''


    ¡­


    Royal Castle.


    Mark''s room.


    "N-no, W-why do I have to strip in front of you, That''s s*xual harassment! I will scream if you dare come near me, you fiend!"


    Mark was sweating profusely as he was being stared at by Risa.


    "Hehehe, you can''t run from me!"


    "I read in a book that to make a man fall head over heels for you, you need to know how to make his body happy!! I''m doing the same thing; this is totally legal! We are married!!"


    Risa looked like an old pervert who had found her prey, and she was chasing Mark, who was dodging her claws desperately.


    (They are just messing around; there is nothing illegal going on here¡­)


    And then Risa used shadow magic to manipulate her shadow and caught Mark''s leg, causing him to fall.


    She immediately sat on his tummy to stop him from running away.


    "W-what are you trying to do!?... eh? Wait¡­ You feel so light¡­ you have lost weight or something?"


    A confused look appeared on Mark''s face. He hurriedly placed his hand on her forehead, and sure enough, she had a high fever at the moment, which also explains why she was behaving so weirdly today.


    She wasn''t thinking straight at all. S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Before Risa could do anything, Mark immediately waved his hand and bound Risa''s hand and legs. He got up, carried her to his bed, and glared at her.


    "You are ill; why did you come here to mess around when you knew your health wasn''t good?"


    Mark then rang the small bell placed at a nearby table, and a maid entered the room.


    "Bring over the healing mage... Get her treated; she has a fever.."


    Seeing that Mark was sitting nearby, Risa clenched his palm as her reddened face felt like it was burning due to the high fever.


    "Ugh, hold my hand¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but shake his head and accompany her for the time being.


    He has always advised her to eat properly and take care of herself, but Risa doesn''t listen at all.


    She''s always so busy messing around that she loses weight and doesn''t eat for days sometimes.


    (She''s a skilled assassin; starving for a few days is no big deal for her¡­ it''s just that Mark tends to overexaggerate about it¡­)


    Mark glanced at Risa and asked in a calm voice.


    "By the way, did you tell your parents that you were going to the royal palace?"


    At Mark''s question, Risa pouted her cheeks and said,


    "They always deny whenever I ask them for permission, saying that it will bother the prince, so I just sneak out of the mansion on my own¡­"


    At her words, Mark could only shake his head.


    ''Sigh¡­ This girl''s just too obsessed with teasing me¡­ Doesn''t she have anything better to do than that¡­ What''s so fun teasing me all day long¡­''


    ''I am not even that good of a guy to chase around all day long¡­''


    Mark is usually busy training all day long, so he tends to forget how handsome he looks, and he is ignorant of the fact that he has a massive fan club of his own made entirely of female fans.


    In his own opinion, he has already dedicated his life to magic, and other things are not very important to him. That''s why he thinks that it would be a bad thing if Risa kept chasing him.


    She might not be able to get the love she wants from him, as he is just too dedicated to magic.


    ''Sigh¡­ It would have been better if you had chased someone else¡­ At least they could have loved you wholeheartedly¡­ I have already given my heart to magic, Where will I find time for you¡­''

 Chapter 88 To the Port City, Urona! Part-1.

    A few days passed by in a flash. The university finally opened its doors to all of the students, and Thomas seized the position of principal and worked hard to get all the government employees approval.Jareth may have become a Grade 1 in the eyes of the world, but he doesn''t want to do extra work, so he didn''t bother with taking the position of the principal.


    Instead, he became the vice principal so that he could make more money and wouldn''t have to do extra work.


    The other professors, too, had no choice but to agree with him, as they had misunderstood that he had really become a Grade 1 mage.


    But Jareth didn''t bother clearing up the misunderstanding, as it was more beneficial to him.


    ¡­


    Meeting Room.


    "Phew~ finally, I am done with all the work that was piling up in the last month. I had to pull all-nighters for so long¡­ugh¡­"


    While sitting on the chair, Thomas slumped his head on the table to relax.


    The other professors tried to cheer him up a bit, but Jareth merely rolled his eyes, knowing that this was precisely the reason he didn''t accept the position of principal.


    Shin glanced at Jareth and said, with a complicated expression on his face,


    "ugh¡­ I never expected that you would reach grade 1 before me¡­"


    At Shin''s words, Jareth replied in his usual cold tone,


    "Well, if you keep being lazy, you will obviously be left in dust by others¡­"


    Shin has been enjoying his married life these few years, so his progress in magic has stagnated a bit. He was already a grade-3 mage when he graduated, and now he has yet to reach the peak of grade 2.


    When compared to other professors, his improvement speed is already very fast, but it''s still slower when compared to a fraud like Jareth.


    Thus, Shin couldn''t help but get motivated to train a bit.


    Just as he was about to create a new training schedule for himself in his mind, Thomas brought out a piece of news that immediately shattered his thoughts about training.


    "By the way, I have convinced the government employees to fund the vacation trip. King Reynald also held a conference yesterday to tell about our great battle in Artavia¡­"


    "So, we got the approval of the employees, as they had no choice but to agree to this reward¡­"


    Hearing that amazing news, all five of them felt a bit happy.


    They went through all that trouble dealing with that demon incarnation just so they could go on this free trip, and it''s obvious that they have been waiting for it with enormous excitement.


    Just when Shin was about to say something, Aria said it in a quiet voice.


    "Uh, I have an idea!"


    When she spoke, all of the professors looked at her with a complicated expression.


    Shin couldn''t resist the urge to rub his forehead before speaking.


    "ugh.. It''s over; she jinxed it again!"


    Ignoring Shin''s mournful voice, Thomas nodded his head and inquired in a calm tone.


    "Hmm, what is the idea? Tell us¡­"


    Happy that her idea was being considered, Aria began her explanation right away.


    "Uh, you said the government will fund this vacation, but we have yet to tell them how many people will be brought on the vacation¡­"


    "How about we bring all the students to the sea as a training spot for them? We can even take all professors to enhance the training schedule!"


    "We will use Professor Yoseh''s water magic to create a small water bubble for them, and then we will put them underwater¡­"


    "They will then need to support the water bubble with their own mana and train their mana control!"


    "The one who will be able to support the water bubble properly to come back to the surface will be the winner of this training!"


    "Isn''t this idea amazing!"


    Yoseh and Thomas both nodded their heads when they heard Aria''s idea. Although Aria''s ideas are usually quite weird, they are effective at least.


    Last time they held a potion-making tournament, Abella interrupted it. However, the tournament did motivate the students to work harder and learn about potions.


    (Obviously not Mark''s group; everyone else in their group was just carried by Mark alone¡­)


    While Yoseh and Thomas felt that Aria''s water bubble training idea was feasible, Shin didn''t agree with it at all.


    "The h*ck are you even saying!? We five went to that horrible place to fight for this trip. How can we bring you all along for free? You guys were doing nothing!"


    "Also, those students aren''t so strong; they will obviously not be able to control the water bubble, and this is no different than forcing them to drown!"


    "Sometimes I wonder what even goes on in your head that you always come up with these weird ideas¡­"


    At Shin''s strong disapproval, Aria said,


    "Then I have another idea! Instead of a water magic bubble, we can just ask them to cover themselves with telekinesis and jump in the sea!"


    "The one who can stop water from touching them for the longest time using telekinesis will be the winner!"


    Telekinesis is a basic type of magic, so all students can use it; thus, it will be feasible to use that method to increase their magic control.


    Jareth, who has the most mastery over basic magic, nodded his head and said in his usual cold tone,


    "Yes, this idea is feasible; we can indeed use it to train the student''s mana control ability¡­"


    Seeing that even Jareth was agreeing to this idea, Shin had no choice but to agree, but he added one more thing.


    "You guys didn''t fight for this, so you all will compensate. We five have fought for this opportunity; we will receive your four months'' salary in return!"


    Although the professors were quite saddened by that huge loss of salary, they still agreed to these terms.


    Jareth and others had to fight a demon incarnation after all, so this four-month salary is not a bad deal. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    (But seriously¡­ can this free trip still be considered a free trip if you have to pay four months'' worth of salary to go on it¡­. How odd¡­)


    ¡­


    The meeting ended with everyone dispersing one by one, but before leaving, each one of them didn''t forget to congratulate Jareth for his ascension to grade 1.


    This was the first meeting they held after Jareth''s ascension, so today was the perfect opportunity to congratulate Jareth for his feats.


    If Jareth was still a grade-2 mage, they wouldn''t have bothered to go out of their way to greet him, but now that he holds more power than them, they obviously have to respect him.


    This is the way of the world.


    Weak respect the strong, and strong exploit the weak as much as possible; this is the natural course of order.


    If you want to overcome it, then become strong yourself, and then you can also exploit the people below.


    Power corrupts people''s minds and makes them feel that they are supreme and can do anything without worrying about the consequences.


    That''s exactly what happened in Nathan''s case.


    He was already a highly powerful Grade 1, so few things in the world could harm him.


    Moreover, he has spatial magic, which means he can easily deflect any attack that may come his way. Due to that, he hasn''t even suffered a single injury in the past hundred years.


    Even while fighting Abella, he was not worried about getting injured.


    Once you know that you are invincible and unstoppable, the rules of society stop working on you.


    Nathan stopped caring about the rules of society, and he manipulated many people to do his bidding.


    Abella and Rahnan are only two of the many victims he manipulated in his life.


    Thinking about all this, Jareth shook his head and started walking back to his dorm room.


    ''Maybe if I were originally a person of this world, I might also have had the same thinking process as the people of this world¡­''


    In the original game''s story, Jareth was reduced to a laughing stock, and everyone cursed at him whenever his name was mentioned.


    Even the players felt irritated after hearing his name.


    And obviously, his fellow professors were also mocking his name, as everyone had found out about how weak he actually was.


    But now, things are totally different.


    They are careful not to speak too rudely to him and are maintaining their manners in front of him, as if they don''t want to offend him even slightly.


    ''This difference in treatment of the weak and strong might be the reason why the people of this world want to grow strong¡­''


    ''They are not growing strong for the sake of strength, but for the sake of status and respect¡­''


    While playing the game, Jareth didn''t notice how cruel of a place this world was, but now that he is experiencing everything with his own eyes, he finally knows why the more enthusiastic players were hating on this game so much.


    They had delved too deeply into the lore of this world.


    In his previous world, having a wealth of knowledge was considered beneficial, but in this cursed world, possessing excessive knowledge about certain topics can lead to disaster.


    {If placed in mud, even the shiniest gold gets smeared with filth; human nature is the same¡­ living too long with evil, you will also get smeared with that evil nature¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    While walking, Jareth looked at the university''s main building and thought to himself.


    ''I am not sure if I really should go to that hidden library or not¡­ I certainly don''t want to discover something so unpleasant that it fries my mind¡­ ugh¡­''


    With the principal gone, Jareth can easily access the hidden library; he has already done so in the game, but the gameplay doesn''t provide much detail.


    You go there, grab a quest item, and then leave.


    But this is the real world now; there''s no knowing what he might find in there, so he is hesitating.

 Chapter 89 To the Port City, Urona! Part-2.

    University, Main Building, Principal''s Office.Mid-Night.


    Jareth waved his hand and easily opened the mana lock on the door of the principal''s room.


    Mana singularity has boosted his ''Mana interruption'' capabilities, and now that he has insanely pure mana coursing through his body, it''s even easier for him to break these low-grade mana locks.


    Moreover, he can easily restrain his mana fluctuation and suppress his presence to avoid the detection of others, so he was easily able to avoid the detection of other professors.


    ''I didn''t really want to come here, but my curiosity still got a hold of me¡­ It would be better if no one saw me sneaking around here, so I will try to do everything as stealthily as possible¡­''


    Although no one would dare blame him for sneaking around because they don''t want to get on his bad side, he still prefers it when no one notices his actions.


    Some things are better kept secret from others.


    Jareth had already cast the basic spell ''Silent Steps'' on himself, so even if he jumped up and down like crazy, it would still not make any noise.


    After all, he came here with a full-proof plan.


    ¡­


    Once inside the principal''s office, Jareth immediately noticed that the whole table in front of the principal''s chair was covered in coffee cups.


    ''Oh¡­ it seems Thomas is working hard to complete the paperwork¡­ He''s a reliable man¡­''


    Even Thomas, who was already a peak grade-2 mage, had to work so hard to complete all the paperwork, meaning that the workload on his shoulders was massive.


    Thousands of complaints had been piling up in the past few days due to their anger towards Nathan.


    Thomas had to write and send formal apologies in reply, even if he used the computer to print the same apology letter many times.


    He still had to sign them all by himself while putting mana into his sign to prove that it was a genuine thing.


    Furthermore, he had to complete all of the paperwork required to get the government''s cooperation going.


    The free vacation trip also brought a lot of paperwork.


    Fund management, event management, and many other things related to the university all needed Thomas to look over them.


    The workload was immense for a newbie principle like him.


    Nathan used to dump all his work on his servants or the professors who wanted to butter up to him, so he didn''t run into these problems.


    But Thomas, being a hard-working guy, didn''t want to dump his work on others, so he was pulling all-nighters again and again. That''s why so many coffee cups were piled up here.


    ''Thankfully, he isn''t sleeping here or something; otherwise, I would have had no choice but to retreat for today¡­''


    Although Jareth has ''Mana Singularity'' to suppress the mana fluctuations, Thomas is a peak grade-2 mage; he can easily sense it with his keen intuition if someone uses mana in such close proximity to him.


    Jareth doesn''t want to take the risk of getting discovered today, so if Thomas really was here, he would have retreated and would have come back some other day.


    But after using his mana detection, Jareth was sure that no one was here.


    With a sense of relief, he made his way to the smallest bookshelf.


    ''I have done it quite a few times in the game, so I remember it properly¡­''


    Jareth stretched out his hand and picked up a green-colored book from the middle shelf.


    He took that book and walked over to the largest bookshelf in the room.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    He cast the float spell on the book, causing it to float in the air.


    The book floated towards the uppermost shelf, and with a flick of Jareth''s finger, it was placed in an empty spot.


    *Click!*


    Once the book was placed properly, a mechanical ''click'' sounded in the room, and Jareth nodded his head at it.


    ''Good, the mechanics of the game are still the same here¡­''


    After finishing all of that, Jareth used telekinesis and a wave of his hand to lift the entire bookshelf to the side.


    This bookshelf itself is made up of magic-resistant material, so you will need to use telekinesis to push it aside. (Or you can just go ahead and deadlift it if you have a lower back made of steel or something...)


    Attribute magic is useless against it.


    Obviously, Jareth''s magic will be able to deal with this magic-resistant wood easily, as he has ''Mana Singularity'', and the efficiency of his attack is just too good.


    But today, he was here to carry out his tasks in a stealthy manner, not to destroy things; if he did so, it would cause a massive commotion.


    After pushing the bookshelf aside, Jareth placed his hand on the wall and attempted to channel his mana into it.


    A massive magic circle covering the whole inner walls of the principal''s office lit up instantly, but before it could activate, the magic circle suddenly stopped taking mana as if it had recognized that it was not Nathan who was trying to activate it.


    Once the magic circle went dim once again, Jareth rubbed his forehead and thought to himself.


    ''Ugh¡­ How did I forget that you need the ''Principle''s Brand'' for accessing this place¡­''


    In the game, the protagonist got a brand engraved on the back of his hand, and only then was he able to enter this hidden place.


    A very powerful magic circle is placed in this place; if Jareth tries to forcefully break his way in, the whole hidden library will self-destruct.


    That''s not what Jareth wants to see.


    ''Forget it; let''s look at the structure of the circle first. I will analyze it and use mana interruption to break the magic circle¡­''


    With the help of ''Mana Singularity'', Jareth''s mana-analysis capabilities have been greatly improved.


    He only needs to analyze this magic circle to seize its ownership for himself.


    Jareth placed his hand on the wall once again, but this time he spread his mana to all walls and analyzed the basic structure of the magic circle.


    But the more he looked at it, the more shocked he became.


    ''This magic circle¡­ It''s extremely big and complicated¡­''


    Jareth was shocked by the fact that Nathan had deployed such a complicated and powerful magic circle here.


    Even with the enhanced analytical capabilities of Jareth, it will take several days to fully understand this magic circle.


    ''I don''t have that much free time¡­ Let''s just copy the magic circle''s structure for now. I will study it in my free time and break it down step by step¡­''


    ''And once I am done analyzing, I will come back to seize the ownership of this magic circle¡­''


    Jareth originally thought that he would be able to get things done in one go, but who could have thought that Nathan would place such a complicated magic circle in this place.


    ''He likely used a trace of his own soul to enhance this magic circle¡­ How terrible of a secret are you keeping here that you had to go to such extreme lengths to conceal it, Nathan? ...''


    Originally, Jareth thought that if they hadn''t stopped Abella, she could have really found things in the hidden library.


    But now that Jareth knows the real truth, he is sure that even if Abella had succeeded in stealing the main key of the hidden library, she still wouldn''t have been able to bypass this magic circle. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''That magic key is not the problem; I can make it with the help of ''Mana Singularity'' but this magic circle needs to be analyzed properly¡­ Otherwise, this whole university will likely self-destruct if I try to forcefully enter¡­''


    Nathan didn''t care one bit about the lives of the students and others at the university.


    He might have established this university in such a way that he could take the students as hostages when the need arose.


    He could have stopped the government by saying that he could easily blow up the whole university with this magic circle, and the lives of all students in the university were in his hands.


    ''I discover something new about him every single day¡­ tch!''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He used telekinesis to place the shelf and the green-colored book back where they were.


    Moreover, he even restored the broken mana lock before leaving.


    He left no traces behind.


    ¡­


    Next day, morning.


    University Front Gate.


    "Wohoo!! Today is the day!!"


    "We are finally going on vacation!!"


    "I''ve been waiting for this!"


    Although only Mark and the others worked hard to earn the spot for this trip, other students were also allowed to tag along.


    The only difference is that Mark and others won''t have to go through the hellish training, but those who didn''t go to Artavia will have to do this training if they want to enjoy the free time.


    But even then, the students were still very excited about the trip and cheering happily.


    Some were chatting, while others were already making plans for who would sit with whom and who would stay in the same room.


    One by one, all of the students gathered at the front gate, and soon enough, the professors also arrived at the scene. Read latest chapters at empire


    The students got to sit in magic-powered buses, and the teachers were going to ride their own luxurious cars.


    The destination was obviously the airport.


    Although they could have just used a teleportation altar to directly teleport, that thing is very expensive to use, and the university rarely ever uses it.


    It''s generally only used in emergency-case scenarios; usually, they just take a flight if they want to go to some distant places.


    They used a plane to travel to Artavia.


    In the first place, the trip is funded by the government; why not take a plane and enjoy the luxurious plane services while you are at it?


    There''s no fun in directly going to the destination; the journey to that destination is also just as necessary if you want to enjoy the result properly.

 Chapter 90 To the Port City, Urona! Part-3.

    In the sky, inside a private airplane."So, what did they decide to do about him?"


    While gazing outside from the small window, Jareth asked the question in his usual cold voice.


    Thomas, who was sitting right beside him, calmly replied to Jareth''s question.


    "They decided to leave ''him'' as is¡­"


    At those words, Jareth nodded his head a bit while contemplating in his mind,


    ''So, they have decided not to bother themselves with Nathan''s situation? What a clever move¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel a bit of admiration for the decision-makers in the government.


    They did not take any proactive measures to prevent the people from expressing their anger towards Nathan and the university, nor did they take any interest in the ''Death Cage''.


    By not bothering to find solutions for the ''Death Cage'', the government has shown the world that they aren''t on Nathan''s side.


    But they also didn''t get involved in the protests carried out by common people, and not even a single politician came forward to say bad things about Nathan.


    This simply shows that the government has taken a perfectly neutral stance.


    They are currently avoiding offending the general populace as well as planning for the future.


    If Nathan manages to escape the "Death Cage," the government can claim that they never backed the general public and that the people''s wrath prevented them from rescuing him.


    Even Nathan will have no evidence that the government is against him.


    In other words, the government is planning on not taking both sides; neither are they supporting the general populace nor are they on Nathan''s side.


    They''ve abandoned both parties.


    ''But this also shows that the government is filled with pessimistic people who just want to maintain the current stalemate and never want any change¡­''


    The politicians who are in power want the human nation to remain as stable and peaceful as possible.


    If some major incident happens during their rule, then they will not be elected again.


    Currently, the nation is peaceful, and there are no wars or anything; they just want this to continue.


    Although this is not a bad idea, this idea can only work in a peaceful world where everyone is an ordinary person.


    This world is filled with supernatural powers and beings that can destroy nations at will.


    This current peaceful state would have indeed been a very beneficial thing for a nation in Jareth''s previous life, but this world is not the same.


    Not to mention that a single grade-1 mage can lay waste to many cities in a single day, and not even nuclear weapons can stop them.


    There''s no knowing how many powerful beasts wander in the wilderness outside the range of the human empire.


    If the human race never progresses out of this stalemate, they will eventually collapse like every nation in history has. Continue your adventure at empire


    ''But the prosperity of this nation has nothing to do with me¡­ All I want to do is find answers to my questions¡­''


    Jareth now has a goal in mind; he wants to find out everything about himself.


    ¡­


    Just when Jareth was busy contemplating in his mind, Thomas suddenly asked in a calm voice,


    "Do you think he has any chance of escaping that ''Death Cage''?"


    At Thomas''s question, Jareth just shook his head.


    "Unless a power above grade 1 gets involved, I don''t think he can break out of that place¡­ Even I don''t think I will be able to exit that place, much less him¡­"


    The ''Death Cage'' is made up of the power of souls.


    Jareth may have amazing mana control and everything, but he doesn''t have any control over soul power.


    The ''Death Cage'' is a looped space confinement; your mana will spin in loops continuously if you try to embed it in the ''Death Cage''.


    It created a folded space in the space-time fabric, and nothing can get through that looped space-time fabric.


    "I think the only way to escape a ''Death Cage'' is by shattering the space-time fabric itself and creating an alternate exit through the nothingness produced by the shattered space-time fabric¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, Thomas chuckled slightly and spoke in a sarcastic tone.


    "Haha, shattering the space-time fabric itself? That''s a very bold idea¡­ Not even peak grade 1 mages can do such a thing easily¡­"


    "And you even want to create an alternate way from the ''nothingness'', that''s such an insane feat¡­"


    Thomas glanced at Jareth and said in a solemn tone,


    "If a being who is capable of doing such an insane thing exists in this world, then¡­ they can probably already be considered ''Demi-Gods'', I think¡­"


    At Thomas''s solemn tone, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Yeah, the power to influence the space-time fabric at will, the power to interfere with the laws of the world¡­ that can really be considered the ability of a true ''Demi-god''¡­" S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The more Jareth spoke, the more solemn Thomas''s expression became.


    "So, what you are trying to say is¡­ that the demon god of that False Dome cult might try to lure Nathan into his group in exchange for liberating him from that ''Death Cage''?"


    Jareth and the others don''t know that the demon god of the ''False Dome'' cult is still recovering due to the last event and can''t do all this yet.


    But after considering the situation up to this point, Thomas was already experiencing a sense of ominousness.


    Jareth stared into Thomas''s eyes and said,


    "I am not sure if it''s possible, but... for now, we have no way out of it..."


    Rahnan had accepted that he hated Abella and Nathan; he cursed at them both, and Shin and Thomas had heard him do so with their own ears.


    Therefore, it can be assumed that Rahnan will not agree to Nathan''s unsealing, but there is no certainty.


    Rahnan has corrupted Abella with miasma before, and he might be able to do the same to Nathan too.


    This will undoubtedly enhance the influence of the ''False Dome'' cult.


    Although Jareth and Thomas were already considering this as the worst-case scenario, they were not sure if it would happen or not.


    And even if they were hundred-percent sure that this would happen, they have no way of stopping it.


    Thomas sighed and said in a solemn voice,


    "If such an entity interferes with the Death Cage¡­ we won''t even notice anything before it''s too late¡­ This is a ticking time bomb..."


    The death cage is invisible to the naked eye.


    People below grade 2 can''t even see or feel it.


    Even if they were flying in the sky, they would pass right through the place where the Death Cage is located, because not even a Grade 1 individual can interact with that cage from the outside.


    "Well, I am not really worried about his strength or the powers he may have; what I am concerned about is that Nathan knows too much¡­"

 Chapter 91 To the Port City, Urona! Part-4.

    "Well, I am not really worried about his strength or the powers he may have; what I am concerned about is that Nathan knows too much¡­" S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality."He may spill every secret to the ''False Dome'' cult¡­."


    As a grade 1 mage, Nathan obviously had a massive detection range, and he also had a massive information gathering network.


    He knows many secrets about the empire''s army and weapons. He knows about the ''Seals of the False Dome'' and he knows about many other forbidden things.


    This knowledge may not be of much use to the humankind, it is certainly worth the attention of the ''False Dome'' cult.


    Thomas clenched his fist and asked Jareth in a solemn voice.


    "If he gets corrupted, what shall we do then?"


    Jareth''s answer to the question was very simple.


    "What else¡­ We will destroy him right then and there¡­"


    Jareth''s words carried the same coldness as usual; he was ready to deal with a time bomb like Nathan whenever the opportunity arose.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he couldn''t do anything to that Death Cage, he would have already buried Nathan ten feet under the ground.


    ''In this life, I am destined to be an eternal enemy with that demon god¡­ If I don''t want my soul to get tormented after death, I must deal with that demon first¡­''


    ¡­


    Time passed, and the plane finally landed after a long flight of 15 hours.


    When all of them got down from the plane, a fresh breeze welcomed them to the port city of Urona.


    Thomas glanced at the distant sea and spoke to the students.


    "So, here we are, everyone; this is the port city of Urona! This is the land that was once owned by the mermaid race¡­ The human armies conquered this place five hundred years ago¡­"


    "According to the history books, it was once the capital of the great mermaid empire, and a floating castle used to exist on the sea shore¡­"


    Although the mermaid-style architecture doesn''t exist here anymore, and the floating castle is also long gone, this place is still breathtakingly beautiful.


    There is a green and lush mountain range in the west direction, and there is a beach and the sea in the east direction.


    This place is a wonderful tourist spot.


    You can do paragliding, sea sports, mountain climbing, and many other things in this place.


    Moreover, a small navy base is located on an island a few kilometers away from the seashore, ensuring that no sea monsters can reach this location because the military will deal with them before they arrive.


    This place is so peaceful that there hasn''t been a single major incident in the past 50 years or so.


    There are no issues with pollution or extreme climate conditions, and there is an abundance of resources and opportunities. Excellent facilities and strict city management.


    Everything in this place is in such perfect sync that millions of tourists come here every year, and yet it doesn''t get crowded at all.


    This is the type of place where you would want to settle down after your retirement.


    ...


    Mark glanced at Thomas and inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "So, what happened to the mermaids then?"


    Thomas just shook his head at that question and said,


    "What do you think will happen to a race when you slaughter them mercilessly and destroy their homes? Of course they will flee to some other places desperately..."


    The battles between races have always been like this: the winner destroys the other party and massacres the weaker ones to no end.


    Thomas placed his hand on Mark''s shoulder and said,


    "Human greed knows no bounds; we wanted a safe port for ourselves so that we could make trade to other human cities easier, and that reason was enough to conquer this place..."


    The struggle between races is a race of survival; either you seize the resources and destroy the other party, or you will be the one who gets destroyed in the future.


    To develop towards a brighter future, to get more sea resources, and to make trade and other things easier, humans of that time went to war against the mermaids and emerged victorious.


    That victory contributed to the fact that humans today have access to so many sea resources produced in this place.


    Discover exclusive content at empire


    If they had never seized the resources here, the prices of sea food would have been very expensive today.


    "Well, it''s not that we are being unreasonable; it''s just the way of the world..."


    Thomas patted Mark''s shoulder and then moved onward. He didn''t want the students to dwell on this topic too long, as it was pointless.


    They can''t change the past, so there was no point in thinking about it too much.


    While others started to walk, Jareth glanced at the ground under his feet, and a strange expression flashed through his eyes before he left.


    ''It was likely not a simple war... The ground here is filled with bones and remains of the mermaid race... This place looks beautiful from above but is just as dark from below...''


    Jareth has completed numerous quests in this location within the game, and he is aware of the heinous and horrific events that have transpired here.


    However, he is reluctant to publicly discuss them due to their profoundly disturbing nature.


    ''My detection range has improved; I can sense ''that'' thing from so far below in the ground now...''


    The improvement in mana purity enhanced Jareth''s overall capabilities by a lot, and now his passive mana detection range is already bigger than a normal grade-1 mage, so he can sense what''s going on beneath the ground.


    ''Urk... I originally wanted to enjoy some scenery, but now that I am here, I feel like going back already...''


    As they say, ignorance is bliss; when you know too much, you can''t feel happy at all.


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about all this, and he followed the group towards the hotel at which they would be staying.


    After this long journey, it was time to relax a bit and eat some good food to ease the mood.


    ''I will deal with ''that'' thing too when I am here... It should earn me some ''credit points'' at least...''

 Chapter 92 A Date to be remembered! (Mark X Risa) Part-1.

    Hotel Night Camper, Dining hall.While sitting on a chair beside the dining table, Shin said, with a complicated look on his face,


    "D*mn bruh¡­ Why is this dining table so long!"


    Shin''s bewildered shout was indeed justified; the dining table in this massive hall is extremely long.


    All students and the professors can sit beside it on the same side, and there will still be no overcrowding at all.


    Gazid nodded his head in response to Shin''s words.


    "This table is just as long as the ''monster corpse processing unit'' in my laboratory; all the dead monsters are stored there for processing¡­"


    "Believe me, when you look at monsters lined up on a massive table, they look absolutely stunning and beautiful!"


    "If you have such long tables, you can even extract their intestines and put them on full display! Ehehehe¡­"


    Hearing Gazid''s words, some students nearly lost their appetite; if not for the fact that Yoseh was glaring at him, he might not have stopped talking about those monster corpses.


    Ignoring the chatter, Jareth glanced at Shin and inquired.


    "You were going to come with your wife, didn''t you? What happened? Did she kick you out of the house?"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, black lines appeared all over Shin''s face, and she replied in a sad voice.


    "Ugh¡­ Don''t even mention it¡­ I accidentally mistook her stylish lipstick for a ''crayon'' and used it to grade some paper¡­ and then she was so angry that she kicked me out of the house¡­ I had to sleep on the floor¡­"


    *PFFFFTTTF, HAHAHAHAHA*


    Yoseh, Thomas, and other professors couldn''t suppress themselves and ended up laughing at those words out loud.


    Even some students were secretly laughing while trying their best to hide it from Shin for fear of getting scolded.


    Upon hearing everyone laughing at him, Shin became enraged and said,


    "But you can''t blame me for that, right? It''s the fault of the manufacturing company that they made it in such a way! How the f*ck am I supposed to know about women''s makeup products!!"


    Upon hearing Shin''s words, Yoesh wiped the moisture from the corner of her eyes that had appeared due to excessive laughter and inquired in a curious tone.


    "By the way, what brand was that lipstick?"


    Shin shook his head and replied.


    "Er¡­ it had ''Namo..'' or something written on it¡­ I didn''t properly look at the name-"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Yoseh''s eyes widened in surprise.


    "What!? That''s the most expensive lipstick brand! They only make limited edition stuff¡­ You used that thing like crayon!? You are horrible!! Be thankful that she didn''t divorce you right away!!"


    Shin was taken aback by that and asked in a panicked tone,


    "It''s just a lipstick; surely it can''t be that big of a deal, right?"


    Yoseh shook her head and said,


    "Well, imagine you just bought a brand new, highest-spec graphic card for your computer, and your wife used that thing as a vegetable cutting board¡­. How will you feel then?"


    "Or you can see it that way¡­ What if she deletes all of your game progress? How would you feel at the time? That''s the kind of thing you did to her¡­"


    Only after Yoseh told it in a language that a guy could understand did Shin figure out the seriousness of the situation.


    "Er¡­ that will surely make me upset¡­"


    *cough!!*


    "Guys, will you stop talking about all this random stuff?"


    Seeing that Shin and Yoseh were going to keep talking about lipsticks and graphic cards, Thomas hurriedly interjected.


    If he let them talk, they might keep going at it all night long.


    However, after hearing those words, Shin gave Thomas a glance of disapproval.


    "Come on, man, we are on vacation; let us talk freely¡­"


    Thomas shook his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Surely no one wants to hear about how you mercilessly butchered a branded lipstick for no reason at all¡­" sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hearing those words, Shin couldn''t help but dodge his eyes.


    "Er, d-don''t mention that, bruh¡­ I feel guilty enough already¡­"


    ¡­


    After hearing the conversation between the professors, Risa glanced at Mark and said,


    "I don''t use makeup¡­ but I can slice my finger and give it to you¡­ You can use the dripping blood to grade papers¡­"


    Mark was so taken aback by those words that he nearly fell down from his chair.


    "The f*ck are you talking about!? What''s wrong with your head, girl!? Are you still feeling ill or something!?"


    (Friendly warning: Don''t try this at home. Risa is a professional assassin, and she is over 18 years old. If you aren''t skilled in the way of assassination, don''t try this sh*t at all¡­.)


    Risa had no choice but to back off after seeing such an adverse reaction from Mark.


    Although she is quite messed up in the head, she still doesn''t want to make Mark hate her, so she always tries to keep the bottom line.


    But sometimes she ends up spouting random, horrific stuff out of habit.


    "Er¡­ but I want to spend more time with you¡­"


    Upon hearing those words, Mark shook his head,


    "Cutting your own finger off and giving it to me doesn''t mean that you get to accompany me¡­ instead of doing something like that¡­"


    "We can just go and hang out like normal, okay¡­ Just don''t do that kind of freakish thing¡­"


    A smile appeared on Risa''s face as she heard him agree to hang out with her.


    This simply meant that he agreed to go on a date with her!


    She was so happy that she immediately forgot about that idea of chopping fingers.


    If she can accompany him as a whole, then why just not do it! That''s even better.


    "Okay!"


    Seeing that Risa agreed, Mark heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''Phew~ nearly had a heart attack after hearing her weird idea¡­ Sometimes I wonder what even goes on inside her head all the time¡­''


    If Mark had the ability to read minds, he would have been completely terrified by the constant thoughts Risa harbors.


    Thankfully, he doesn''t have to hear her praise his handsomeness hundreds of times in her mind.

 Chapter 93 A Date to be Remembered! (Mark X Risa) Part-2.

    After a bit more chit-chat, the waiters came and served the food, so everyone enjoyed the delicious food and stopped talking.It was a mixed diet; the food was extremely delicious.


    I had some meat and some vegetables, perfect for people who want to enjoy the food and its different flavors.


    After an hour or so, everyone had finished eating and was now enjoying drinks and juices.


    Thomas glanced at the students and said,


    "Everyone, you are all free to go back now, sleep early, and wake up early tomorrow. You guys have a long training session waiting for you tomorrow, so keep yourself in your peak condition¡­"


    "As for the students who went to Artavia with us, they are exempt from this training. You guys are allowed the freedom to do whatever you want for the next two days¡­."


    Thomas glanced at Mark and the others, ignoring the jealous expressions of other students, and spoke.


    "The university rarely organizes trips like this; you guys shall make good use of it; don''t waste this rare chance¡­"


    Then Thomas glanced at Jareth and the others and said,


    "We five will not take part in training the students; other professors will be in charge of that, and as Professor Jareth isn''t taking part, you can rest assured that the training won''t be that difficult¡­"


    Thomas said those words solely as a joke so that the students could stay motivated for tomorrow. The training was obviously going to be very harsh, even if Jareth was not the one overlooking it.


    Hearing Thomas''s words, Jareth glanced at him and said,


    "You didn''t purposely have to point out my name like that¡­ I am not that strict, actually¡­"


    A complicated look appeared on the students'' faces at Jareth''s words; they didn''t have words to describe their feelings at that moment.


    But as no one wanted to offend Jareth, they dared not show too much on their faces.


    Except, of course, for one certain bold girl.


    Risa stood up and asked Jareth in an excited tone.


    "Professor, can I go on a date with Mark then?"


    *Cough!* *Ahem..*


    Mark nearly chocked himself with the juice when he heard Risa declare that right in front of the whole class.


    All male students looked at Mark with jealousy, and all female students glared at Risa with hatred in their eyes.


    Following Risa''s words, both of them immediately became the class''s public enemies.


    They had to go and train while Mark and Risa were planning a date; that''s very unfair, in their opinion.


    But no one could complain about it, as Mark and Risa are both from prestigious families and are very strong themselves.


    Mark, in particular, can beat the entire class single-handedly, so others don''t dare be rude in front of him.


    Nowadays, the boys of the class even consciously stay several feet away from Risa for fear of Mark mistaking their intentions.


    Nobody wants to endure the royal family''s wrath simply because Mark mistakenly caught them hanging around Risa.


    ¡­


    Ignoring the complicated expressions on the students faces, Jareth just nodded his head at Risa''s question.


    "As Principal Thomas said earlier, those who went to fight in Artavia are free to do whatever you want in the next two days; just don''t commit any crimes, and you should be fine."


    Even Shin and other professors gave her an okay sign, saying that they were free to do whatever they wanted as long as they weren''t committing any crimes.


    Gazid even went on to say,


    "Student Risa, don''t worry; even if you kill someone, I will handle the matter and say that the person was possessed by miasma¡­ Then we can dismantle the body too; that will leave no evidence behind.. keekeke¡­"


    Yoseh immediately glared at Gazid for saying that.


    "Don''t corrupt the students with your weird ideas! You will make her like you!!"


    "Students don''t listen to Professor Gazid''s words; he is just joking. Always abide by the laws; becoming a criminal is not a good idea¡­"


    The students nodded their heads and slowly left for their rooms.


    The government funded the trip, so Thomas reserved a very expensive hotel and assigned one room to each student and professor.


    While going back, Risa seemed to have stars shining in her eyes.


    She was smiling from ear to ear as she finally got to go on a ''date'' with Mark.


    They are engaged, yet they haven''t gone on dates before because most of the time her father denied permission or she was not able to get Mark to agree.


    But today is different.


    She got Mark to agree, and that''s all that mattered to her.


    If she gets to spend some time alone with Mark, that alone would be enough for Risa to consider this trip successful.


    ''Uh, but what clothes do I wear, though? Er¡­ I might need to ask my sister for assistance in this matter...''


    Her big sister is a married woman; she has experience, so it was a good idea to contact her via phone and ask her for advice.


    ''I better not tell father about this date, though¡­ He will cry rivers, saying, ''My daughter is leaving me! Dad is so sad~'', that old man never changes¡­ ugh¡­''


    Risa''s father dotes on her a lot; he even interrogated Mark before allowing him to get engaged to Risa.


    If Mark was a good-for-nothing guy with no talent, her father wouldn''t have accepted the engagement.


    Risa is his youngest child, so obviously he cherishes her a lot.


    It was quite a sight when he had to approve Mark with a reluctant face. He knew that no one in the whole younger generation was more talented than Mark, so it was a better choice to marry his daughter to him.


    Reflecting on all this, Risa clenched her fist and said to herself,


    ''I will dress so beautifully that even Mark will be charmed by me!''


    A look of determination flashed through her eyes as she made up her mind about it.


    Meanwhile, Mark, who was walking beside her, had no idea what she was planning in her mind and was looking at her changing expressions with an amused look on her face.


    ''She''s kind of cute when she is busy making evil plans in her mind¡­''


    S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 94 A Date to be Remembered! (Mark X Risa) Part-3.

    Next day, Morning.Hotel Main Gate.


    "Sigh~ where is she? She was so excited over the date, and now she''s late¡­ ugh... I would have gone on that training session instead if I knew about this¡­"


    Despite the exemption from the training session for those who fought in Artavia, they still have the option to participate at their own discretion.


    Mark, being a training maniac, was feeling that it''s a waste that he had to miss the training session.


    "But then again, even if I join it¡­ Professor Jareth isn''t going to overlook the training, so it''s pointless¡­"


    In Mark''s opinion, only Jareth qualifies as a true mage. His personality and power suit that of a real cold and powerful wizard who only does whatever he wants.


    Mark wants to become like that in the future.


    His excessive obsession with magic is also one of the reasons why he doesn''t like to hang out with friends and go to parties.


    He''s just too busy getting stronger, and he usually has no time to waste on random stuff.


    For others, partying and going on trips is a way to enjoy and relax, but for Mark, learning about and training his magic is a way to relieve stress.


    He''s basically a workaholic; he''s gotten so used to staying tensed and stressed that now he feels weird if he sits down to relax and thinks that it''s a waste of time.


    If not for the fact that Risa has been pestering him for a long time, he wouldn''t have had contact with a woman in his whole student life.


    ¡­


    Just when Mark was contemplating the training session in his mind, Risa arrived.


    A luxury hotel like this obviously has a cabinet packed with beautiful dresses, so Risa was able to find one that suited her easily.


    She wore a pure white gown; her long black hair waved in the air; and a pinkish-white hat adorned her head.


    Just looking at her, you can tell she put a lot of effort into getting ready.


    Unlike her usual self, when she gives off a distant aura, she looks cute and beautiful today.


    Even Mark was surprised by her.


    And seeing that shocked look on his face, a smug smile appeared on Risa''s face.


    ''Hmph! Told you! Once I make up my mind, I can do anything!''


    Upon observing her today, it would be impossible to infer that she is a maniacal assassin capable of stabbing you three hundred times in the back in a matter of seconds.


    Risa walked over to Mark''s side, crossed her hands, and said in a smug tone,


    "So, how do I look?" Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark nodded his head with a smile on his face.


    "You look beautiful! I will give you the score of 1000/10!"


    When she realized that Mark was pleased to see her in those clothes, the smugness on her face intensified, and she said,


    "Well, if you promise to go on dates regularly from now on, I might dress up for you like this more often~"


    The bus arrived for them at that moment, and they immediately boarded it.


    Mark and Risa are indeed rich, but they are here on a trip, so they didn''t bring any cars or bodyguards with them.


    Just the two of them, so they decided to take the public transport to go to their destination.


    Their first destination was a giant museum.


    After about fifteen minutes of traveling via bus, the two of them arrived at the most famous museum in the port city of Urona.


    "You like museums and stuff, so I just picked this one¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa glanced at the tall museum building and nodded her head.


    Then she noticed an ice cream stall nearby and dragged Mark there with her. Both of them ended up buying the same flavor of ice cream before entering the museum.


    While walking towards the museum through the garden area, Risa nibbled on the ice cream and even got some on her face.


    Mark shook his head and brought out his handkerchief to wipe her face clean.


    "Eat slowly, young lady¡­ No one''s going to run away with your ice cream¡­"


    With a pout on her cheeks, Risa responded.


    "Hmph, who knows, What if a certain golden butterfly snatched it away from me¡­"


    Hearing those cryptic words, Mark shook his head and said them with a complicated expression on his face.


    "Surely that golden butterfly doesn''t have the courage to steal the ice cream from the mouth of a fierce black cat¡­"


    At Mark''s words, Risa glanced at the massive statue of a mermaid placed in the middle of the garden and said,


    "That golden butterfly is strong, though¡­. I wonder if the black cat will be able to even compete with it¡­"


    At those words, Mark could only smile, as he knew that Risa was praising him.


    "Well, the black cat is of good nature; maybe the golden butterfly will like to maintain a good relationship with her¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa stretched out her small hand and didn''t say anything, but Mark understood what she wanted.


    Thus, he also raised his hand and held her small hand without hesitation.


    She had already put in so much effort for this date that it would be rude of him to deny her efforts now.


    While walking after holding her hand, Mark could feel that the garden''s scenery appeared to have brightened up more.


    ''This isn''t that bad either, I guess¡­ I might actually like this feeling¡­''


    Mark is a battle junkie; he fights with training golems in the training area all day long. Rarely does he ever relax.


    But today, Risa made him realize that he was missing out on life a lot. Aside from training, there is such a vast and colorful world outside waiting for him to explore.


    ''Perhaps I should go on a journey to explore the world one day in the future¡­ Well, if she agrees, I don''t mind bringing her with me either¡­''


    At that moment, both of them thought the exact same thing in their minds, and that was,


    ''I hope that every day can be as happy and peaceful as today¡­''


    Flower petals flew in the air and added more charm to the scenery; maybe even the flowers had agreed to their words that day.

 Chapter 95 Salvation or Mercy? Part-1.

    Port City, Urona, Outskirts.A hidden valley deep in the mountain range.


    ''Hmm, it should be here, I think¡­ I rarely came here in the game, so my memories are kind of fuzzy¡­''


    Standing in the air, Jareth glanced at the small valley hidden under the cover of gigantic trees.


    ''Who could think that a whole high-grade dungeon is sitting not too far away from the city... It''s really well hidden¡­''


    Usually, Forest Ranger Squads are responsible for discovering the formation of new dungeons before they pose a threat to the nearby population.


    But sometimes, even those professionals end up missing one or two dungeons, and these dungeons cause a lot of problems later.


    ''This dungeon has a grade-1 seal on it¡­ Even if grade 2 mages were standing right in front of it, they would still not be able to discover this dungeon¡­''


    These types of forest ranger squads usually only have grade-3 people as the strongest, so it''s impossible for them to discover a dungeon that''s been purposely hidden by someone with a grade-1 seal.


    But unlike others, Jareth already knew the general location of this dungeon from the game; he also possesses ''Mana singularity'', which allows him to easily sense even the slightest bit of mana fluctuations in the area.


    Upon arriving, he immediately noticed the mana fluctuation of the grade-1 seal, which allowed him to easily track down the location.


    For others, it might take months to pinpoint the exact location of this seal using mana detection equipment, but for Jareth, it was as simple as breathing.


    ''Forget it; let''s go down and check¡­''


    Your next read awaits at empire


    Jareth shook his head and flew down into the valley.


    He landed on the wet soil and noticed a small ravine nearby and a familiar, half-broken statue of a demon.


    ''Yeah, this is the place¡­''


    The statue belonged to a demon god called ''Therath''; his demon cult is said to have been destroyed thoroughly 800 or so years ago.


    This statue once used to keep an eye on the entrance of the demon cult''s headquarters and make sure that no unknown person got in without the other cult member''s knowledge.


    Basically, it was a guarding mechanism to protect the security of the cult.


    Eight centuries have passed since the cult''s destruction, and the statue, along with the defense mechanism, most likely suffered damage from thunderstorms.


    ''This statue is the proof that demons have always been looking to destroy the human race... It was ''Therath'' before, and now it''s ''Azaroth''; this battle with demons doesn''t seem to have an end to it¡­''


    From the game''s description, one thing was clear: mana and miasma are just two sides of the same coin.


    Mana produces magic, and miasma produces corruption; both are polar opposites of each other, but they are fundamentally the same thing.


    Jareth remembered a theory given by a famous game theorist,


    [Unless Mana is eliminated from this world, Miasma will continue to exist¡­ These two exist in perfect harmony; they are established ''laws'' of the world and can''t be considered from just a simple perspective¡­]


    ''If this theory is correct, then this game or this world really doesn''t have a really good ending¡­ Even if we get rid of the demon now, there will still be miasma in this world, and it will continue to give birth to more demons¡­''


    ''This is just an endless loop¡­''


    Even in the past, when the Demon ''Therath''s'' cult was destroyed, people were unable to address the underlying cause; it is likely that the demon left because it had grown tired of tampering with human life.


    And now, another demon has taken its place.


    Maybe it will also play with human lives for a long time before it gets bored and drifts away somewhere else in the vast cosmos.


    For a demon god, time doesn''t seem to exist at all; they live so long that short-lived humans can''t even comprehend their insane lifespans.


    Jareth glanced at the fallen statue and pondered.


    ''Actually, I am more surprised at how the human race is still surviving after getting targeted by such powerful beings for so long¡­''


    To Jareth, it didn''t matter if the human race could leave this planet and become a great civilization or not; what mattered to him was his own life.


    His main goal is to find answers for himself, and he has a feeling that these demons and stuff definitely hold a lot of mystery hidden in them.


    ''Sigh~ I can''t believe a day has come when even I have no choice but to search for clues about demons and stuff¡­''


    Usually, only those who want to create a demon cult try to search for clues about demons.


    ''Well, this is life¡­ It''s always so strange; things change without your notice¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and placed his hand on his chest.


    [Basic Magic: Enhanced Mana Barrier!]


    The already strong barrier around Jareth became even stronger when Jareth poured a lot of mana into it.


    ''Let''s go¡­''


    *Step*


    Jareth took one step towards the dilapidated cave near the end of the valley, and five poison-coated arrows flew out from various directions.


    *Clang!*


    The arrows collided with the mana barrier and fell down with a thud.


    Jareth glanced at the fallen arrows and noticed that even the iron arrowhead had become green as these arrows had been soaked in poison for a long time.


    ''If someone below grade 1 gets hit by this, they are sure to die within a matter of seconds¡­''


    Although those arrows were deadly, Jareth already knew that he was going to encounter some traps; that''s why he cast the barrier around him.


    That demon statue used to be a mechanism that would scan a person''s mana, and if the person was indeed a cult member, the statue would send a predetermined mana fluctuation to deactivate all traps.


    But now that the statue has already been destroyed, these traps are impossible to deactivate.


    Moreover, Jareth can''t replicate the mana fluctuation that can deactivate these traps unless he senses that mana fluctuation himself at least once.


    Producing the right mana fluctuation with knowing the fluctuations parameters beforehand is a daunting task that will require him to analyze all traps and their magic circuits. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But Jareth didn''t want to waste all that time just trying to deactivate these measly traps; he could simply power through all this without even bothering to worry about the damage.


    Jareth took the next step, and two gigantic stone golems crawled out of the ground to attack him.


    *Hostile threat detected!**Engaging in combat*


    The stone golems have some voice commands pre-built into their mana circuits, so it''s not a big deal that they can say some small, pre-determined voice lines before engaging in combat with a hostile threat.


    "You guys are crawling out of the ground¡­. But did I give you permission for that?"


    Jareth''s eyes went cold in an instant, and he waved his hand.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    A massive magic circle the size of a one-story house appeared beside Jareth and fired a concentrated beam of mana towards a golem.


    The beam blasted off the golem into pieces in an instant, and then Jareth made the magic circle turn in the other direction, which caused the mana beam to slice the second golem into two in an instant.


    Even the boulders and trees nearby were sliced off into two pieces, and the cut was very smooth and sharp.


    ''Kinda feels like I''m firing laser beams or something like they used to do in movies¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and walked slowly towards the entrance of the dilapidated cave.


    More golems appeared to attack him as he kept moving towards the cave.


    But Jareth just waved his finger and sliced off all the golems with his mana beam, like he was chopping some vegetables.


    ''Just how many are there¡­ There weren''t that many in the game¡­''


    In the game, there were only two golems guarding the main entrance of the dungeon, but now Jareth has already chopped off nearly fifty of these golems, and the whole valley has been destroyed by now.


    The marks left by the mana beam are very intimidating.


    Destroyed golem bodies lay scattered throughout the valley.


    Only after Jareth dealt with the fifty-first golem did everything go quiet.


    ''Wait, could it be that the protagonist in the game didn''t encounter more than two golems because he has amazing luck? No, that''s not it¡­''


    ''Perhaps the attack was done according to strength¡­''


    When the protagonist entered this high-grade dungeon, he didn''t go too deep, and he only encountered two golems at the entrance.


    This implies that the infiltrator''s strength influences the dungeon''s difficulty.


    Jareth is very strong; that is likely the reason why all golems were dispatched to deal with him.


    ''Whatever, I will just blast through it all¡­''


    Jareth came to this place not because he wanted to save the people from a hidden danger; he came here because he wanted to get some ''Credit points'', and if some chances can be gotten along the way, then it would be even better.


    ''I feel that I am kind of becoming more and more selfish as time passes¡­ Is this body affecting me or something?''


    As he wasn''t sure about the situation, Jareth stopped thinking about it and entered the dilapidated cave without hesitation.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    This time Jareth only created a small glowing orb, as the space here is small and he doesn''t need too much lighting either; a small one was enough to show him the way in this dark space.


    ''Let''s see what we got here...''

 Chapter 96 Salvation or Mercy? Part-2.

    *krraaaaaalllllllll*As Jareth walked deeper into the dungeon, he started hearing a very strange and creepy shout coming from somewhere in the cave''s depths.


    ''That ''thing'' is pissed by my presence¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Mana Interruption!]


    Jareth retrieved his grimoire from the space ring and cast the mana interruption spell to stop the brain waves that came with that creepy shout.


    ''That ''thing'' attacks the brain and causes a ton of mental damage; it''s better to keep mana interruption activated when dealing with this¡­''


    In the game, Jareth used to bring a mind-protecting artifact with him whenever he came to this dungeon.


    That thing is rare, very expensive, and only works for a limited time.


    But now that Jareth already has an insanely strong mana interruption spell due to the existence of mana singularity, he can easily counter these brain waves without even bothering to buy some artifacts for it.


    ''How times have changed¡­ It''s like I am using a boss character to deal with another boss¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and continued moving deeper steadily.


    But then he stopped for a moment and glanced at a wall on the side.


    ''Hmm? Is there a hidden room here?...''


    In the game, walls are unbreakable objects that remain unbroken even when you fire continent-destroying spells at them.


    You can''t even break ordinary furniture, as it is considered an indestructible item by the game mechanism.


    And that''s because the game developers haven''t put the animations for breaking a wall in the game.


    As a result, no one must have discovered this hidden room because the wall was unbreakable.


    ''Why the heck did developers even add this room when they weren''t going to let the players go inside it?''


    Jareth shook his head and kicked the wall.


    *Boom!*


    The fragile wall broke apart in an instant, and Jareth walked in without any hesitation.


    The purification of mana has enhanced his body to such an extent that he can now lift a submarine with one hand.


    Breaking this wall was just a piece of cake for him.


    *Step**Step*


    As the whole room was empty, Jareth''s footsteps rang out throughout the room quite loudly.


    ''Hehe, if it were me from the previous life, I would have been quite nervous walking in a dangerous hidden cave like this, but now¡­ sigh, time really changes a lot¡­''


    Except for a small stone tablet, there was nothing in the whole room.


    Jareth walked over to the stone tablet and noticed that the writing on it was actually the same ''English'' as his previous life.


    The current language in this world is a version that evolved from ''English'' as well; it''s likely that this world once had the original English, which slowly evolved over time.


    ''The game developers were too lazy to create a new lore accurate language, so they just said that the language here is English¡­ Well, that''s actually beneficial for me, though¡­''


    ''If all ancient tablets are written in English, I can easily read them¡­''


    The words written on the stone tablet were,


    [Yodo, Marco, and Ramos were once skinned alive here¡­]


    ''Oh! So that''s how it is¡ªthis stone table is an Easter egg! The game developers actually put the names of the three story writers of the game on this tablet!''


    The game developers often engaged in arguments with the writers due to the game''s complexity and the peculiar and repetitive storyline they had provided.


    ''The developers must have put their name here and mentioned that they were punished because they hated the writers¡­ Well, I thought they would give some kind of item or something-''


    *Boom!*


    Just when Jareth was having a moment of nostalgia while thinking about his past life, the stone tablet on the ground exploded, and the stone debris flew everywhere at a speed much faster than bullets!


    Fortunately, Jareth was already protected with a mana shield, and he wasn''t hurt at all.


    But after seeing that the stone had burst apart, black lines appeared all over Jareth''s face.


    ''Those sh*tty developers!! They made it so that even if a player somehow glitches past the wall and sees this tablet, the player would die from the tablet blasting on their face¡­''


    ''Tch! The developers of this game are really cunning people¡­''


    *kirrririiririr*


    Just when Jareth was cursing at those developers in his mind, he heard a sound from behind, and a horribly mutated beast slowly crawled into the room through the broken wall.


    ''Ugh, I forgot there were these disgusting things here too¡­''


    That creature had a humanoid body, but it was walking on all fours like a dog.


    Moreover, its tummy was facing the sky and the back was facing the ground, its eyeballs were hanging out of their bleeding sockets; and its limbs were bent in an unnatural direction.


    The skin over that creature was almost falling off his body, and its veins and muscle tissues beneath were showing, and that creature was naked.


    That thing looked so d*mn creepy with its big tongue flailing out of its dislocated jaw that even Jareth was frowning while looking at it.


    ''This thing looks more disgusting than in the game¡­ At least the game had some censoring measures in it, but now¡­ tch!'' S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    Jareth instantly summoned ten mana beams, bombarding the creature with them until only ashes remained.


    The creature kept screaming creepily while getting slaughtered by those mana beams.


    ''Sigh, I have added one more human to my list of murders¡­''


    Yes indeed! That creepy and horrible creature was a human, of course!


    That creature was a tormented and tortured victim of the demon cult.


    Horrible human experiments are not unique to the ''False Dome'' cult; all demon cults have done them before, and even the righteous people of the empire have done them before too. Enjoy new adventures from empire


    ''I am more surprised about what these creatures are eating to survive, and how are they still alive after eight hundred years?....''


    The game doesn''t explain the lore of this dungeon too much; they didn''t show any cut scenes in the game where these mutated creatures were eating food.


    ''I am sure that if the mages outside find out that there is something in this dungeon that can prolong their lives, they will go to any lengths to grab that thing for themselves¡­''


    ''No matter the cost¡­''


    Ignoring the ashes scattered on the ground, Jareth left the hidden room and started to go deeper into the cave.


    *KaroKARIKARO!*


    Soon enough, a similar mutated creature came into Jareth''s view, but this time it had wings on its stomach and was flying in the air.


    In an attempt to attack, the creature pointed the horn on its half-broken head at Jareth.


    But before it could even do that, Jareth blasted it off with mana beams till it turned into ashes.


    ''These creatures can regenerate; it''s better to destroy them thoroughly¡­''


    As Jareth walked deeper, the cave got darker and darker. He saw human-like creatures latched on the floor and crawling slowly with the help of their fingers and several eyes protruding out of the arm''s skin.


    These crawling creatures were harmless and didn''t attack Jareth, but he still blasted off all of them.


    No matter what kind of strange and creepy-looking creature came in his way, Jareth blasted right through them and made his way inside without any problems.


    ''This place is giving me weird vibes¡­ It looks more horrible than in the game¡­''


    The game was not so detailed when he saw it before, but now that he''s seeing it all with his own eyes, even Jareth can''t help but frown.


    ''If it were some weak-hearted person here, they would have already fainted by seeing the horribly mutated creatures in this place¡­ This place is like hell on earth¡­''


    Jareth was sure that all of this was just a byproduct of the main experiments that were conducted here; the main thing lies in the deepest part of the cave.


    Nearly three hours passed, even with the help of mana detection. It still took Jareth a very long time to make it past the massive underground maze.


    If not for the fact that Jareth''s mana detection skill has improved a lot due to mana singularity, he would have most certainly lost in this place, and it would have been very difficult to make it out of here alive.


    ''I think I have traveled at least twenty to thirty kilometers just in these caves¡­ This place is extremely vast¡­''


    The maze wasn''t that big in the game, but now that it''s real life, things are more detailed and extreme.


    ''I think I know why there are still so many mutated creatures in this maze even after 800 years¡­ ''That thing'' is not only feeding them but is also creating them on a regular basis¡­''


    There must have been others who would have come from some other unknown entrances in this dungeon, and they must have starved to death in this place while trying to find a way out.


    This place is so vast that even Jareth needed to use his mana detection at full capacity to figure out a way through it.


    But even after using the right way, Jareth still had to cover a long distance, and if someone didn''t know the way, they would likely have to travel more, which would eventually starve them to death.


    You can''t eat those mutated beasts because their blood is acidic, and even the soil starts to melt when their blood splashes on the floor.


    And once a person dies in this dungeon, his body will then be used to create new mutated beasts.


    ''This place is simply best for developing PTSD¡­''

 Chapter 97 Salvation or Mercy? Part-3.

    "Here it is¡­"A massive, half-broken iron door appeared in Jareth''s view.


    Some of the massive tentacles attached to the gate likely caused the half-broken state of the massive door.


    Those tentacles had human-like skin and hundreds of humanoid eyes on them everywhere; just by looking at that creepy thing, one might feel like throwing up.


    ''This familiar hideous look and this familiar creepy glare from the hundreds of eyes¡­. Yes, this is it¡­''


    Jareth raised his hand, and a massive magic circle appeared in front of him.


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Fire of Purification!]


    After Jareth''s mana purity improved, all his skills improved as a whole, so even his fire magic got a small boost, which was enough to burn the iron door and those tentacles.


    *Boom!*


    The fire immediately burned the skin and eyes of the tentacles, causing them to retract back inside.


    The broken iron door couldn''t handle it anymore, and it fell to the ground as the iron on it slowly turned into liquid metal due to the burning purple fire.


    Jareth ignored it and flew inside the deepest area of the cave without hesitation.


    What appeared in front of him was so hideous that just by looking at that scene, anyone might end up having nightmares.


    In the massive chamber, a huge tree made up of flesh and eyes stood tall.


    Its branches were made up of those human skin covered tentacles, and its whole trunk was covered in human-like hearts.


    ''It''s just as disgusting as it always was¡­''


    Jareth has seen this horrible thing in the game, so he wasn''t that surprised, but as things are real now, things are more detailed now, which certainly caused him to frown a bit.


    ''Imagine being a curious person who worked hard and went through all the difficulties to cross those monster-filled mages and reached here to find this disgusting sh*t¡­''


    Explore stories at empire


    ''Absolutely diabolical¡­''


    *Karrrraaaaaaaaaa!!!!* sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No point sending brain wave attacks towards me; they are useless¡­."


    Jareth shook his head at that futile act of resistance and waved his hand in the air.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    As Jareth cast mana beams to attack the other party, two small humanoid faces appeared on the tree''s trunk and started to cry tears of blood.


    The hundreds of massive tentacles immediately attacked Jareth and the magic circles of the mana beams.


    The attacking speed of those tentacles was extremely fast; it was so fast that Jareth''s mana shield was facing thousands of attacks in a single second.


    But Jareth was not going to be outdone at all.


    ''You think only you can do a lot of attacks?...''


    Jareth waved his hand, and the grimoire floating beside him shined and amplified his attacks. He also cast even more mana beams.


    Concentrated mana covered the tentacles, allowing them to destroy Jareth''s magic circle. However, as Jareth increased the number of magic circles and their power, the tentacles began to break apart one by one.


    Jareth''s mana beams blasted through the tentacles with sheer brute force.


    Seeing that all of the tentacles were busy getting rid of the mana circles, Jareth seized the opportunity and flew to the back side of the tree.


    The two children, like faces on the trunk of the tree, immediately moved through the skin and appeared on the back side to attack Jareth.


    But Jareth had already done what he needed.


    [Basic Magic: Condensed Mana Bomb!]


    A massive magic circle appeared above the tree, and a gigantic ball of condensed mana appeared out of it.


    The tentacles tried to stop that mana bomb, but the mana beams didn''t let them get close.


    ''This is it¡­''


    With a wave of his hand, the condensed bomb fell onto the tree, resulting in a massive explosion of mana.


    The explosion was so strong that it caused the ground to tremble, and even the tectonic plate of the planet trembled for a second due to that explosion.


    That explosion was made from a mana bomb created with the purest mana condensed to the extreme with the help of a mana singularity.


    Its power was equivalent to five nuclear bombs being detonated at the same time.


    Nearly half of the mutated creatures in this underground dungeon perished as a result of the massive shockwave that destroyed even the dungeon walls.


    Some died from the ceiling collapsing on them; others were unlucky enough to get hit by the chaotic mana; and those who were the closest got blasted off into meat paste.


    ''Tch! That attack used nearly ? the amount of my total mana¡­ I can only use this three more times¡­''


    A massive crater made up of lava and charred earth appeared in Jareth''s sight once the dust cleared up a bit.


    The tree was nowhere to be seen, and even its roots got melted as the ground was directly turned into molten lava by that mana blast.


    But even after all that, the tree still has not died.


    It absorbed the lava in the ground and started to grow up at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    Even the insides of that trunk were made of human bones and muscle tissues.


    Seeing them regenerate, Jareth felt a bit repulsed.


    ''This amazing regeneration¡­ well, I knew this would happen¡­''


    Jareth raised his hand toward the sky and triggered another mana bomb.


    Jareth detonated another mana bomb at that regenerating, strangely mutated tree, with the same power as five nukes.


    *Boom!*


    And yet, the outcome was still the same.


    But Jareth didn''t care; he brought out mana potions from his space ring and started to blast the mutated tree into smithereens again and again.


    Those continuous explosions created massive cracks in the tectonic plate and caused earthquakes.


    The dungeon nearly collapsed on its own, crushing all the mutated monsters to death.


    At that moment, Jareth massacred a whole dungeon colony of mutated creatures in just a few minutes.


    He ruthlessly caused the deaths of all of the mutated creatures in the dungeon, and his attacks caused the dungeon to collapse on itself, causing it to get buried. Now no one can find this place even if they want to.


    But Jareth didn''t care about these things.


    *BOOM!!!**BOOOM!!**BOOOM!!!*


    One after another, Jareth destroyed that mutated tree ten times in a row.


    Only then did the regeneration speed of the tree slow down to a very low level.


    ''Phew~ finally drained it out of energy¡­''


    Yes, all this while, Jareth was aiming for this. He wanted to make the tree exhaust its energy so that its regeneration would slow down.


    The tree slowly regenerated into its small faces, and the two faces opened their eyes, and unlike before, their eyes seemed to have gained consciousness.


    The smaller face opened its mouth and asked in a confused, tired, and creepy voice.


    "Who are you?.... What do you¡­ want from us¡­. cursed children?"


    The bigger face opened its mouth and added,


    "Let us¡­ cursed children lay¡­. here in peace; why disturb¡­ us?... We never hurt¡­ anyone¡­"


    Jareth sneered at those two faces and said,


    "Hahaha, funny you are saying that even though you have been absorbing the remnant life force of the dead for centuries now¡­"


    Jareth knew from the in-game lore that this tree is located a few kilometers away from the port city of Urona.


    Right above this cave''s ceiling is a massive layer of rock and soil, and above it is the ocean.


    "Your tentacles are spread far and wide in this dungeon like tree roots, and they even spread to the surface¡­"


    "Whenever someone dies and gets buried by their family, you use your roots to absorb their remnant life force, and then you use that life force to incubate new mutated creatures¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the gigantic incubating eggs and glands nearby and shook his head in disgust.


    In the game, you fight this boss and just leave, but you never get to find out the lore of this tree.


    Although you get to talk with the two faces on the tree trunk after defeating the boss, they just say a few lines and then fall silent.


    But now that Jareth has the opportunity, he wants to know more.


    "Tell me, why do you do all that?"


    The two faces fell silent for a while and didn''t reply. Just when Jareth was getting disappointed in them, the bigger face suddenly opened its mouth and said,.


    "We want¡­. to create a new vessel¡­. for us both¡­ We want to be free¡­. from this curse of endless torture¡­"


    Jareth''s interest was piqued, and he continued to listen silently.


    "Our souls are stuck¡­ in this mutated¡­ tree-like body; we want¡­ to separate our¡­ souls¡­"


    "In this body, our souls collide and¡­. Resist¡­. It causes extreme pain¡­ We have been suffering¡­ the pain¡­ of soul¡­ torture¡­ for many years¡­."


    Jareth glanced at the two faces and said,


    "So, these mutated monsters that you incubated with life force¡­ are failed products? That''s why they wander outside like this?"


    The two heads agreed with Jareth''s words.


    Curiosity flashed in Jareth''s eyes.


    "So, you guys want to abandon this infinitely regenerating body and want to become humans?"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, the larger face exclaimed,


    "We want to be¡­. Normal again¡­ We want to¡­ escape this torture¡­ My name is Phoebus, and my younger brother¡­ is Aphos¡­"


    Phoebus and Aphos were the names of the two souls that were living in this mutated, weird body while suffering from endless torture.


    "How did the two of you end up like this? Tell me about it¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Aphos replied in a hesitant tone.


    "It''s a long¡­ story¡­"


    At those words, Jareth just nodded his head and said,


    "No problem, continue; maybe I will be able to find some solution for you after hearing your story¡­"

 Chapter 98 Salvation or Mercy? Part-4.

    At Jareth''s insistence, the faces on the tree trunk started to tell their story to him, and Jareth listened to their story with great interest.The story was quite long, but to summarize it all in short,


    Phoebus and Aphos are twins; they once lived far away in the northern areas, where it snowed every single day.


    Their parents were beggars in that small village at the foot of a snow-covered mountain, and they often had nothing to eat.


    Their father frequently went to the mountain range to search for food.


    That man had no hunting skills, so he couldn''t even bring back wild animals to cook; he used to scavenge what other predators had left behind after hunting and eating other prey. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although they were living a malnourished life, the twins were pleased to stay with their parents.


    But one day, a massive snowstorm appeared.


    That snowstorm lasted for nearly a month, and as a result, the father didn''t even dare go to the mountain range to look for food.


    A hungry stomach can make humans lose their rationality and turn them into beasts.


    The same happened with that beggar family.


    The father killed his wife with a wood-chopping axe and then resorted to cannibalism.


    The twins were horrified by this, but they couldn''t go against their father as they were powerless and malnourished ten-year-old kids.


    Hunger took over their minds, and they also followed in their father''s footsteps. They ate their mother''s flesh and survived the snowstorm.


    But when rationality returned to their minds, everything came crashing down.


    Their father went insane and lost his mind in guilt, and the people of the village couldn''t tolerate a mentally ill person who was purposely disturbing the lives of other villagers.


    Consequently, the enraged villagers soon banished the three of them.


    They wandered the mountain range for days, ate whatever seemed edible, and survived for several days.


    Eventually, they found a small, hidden cave and decided to rest there for the night before heading to another place.


    Although the twins had to wander around with their mentally ill father, they were happy that, at least, they didn''t have to be stared at by the villagers whenever they went out.


    Heavy snowfall happened that dark night, and the three of them shivered continuously due to the freezing temperatures.


    The twins were intelligent enough to light up a bonfire; otherwise, the three of them would have really caught frostbite that night.


    But lighting that bonfire to keep themselves warm was their biggest mistake in life.


    A strange mutated bear caught the smell of burning wood.


    A man wearing the robe of the ''cult of Therath'' was sitting on the back of that bear and traveling leisurely from this mountain range.


    When the bear smelled the burning wood, it led the cult member to the hidden cave, and everything instantly went downhill from there.


    The cult member laughed at the three prey that he had found at random.


    He immediately cast a fire spell to kill the twins'' father, and then fed his dead body to his pet bear right in front of the twins'' eyes.


    No matter how the twins begged for mercy, the cult member didn''t listen; he bound them with magic cuffs and took them with him when he left the next morning.


    Whenever the twins'' fell on the ground from exhaustion due to walking too much, the bear will roar at them and force them to walk.


    They had to travel for days with hardly any food, and their legs began to bleed as the skin became damaged.


    Days went by, and the twins reached a small underground chamber. In that chamber, mutilated human corpses littered the ground, and numerous workers utilized these corpses to craft various items.


    Some were using their bones to make accessories, some were using their skins to make decorations, etc.


    Blood had painted the floor so red that even the stones had changed color.


    The sight of everything was so horrifying and repulsive that it terrified the ten-year-old children to their core.


    By that time, they knew that their fate was sealed and they would die a horrible death that day.


    But it seems that the strings of destiny had planned more pain for them.


    A high-ranking member arrived in the underground chamber that day, and he found out that the two children had an unusually high amount of mana in their bodies.


    They were both talented, and they were extremely suitable for sacrifice.


    The high-ranking member took the children with him to the headquarters of the cult of Therath.


    The cult was at its peak in those days; the whole world feared them, and no one dared object to them.


    That high-ranking member himself was a sadistic mad scientist, and he was researching healing magic.


    He wanted to create a self-working healing magic that could regenerate the user''s body infinitely, without any problems.


    His past experiments had all failed, but now his preparations were complete.


    And the appearance of these two talented children gave him the final piece of the puzzle.


    He conducted experiments on the twins and used a variety of cruel methods on them.


    He dug out their brains and embedded them into a tree severely infected with miasma and corruption.


    Then he cast the forbidden spell of ''soul merge'' on the tree.


    The power of miasma and corruption had already deeply taken root in the tree, and the addition of those two brains gave it consciousness, memories, and a will of its own.


    The experiment was a success from the perspective of the cult member, but it was a great punishment for the twins.


    Even though they were twins, their souls were incompatible with each other and refused to merge properly.


    This caused their souls to collide with each other again and again inside this artificial body.


    This collision of souls caused massive and endless pain for them, which stems directly from the soul and can''t be solved by any physical healing methods.


    Only grade 1 or higher-level healing magicians can heal a person''s soul and fix an issue like this.


    But a grade-1 healing mage is so rare that you can count on your fingers the number of grade-1 healing mages in the long annals of history.


    There were barely three grade-1 healing mages in the past two millennia. Thus, during that experiment, there were no grade-1 healing mages to help solve this problem with souls.


    Even necromancers can only embed a soul into a dead body and control the body; they can''t dig out the soul from a living entity''s body and can''t interfere with the soul of a living entity.


    And even if there was someone capable of helping them at that time, the twins likely still wouldn''t have gotten any help because there was no profit for the other party in helping them.


    In the first place, why would a grade 1 healer even help a demon cult who wants to destroy the very life the healers want to protect.


    So, time passed, and the twins continued to suffer endlessly without any relief in sight.


    They couldn''t even scream because they didn''t have the ability to talk in the first few years.


    Only after they awakened telepathy could they talk.


    But by the time they were able to talk, they had already gotten used to all that pain, and now they wanted to be free of it.


    The mages destroyed the cult of Therath after years of struggle.


    The person who embedded the twins'' brains in the miasma-infected tree actually ended up locking the door of the chamber from the inside and survived the attack on the cult.


    The attackers weren''t able to break the magic barrier on the gate, so they cast another barrier of their own and sealed the door from outside.


    The researcher got stuck in the hall along with the humanoid skin covered tree.


    Time passed, and the researcher died due to extreme starvation. His lack of social interaction drove him insane.


    In the final moments of his life, the researcher stared at the tree that was his greatest creation with a smile.


    Years passed, and the cult suffered from landslides and thunderstorms.


    Its ruins got buried in the ground, and only the maze that was created to confuse others was left intact, along with the hall that had the tree inside.


    The tree finally gained the ability to control its branches and roots, and the first thing it did was beat the researcher''s skeleton into powder.


    Once done with that, they spread the branches and roots in search of more life force.


    Although the tree can keep regenerating by absorbing mana with its body, the speed of regeneration is considerably slower.


    Using a stored amount of life force is a much faster way to regenerate; that''s why the tree was able to regenerate so fast for ten times when Jareth attacked it first.


    But its regeneration speed slowed down afterwards, as now it''s only regenerating on mana.


    Moreover, after continuously regenerating and living for eight centuries, the mutated tree has already tapped into the power of the ''Law'' of ''regeneration'', and now its regeneration won''t stop at all.


    In other words, this mutated tree is immortal.


    Unless you eliminate the law of mana from the space-time fabric in this place, you will not be able to properly kill this tree as it will keep regenerating.


    This is also the reason why they are trying to make a new body; they want to escape this unkillable body.


    {Immortality is not a blessing; it''s a curse. It''s a punishment that can drive even the most stable soul to madness...} (Source: Trust me bro...)

 Chapter 99 Salvation or Mercy? Part-5.

    "I see¡­ So, what you are trying to say is that your body is immortal¡­ Unless someone helps you transfer your souls into new bodies, you won''t be free from this?"The face on the tree agreed to Jareth''s words and said,


    "Yes, there might be other ways, but this one is the most reliable and easiest way¡­ to get it done¡­"


    "We are creating these bodies¡­ as vessels, but we have yet to succeed; maybe¡­ we will succeed in the future¡­"


    The tree branch shook, and it gave Jareth a potion.


    "We condensed life force¡­. into the purest form and turned it into a sacred liquid; if you take it, your life force will get extended¡­ It can also work as a one-time healing item¡­"


    Jareth tilted his head in confusion and said,


    "This seems precious; why are you giving it to me then?"


    A smile appeared on the face of the older twin after hearing Jareth''s question.


    "We have seen many strong men in the past; you are definitely one of the strongest people we have ever seen, and we would like to ask¡­ for your assistance if possible¡­"


    "This potion is¡­ a bargaining chip¡­"


    The mutated tree has been in the cult for a long time, and many powerful wizards have visited it over the years, so they have seen the aura of strong people, and they easily guessed that Jareth was strong.


    "All the vessels outside¡­ serve as an eye for us; we have seen you fight; you were unstoppable¡­. by everything, and we would like to¡­ get help from you."


    "With only basic magic, you cleared out so many of the vessels¡­ Your attribute magic must be¡­ even stronger!"


    The twins misunderstood that Jareth''s magical capabilities were extremely strong and that he was an exceptional mage.


    His display of power with basic magic led them to believe that his attribute magic might be even stronger, but in reality, his fire magic is significantly weaker.


    Jareth placed the potion in his space ring and then said,


    "Are you not worried that I will take this potion and run away?"


    The older twin just smiled at those words and said,


    "No¡­ My intuition tells me you won''t betray¡­ My intuition has always been¡­ very good¡­"


    Jareth was quite surprised that this twin could still smile after centuries of torture and pain. The mind of this kid must have really been very strong; others would have already gone insane by now.


    He nodded his head and said,


    "Well, let''s talk about what kind of help you need?"


    The tree roots moved and broke the ground beneath to bring out two buried vessels.


    "We have two test vessels ready¡­ Here, whenever we try to embed our life force and soul in it, our mana goes ¡­. out of control and the experiment fails, which causes these¡­ vessels to go insane¡­"


    "We need help¡­ in controlling the¡­ mana¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth nodded his head, and he smiled in his mind.


    "Good, when it comes to mana control, there''s no better than me in this world¡­."


    "Try doing the process now; I will control the chaotic mana for you¡­"


    Jareth came here to just kill and be done with this boss, but as it turned out, he got curious about the lore of this boss and found out that this tree is actually immortal.


    Now he wants to give it a try to see if he can change things by helping this tree boss.


    In the game, the protagonist only has to defeat this boss three times, and it completely stops regenerating for the time being.


    It''s likely that the game developers put the lore that the tree will regenerate again in several years or something.


    Basically, it''s that type of boss where you defeat it and make it reset its evolution cycle.


    Once defeated, this mutated tree remains a small tree sapling, slowly regenerating, and it never grows back to full length until the end of the game.


    But it''s real life now; not only does the tree have a lot of stored life force, but its regeneration is more accurate and much faster.


    That''s why Jareth had to blast it to smithereens so many times before its regeneration ability finally slowed down.


    ¡­


    At Jareth''s agreement, the mutated tree placed its branches on the two vessels, and it began to embed its life force in them both.


    Jareth stretched out his hand and stabilized the chaotic mana and the disturbance in the mana produced by that massive life force transfer.


    Happy smiles started to appear on the two faces as they could finally sense that they were about to become free.


    But before the process could even complete its initial phase, the two vessels exploded and sprayed blood and their internal organs everywhere on the ground.


    Thankfully, Jareth was already protected by the mana shield, so he didn''t get smeared with blood.


    A look of great sadness appeared on the faces of the twins.


    "Why is it¡­. Still not working?¡­"


    Hearing that question, Jareth glanced at the broken organs splattered on the ground and said in a solemn tone,


    "It''s likely that your body has already manifested the ''law'' of ''regeneration'' in your body itself¡­" sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The twins had no idea what Jareth was talking about, and they asked in confusion,


    "What does that mean?"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "You see, in this world, there are techniques that can control certain ''Laws'' of the world, like ''Sword Intent'' that controls the ''Law'' of ''Sword'' or ''Mana Singularity'' that controls the ''Law'' of ''Mana''¡­"


    "These are skills; they are harmless to the body¡­ but sometimes things can go a step further than that¡­"


    "Instead of you controlling the ''Law'', which ''Law'' manifests into your physical body and transforms it accordingly, which is harmful in one way or other¡­"


    When the ''Law'' of ''Sword'' manifests into someone''s body, it forms the ''Sword Heart'', and when the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' manifests into someone''s body, it forms the ''Mana Brain''.


    "Just like those, the ''Law'' of ''Regeneration'' has manifested into your body, and it has become aligned with your very existence¡­ This is likely the result of living in a self-healing body for so many centuries¡­"


    "Your soul gets injured every second, and then it heals again and again; this insane healing likely caused this manifestation¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the mutated tree and said in a solemn tone,


    "In simple words, unless you severe the ''Law'' of ''Regeneration'' from your body itself, you will likely not be able to leave this body as it will keep regenerating the loss of life force¡­"


    "The life force and soul transfer will keep failing¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the twins felt immense despair and sadness. They had already placed their bets on this one method, and they didn''t know about other methods.


    Not that this has failed; they have nothing left.


    "Are we¡­ destined to suffer here¡­. for eternity?...."


    Tears of blood started to flow from the eyes of the twins. They have been trying to escape this soul-tearing pain for centuries, and there''s no end in sight to this at all.


    Their lives have been filled with suffering the worst punishment for several centuries; even the most firm mind will not be able to stay sane in such a situation.


    As a matter of fact, these twins are so helpless that they can''t even escape this pain by going insane.


    This ''Law'' of ''Regeneration'' has manifested in their very existence; it regenerates their ''Will'' and prevents them from going insane.


    Which means they are forced to suffer this torture while being perfectly awake and fine. This is so cruel that even Jareth couldn''t help but frown deeply at this thought.


    Just when the twins were weeping tears of blood in the depths of despair, Jareth said,


    "Actually, I think I know a way¡­. But I would need a lot of time for that¡­"


    ''I don''t have a way to save them, but I can''t let them lose hope, Only when you have hope can you make it past hard times¡­ Even if this hope is false, it''s still hope after all...''


    Jareth has played this game till the end, but he has never seen anyone or any item that was capable of severing the very ''Laws'' of this world.


    This is like saying that you are literally severing the very rules that make everything exist, and such a thing is impossible to pull off for even a grade 1 mage.


    In the game, players battle the incarnations of the demon god, but there are no plots that allow them to battle the demon god''s actual body, leaving Jareth unaware of the demon god''s full capabilities.


    ''But I am sure of one thing: that demon god also can''t interfere with the rules of the world; otherwise, it wouldn''t have needed to use humans to destroy the seal¡­ He could have just destroyed it by interfering with the laws of the world¡­.''


    ''In other words, to rescue these twins, you need something that is beyond the level of even those demon gods!''


    Thinking about all this, Jareth felt that his decision to agree to help was a bad idea. He clearly doesn''t have any clues about how to finish this random quest he has taken.


    And this quest seems to have no end.


    ¡­


    The twins smiled at Jareth and said,


    "We have waited for a long time; we can surely wait for a few more years. We hope you can help us find the solution for this problem¡­ We are ready to wait for as long as you want..."


    "Even if centuries go by, we will wait for your return¡­"


    Jareth felt guilty about lying to them after hearing those words, but he had no other choice; he had to lie to them to make them regain hope.


    "Yeah, I will do my best to look for the solution; wait for me¡­"


    Jareth sighed and took one last glance before leaving.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    He made a hole in the ceiling with his mana beam and flew upward.


    After a few minutes of blasting mana beams, he reached the bottom of the ocean, and he immediately cast a basic mana seal to close the hole so that water wouldn''t go down.


    Then he flew into the sky and made a promise to himself in his mind.


    ''I will definitely return here again one day once I have the ability to rescue those two innocent souls¡­.''


    It''s not that Jareth is trying to be good; he''s just trying to give ''salvation and mercy'' to those two souls that were punished unjustly.

 Chapter 100 You are no saint either...

    Port City, Urona, Mid-Night.Hotel Night Camper, Rooftop.


    "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"


    Shin stopped looking at the moon on the horizon and glanced in the direction of the voice, and sure enough, Jareth was standing there, leaning his back against the wall.


    "Oh, you are back? It''s been three days since you disappeared all of a sudden¡­"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Jareth was quite surprised in his mind; he had been in a dark underground cave, so he didn''t see the sun rise and set.


    Moreover, he was so engrossed in examining the details in the dungeon that he neglected to check his smartphone, leaving him unaware of the passing of time.


    "Yeah, I was enjoying the vacation in the mountains¡­ I went there to pass time while hiking¡­"


    "What about you? What''ve you been doing?"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Shin shook his head and said in a calm voice,


    "Nothing much; I have just been wandering around in the city¡­ I was hoping to come here with my wife; without her, I don''t feel so happy at all¡­ This trip seems bland to me¡­"


    Shin gazed at the moon and spoke.


    "You know¡­ I promised to give her all the happiness I could, and here I am now, making her angry at me¡­ Sigh, I am such a horrible man¡­"


    Hearing those words of self-loathing, Jareth smirked a bit and said,


    "hoh, so you are self-aware after all! Good! Knowing your own mistakes is the first step to improvement¡­."


    Blood veins popped up on Shin''s forehead after hearing Jareth''s merciless insults.


    "Tch! Can you be a bit serious sometimes, bruh!? I am talking about the real difficulties of my life here!"


    Jareth suddenly had the urge to say, S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Double those difficulties and give them to the next person!''


    But he refrained from saying it, as it would undoubtedly enrage Shin.


    "I am always serious, though¡­ By the way, how''s the training session going?"


    Shin ignored the fact that Jareth was deliberately changing topics and decided to go with the flow.


    "Well, I only checked on them today in the evening; they were getting swept away by massive sea waves..."


    "Also, there were several earthquakes all of a sudden¡­ All in all, the sea was quite restless today, so the students were really having a lot of difficulties in training¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth''s facial expression remained the same, but he felt guilty in his mind.


    ''Ugh, those earthquakes and sea waves were likely created by the massive mana bomb bombardments I did in the underground dungeon¡­''


    Shin suddenly narrowed his eyes and said in a quiet voice,


    "By the way¡­ let me tell you a secret¡­ Gazid and Yoseh¡­ those two are secretly dating!!"


    "They always fight with each other in front of us, but I saw them eating happily with each other in an ice cream caf¨¦!!"


    "I was so shocked that I nearly got caught peeping at them¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "What''s so surprising about this¡­ Yoseh has been helping Gazid avoid going to jail for his illegal monster experiments; the whole university knows that there''s something going on between them¡­"


    Except for Jareth and Thomas, most of the professors are either married or are dating.


    Even Aria has a fianc¨¦, so she isn''t worried about marriage either.


    Thomas has dedicated his life to his work, so he likely won''t marry so soon until he finds the right person, and Jareth is totally devoid of social life.


    He doesn''t have any friends; he has no connections in high-ranking people''s social circles; and he has no motivation for marriage either.


    ''I left my heart with Shiina in the previous world; I don''t think I will be able to marry anyone else now¡­''


    (Keep in mind that he doesn''t know that Shiina has died; he thinks she''s still alive¡­)


    Seeing that Jareth wasn''t interested in the topic of Gazid and Yoseh, Shin started talking about something else.


    "I also saw Thomas trying to hold cats in a cat caf¨¦, but it turns out he''s bad with animals, and they run away from him like plague¡­ It was quite hilarious to watch that sad expression on his face¡­ haha¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and waved his hand towards the ground.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    A wending machine flew up from the ground, and he put a coin in it to get a juice can for himself.


    Once he was done, he placed the wending machine back at its original location on the side of the road.


    Ever since he has learned magic, he has become quite lazy in these aspects, and nowadays he does everything with magic.


    He didn''t want to go down to grab a juice can, so he made the whole wending machine float in the sky.


    He glanced at the starry sky and sipped the juice before saying,


    "In other words, you have been stalking everyone all this while¡­. You are putting assassins to shame¡­"


    Shin ignored the whole process of Jareth making the wending machine float and replied in a proud voice,


    "Hehe, this is not stalking; this is called keeping a careful eye on your coworkers¡­ I was doing that so that I could help them anytime if they got into trouble!"


    Jareth sighed at those words and said,


    "Does being away from your wife make you lose brain cells or something? You certainly are behaving more weirdly than usual¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    A gigantic magic circle formed in the air and fired a concentrated mana beam at Shin in an instant.


    The beam was so quick that it didn''t give the other party a single second to even move before it evaporated his whole body into dust.


    *Clap!**Clap!*


    "I was expecting that you would take some time to figure it out, but you have really surprised me, Jareth Blaze, or should I call you Jareth Ayad now?"


    A dark shadow emerged nearby, and Rahnan''s familiar face appeared in Jareth''s view.


    But Jareth wasn''t surprised at all. He sighed and said,


    "Why were you trying to imitate that brain-dead guy? Although he is a dumb guy, he won''t stalk others like that¡­ It was such an obvious flaw that even a random person could have seen it¡­"


    Although the real reason Jareth noticed something amiss was due to Mana''s singularity,


    He still said that he found out about it due to his way of talking, as he didn''t want to reveal his mana singularity''s power to Rahnan.


    Jareth came flying from the sea, and he had already noticed the presence of miasma near the hotel, so he didn''t directly go to his room to sleep but searched for the source of miasma.


    And sure enough, Rahnan was standing on the rooftop, disguising himself as Shin.


    He had been stalking all of the professors without their knowledge all this time, so what he said was all true.


    Jareth narrowed his eyes and sipped the juice before saying,


    "What are you planning now? Did you not learn anything after getting defeated once?"


    Rahnan smiled creepily at Jareth''s words and said,


    "Hehe, don''t underestimate me¡­ I have already dug out a lot of information about you and all of your teammates¡­"


    "Thomas, Shin, Gazid, Yoseh, other professors, and all the students¡ªI have been looking into their backgrounds and strengths one by one¡­"


    Rahnan walked over to Jareth''s side without any worries on his face and said, with a smile,


    "Out of all of them, only you seem to be the strongest, so I came here to check if you really have what it takes to challenge me¡­ and sure enough, you really are extraordinary¡­"


    "You must have been the main reason why my previous plan failed, right?"


    Rahnan is not a fool; he obviously has his own plans, He won''t just sit back and watch Jareth and others walk away unscathed after failing his plan.


    He has already begun to gather information about Jareth and others, ensuring that his next attacks will more effectively counter Jareth and the others.


    The only reason Rahnan''s previous plan failed was because Jareth unexpectedly turned things upside down, and Rahnan lacked the necessary countermeasures due to a lack of information.


    But now things are different.


    Rahnan stretched out his hand towards Jareth and said,


    "I saw you going in the mountains and didn''t try to track you down on purpose; after all, you are good at mana detection; you could sense it if I got too close¡­"


    "So, in your absence, I just went ahead and took a look at all of your teammates. It won''t be long before I kill you and everyone related to you, Jareth¡­"


    "I will make you regret interfering with my plans¡­"


    Jareth was totally unamused by that empty threat.


    "Are you trying to threaten me with the lives of Shin and the others?..."


    Jareth waved his hand and said,


    "Don''t bother; I don''t even care about their lives and deaths; it''s useless to make me sway with that empty threat¡­ Try something else, perhaps¡­"


    Rahnan went silent for a moment after hearing those words.


    Originally, he was going to make a plan to hurt everyone around Jareth to make him weak, but now he has decided to discard this plan.


    Rahnan''s eyes narrowed as he observed Jareth''s casual expression.


    ''This guy¡­ he''s a ruthless and cold-blooded murderer; his nonchalant behavior means that he won''t care one bit about the lives and deaths of his compatriots¡­''


    ''I will need to change my plan a bit, I guess¡­''


    Rahnan glanced into Jareth''s eyes and said,


    "You know what? I can sense how tainted someone''s soul is¡­ And believe me, you have one of the most tainted souls that I have ever seen¡­ You are the same as me, Jareth; you are a cold-blooded murderer¡­"


    "How about you join my side? We can actually work together. After all, we are of the same kind from the heart... you are no saint either, so stop pretending to be one, Jareth Ayad¡­"


    After saying that, Rahnan''s shadow disappeared into nothingness once again, and the rooftop went silent in an instant, leaving Jareth alone standing behind.


    ''The night sky was always meant to be dark¡­ You were the one who mistook me for a saint, not me¡­''

 Chapter 101 Upcoming Challenges... (End of Volume-1.)

    Port City Urona, Airport."Ugh, why does time pass so fast when you are on trips and vacations! I swear, time passes very slowly when we are working at the job¡­ sigh~ I wanted to relax a bit more¡­"


    While walking towards the plane, Shin complained loudly in an aggrieved tone.


    He didn''t want to go home so early; not only is a lot of work waiting for him, he even has to go and make his wife forgive him for what he did.


    All these problems are waiting for him once he goes back, so he wants to spend some more time in a relaxed place.


    Hearing Shin''s aggrieved voice, Thomas shook his head and said,


    "Nope, we have already wasted a lot of time here; moreover, the university is currently behind schedule too; a lot of work awaits us¡­ We gotta hurry now¡­"


    First, the university was half destroyed by Abella, and then it took a long time to get it repaired. Then they had to wait for the angry crowd to leave, and then the vacation trip came.


    This implies that the students haven''t been able to study for a considerable amount of time because of these unforeseen events.


    Once they go back, a ton of homework is waiting for the students. Moreover, mid-term exams are not too far away either!


    Soon, the students will be so overwhelmed with studies that they won''t even have time to breathe!


    All students knew this, due to which they were all in a depressed mood right now.


    Although they got the chance to enjoy the beach, all they did was train for the whole day.


    Aria kept pushing them with the other teachers, and then they had to face those massive sea waves too.


    All in all, Aria''s training plan had backfired due to those sea waves causing a lot of resentment in the students''s hearts.


    She has already been labeled as a big trouble magnet by everyone; no one dares ask her for ideas now.


    The only person who was having a good time was obviously Jareth himself.


    He left his position as a professor and became a vice principal, so not only does he not have to worry about teaching the students, he doesn''t need to bother himself with any of the paperwork.


    He can sit down and enjoy the salary for free without doing anything at all.


    ''Well, I can still continue to teach them magic theories for the time being, just to pass time.''


    Jareth glanced at the notification panel with an amused look.


    [Ding! You conquered the underground dungeon of a forgotten cult!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 CP!]


    ''I destroyed the whole entrance to that dungeon, and it only affected the main scenario so little? Sigh, it must be because that dungeon wasn''t too relevant to the main story¡­''


    The protagonist only goes there to get experience and level up, so the relevance of that dungeon to the main story is very small.


    That''s why Jareth only received such a small reward.


    ''Maybe I will get more credit points once I help those twins¡­''


    Although it was impossible to do at the moment, it didn''t mean that Jareth would not have any solutions in the future.


    He might find something that works.


    After all, this is a real world now; this world is not bound by the constraints of the game, and it has many areas that were not on the game map.


    If Jareth explores these areas, he may discover something new.


    Aside from this, Jareth now has a lot of things to do. He has to analyze that magic seal on the principal''s room, and he also has to find clues about the assassination organization that he needs to destroy.


    Although he''s free from most of his work, he still has a lot on his plate.


    Moreover, he didn''t even enjoy the vacation at all; he was in the dungeon for three days, and the rest of the time he spent was spent analyzing the seal.


    For him, these few days were not much different than others, except he got to enjoy luxurious sea food.


    ''Maybe I should hire some popular chefs¡­ I have the money, so why don''t you enjoy it?'' S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth has recovered his taste buds with the help of ''Active Heal'', and now he can enjoy the delicacies of this world without any problem.


    ''Food is one of the best ways to relieve stress after all...''


    While contemplating his future plans, Jareth followed the group into the plane and returned to the capital without any delays.


    ¡­


    An underground church, A hidden room.


    Rahnan glanced at all the photos and clues on the walls and smiled sinisterly.


    "A few more clues, and I will have all the information I need¡­"


    Those photos and information pasted on the walls were obviously all about the university''s professors and students.


    By now, Rahnan has collected so much information that he can already imitate the general way of talking and behaving of each and every professor.


    If Jareth didn''t have the ''Mana Singularity'', he wouldn''t have been able to tell if it was Rahnan or the real Shin.


    ''Although all these might not work on that troublesome guy, they will certainly work on the others¡­''


    Rahnan has figured out that imitating others won''t work in front of Jareth, but the others are not as strong as him.


    They can''t tell Rahnan apart from the real person that he imitates, which means he can create a lot of chaos in the name of someone else.


    A creepy smirk appeared on Rahnan''s face while he was thinking about it.


    ''Why do you think I was able to deceive Abella? Of course it was because I had a lot of information about her way of thinking and her habits¡­''


    To Rahnan, all the members of the cult are just disposable pawns; he can sacrifice any of them for the sake of his goals.


    And with the amount of power that the demon god has bestowed upon him, he can easily create chaos at a massive level. Experience exclusive tales on empire


    ''If I can''t destroy society with brute force, I will destroy it from within¡­''


    Rahnan''s previous plan was to summon the demon god''s incarnation and let it destroy the whole human empire with brute force.


    But now that it has failed, he has decided to take another path.


    He will imitate others and instigate chaos within the empire, ultimately leading to the collapse of the entire society.


    No matter if it''s Shin, Thomas, or others, they are all grade 2 mages. They have followed a long path of selfish goals and deceit to reach their realm by grabbing resources and doing a lot of bad things.


    Everyone in the world has a flaw or two, and Rahnan knows how to exploit these flaws to the extreme.


    He has collected a lot of personal information about all the professors, and he can use this information to shake the whole society, just like he did with Nathan.


    ''Not a single person in the world is a saint; everyone has made some mistakes in their life, so I refuse to believe that I can''t find ways to target them with these mistakes¡­''


    Rahnan has started to think of himself as the supreme law.


    He believes that the entire world is rife with sin and blasphemy, and the only way to eradicate all these sins is by destroying everything.


    ''Only after a thorough destruction can you create a new beginning¡­ I will create a new world order! I will create a world where everyone is pure and has no sins!''


    As he was too busy thinking of destroying the world, Rahnan had forgotten one important thing.


    The human race exists in itself because of flaws.


    Without ''flaws'', no one will have the motivation to progress. People work hard to reduce the flaws in their lives.


    May it be a lack of money, health, or something else¡­ These flaws are what motivate someone to work towards a better future.


    If you view these flaws as sin and eliminate them, the human race will vanish, leaving behind a group of mindless, unmotivated individuals who exist only to die.


    The people will lose their ambitions, believing themselves to be perfect; progress will halt, and eventually, the entire human race will slowly but surely go extinct.


    In other words, humans can''t exist without the concept of sin and flaw; this is the way of the world, and Rahnan wants to interfere with this.


    To him, the lives of others don''t matter much at all; he can sacrifice any number of people for his goals.


    Rahnan glanced at Jareth''s picture on a nearby wall, and a creepy smile appeared on his face.


    ''Soon I will send my minions to the seal¡­ Once the seal gets destroyed, my benevolent god will descend on this world, and he will save the world from its sins¡­''


    ''The humanity will walk on a pure path, completely devoid of sin¡­ and the like of you will be the first to revive the retribution for your sins¡­ Jareth Ayad!!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    And with this chapter, the first volume ends!


    We have reached a wonderful milestone! Next, we go to volume 2 and will explore more mysteries in this world.


    I appreciate all of the support and love that you guys have shown for my novel, and I hope that you will continue to do so.


    By the way, this novel is based in the same world/universe as my other novel, ''Reborn as an extra'', so try that one out too if you want a more light-hearted one.


    You have read a whole volume now, so don''t forget to leave a review about the novel if you haven''t done it yet; it helps me improve.


    Thanks for reading.

 Chapter 102 Studying together... Part-1.

    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University, Boy''s Dormitory.Mark''s dorm room.


    "Wake up, sleeping prince! Your princess is in trouble!"


    Mark lazily opened his eyes at Risa''s panicked voice, rubbed his eyes, and inquired.


    "Er¡­ What''s going on? Why are you in my room?"


    Risa ignored Mark''s words; she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the living room.


    "Forget about that! Tomorrow is our first midterm exam!"


    A look of confusion appeared on Mark''s face. He yawned and asked,


    "Yeah¡­ So, how about it? I have already studied the whole year''s worth of syllabus three times by now. Let me sleep¡­ yawn~"


    Stay connected via empire


    Hearing those words, Risa was shocked. She opened her mouth in shock, as if her jaw were about to fall to the ground.


    "Y-you¡­ You already studied everything for this whole year!?"


    Mark nodded his head at Risa''s question and said,


    "Well, studying things aside from magic feels very boring and useless to me¡­"


    "So, I just power through them in the first few months of the year, and then I focus my whole attention on training for the rest of the year¡­."


    Mark is that one top guy in the class who has already read through the entire syllabus three times while you haven''t yet opened the first page of your book.


    Comparing yourself to him will make you feel the difference between a true genius and a lazy bum with no future ahead.


    Mark''s future is so bright that it can even lighten up a dark and depressed life.


    Mark is so obsessed with improving his magic and knowledge that he hasn''t touched grass for years!


    If not for the fact that Risa drags him everywhere with her, he might not even see the sun for months, except for when going to classes.


    *Yawnn~*


    "ugh¡­ It seems I trained a bit too much last night¡­ I feel sleepy¡­"


    While saying that, Mark laid down on the couch and nearly fell asleep again, but then he glanced at Risa and asked,


    "By the way, what are you doing here¡­ wait! How did you get into the boys dormitory!? And how did you open the lock on the door!?"


    Hearing Mark''s surprised voice, Risa pointed to the nearby window,


    "I saw that the window was open, so I jumped in tee-hee~"


    Mark rubbed his temples and said,


    "Don''t ''tee-hee'' me! If a professor finds out about you sneaking in here, you will be punished!"


    Risa simply shrugged her shoulders in response to those words,


    "No worries! We are married!"


    Mark was so speechless that he had no words left to say; he didn''t even bother arguing with her anymore.


    "Sigh¡­ So, what do you want? Why are you here so early in the morning?"


    Hearing Mark''s question, Risa scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment and said in a hesitant tone,


    "Er, the thing is¡­ I was so busy reading those monster anatomy and torcher books written by Professor Gazid that I forgot to study other subjects. uh, so¡­ I haven''t studied at all¡­"


    Mark was so shocked by her words that his eyes opened wide, and his sleepiness immediately disappeared.


    As Mark is a topper who studies hard and has never known what ''Slacking off'' means, it''s really quite shocking for him to hear that someone didn''t even study one bit.


    If he doesn''t study, he starts to get anxiety attacks and thinks that all of his family members and the teachers will look at him with disappointed eyes.


    "What!? You didn''t even study ''Magic Theories'' either!? D*mn! Professor Jareth is going to blast you off from the face of Earth with his fire magic!!"


    Magic Theory is Jareth''s subject, and Risa hasn''t studied it at all, which means she will get low marks in it and Jareth will get angry at her.


    Risa looked at Mark with a guilty conscience and pleaded for help.


    "Uh¡­ You are good at it, so I was hoping you could help me get passing marks¡­ Just teach me some important questions; I should be able to barely pass the exams that way¡­"


    Mark shook his head and sighed in defeat.


    He was free anyway, and it would be troublesome if Risa failed the exams; she might have to repeat the whole semester if she fails all exams, which will be quite bad.


    "Okay, let me think of something¡­"


    Just as Mark was contemplating where to begin, Risa abruptly spoke.


    "By the way¡­ Are you trying to tempt me, or something? Why is your shirt unbuttoned?"


    Mark glanced down with a confused look and noticed that his muscles and abs were on full display as his shirt''s button likely got unbuttoned while sleeping. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He''s quite a restless sleeper, so things like this happen.


    "Er¡­ I will go change¡­ You, get the books ready¡­"


    Risa clicked her tongue and said,


    "Tch! I thought you were going to invite me to the shower! What a shame~"


    Mark blushed slightly at her words and spoke angrily.


    "Go away! You lazy bum! Study properly! Hmph¡­"


    Risa stopped teasing Mark as he went to the bathroom to change his clothes.


    She brought out the books from her space ring and placed them on the table, then she went to the kitchen and brewed coffee for both of them.


    She may not be good at other things, but she is quite good at it when it comes to making coffee and tea.


    As an assassin, she learned hundreds of methods to poison people via drinks, so she has practiced the art of making coffee and tea.


    As long as the person is not grade-3 or higher, she can easily poison them to death.


    Aside from her coffee and tea-making skills, she''s also good at making poison from household objects.


    And due to her special physique, she herself is immune to poison of a lower or similar grade as hers.


    In other words, she can easily put poison in both coffee cups without worrying about which one the target will take.


    Of course, she would not do something like that to Mark. Poison making and learning about torture is just a hobby for her; that''s not something she would use on her family.


    She might be quite messed up in her head, but she''s not that far gone yet.


    While waiting for Mark to come back, Risa smiled and shouted.


    "Can I peek for a second?"


    Mark''s panicked voice came from the bathroom.


    "Of course not! Stop behaving like a perverted old man!?"


    Risa smiled mischievously at his words and stopped teasing him further, fearing that he might really get angry at her.

 Chapter 103 Studying Together... Part-2.

    A hidden basement at the university."Cough! Cough! No matter how many times I come here, this place always smells so horrible! Can''t you spray some room freshener here!?"


    Yoseh glared at Gazid with a look of irritation in her eyes.


    Gazid sighed at her words, replying in a sad tone.


    "What are you talking about? This is the smell of invention! The smell of new possibilities-"


    Before Gazid could say anything further, Yoseh interjected.


    "Stop, stop! I don''t want to hear about your weird and horrific experiments¡­ Just tell me what you need me to do here¡­"


    Yoseh brought out a cute mask with bunnies printed on it and put it on her face; she really didn''t want to stay in this place for one extra second. Explore more stories at empire


    If not for Gazid, who asked her to help out in an experiment, she wouldn''t have come here at all.


    Seeing that Yoseh was getting irritated, Gazid scratched the back of his head and led the way.


    They both arrived near a small water tank made up of mana-enhanced glass.


    A small blob of flesh and veins was floating in the water with an eerie, dark aura around it.


    Gazid placed his glasses over his eyes and spoke.


    "I got some of the blood samples and broken tissues from Abella the nightmare when she fought with Principal Nathan¡­"


    "I am trying to experiment on these tissues and figure out what the major differences are between the bodies of a grade-2 and a grade-1 mage¡­"


    "Principal Nathan didn''t suffer any injuries, so I don''t have any samples related to him¡­ but this one sample is also good enough¡­"


    Upon hearing Gazid''s words, Yoseh glanced at the blob of flesh and inquired, sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "So¡­ You are going to write a book with the results you may find from this? That might actually benefit a lot of mages¡­"


    Reaching grade 1 is the dream of all mages; everyone wants the big lifespan and the amazing power they hold in their body.


    However, talent is required to achieve that level of power.


    Gazid and Yoseh both know that they likely can''t reach the next realm in their whole lives as they have reached a bottleneck due to their talent.


    But if Gazid''s research yields some ground-breaking findings, it might make it easier for less skilled mages like them to advance to the next realm.


    "So, what do you want me to do exactly?"


    Hearing Yoseh''s question, Gazid replied,


    "You are good at water magic; I want you to study the water and other fluid compositions of these tissues¡­ also, and you would need to regulate them with highly concentrated water to keep them from dying¡­"


    Yoseh frowned at those words and inquired.


    "Can''t you do that with some simple lab equipment? What''s the big deal in it?"


    Gazid smiled at Yoseh''s words and glanced at the blob of flesh before saying,


    "This thing is no ordinary blob of flesh¡­ It''s a part of a grade 1 mage''s body; ordinary equipment can''t pass through it as it''s corrupted heavily with miasma¡­"


    "I need a skilled mage to help me out in studying it¡­ I will even list your name as a co-author when I publish my results¡­ So what do you say?"


    Yoseh contemplated the pros and cons in her mind for a moment and then agreed to Gazid''s words.


    "I am in¡­ Just don''t make me overwork; I will take a lot of naps as payment¡­"


    Gazid nodded his head at those words, then agreed.


    "Of course, my lady, do as you wish!"


    ¡­


    Principal''s office.


    "This barrier is really very complicated, but it''s quite interesting too... Where did you even find this?"


    Thomas stared at the large magic circle floating in mid-air and sipped coffee as he spoke.


    Hearing Thomas''s question, Jareth shook his head and said,


    "I went to some ruin in the past. I wanted to solve this thing, but I didn''t have the time for it¡­ So it''s been collecting dust all along¡­"


    Originally, Jareth was going to analyze the whole mana barrier that Nathan had placed on the principle office, but when he reached a particular part of the seal, he felt like he was out of ideas.


    It''s been three months since they came back from the port city of Urona, and Jareth has been training and analyzing this mana barrier for a long time now.


    Not only has he learned a lot of new things, but he has already analyzed the entire mana barrier.


    However, only this small part of the whole barrier is still giving him trouble.


    Jareth figured out that if he kept trying to forcefully analyze this small portion, it might take him another three months.


    But Jareth doesn''t want to waste so much time on this magic barrier.


    Thus, he decided to show this small portion of the magic barrier to Thomas. He didn''t'' show the whole barrier, so there was no need to worry that Thomas would find something amiss.


    "You are the only person I know who has amazing knowledge of barrier magic, so I thought of asking you about it¡­"


    When it comes to barrier-type magic spells, Thomas is second only to Nathan.


    He was the first to figure out the nature of the magic circle on the altar in Artavia, which shows that he is beneficial with magic circles and barriers.


    "So, what do you say? Does it seem breakable or not?"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s question, Thomas sipped the coffee and spoke.


    "Well, this is the first time I am seeing it in person, but this one surely is part of a very strong magic barrier¡­ I have only seen it in books before, and even I am not sure if I can create this myself or not¡­"


    Thomas narrowed his eyes and said,


    "Well, if it were the whole thing, then I would not have been able to do anything, but this is just a small part of the whole magic barrier, so I think I can find some quick solution for it¡­"


    Thomas''s interest was piqued; he has liked barrier magic a lot, and this one is like a gem in front of his eyes.


    Even the usually calm and collected Thomas couldn''t help but get excited at the thought of analyzing this magic circle.


    Jareth also nodded his head at Thomas''s words and said,


    "Well, if you think so, then we can study together on this¡­ Solving it may also benefit you in improving your mana control¡­"


    Thomas nodded his head at Jareth''s words and said with a smile,


    "Yeah, it''s rare to see such an amazing artwork; I need to work on it with great care¡­"

 Chapter 104 Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-1

    Caf¨¦ Spoken Rhyme."Say aahh~"


    Allen opened his mouth, and Airin fed him a spoonful of ice cream with a happy smile on her face.


    Mia, who was sitting on the opposite seat, felt so jealous that she nearly broke the spoon in her hands, while Aiza''s expressions remained as calm as always, but even her eyes seemed to be trembling a bit.


    "You too¡­ are really close, huh¡­"


    Hearing Aiza''s words, Allen nodded his head. He took a spoonful of ice cream and gave it to Airin, who blushed slightly yet still ate it with a hesitant look on her face.


    "We are childhood friends after all; we went to the same kindergarten and used to play in the same park¡­"


    Allen glanced at the three beauties around him, and he felt quite satisfied in his mind. (By the way, Mia is not blood related to him¡­ she''s adopted¡­)


    ''Three beautiful maidens accompany you wherever you go¡­ Ah, this is life~ this is the real paradise~''


    Although Allen himself doesn''t have any unique traits in this personality and is just a boring ordinary guy, his luck in everything, including love, has always been good.


    Regardless of the woman he attempts to flirt with, she ultimately falls deeply in love with him.


    Airin is Professor Aria''s younger sister, and she is one of the best potion makers in the whole empire. Moreover, their family has a lot of money.


    In other words, Allen can just ask Airin for any kind of potion he wants for his training, and he will get it easily.


    Then there''s Mia, who can always help him spar and acts like his practice dummy, so he can train whenever he wants.


    And finally, there''s Aiza; she''s basically the ''muscle mommy'' he rizzed with his ''infinite rizz'' ability, and she helps him in both his studies and magic.


    In other words, Allen is living the life of a satisfied harem protagonist who gets everything served right onto his plate without doing anything at all.


    He was born with the talent to use any and every element, and he has a bright future ahead. He can choose any path he wants to and become as strong as he wants to.


    With his amazing ''Rizzing'' ability, he can create many allies while being overpowered himself.


    This is the horror of a protagonist who has insane luck and is blessed by the divine will. Allen was born to rule this world as the strongest person.


    Currently, he has already reached the peak of grade 5, and even though Jareth has stolen a lot of his opportunities, his improvement speed has barely even slowed down.


    Jareth''s various stealing activities have had minimal effect on him.


    "By the way, have you studied properly for these exams? I think you have been too busy messing around with Airin lately¡­"


    Hearing that question, Allen scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "No problems¡­ I have studied enough to at least pass the tests~ Also, if things go south, I will copy from Airin''s answers; her seat is right in front of me!"


    Aiza shook her head at those words and got up to leave, S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Well, I wish you good luck then¡­ I need to go prepare for exams, so I shall leave now. Let''s meet some other day¡­"


    Aiza waved goodbye to the three and left the caf¨¦ with the usual stern look on her face.


    Allen glanced at Aiza''s leaving back and thought to himself,


    ''hoh.. it seems my strategy has started to work; she got jealous of Airin flirting with me¡­ Soon, I will capture your heart too, Aiza Blaze!'' Explore more stories at empire


    ''And then all the resources of the Blaze family will be mine, hehe¡­ As expected, no woman can resist my charm¡­ I am the most handsome man in the world after all.''


    Living like a prince for his whole life, Allen has already become infatuated with money and power.


    He has started to strategize on how to earn the favor of rich women and earn loads of money in one go.


    In the game world, his character never spoke at all because he lacked dialogue; instead, the heroines and other characters spoke for him.


    The game developers have not confirmed his personality.


    But when we take the fact that in the game ''he rizzed up many women'' into consideration, it was obvious that Allen was a scumbag type character from the start.


    From the start of the game, the players were just playing the role of a scumbag protagonist who isn''t satisfied with one woman and asks them for favors over and over.


    Jareth only focused on Allen for the first few days after his arrival in this world.


    But then he stopped bothering with the protagonist, coming to the conclusion that the protagonist is nothing more than a roadside hooligan glorified by heavenly luck.


    Allen glanced at Mia and said,


    "Hey, I recently learned a new spell from Aiza; let''s practice later¡­ By the way, Airin, when will the mediation-amplifying potion be available¡­ I have been waiting for it~"


    Mia nodded her head in agreement and continued to eat her ice cream with a jealous look on her face.


    On the other hand, Airin smiled and said,


    "Sister said that she will make five of them for me in a few days; I will give you half of them later!"


    Allen nodded his head in satisfaction at those words and said,


    "Okay, take your time; I will train my ''light magic spells'' for the time being¡­"


    All of a sudden, Allen seemed to have thought of something, and he glanced at Mia and asked in a curious tone,


    "By the way, have you investigated anything about that transfer student, named Risa? It''s been a while since she came; you should have figured out something at least, right?"


    "Tell me¡­"


    While saying those words, Allen thought to himself,


    ''My team already has a healer, a shield, and a damage dealer; now I just need an assassin to do the scouting work for me¡­ and then I can just sit back and enjoy myself while my teammates do the work for me¡­''


    ''How awesome would that be¡­''


    Allen has already started to dream about his peaceful and happy life. He''s already imagining the day when his maids will feed him grapes while his teammates will hunt dragons for him.


    Then he would just wave his hand and say some encouraging words as their reward.


    Allen''s goal is to make an unbeatable harem that will do all the bidding for him and that he will enjoy happily.


    Allen in the game was shown as a dense and idiotic guy, but in this cursed world, even the savior of the world seems to have become corrupted. How ironic...

 Chapter 105 Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-2.

    "So, tell me about her¡­"At Allen''s request, Mia stopped eating the ice cream and began to tell him what Allen wanted to know.


    "That girl, Risa¡­ she''s crazy¡­ No, I would say, she definitely has some screws loose in her head¡­"


    Mia''s facial expressions turned complicated while talking,


    "Just the other day¡­ she was reading a book on ''How to make a soup out of a human''s intestines while keeping the person alive''¡­ That book has such horrible images in it that I still get nightmares remembering it¡­"


    "The man in the picture was screaming at the top of his lungs while they were boiling his innards right in front of him¡­ It was horrible to look at¡­ ugh.."


    Hearing Mia''s words, Airin trembled in fear while clutching the hem of Allen''s sleeves tightly.


    She has a weak heart, and she gets scared easily; hearing about torture makes her frightened out of her wits.


    Even Allen frowned deeply after hearing those words; he knew that Mia wouldn''t lie to him, which means Risa indeed reads such crazy books.


    "Not only that, I happened to sneak a peek in her student locker; it was filled with similar book¡­ All were about torture, poisoning, and horrible things¡­"


    "She''s definitely a psychopath! Furthermore, her engagement to Mark is a confirmed fact! No one in the class dares talk badly about her¡­"


    "You should stay away from that crazy woman, Allen. I have heard rumors that she is from a very shady household¡­"


    At that moment, Airin also nodded her head and said,


    "Yeah, I have heard from my sister that the Shadow Fallen family is filled with weird people, and they are all doing shady stuff¡­ It''s better if we stay away from her¡­"


    Allen ignored Airin and Mia''s warning; what made him the most frustrated was the name ''Mark''.


    Mark considers Allen just another random hurdle on his way to the top of the world, but Allen sees him as a rival whom he must overcome.


    No one in their entire class is better than Allen, aside from Mark, in terms of looks and other things.


    Not only is Mark rich, as he comes from the royal family, he is also handsome and the strongest person in their class. Not even Aiza can hold a candle in front of him.


    Knowing that Mark has a girlfriend irritates Allen, as it presents a challenge to him.


    ''Is he trying to compete with me in terms of harem-making skills!? No! Only I will be the one to rule this world while others work for me!''


    Allen forgot about Risa as he concluded that she was too crazy for his liking, and he decided to find some other girl to ''rizz'' for the time being to increase his harem.


    A smirk appeared on his face as he thought to himself.


    ''Hmph, no matter how strong you become, Mark, without strong allies, you will always end up getting defeated by me¡­ I will overwhelm you with the power of friendship and love!''


    ¡­


    University''s main garden.


    Sitting on an empty bench under the shade of a giant tree, Aiza felt empty inside.


    Discover exclusive content at empire


    Just a few days ago, when she was enjoying her time with her friends Allen, Airin, and Mia, she got a phone call. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That phone call was from her personal maid back at home.


    She said that she was resigning.


    Aiza was so taken aback by her words that she didn''t know what to say for a few moments.


    Later, she learned everything from her maid.


    The main mansion of the Blaze family was destroyed, and everyone was killed three months ago.


    Then all the vassal families tried to loot the money, but they ended up going bankrupt because someone had already taken all of it and put a huge debt on them.


    Originally, they had been suppressing the news of the family being destroyed from reaching her ears so that she wouldn''t get to find out and seize the money, but now they have become victims of their own greed.


    The once-glorious Blaze family has now become nothing more than history.


    All of the maids and butlers that raised Aiza have resigned, and everything has disappeared.


    Aiza is not a fool; she can easily guess who would have done all that.


    ''I tried to warn them, but they didn''t listen¡­ I told my father that you need to stop getting on his nerves; see, this is the result¡­ sigh¡­''


    Since the day when Jareth told her in that dungeon that he would kill Kaiden, she knew that things would turn bad, and she wanted to ask her family members to apologize to Jareth.


    But in the end, what she feared indeed happened.


    Jareth destroyed the whole Blaze family and even went on to destroy the vassal families too.


    And even after all this, Aiza can only sit and watch.


    She has known about all the sins that her father committed against Jareth and his mother, so she can''t even blame him for what he did.


    Now all she can do is stay silent and mourn for her dead family members.


    Jareth has become a Grade 1 mage; trying to go against him now is just a pipe dream; even with her talent, she would need a whole decade or more to reach that level.


    And she has no motivation for revenge either, as she knows about her father''s sins.


    She once used to laugh at Jareth, who was living a lonely life outside the family, when her father told her made-up stories about him.


    And now, she has become the one who has to live a lonely life with no family whatsoever.


    ''Life is really strange¡­ Things can go from heaven to hell in just a matter of day¡­''


    Aiza glanced at the ATM card in her hand, then put it back in her space ring.


    This is the only asset she has left now.


    Her own bank account has a lot of money that she got over the years from gifts and other events in the family.


    Now only this money is left for her.


    Fortunately, she can still live in the dormitory for the next two and a half years.


    And by that time, she would have become a strong mage, and she could just buy a new house by conquering dungeons or something.


    Aside from her talent, she has no other pillars of support left for her. All she can do is work hard and try not to become like her father and mother, so that she never hurts others.


    This one event was able to change her whole thought process and show her the reality of this cruel world.


    ''No one cares about your life or death¡­ You need to make a path for yourself with your own efforts¡­''


    With a newfound determination, Aiza went back to training.

 Chapter 106 Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-3.

    Day of the first midterm exam.Allen woke up early in the morning, took a shower, appreciated his own handsome face in the mirror for half an hour, and then got ready to go to the exam hall.


    Just as he walked out of the boy''s dormitory, he found Airin standing there waiting for him.


    Allen walked over to her side without hesitation with a wide smile on his face.


    "Yo! You are quite early today, Airin¡­"


    Airin nodded her head in response to those words, speaking in a nervous tone.


    "Today is the first day of the exam, and the very first exam is ''Maths''! I am quite nervous, as I am not sure if I can get good marks¡­"


    Allen smiled a bit at her words and then shook his head.


    "No need to worry; I am sure you will do well. I trust you!"


    Airin blushed slightly and nodded her head. She clenched her fists and said in a determined tone,


    "Yes, I will do my best!"


    Allen nodded his head and replied with a smile.


    "That''s the spirit!"


    ''Yeah, write properly so that I can copy from you, hehe~''


    Allen didn''t study one bit for the exam; he actually bribed the professor who would be in charge of the exam with the potions that Airin gave him and made him agree to let him cheat from Airin''s answer sheets.


    Aside from the thirteen grade-2 professors who teach the class filled with the most talented students of the university, there are other assistant professors who teach the other class, which has less talented students.


    These assistant professors are all around grade 3; aside from teaching, they also do other tasks like working as the examiner during exams or in combat-related tests.


    Allen bribed the professor who would be in charge of their exam hall to make sure that he could cheat easily, and his strategy worked!


    With the heavenly luck supporting him, he easily got the ''okay'' sign from the professor after giving him a few potions that he got from Airin previously.


    Most grade-3 mages aren''t rich, and their job at the university isn''t permanent either. Only by reaching grade-2 can they make their job permanent and get a good amount of money.


    The potions given by Allen were helpful for that professor, so he didn''t hesitate to accept them.


    If such blatant bribery was done by any other student, they would have already been expelled, but Allen is different; he''s the protagonist after all, and he''s blessed with heavenly luck.


    No matter how negative his favorability falls with other characters in the game, he never gets expelled, and that is true here too.


    Expelling him is very difficult; after all, heavenly luck is on his side, and you won''t find any solid evidence against him.


    (Keep in mind, luck is the most broken stat to ever exist¡­)


    ¡­


    Exam Hall.


    Although Allen''s luck has always been good, that''s not true in all circumstances.


    For example, if someone deliberately messes up the plot that is set up specifically for the protagonist, even the heavenly luck can be weakened.


    Just when Allen was sitting in his seat with a happy and relaxed smile, Jareth walked into the exam hall, which nearly caused Allen''s eyes to pop out of their sockets. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''What the f*ck is that monster doing here!?''


    Allen has seen Jareth one-shot a wyvern and a cyclops with his own eyes; thus, he misunderstood Jareth as a through-and-through monster who can wipe anyone off the face of Earth.


    Allen''s back got covered in sweat, and he dared not look into Jareth''s cold and intimidating eyes for fear that he might notice something amiss.


    ''Yes, he''s the vice principal now; he must be doing just a casual patrol; no need to panic; he will go away soon¡­''


    Allen tried to calm down his beating heart, but Jareth''s next words crushed his final hope too.


    "The professor for this exam hall abruptly resigned yesterday; I will be on examiner duty for today¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, all of the students felt a strong sense of oppression.


    Although they couldn''t have cheated in front of a grade-3 mage either, now that a super strict person like Jareth is sitting in front of them, they can''t help but get nervous.


    The whole university knows how strict Jareth used to be as a professor, and now that he has become the vice principal, it would be even more difficult to stay calm in front of him.


    He holds too much power in his hands now; a slight mistake and he can get you expelled from the university.


    From the student''s point of view, it seemed like a bloodthirsty monster had walked into the class, and if they made the slightest mistake, they would get destroyed by him.


    Of course, only one student was not in the slightest afraid of Jareth''s presence.


    "Vice-principal! Can I cheat from Mark''s answer sheet?"


    Risa raised her hand and asked in an excited tone, causing all the students to stare at her smiling face with bewildered expressions.


    The others were hesitant to even move their heads to the side for a second in Jareth''s presence, but Risa, on the other hand, was bold enough to directly ask Jareth in the face if she could cheat or not.


    The other students thought that Jareth would definitely get angry at Risa this time, but surprisingly, he was very calm.


    "No, this is a test; if you cheat in it, will there still be any meaning to this test? It''s supposed to assess how much you have learned¡­"


    "Not only will it let you know about your own progress, it will also help the professors figure out how much improvement each one of you need..."


    "A test is a way to determine which of the students are behind on their studies¡­ So, write as much as you know; don''t try to cheat; cheating will get you nowhere."


    Risa sat down with a pout on her face and didn''t continue to ask any further questions. Mark was glaring at her fiercely.


    Jareth used his telekinesis to make the question papers float and placed them on the desks of all students.


    "Your time starts now¡­ Make sure to keep your heads straight¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, everyone got to work immediately.


    Then Jareth took his chair, went to the very back of the class, and sat down right beside Allen''s seat. Experience new stories on empire


    "Don''t mind me; keep doing your exam without any worries¡­"


    Allen was so shocked that his heart nearly jumped out of his mouth when Jareth sat right beside him and kept staring at his paper like a hungry hyena.


    Allen couldn''t help but curse his terrible luck in his mind that day.

 Chapter 107 Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-4.

    "Student Allen, is there a problem with the test? Why are you flailing your head so much?"Allen was taken aback by Jareth''s words and replied in a nervous tone,


    "Er... N-no, t-there''s no problem whatsoever! I-it''s just that my neck hurts a bit as I didn''t sleep in the proper posture yesterday..."


    Jareth ignored Allen''s dry laughter and nervous tone and said,


    "Well, keep concentrating on your test... Don''t glance around so much..."


    Allen nodded and lowered his head to hide the tensed expression on his face from Jareth''s eyes.


    ''D*mn it! It''s as if he has some personal beef with me! He''s targeting me on purpose! He''s not even looking at other students if they are cheating or not... ugh...''


    Allen couldn''t help but lament in his heart at how unfairly he was being treated.


    But what he didn''t know was that Jareth wasn''t really doing it all on purpose; he just wanted to farm some ''Credit Points'' by messing up with Allen''s plot, and that''s why he was preventing him from cheating on the test.


    In the game, the protagonist cheats in the exam by bribing the professor in a hidden quest; this is not really a famous quest, so a few people have done it.


    But Jareth, being a veteran player, knows all about this.


    He was originally planning to catch the professor who took the bribe red-handed, but that guy literally just ran off with the potions after submitting his resignation letter.


    It seems he likely knew that Jareth must have sensed his sneaky activities with his mana detection.


    That guy was a veteran grade-3 mage; he wasn''t a fool; he likely knew that a grade-1 mage''s magic detection can easily sense anything wrong happening in the university, and Jareth must have sensed Allen bribing him.


    But he still didn''t want to let those potions go, so he gathered his courage and ran away with them.


    He was already past 50 years of age, and he wanted to advance to grade 2 at any cost, so he risked all and ran away with those potions in the hope that he may be able to break through to the next realm with those potions.


    This was likely the influence of heavely luck, though. Jareth wanted to use this opportunity to gather solid evidence against Allen and get him expelled from the academy.


    Expelling him from the academy would have definitely given Jareth a massive amount of ''Credit points''; moreover, he doesn''t particularly like the protagonist either, so he was ready to do that. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But the heavenly luck protected Allen by making that professor flee; now there''s no solid evidence.


    The absence of the protagonist won''t really matter to this world in the slightest; even if Allen becomes a strong grade 1, humanity will only welcome a new ruler, but everything will still be stuck in the same stalemate as before.


    As mentioned before, this game has three endings, and all of them are bad. No matter which one you choose, there is no hope for a proper way to save this world.


    So, Jareth doesn''t care what happens to Allen at all; instead, he has started to think of him as a big, fat sheep that can be farmed for its wool from time to time.


    ''Stopping him from cheating will definitely cause this guy to fail, as he doesn''t study at all and spends most of his day messing around with girls...''


    If you''ve played a dating sim-type game, you''ll know that the protagonist never really studies; all he does is go on dates and mess around with girls to gain favorability points.


    And the women in that game are shown as idiots who like the protagonist, who is basically a ''deadbeat'' guy with no life, no goals, no ambitions, no motivation, and no personality.


    Simply speaking, Jareth just wanted to break this scenario and earn some ''credit points'' to use them to fulfill his gambling addiction in the system lottery panel.


    ...


    Time passed slowly, and the exam finally ended.


    Jareth collected the answer sheets using his telekinesis and left the exam hall with them without saying a single word to the students.


    Only when students were sure that Jareth had left did they finally heave a sigh of relief.


    They were already stressed enough with the exams, and now that Jareth had made them go through these hellish three hours, they couldn''t help but leave the exam hall with exhausted looks on their faces.


    Enjoy more content from empire


    They had to sit and write a ''Maths'' exam, which was already very stressful, while still being pressured by Jareth''s intimidating aura all along for three whole hours. That was nothing short of a torture session from their perspective.


    And the one who suffered through it the most was obviously Allen.


    After writing down his name and other details, he didn''t know what to do next. He literally was so ''cooked'' that he didn''t even know a single answer, and since Jareth kept staring at him, his whole body trembled in fear for the whole three hours.


    He already knew that Jareth had already figured out that Allen likely hadn''t studied at all, and yet he kept staring at him.


    This meant that Jareth was definitely laughing at him for the whole three hours.


    He stood up from his seat, wiped the sweat from his face, and headed back to his dorm room with empty eyes.


    His whole back was already covered in sweat, and from others perspectives, he looked like someone who had lost something precious to him and was suffering from massive despair.


    If he had studied properly, Jareth wouldn''t have gotten the opportunity to make a fool out of him; it was his own mistake to trust an unstable factor like ''luck'' for everything.


    ...


    Unlike the students, who were exhausted and at their wits end, Jareth was feeling quite happy in his mind.


    [Ding! You prevented the protagonist from cheating and dealt a big blow to his mind!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 CP!]


    ''Well, although it''s quite a low amount, even this is okay, I guess. I only needed to stare at that guy''s empty answer sheet for three hours to get these credit points...''


    ''It was worth making a trip to the exam hall in person....''


    Just when Jareth was going back to his dorm room, a new idea came to his mind:


    ''Wait... if I can get points for stopping him from cheating, then can''t I do the same for other tests too? hehehehehe....''


    For the first time since he came to this world, Jareth started to behave like a proper villain; he was already thinking about how to mess up Allen''s next plan of cheating in exams.


    ''Kekekeke... I will harvest all the wool from you, my dear sheep....''


    Allen, who was already in his dorm room, couldn''t help but feel a chill run down his spine out of nowhere.


    His luck was really bad today.

 Chapter 108 The Artificial dungeon test... Part-1.

    University, Basement.Mark and the other students walked through the corridor, arriving at a massive underground basement.


    The entire basement was empty, and only a massive door locked with strong magical barriers was located there.


    All the students walked over to the door under the guidance of the assistant professors and started to explain everything to them.


    "Everyone! An artificial dungeon is located behind this door; your physical combat test will take place inside this dungeon!"


    "We have given a wristwatch to each one of you, and we will track your health and other physical conditions with that wristwatch; don''t worry about it breaking or getting lost¡­"


    "It''s been enhanced with magic; you don''t need to worry about its safety¡­ Instead, it will activate teleportation magic if your health drops below a certain limit¡­"


    Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire


    Every year, the students have to go through this compulsory test, as this exam gives them actual combat experience by making them fight real monsters.


    All the monsters inside this artificial dungeon are either supplied by the army for educational purposes or are donated by summoning magic using mages to gain the university''s favor.


    Most of the students that study at this university come from wealthy families, and some of their parents are summoners. They donate magic beasts to the university to get a guaranteed seat for their children there.


    Those children don''t even have to give entrance exams; they just get selected on the spot.


    Corruption runs rampant in this world; there''s no point in blaming those parents for trying to make better choices for their children.


    Most parents do their best to create a brighter future for their children, and they try to give them as many opportunities as possible.


    There''s nothing strange about it, and the university has accepted this fact too.


    ¡­


    The assistant professor opened the magic lock on the dungeon gate, and the gigantic door opened all by itself.


    A huge rainforest appeared and became visible from the other side of the door.


    Seeing the shocked look on the students faces, the assistant professor smiled and said, S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What you see is the masterpiece created by the greatest illusion mage, Ivan, ''The King of Illusions''. He was the one who personally created this artificial dungeon and crafted this illusion in the artificial dungeon¡­"


    "The previous principle, Principal Nathan, established the academy in this place, exactly because of this artificial dungeon''s existence here¡­"


    Nathan wanted to study the concept behind this massive illusion-filled dungeon, so he created the university to have a legitimate reason to stay here.


    Originally, he used to send the students as death squads in this dungeon, but as it turned out that the dungeon was actually much safer than expected, the dungeon became a tool to test the progress of the students.


    The university''s name, ''Ivan''s Higher Arcane University'' was also created because of this dungeon''s existence.


    "The exam pattern will remain the same as the previous years; once you enter this dungeon, you will be teleported to a random location inside it and will get trapped in the illusion.."


    "You need to clear out all three floors of this dungeon before the time limit of 5 hours!"


    The assistant professor also explained various other things, like the basic geography of the illusion and the three floors.


    Every floor have a boss monster sitting in it that you must defeat to go to the next floor.


    But that''s not all.


    "Out of the twelve professors, three will be working as the boss monsters and will be guarding the stairs to the next floor¡­. You need to pass their trails to succeed¡­"


    Jareth has been promoted to the role of vice principal, so the number of professors has gone down from thirteen to twelve.


    "Even we assistant professors don''t know which of the professors will be in charge of guarding the boss rooms, so you have to prepare according to the situations¡­"


    Hearing the words of the assistant professor, the students felt quite nervous.


    The assistant professor smiled at those nervous students and said,


    "But that''s not all; aside from those three whom you ''must'' fight to go to the next floor, the other nine professors will be wandering in the dungeon at random¡­"


    "You can consider them as mini-bosses who you might encounter if you are unlucky enough¡­ So make sure you keep your mana detection up at all times¡­"


    "Three of them will be wandering on each floor at random; if you don''t want to get eliminated early, it''s better to avoid them as much as possible¡­"


    The rules of the test were simple: the longer you survive the test, the more points you will get, and if you somehow passed all three floors and exited the dungeon safely, then you will get full marks in the test.


    In the past two decades, there has not been a single student who has passed all three trails and obtained full marks.


    The original Jareth barely passed this test in his university days because he had a good brain up his sleeve.


    You don''t necessarily have to fight the professors; you just need to pass the trails that they might give you, and Jareth was always good at things that were not related to direct combat.


    ¡­


    While everyone was super nervous about this test, only a few were still calm and relaxed, like Mark, who had already clenched his magic staff and was ready to enter the dungeon at any time.


    ''If Vice-principal Jareth is not taking part in this exam, then I don''t have anything to worry about¡­''


    In Mark''s opinion, everyone else aside from Jareth are just decorations in the name of mages; he will surpass them eventually in a year or two, and only Jareth can be considered to have the power to intimidate him.


    Risa glanced at Mark and spoke in an excited tone.


    "Let''s make a bet; the one who gets fewer points will massage the shoulders of the other party¡­"


    Mark smirked a bit at her words, and said,


    "Hoh, don''t end up crying after I win, then¡­ I will make you massage my shoulders for hours!! Ehehe!"


    Risa wasn''t intimidated by his words at all, though; her shadow magic has the advantage when it comes to moving through dangerous terrain.


    She can easily bypass all monsters and obstacles; all she needs to be careful of is that the wandering professors don''t discover her.


    If she can manage that much, she will have an overwhelming advantage over Mark.


    Earth magic is obviously slower and more rigid than her shadow magic, so Mark is at a disadvantage from the start.


    Unless, of course, Mark could do something so shocking that everyone couldn''t help but feel shocked.

 Chapter 109 The Artificial dungeon test... Part-2.

    One by one, all the students entered the dungeon, and those who were hesitating got kicked in the A*s and were forced to go inside.One thing is sure: the professors don''t give a sh*t about how much trauma you may have to suffer while fighting the monsters with your life on the line.


    To make the students improve, they need to be ruthless.


    Mark entered the dungeon without hesitation, so he didn''t get kicked at all.


    The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the branch of a giant tree that seemed hundreds of meters tall.


    Fortunately, Mark doesn''t have a fear of heights; otherwise, he might have fainted at this scene.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Mark floated in the sky and reached the topmost branch of the tree to look at the geography around him.


    ''It''s a vast rainforest¡­''


    Mark remembered the words of the assistant professors before coming here.


    The assistant professor said that the first floor is a vast rainforest, the second one is a deep ocean, and the last one is an underground cave-like maze with lava in it.


    All three tests are more difficult than the others.


    Just as Mark was contemplating which direction he should go, he noticed a giant watchtower in the distance.


    ''That must be the destination...''


    Mark took a mental note of the direction he needed to go in and easily formed a route for himself.


    He''s not called a genius for nothing; making a safe route in his mind and remembering the area with just one look is child''s play for him.


    Just when he was thinking about rushing to the destination, a giant mosquito appeared nearby.


    The giant mosquitoes were more than one meter long and half a meter thick. Its gigantic wings made an eerie ''buzz'' sound in the air.


    As Mark looked at the ugly creature, black lines appeared on his face.


    ''I expected that there would be weird monsters here¡­ but to think they will use such hideous monsters¡­''


    This place might be created from an illusion, but the monsters here are real, which means that the professors purposely allowed this hideous creature''s existence here.


    ''Nightmare Mosquito¡­ It''s infamous for sucking massive amounts of blood and life force from the bodies of prey¡­ It''s favorite target are female creatures, but it can attack others too if hungry¡­''


    ''Moreover, it hunts in groups, which means¡­''


    And Mark''s prediction was right: hundreds and hundreds of giant mosquitoes started to fly towards him at the speed of sound; their constant buzzing caused him to feel annoyed.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    Mark gritted his teeth, cast the mana shield, and dove down towards the ground.


    Using the ''float'' magic, he landed on the ground without any injuries and then brought out his wand to deal with the enemies.


    Giant mosquitoes are just grade-5 monsters independently, but when in groups, their lethality is not much weaker than that of a semi-grade 3 beast.


    Most students in the first year are barely in grade 5 right now, so they will definitely get eliminated if they get caught by these mosquitoes.


    Mark glanced at the mosquitoes that were rushing towards him like a tsunami, and he finally understood why the assistant professor said that the test was about surviving.


    Most students are weak; they will have no choice but to run, and the longer they can survive, the more points they can get, so running away is a valid option.


    ''I don''t need to waste my mana on these things... I need to save mana for the main trail of this floor¡­ The optimal choice here is to do a tactical retreat!''


    Mark took a calm and rational decision; he decided to avoid the pointless fight and to save his mana for later.


    With that one decision, Mark has already grasped the true motive of this floor.


    They designed it to help the students understand that it''s not always a good idea to charge head-first into battle like an idiot.


    You need to change your strategies according to the circumstances.


    ¡­


    Near a lake in the rainforest. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When Allen first appeared in the dungeon, he found himself falling from the sky, and a giant lake was right below him.


    Before he could come to his senses, a giant snake jumped out of the lake and swallowed him in its stomach.


    The snake went back to the deepest part of the lake to lie down and digest its food.


    Fortunately, Allen had learned fire magic from Aiza, so he used it to burn the snake from the inside, which caused the snake to vomit him out of his mouth.


    Nearly all of Allen''s clothes got dissolved in the stomach acid of the snake, and even his skin burned from the acid.


    "f*ck! Who the f*ck created this sh*tty dungeon!!"


    With a pained expression on his face, Allen raised his hand and placed it on his chest.


    [Grade-6 Healing Magic: Basic Heal!]


    Allen''s injuries improved slowly, and the burned skin regenerated.


    But before he could fully heal, the snake started to attack him again, which made him even more annoyed than before.


    "I will kill you!! Godd*mn oversized worm!!"


    ¡­


    Rainforest, southern area.


    The southern area had a much higher density of trees, due to which the sunlight wasn''t even able to reach the ground as the leaves of trees were stopping it mid-way.


    As a result, the entire southern forest area was extremely dark, even during the day.


    But this darkness meant nothing to Risa, who was used to working in the shadows; in fact, this darkness worked in her favor instead.


    *Bam**bam*


    A giant bear lay on the ground, wailing in pain as Risa kept kicking its head back and forth.


    "Kekeke, you dare to sneak behind me? Did no one tell you to not sneak around an assassin?"


    The bear''s head couldn''t hold it any longer, and it exploded like a watermelon after withstanding so many kicks.


    The brain matter splattered everywhere, but Risa had already cast a shadow barrier, so she remained unaffected.


    Seeing that the bear had died so early, a look of disappointment appeared on Risa''s face.


    ''Tch! How weak!''


    Risa shook her head and stopped messing around.


    ''Let''s stop wasting time now; I need to move fast!''


    Discover hidden stories at empire


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Bypass!]


    Risa used the darkness in the forest to her advantage, easily bypassing the obstacles in her path.


    She went right through the trees, boulders, and other objects that stood in her way; thus, her journey became extremely smooth.


    ''Hehe, Victory will be mine today! And then I will make you do ''that'' massage to me¡­ hehe¡­''


    Risa has recently seen a very questionable type of massage technique in a magazine, and now she wants Mark to do that for her.


    (Don''t mind her; she''s just too obsessed with Mark¡­)

 Chapter 110 The Artificial dungeon test... Part-3.

    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Stone Gatling!]Four small magic circles appeared behind Mark, and they started to spin and fire condensed stone elemental bullets at a speed two times faster than sound.


    Mark didn''t stop; he kept flying towards the watchtower in the distance while the stone-gatling spell kept raining stone bullets at the mosquitoes that were chasing him.


    For the past half an hour, Mark has been trying to get rid of these mosquitoes, but they are very persistent, and they kept chasing behind him no matter how much he tried to run.


    Furthermore, the constant buzzing they produced from their wings was very annoying and loud.


    It started to attract other monsters too; fortunately, Mark''s flying speed was quite fast; otherwise, he would have to face the siege of a lot of monsters.


    So, to stop the monsters and mosquitoes from getting too close, he cast the ''Stone Gatling'' spell to do a proper counterattack while retreating.


    ''Okay, I see it now...''


    Mark had been flying for more than half an hour now, and finally he could see the base of the watchtower from the distance now.


    ''That watchtower must be a safe area; it''s just a few hundred meters, and I can ignore the chase of these-''


    Just when Mark was still thinking about getting to the safe area, his danger senses became active, and he felt ''death'' coming at him.


    ''Sh*t!''


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Four walls of gentle protection!]


    A huge magic circle appeared on the ground with Mark as the center, and Mark deployed all four of the stone walls in the direction of the watchtower before jumping to the side.


    A massive arrow made of condensed water came from the direction of the watchtower and destroyed all of those walls easily, as if they were made of paper, and it didn''t stop there.


    After colliding with the ground, the water arrow split into water needles that shot out in all directions at the speed of Mach 3.


    Thousands of water needles hit the swarm of giant mosquitoes and monsters and instantly exploded the mosquitoes and the monsters into meat paste.


    Mark, who was hiding behind a giant tree nearby, felt a chill run down his spine after seeing that scene.


    The trees and the ground¡ªeverything seemed to have been hit by a meteor.


    Mark peeked at the watchtower from the side of the giant tree with a nervous look on his face.


    ''That giant water arrow came flying from the watchtower¡­ That was likely a grade-3 magic spell, and it was aimed at me¡­ If I had been hit by it, I would have definitely been eliminated¡­"


    Once eliminated, the student will get teleported out of the artificial dungeon, and if Mark gets eliminated so early, he will likely get low marks.


    At that moment, Mark remembered the words of the assistant professor.


    If the assistant professor''s statement is accurate, the watchtower must serve as the primary command center for the entire first floor, and a professor must have fired the water arrow.


    A professor is responsible for conducting a trail for all students in the main boss area. If the information provided is accurate, then


    ''It means that the trial to pass this floor is that I need to reach inside that watchtower while dodging those massive water arrows¡­ and if a single one hits me¡­''


    ''I will get eliminated¡­'' Discover hidden tales at empire


    Mark knew all too well which of the twelve professors was the most skilled in water magic.


    ''Ms. Yoseh, you really have chosen quite a difficult trial for the students¡­''


    Yoseh likely isn''t even using ten percent of her strength when firing those water arrows, but even then, those arrows are extremely lethal for people who are below grade 2.


    A grade-2 mage is already very strong; dodging their casual attacks is already a very difficult task.


    ''I need to make a plan¡­ Without a proper plan, I can''t dodge the attacks of grade 2 mage¡­ even if she''s barely even using 1 or 2 percent of her power¡­ it''s still a serious attack for me¡­''


    Mark was able to dodge the first attack purely because of his amazing instincts; if it were someone else, they would have been eliminated instantly.


    ¡­


    Watchtower, rooftop.


    *sip~*


    Yoseh leaned on the deckchair and sipped the juice from the straw.


    Wearing sunglasses and lying lazily on the watchtower''s rooftop of the watchtower, Yoseh was fully enjoying her free time.


    She had already set up a grade-3 magic circle on the watchtower, and anyone who comes within 500 meters will get attacked automatically.


    Yoseh doesn''t even need to move a single finger; everything will happen all by itself.


    Moreover, she has spread her mana detection range to the whole first floor; she can easily sense what every student is doing, and she can easily keep an eye on their condition.


    If she really was asked to defeat the students, she could have just waved her staff and fired a grade-2 spell, which would have auto-targeted all of the students on the whole first floor.


    A grade-2 mage''s attacking range is extremely large; she can attack all students at once while ignoring the disadvantage of distance.


    But she wasn''t asked to do that; all she had to do was create a difficult trial for the students that would give them a challenge but wouldn''t directly block their progress.


    Only the students that can come up with a proper strategy can pass this trial, because if they get hit by the water arrows, they will definitely get eliminated.


    Just when Yoseh was lazing around, she noticed that the magic circle was activated for the first time, and a smile appeared on her face.


    ''As expected, Mark is the first one to reach this place¡­ Let''s see how he will overcome this difficulty¡­''


    Yoseh easily figured out Mark''s exact location with her strong mana detection ability, but she didn''t interfere at all.


    While lying down lazily, she continued to sip the juice and enjoy the show.


    ''Ah~ this is life¡­ I am glad that I ran away from home and became a professor¡­ Now I earn a lot of money and enjoy my days here¡­''


    Yoseh glanced in a different direction and smiled.


    ''hoh? That girl, Risa, is heading in this direction at quite a fast pace¡­ I see, she''s directly bypassing all obstacles with her shadow magic¡­''


    ''But that will consume a lot of mana¡­ I wonder why she''s using mana in such an extravagant manner¡­ does she not know that it''s more important to conserve mana in this place¡­''


    Yoseh glanced in Mark and Risa''s directions simultaneously and thought to herself.


    ''I wonder which one will be able to pass this floor first¡­''


    S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 111 The Artificial dungeon test... Part-4.

    Below the watchtower.''Rushing straight ahead won''t work¡­ Even if I enhance my speed or try to be fast, it still won''t work¡­ I need something that can defend against those water arrows¡­''


    Mark kept pacing back and forth as he started to think about a plan to pass this trial. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This is the second time he''s taken part in real combat-type scenarios, so he is just as inexperienced as the other students. The only advantage he has is that his grade is higher and his mana control is better.


    (The first real combat experience for him was in that Cyclops dungeon¡­ as a prince, obviously he hasn''t taken part in dangerous activities before that¡­)


    While walking back and forth, Mark noticed the broken skin parts of the mosquitoes nearby.


    Some of the skin parts were still intact, and the water from the attack was dripping down from them.


    Then he noticed that the wings of those mosquitoes were still fully intact, even though their bodies had been destroyed.


    ''Hmm? How are these frail-looking wings still intact after that insane attack?''


    Mark walked over to those wings with a curious look on his face and picked one of them to observe closely.


    He is currently a few meters outside the 500-meter attack range of that water arrow magic circle, which keeps him safe and allows him to explore without fear of attack.


    After a few moments of close investigation, Mark came to the conclusion that these wings are made up of a flexible kind of muscle fiber, and they won''t break if not particularly targeted.


    Looking at those wings, Mark suddenly got an amazing idea.


    ''Wait¡­ I can do that!''


    With a new idea in his mind, Mark started to prepare for the trail.


    ¡­


    On the other side of the watch tower.


    A shadow-covered figure suddenly appeared above the branch of a giant tree.


    Risa glanced at the giant watchtower and frowned a bit.


    ''My assassin sense is tingling¡­ Even my instincts are telling me not to go close¡­ Is there some kind of defense mechanism placed here?''


    Risa has taken the training of veteran assassins; she has bypassed many defense mechanisms, like automatic magic attacking circles, thus immediately noticing the presence of that magic circle on the watch tower.


    Risa glanced at a giant mouse that was wandering on the ground nearby, and she immediately grabbed its neck with her hand.


    ''You go there first!''


    She threw the mice ahead and then hid far away to observe the outcome of the experiment.


    Find your next read at empire


    And sure enough, just when the mouse entered the 500-meter range around the watch tower, a massive water arrow came flying and hit the mice directly at an incredibly fast speed.


    The impact of that attack was so strong that the mouse''s bodies directly exploded on the spot, and blood splattered everywhere on the ground.


    A frown appeared on Risa''s face after she saw that scene.


    ''It''s a very strong defense mechanism¡­ With my current level of shadow magic, I can''t bypass it directly¡­ I need an indirect method.''


    Risa might be quite clumsy at other things, but when it comes to combat and assassination-related stuff, she''s extremely skilled.


    The rumor that her whole family is jealous of her skills is not wrong; she''s indeed talented.


    Risa noticed the presence of a giant hole in the ground from the corner of her eyes, and a smirk appeared on her face.


    ''Found it¡­''


    ¡­


    Watchtower, rooftop.


    ''Hoh¡­ It seems he is planning something¡­''


    Yoseh sipped the juice and stared at Mark''s every move with great curiosity in her eyes.


    To her, the performance of the students was just a way to pass time; all she wanted was to see an epic show.


    Just as Yoseh was getting excited, Mark made his move. He pointed his wand towards the ground and cast his spell.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Frictionless Earth Carpet!]


    Mark turned a small area of the ground into a frictionless zone, which means that if he jumps at it with any amount of force, he will directly start to slide, and unless some external force is applied, nothing can stop him.


    Yoseh frowned at Mark''s choice of magic.


    ''Uh.. what is he trying to do¡­ I don''t think this will give him enough speed...''


    Before Yoseh could think of what Mark was trying to do, he jumped on the slippery, frictionless floor and started to slide towards the watchtower.


    A massive water arrow flew towards him in an instant, but Mark wasn''t intimidated this time; he waved his wand and cast,


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Frictionless Absolute Clay!]


    ''Clay'' is commonly used in many products to repel water and moisture.


    When Mark saw those flexible mosquito wings, he got the idea that he could just make the water repel by casting water repelling magic, and he wouldn''t need to create a powerful shield that way.


    Mark''s magic might be only in grade 4, but his mana control has already reached grade 3, so it was easy for him to create the clay strong enough that it could properly repel the water arrow.


    And that''s exactly what happened.


    The water arrow hit the clay barrier, but it did nothing, and the water got scattered in various directions.


    When the water fell on the frictionless floor, its water elements made it even more slippery, and Mark''s sliding speed increased even further.


    In other words, Mark used that water arrow to his advantage while directly ignoring the impact of the attack with the help of the clay barrier.


    Yoseh was very surprised by Mark''s strategy, and she couldn''t help but nod her head in satisfaction.


    She got up from her chair and glanced down at Mark, who had entered the watchtower without a single injury, and an amused smile appeared on her face.


    ''As expected of a genius¡­ He created two new spells on the spot¡­ This kid is insane¡­''


    ''Clay'' type earth magic existed before, but it wasn''t as good as Mark''s; the absolute clay spell was Mark''s own creation.


    To put it another way, Mark quickly devised the "friction-less carpet" and "Absolute Clay" spells in order to successfully complete a trial.


    Creating a new spell out of nowhere is an extremely difficult process, but Mark did it twice simultaneously in a matter of minutes.


    This just shows how insane his talent is.


    After seeing this, even Yoseh had to acknowledge Mark''s amazing thinking capabilities.


    Yoseh brought out a small list from her space ring, and she added full marks in front of Mark''s name.


    ''With his talent, it won''t be long before he will be standing shoulder to shoulder with us grade 2 mages¡­ This is the horror of a monster¡­''


    Mark''s title as the ''A once-in-a century genius'' is no joke.

 Chapter 112 The Artificial dungeon test... Part-5.

    As Mark entered the watchtower''s ground floor, he saw the gate on the opposite side opening.''Hmm? Someone passed the trial and came from the other door?''


    Mark was quite surprised that someone had passed the trail nearly as fast as him.


    Even if he had to create two new spells on the spot to pass the trail, others will likely have to come up with strong strategies too; otherwise, they won''t be able to pass this trail at all.


    ''Wait, they never said that the students are not allowed to fight among each other¡­ I should stay on guard¡­''


    The assistant professor didn''t tell them whether it was allowed to attack other students or not.


    ''There''s no way to steal others''s points, but people might still fight among each other¡­ I should not think that others will show kindness-''


    Just as Mark was still contemplating in his mind, a figure covered in a dark, shadowy cloak walked inside from the opposite door.


    Seeing that person, Mark was quite surprised.


    The shadow cloak disappeared, and Risa''s smiling face appeared in Mark''s view.


    "Ah, Mark! You are already here!? I thought I was the first one to arrive!"


    Risa clenched her small fist and said in a confident tone,


    "Don''t think that I have lost yet; I will definitely be the first one to clear the second trial!"


    Mark ignored her challenge and asked,


    "That aside, what strategy did you use to pass the trail? You made it here quite fast, actually¡­"


    At Mark''s question, Risa immediately started to explain,


    "Well, I found an entrance to the giant mouse colony, and then I dragged them out to rush towards the watchtower¡­"


    Experience more tales on empire


    Risa forced the whole colony of mice to come out and rush towards the watch tower like crazy, and then she used her shadow cloak to hide herself in the shadow of the mice that were running towards the watch tower.


    Her strategy was simple yet effective. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    She made her way here by sacrificing nearly two to three thousand giant mice for her own benefit.


    A complicated expression appeared on Mark''s face as he asked,


    "So, you are saying that you¡­ actually went inside a mice nest¡­ then you beat the sh*t out of their leader, and then they chased behind you like crazy?"


    Risa nodded her head with a proud look on her face.


    "I also concocted a ''Crazy-rush bomb'' and threw it at their faces to make them go crazy and lose their mind¡­"


    For the first time, Mark seemed to lack knowledge. He asked with a bewildered look on his face,


    "What is a ''crazy-rush bomb''? This is the first time I am hearing about it¡­"


    Risa nodded her head at his words and said,


    "Well, of course you haven''t heard about it; it''s torture equipment after all! You can make it with a demon bear''s heart, a rock wolf''s liver, and a flame python''s eyeball¡­"


    "I made it from the materials I collected from the monsters in the forest¡­ This type of bomb releases toxic smoke that directly burns your nostrils, and your eyeballs catch fire in an instant¡­"


    "If you inhale too much, then the lungs start burning from inside, and you will lose your mind due to the intense pain¡­ That''s exactly what happened to the mice that I used as cannon fodder¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but feel a lot of complicated emotions surging in his mind. He hasn''t read a book about torture and stuff, so he doesn''t know about it in much detail.


    This is the first time he''s heard about such a horrible torture method.


    He glanced at Risa and asked,


    "Isn''t torture generally used to extract information from people? If they use this method, then the person might not be able to give any information as they will go insane from pain¡­"


    "Then what''s the use of this method? Isn''t it useless?"


    Mark was hoping that Risa would say that this type of torture method has gone extinct and no one uses it today, but his hopes were broken by Risa.


    She puffed up her chest in pride and started to explain,


    "Well, not all torture methods are used for the purpose of extracting information¡­ Some are used for fun too¡­"


    "They make the fighters in the underground illegal arenas inhale this thing and make them go crazy so that they can fight more fiercely¡­ It''s actually a very famous thing on the dark web¡­"


    "I learned its recipe from Professor Gazid''s books; he conducted a lot of experiments on monsters with this thing¡­"


    Mark just stopped talking at that moment; he didn''t dare ask any further about these things.


    He was afraid that Risa would tell him more horrible stuff that would give him nightmares.


    "Er.. Are you sure you should be learning things like that¡­ Uh, don''t they affect your mentality unconsciously?"


    Hearing those words, Risa thought that Mark was worried about her health, so she smiled happily and nodded her head.


    "It doesn''t affect me at all! I am fit and fine!"


    She doesn''t acknowledge that learning these kinds of things has completely messed up her mind.


    Just when Mark was about to say something, the ground trembled a bit, the carpet on the floor nearby suddenly disappeared, and a staircase appeared out of thin air.


    Looking at that staircase, the two of them nodded their heads, and they immediately took the stairs to descend to the next floor.


    ...


    First floor, near a giant lake.


    *Boom!!*


    A gigantic snake''s tail hit the ground, massive cracks appeared in the ground, and a huge amount of debris flew in all directions.


    Allen, who had barely dodged the attack by pushing himself to the side with the help of wind magic, panted heavily.


    "Ugh¡­ aahhh¡­ it hurts¡­"


    Although he was barely able to dodge, his left arm was hit by the gigantic tail, and the bones and muscles in his arm directly broke in an instant.


    Right now, his left arm is hanging onto his shoulder, but it''s bent in a crooked way, and even the broken bone has pierced out of the skin.


    Blood is flowing like a fountain, and the pain is unbearable.


    Allen gritted his teeth as tears started to appear in his eyes due to the immense pain.


    ''D*mn it! D*mn it!''


    Allen''s healing magic is still very weak, so he can''t heal such a severe injury. All he can do right now is either voluntarily admit defeat or get teleported out of the dungeon.


    Or he will have to bear the pain and pour all his mana to barely stop the pain and bleeding in his arm by using the healing magic.

 Chapter 113 Gazids test subjects...

    First Floor, Watchtower, Rooftop."Tch! I told Gazid that he shouldn''t lend his personal weird books to the students¡­ Now his weird methods are being used by the students¡­ ugh¡­"


    Yoseh couldn''t help but complain in her mind when she saw Risa use that questionable method to pass the trail.


    Although the strategy was indeed good, it was still questionable, at least morally.


    Then Yoseh glanced in the direction of the giant lake and frowned,


    ''Er¡­ that student got hit and hasn''t been eliminated? He seems to be in a lot of pain. Should I eliminate him directly or wait for him to make the decision...''


    Yoseh noticed that Allen was injured and was crying in pain, but she was hesitating whether she should eliminate Allen right away or wait for a while.


    Allen has healing magic after all; if he uses it to power through this situation, then he will likely be awarded a lot of points as he would be considered to have survived the attack of a strong monster.


    However, if she dismisses him immediately, he will forfeit this opportunity. As a professor, she must consider the benefits to the students.


    Just when Yoseh was still contemplating in her mind a wandering mini-boss, Professor Gazid arrived near Allen''s location, worsening his situation even more.


    The wandering professors aren''t using their mana detection right now, and they are wandering randomly.


    They aren''t allowed to use mana detection because if they did, they could easily pinpoint the location of all students, which would be too overwhelming for the students.


    Gazid randomly stumbled across the location where Allen was being attacked by the giant serpent.


    Noticing Gazid''s presence, Yoseh shook her head and went back to lying down to relax.


    ''Forget it; I will leave it to him¡­''


    ¡­


    Near the lake.


    Gazid glanced at the giant serpent, and a creepy smile appeared on his face.


    "Kekekeke, I was just thinking that I needed a test subject to find out the effects of the new toxin that I created, and it directly appeared in front of me¡­ ah~ what a lovely snake~" S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The serpent seems to have sensed the ominous aura around Gazid, and it immediately made the decision to flee back into the lake.


    But before it could even move, Gazid waved his hand.


    [Grade-3 Earth Magic: Gentle Stone Hands!]


    Three gigantic magic circles appeared in the sky, and earth elementals converged to form three giant hands in front of the magic circles.


    One hand directly grabbed the neck of the serpent and stopped it from running, while the other two hands forcefully opened its mouth and even broke its fangs in the process.


    Those rough stone hands scratched the serpent''s mouth''s inner skin, causing it to bleed.


    Then Gazid flew into the sky and threw a strange-looking bead in the serpent''s mouth.


    The bead immediately mixed with the blood of the serpent, and its eyes went bloodshot in an instant. Then the giant stone''s hands let go of the snake in an instant.


    Gazid glanced at Allen and said,


    "The professors are prohibited from personally attacking the students, so I will give the trail to survive this snake¡­ I have given it a certain thing, and it''s power will be boosted now¡­"


    "If you can survive this, then I will give you extra points. Good luck!"


    After saying that, Gazid didn''t even wait for Allen''s reply; he flew into the air and made an appropriate distance from the snake to observe the situation from far away.


    As it feels immense pain, the snake begins to madly twist and turn its body everywhere.


    The toxin that Gazid fed it was actually a highly lethal type of poison. It slowly mixed into the blood of the entire body, causing intense pain in every single cell.


    It will feel as if you are being cut by countless scissors, bit by bit. The pain was so overwhelming that the snake lost its mind and started to attack anything and everything in the vicinity.


    The toxin also works as a temporary power-boosting tonic, so it gives more strength to the rampaging serpent.


    Allen had to stop thinking about healing and had to pour all of his mana into his mana shield to protect himself.


    Meanwhile, Gazid, who stood in the distance, frowned a bit.


    ''Hmm, it seems the concentration was a bit low¡­ Also, the mixture ratio is a bit off¡­ I should improve it and try it again later on with some other monster when I encounter another student¡­''


    Just like Yoseh was taking this exam as her method of passing time and relaxing, Gazid was also having fun in his own twisted way.


    He was literally experimenting with his weird methods on the monsters, and then he was using the students as a test subject to determine how much of a boost his toxin gave the monsters.


    If the students'' parents knew about this, they would stop saying that the university''s professors always keep the students'' safety as their top priority.


    ...


    Just when Allen''s mana shield was about to break apart, Aiza suddenly arrived at the scene.


    She raised her staff towards the neck of the giant serpent and cast her magic. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Ray of the Flaming Phoenix!]


    A five-meter-wide magic circle appeared beside Aiza and fired a condensed blue beam of fire at the neck of the giant serpent.


    The giant serpent abruptly twisted its head as the beam was about to strike, causing the ray to strike its eyeball directly and burn its brain from the inside out.


    Its head melted due to the heat from the inside, and the giant serpent died a horrible death.


    Aiza was also quite surprised that her spell worked so effectively; she smiled happily and then went to help Allen, as he was in really bad condition.


    Gazid, who saw all this happen, nodded his head in satisfaction.


    ''Good, Students Aiza rescued a person in need; she will get extra points for this¡­ Also, her fire magic is really quite strong¡­ as expected of ''that'' guy''s sister, I guess¡­''


    In today''s world, Jareth is misunderstood as the strongest fire type magician, and it was not too surprising that his younger sister is also an excellent fire magician.


    Instead, it would be even more peculiar if Aiza lacked the necessary talent.


    Seeing that the situation was wrapped up, Gazid shook his head and left.


    The trail assigned by him was already completed; there was no need to pester the same students again and again.


    ''Let''s go find some new test subjects¡­''


    With a creepy smile on his face, he flew away to find new test subjects to torture¡­

 Chapter 114 Freedom!!

    Second Floor, Scorching Desert.Mark suddenly found himself falling from the sky as he appeared on the second floor, but he had been ready for anything, so he reacted fast and immediately cast his spell.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Just as Mark barely stabilized himself in the air, a giant sandworm jumped out of the sand below.


    Its oval mouth opened wide, and the rows of razor-sharp teeth came into Mark''s view.


    Just when the worm was only a few meters away, Mark waved his wand in the air and cast his magic.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Meteoric Stone Spike!]


    A giant spike made of stone appeared from a giant magic circle and was launched inside the mouth of the worm at the speed of sound.


    The giant stone spike directly entered the worm''s mouth and pierced its body from inside out.


    The impact of that spike caused the worm to fall down on the sand dunes below.


    Dark purple blood splattered all over the ground, and even the sand got melted due to coming into contact with that acidic blood. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Seeing that the worm was still twitching a bit, Mark aimed his wand at it again,


    Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Gentle Stone Fist!]


    A huge fist made of stone appeared from the magic circle and punched the body of the giant worm with an insanely strong force.


    The punch''s impact directly punctured the worm''s body, and dark purple blood splattered all over the ground.


    Only after confirming that the worm was really dead did Mark heave a sigh of relief.


    ''This is a mutated sand worm¡­ I need to get out of this area fast; once you kill one of them, more will come chasing after you after detecting that their kin has died¡­''


    Mark landed on the ground and pointed his wand towards the ground.


    ''Traveling via sky is dangerous as there will likely be mutated vulture-type beasts flying above the desert¡­ I don''t have the time to waste on them¡­''


    ''They live in groups of hundreds¡­ A lot of time will be wasted if I encounter them¡­''


    In the whole class, Mark is the only one who has thoroughly memorized details about what types of monsters might appear in various geographical locations.


    Mutated vultures exist in symbiosis with the sand worms.


    When the sandworm excretes the remains of its prey, the mutated vultures feast on it, and in return, they help the sandworm locate prey, may it be on the ground or in the sky.


    Therefore, Mark was confident that the presence of sandworms in this area would undoubtedly lead to the presence of mutated vultures as well.


    ''If I travel on foot, then it will take a lot of time, and I can''t fly either¡­ I need something else then¡­''


    Mark ran his brain fast and figured out what he needed in an instant.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Maximum Output: Sand Golem!]


    Mark poured a lot of his mana, and a 100-meter-wide magic circle appeared on the ground.


    Mark directly used the sand present in the desert and manipulated it to form a hundred-meter-high sand golem.


    Seeing that the golem was ready to go, Mark smirked a bit and flew in the air to sit on its shoulder.


    ''Go Go Megaz*rd!!''


    At Mark''s command, the massive sand golem started to slide on the sand as if it were skiing on the ice.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of skiing on the sand, another sand worm appeared in front of Mark, but this time he was ready.


    Mark increased his mana output and used his mind to manipulate the sand golem''s body.


    Two gigantic wings appeared behind the back of the golem, and its right hand turned into a giant sword made of hardened and concentrated sand.


    The worm jumped out of the ground and pounced at Mark and his golem with its mouth wide open.


    But Mark was unbothered by it; he manipulated the golem, and the wings on its back flapped.


    The golem jumped high in the air, dodged the incoming attack of the golem, and then swung its sword at the worm''s body.


    Those sand wings can''t make the golem fly, but they can give a short boost to its jumping ability, due to which the golem was able to jump two hundred meters in the sky.


    Thus, with its massive weight and the assistance of gravity, the momentum of its sword attack increased even more.


    The sword directly split the body of the giant worm into two pieces in an instant.


    And as the golem was made up of sand, it wasn''t affected much by the acidic blood and recovered easily by using sand from the ground.


    *kraaaaa!*


    A group of ten mutated vultures appeared in the sky right above Mark and started to scream loudly.


    ''They are likely trying to call more sandworms here¡­ I need to shut them up fast..''


    At Mark''s command, the sand golem''s left hand turned into a bazooka, and the golem raised its arm towards the sky to aim.


    The sand bazooka fired hardened and concentrated sand balls at the vultures in the sky and hit them accurately.


    When the vultures lost balance and started to fall down, Mark used the sword on the golem''s right hand to slice the vultures and kill them in an instant.


    His strategy worked meticulously; he killed all ten of the vultures in a matter of seconds, then immediately left the crime scene by skiing on the sand.


    Moreover, he used the wing to boost his skiing speed.


    For the next hour or so, a giant golem with wings on its back kept skiing on the sand with a sword in its right hand and a bazooka in its left hand.


    If some other student had seen this scene, they would have mistaken the giant sand golem for the second floor''s main boss monster.


    No matter what came in his way, Mark just overwhelmed it with his sand golem and chopped it off in pieces with the sword after bombarding it with sand balls from his bazooka.


    When a whole colony of giant dessert ants attacked Mark, he created two more hands on the golem and turned them into giant machine guns that fired stone bullets at the ant colony, slaughtering them all.


    While doing all that, Mark just kept screaming one single slogan in his mind:


    ''Here comes the Freedom!!! Rrrraaaaaggggg!!! What the f*ck is a kilometer!!!''


    Whenever a monster came close, Mark chopped it off with his sword and then continued bombarding the enemy with more stone bullets at the speed of Mach 4 like crazy.


    He was literally using that golem as a Mecha at this point!

 Chapter 115 Giant Drill goes brrr...

    "Hmm, so this is the boss area of the second floor?"Mark stood on the shoulder of the giant sand golem and stared at the oasis in front of him.


    ''Wait, isn''t that professor Thomas there?''


    While looking around, Mark noticed Thomas, who was sitting on a chair under the shade of a ''Date Palm'' tree and was working on some documents.


    An assistant professor was pouring juice for him, and another one was massaging his shoulders.


    Seeing all that, black lines appeared all over Mark''s face.


    ''He''s enjoying his time here while the students are getting beaten blue and black by the beasts in the desert¡­ how extravagant¡­''


    Mark shook his head and stopped looking at Thomas. He knew that it was pointless to argue about it.


    Thomas is not only a professor; he is also the principle. Unlike Jareth, who has totally left his post and has become a vice- principal, Thomas still does both the work of a principal and a professor.


    He thinks that he isn''t yet worthy enough to fully assume the role of the principal, as he isn''t a Grade 1 mage yet.


    He will stop working as a professor when he becomes a grade 1.


    ¡­


    ''There''s a massive barrier around this oasis¡­ This is likely the second trial¡­''


    Thomas is well-known for his amazing magic barrier knowledge; he likely created this barrier around the oasis to test the students'' anti-barrier abilities.


    Unless you break this barrier and enter the Oasis, you won''t be able to complete the second trial.


    Mark looked at his wrist watch and saw that the test was only three hours away from ending.


    ''If I want to get perfect marks, I need to clear all three trails¡­ I need to hurry; there''s not much time¡­''


    Even Mark, who has been completing the challenges very fast, can feel that the time given to clear this test was too short.


    Which means other ordinary students won''t even have the chance to clear the second floor before the test ends.


    In other words, this test is meant to never be completed by all students; it''s deliberately designed in such a way that the students will not be able to get full marks at all.


    ''This is likely the reason why no one has gotten the perfect score since the past two decades¡­ Not even the vice-principle Jareth, got it, even though he is so talented¡­''


    Mark has misunderstood that Jareth has always been a very talented and strong person.


    He thinks that Jareth must have been a genius during his university days.


    But the truth is, Jareth has been just a fraud since the start; he was pretending to be strong even in those days, and if someone had figured it out, then his life as a mage would have been over.


    Fortunately, Jareth was good at scheming due to his amazing brain, and he never let anyone find out about his weakness.


    Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    Even when he took this test, he passed the trails with his intelligence, not his magic.


    If he didn''t have a sharp brain in his head, he would have failed this test in his university days.


    But Mark doesn''t know all this, so he just thinks of Jareth as an all-powerful mage who can split the sky, shatter the ground, and evaporate the sea in one attack.


    ''I need to think of an idea to break this barrier¡­''


    Mark clenched his fist and controlled his golem with a determined look on his face.


    The golem fired a lot of stone bullets, but it didn''t even scratch the giant barrier.


    Mark flew down from the shoulder of the golem and landed on the ground. He pointed his wand towards the ground and cast his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Concentrated Mana Detection!]


    Mark focused a lot of his mana and concentrated his mana detection range around the mana barrier.


    ''As expected, this barrier goes underground too¡­ There''s no point in digging an underground tunnel either¡­. His barrier has no blind spots and no obvious weakness-''


    Just when Mark was thinking that the barrier had no obvious weaknesses, he suddenly noticed a strange mana fluctuation around the barrier. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He glanced at the golem and commanded it to bombard the barrier again to confirm what he was thinking.


    ''Hmm? When the stone bullets hit the barrier, the barrier directly spreads the impact of the bullet thoroughly on the surface of the whole barrier, thus reducing the power of the attack to very low¡­''


    ''It''s like hitting a sponge with a punch¡­ It won''t have any effect on it¡­ but¡­''


    At that moment, Mark got the idea that he wanted.


    He immediately waved his hand and stopped the mana output for the sand golem.


    The sand golem lost its shape and turned back into ordinary sand once it lost its mana supply.


    Mark pointed his wand towards that sand dune and cast his magic.


    [Grade-6 Earth Magic: Sand Skin!]


    The sand flew into the air and covered the whole gigantic barrier like skin.


    Mark poured a lot of mana, covered the entire transparent barrier with sand, and then used the sand skin to exert force on the barrier from every angle.


    This caused the absorption and dispel abilities of the barrier to get weaker, as its whole surface was receiving attacks now and there was no room left for dispelling the shockwave produced by strong attacks.


    ''I have seen Mr. Jareth use low-grade spells to solve big problems; I can do the same too.''


    With a smirk on his face, Mark waved his wand.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Maximum Output: Giant Stone Drill!]


    ''When attacking a sponge, it''s better to use a drill¡­''


    Not only did Mark put a lot of mana in the sand skin spell to suppress the shockwave dispelling abilities of the barrier, he also put a lot of mana in the giant stone drill and then used it to attack a single spot heavily.


    ''I can''t break barriers like Mr. Jareth, but I can still follow in his steps!''


    Mark had seen Jareth break the barrier with just ''Mana interruption'' during the battle in Artavia, but Mark''s mana interruption isn''t that strong yet.


    He can''t do things the way Jareth did; Jareth just broke that massive barrier like it was just some decoration and was easy to break.


    But Mark had to use such an indirect method to break this barrier, which is thousands of times weaker in comparison.


    This just shows how strong Jareth''s ''Mana interruption'' ability actually is.


    But this was already a great feat; even Thomas, who was sitting inside the barrier with a relaxed look on his face, couldn''t help but get surprised by Mark''s amazing feats.


    Soon enough, the stone drill punctured a hole in the barrier, and the whole barrier broke apart like broken glass.

 Chapter 116 Collateral Damage...

    *Crack*The giant magic barrier shattered like glass, and Mark walked in with an exhausted look on his face.


    Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    Although he destroyed the barrier, he still ended up losing nearly all of his mana in the process.


    The mana consumption of that giant golem was already quite huge; using that giant stone drill to destroy the magic barrier nearly emptied his whole mana reserve.


    The expression on Mark''s face turned solemn.


    ''If it''s like this¡­ How is anyone even supposed to score full marks? My mana reserve is the biggest in the whole class, and I still ran out of mana only after completing the second floor¡­''


    ''I still have to go to the third floor, but I don''t have any mana left to fight¡­''


    The students aren''t allowed to bring their space rings to this test, and they can''t use any type of potions either.


    Thus, Mark doesn''t have a mana potion or any other potion on him right now, due to which he can''t replenish his mana fast.


    To recover his mana, he would need to sit down and meditate properly.


    Mages can indeed recover mana continuously, as they can use their mana control to unconsciously draw in mana from their surroundings.


    But the speed of this type of automatic mana recovery is very slow; meditating to draw mana inside your body is a more effective method.


    Just when Mark was having a hard time deciding what to do next, Thomas waved his hand, and a new magic barrier was created on the spot.


    Mark glanced behind him, and a complicated look appeared on his face.


    ''It took me so much effort to break that barrier, and he created another one like that so easily¡­ grade-2 mages are indeed quite strong¡­''


    Mark shook his head and walked over to Thomas''s side with a dejected look on his face.


    He wanted to just leave for the next floor and ignore the fact that his hard work was extremely insignificant in front of a grade 2 mage.


    But before he could say anything, Thomas waved his finger, and a mana recovery potion floated towards Mark.


    "Take it.. All students who can reach this place will get one mana recovery potion¡­ You have used up your mana; recover it to full before going to the next floor¡­"


    After Thomas finished speaking, the nearby sand vanished and a staircase suddenly materialized.


    That was obviously the power of the illusion at play once again.


    Mark nodded his head at Thomas''s words and drank the mana potion.


    He sat down on the ground and properly meditated to absorb the concentrated mana in the mana recovery potion.


    Mana recovery potion is just a highly concentrated mana that has been turned into a liquid state due to the high concentration.


    If you drink it and meditate properly to absorb the mana, it will be more effective than taking it without meditating.


    There''s only one mana potion at hand, so Mark didn''t want to waste it, so he tried his best to be as efficient as possible when absorbing it.


    ¡­


    ''This kid¡­ he''s insane¡­''


    While Mark was busy recovering his mana, Thomas couldn''t help but sneak some glances at him.


    ''His mana control is likely already at grade-3¡­ He noticed the slight fluctuation in the mana barrier and used that weakness to destroy the barrier¡­''


    ''This is the first time someone has passed the second trial so fast¡­''


    Mark only took two hours to clear the first and second floors, along with both trails.


    This is basically a new record; the previous fastest record for completing two floors was four hours!


    In other words, Mark took less than half the time compared to the geniuses of the past and created a new unbreakable record that will likely not be broken by anyone in a century or two from now.


    ''His mana absorption speed also points out how strong his mana control is.''


    Mark was absorbing the mana in the mana recovery potion at an abnormally rapid speed.


    His body is like a hungry whale, which is swallowing mana in large quantities. With his current speed and efficiency, he will likely absorb it all in just three minutes.


    Keep in mind that this will take other students at least fifteen minutes to do.


    ''If it''s like this, maybe Mark will really get full points today¡­''


    Thomas was already rooting for Mark''s success; it''s rare for a talent like him to appear, and he wanted to see how far Mark could go.


    ''I guess it won''t be long before he reaches my level¡­ I guess a few years should be enough time for him¡­''


    Currently, Mark is only 18; a bright future is ahead of him, and he can reach heights that no one has ever reached before.


    The time passed quickly.


    Mark finished absorbing the mana and took the stairs to go to the next floor after nodding his head towards Thomas as a way of expressing thanks for the potion.


    Thomas smiled in reply and also nodded his head while thinking in his mind,


    ''If not for my duty as a floor boss here, I would have liked to see how he will complete the next floor¡­ sigh~''


    He stopped staring at the stairs and went back to his work.


    ¡­


    First Floor, near the watchtower.


    "Argh¡­ I can''t walk any more¡­ urgh¡­"


    Allen was having a difficult time remaining conscious due to the intense pain in his broken and twisted arm.


    Aiza was the one who protected him from all the monsters on the way; now they only need to pass the trial and they will be able to go to the next floor. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But Allen seems to have lost his will to fight after suffering from pain for so long.


    Aiza is a fire-type magician; she doesn''t have any healing spells in her arsenal. Only a healing-type magician can help Allen right now.


    But the main problem is that there is no healing magician in the dungeon.


    The healing magicians are weak in combat; thus, they weren''t sent here in this artificial dungeon, and instead, they will be tested on the basis of their healing magic''s capabilities on some other day.


    This is also the reason why Airin isn''t here to heal Allen; if she were in the dungeon, Allen''s first choice would have been to find her and get himself healed.


    Just when Aiza was still wondering what to do, a student suddenly rushed towards the watchtower and got blasted off by the water arrow.


    The water arrow eliminated the student instantly, but it didn''t lose its impact; as it hit the ground, it split into countless water needles that flew in all directions and exploded like grenades at contact with anything.


    Those water needles were so fast that Aiza barely had time to protect herself, and Allen got hit by one right on the face.


    The water needle exploded, and Allen got eliminated in an instant as he lost consciousness due to the explosion and got teleported.


    Aiza was so taken aback by that sudden change, she couldn''t help but glance at the spot where Allen was sitting with a blank expression on her face.


    The protagonist was so unlucky today that he literally got eliminated from collateral damage.


    This was indeed inevitable.


    As the vice principal, Jareth purposely changed the positions of the teachers and assigned Gazid to the first floor himself.


    Jareth''s interference was the reason why Allen ended up in this kind of situation.


    ''I guess I should leave...''


    Seeing that Allen was eliminated from the test, Aiza had no choice but to move on by herself.


    She originally wanted to help out Allen because she still considers him a good friend and doesn''t want to see him fail the test, but now that things have come to this, she can''t do anything.


    If she hadn''t wasted her time saving and escorting Allen here, she would have already reached the second floor by now, but she was just too naive in this matter, and she couldn''t bear to see Allen suffer.


    Although she has only recently met him, it''s not a good thing to leave your friends behind when they are in need.


    Actually, Aiza will get extra points for helping out Allen, who was in need.


    Every action of the students is being observed by Yoseh; no one will leave without getting proper marks today.


    ...


    Aiza shook her head and left the place. She headed towards the edge of the five-hundred-meter range and cast her spell.


    ''A water arrow spell... the best counter would be firing a fire-type spell at the water arrow, but my fire magic isn''t strong enough yet and it will get overwhelmed...''


    Just then, Aiza recalled how Jareth had used ''Basic Magic'' and low-grade magic to deal with strong foes, and an inspiration came to her mind.


    ''If he can do it, I can do it too...''


    She pointed the wand toward her feet and cast her magic.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Delayed Explosion!]


    Not only did she use float magic to stay in the air, she also gave herself a push by making a fire explosion near herself.


    The shockwave and air pressure from the explosion pushed her towards the watchtower, and she flew like an arrow.


    Even the water arrow wasn''t able to hit her, as she easily changed direction in mid-air by creating another explosion.


    That''s how she became the third person to pass the first trial of this test after Mark and Risa.


    But obviously, she still got a few scratches and wounds as she was barely avoiding the water arrows.


    The final explosion ended up being too strong, and she directly hit her head on the door, causing it to bleed a bit.


    But that much bleeding couldn''t stop her at all; she went inside and descended to the next floor.


    ''I will become strong! no matter what!''

 Chapter 117 Misunderstandings continues... Part-1

    Third floor, Boss Area."Well, I don''t really mind you taking over the work¡­ In the first place, I was doubting why an ice-type magician like me had to be placed in a volcano-type boss area¡­"


    "That''s basically a result of sh*tty planning¡­"


    Jareth nodded at Shin''s words and replied,


    "Well, Thomas was the one who made all the arrangements; he likely must have thought that the students would be surprised by seeing an ice-type boss when the area is fire-type¡­"


    Shin also nodded his head at those words and waved his hand to say goodbye.


    "Forget it, I don''t want to stay in this freakily hot place for one more second. I will just leave early. I leave the trail in your hands¡­ good luck¡­"


    Shin flew away after saying those words and didn''t bother staying here any longer.


    The boss area is located right above the volcano on a floor made of metal hanging with the help of chains that are embedded in the walls of the volcano.


    The heat in this place is extremely high, as insanely hot lava is flowing right below the metallic floor.


    Looking at Shin''s fading back, Jareth shook his head,


    ''Originally, Allen would have made it to this floor by now, but it seems I have caused a lot of butterfly effect, and he has already been eliminated¡­''


    ''I should be able to get a few ''CP'' by getting him eliminated so early¡­''


    And just when Jareth was thinking about ''credit points'', the notification came on time.


    [Ding! You caused a minor change in the storyline!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 CP!]


    Jareth shook his head in disappointment after seeing that notification.


    ''Ugh¡­ only a thousand? That is quite low¡­ sigh~ with this much, I will only be able to do a bronze lottery¡­ and that lottery has weird things in it¡­''


    Just when Jareth was contemplating whether to do a lottery or not, he detected a familiar presence entering the third floor.


    ''Oh¡­ So, Mark made it here already? There are actually around three hours left, and he''s already on the third floor¡­.''


    ''Sigh~ as expected of a hard-working genius, nothing can stop him once that pathetic protagonist is out of the way¡­''


    The third floor is a giant volcano-type area.


    There is a huge maze that you can''t skip by flying as it will cause all monsters residing in the lava to target you, which means Mark will have to cross the maze with his own strategies.


    Just when Jareth was wondering how Mark would deal with the maze, Mark directly cast a giant stone drill to destroy the walls of the maze and made his way through the maze in a straight line.


    He directly blasted off all the walls in his way and made a tunnel with his magic.


    ''Er¡­ why does it feel that I have seen something like this before¡­''


    Indeed! Mark took inspiration for this from Jareth himself!


    Just like how Jareth used a low-level fire spell to kill a cyclops and create an underground tunnel right through the dungeon walls, Mark was doing the same.


    He did things just like Jareth; he directly blasted through the walls and made his way to the other side of the maze without any problems, with minimal use of mana.


    ''I kind of feel like I am causing bad influence on the students¡­ What if I used ''that'' forbidden spell and the students saw me using it¡­ They will definitely try to copy it!''


    Even Jareth couldn''t help but feel a bit embarrassed thinking about that weird ''Forbidden spell'' that has been collecting dust in his arsenal.


    ''I better not use it in front of Mark¡­ Otherwise, this kid will definitely learn it, and then he will spill about it to others too¡­ Ugh, my reputation as a respectable person will disappear¡­''


    ''Thankfully, Shiina isn''t in this world; otherwise, she would have been giving me weird glances all the time¡­''


    Just as Jareth was contemplating his weird spell, Mark encountered a lava troll.


    ''Hmm, troll''s have amazing regeneration capability¡­ I wonder how Mark will deal-''


    Just when Jareth was wondering how Mark would counter the troll''s regeneration ability, Mark pointed his wand towards the ground and cast a giant stone spike spell.


    The pointed tip of the stone spike directly pierced the Troll''s from the back hole, and it came out of his mouth.


    That stone spike directly pierced the troll''s whole body along with its mana core in the abdomen, causing it to die an extremely horrible death.


    Even Jareth couldn''t help but frown at that attack.


    ''That''s a f*cking torture method! Risa has infected him with her weird disease!''


    Mark has seen the video where Jareth used a giant glowing mana orb to counter the darkness in his enemies.


    That attack gave Mark the idea that he should always aim for the weaknesses of his opponents.


    In other words, Mark''s ''back-door penetrating'' attack was actually inspired by Jareth too! Risa had nothing to do with it! She was actually innocent in this matter.


    ''Er¡­ I have turned the hope of this world into a weird mage who likes to give buckshot''s to his opponents with his magic¡­ Ah, forgive me, Shiina; I am not that kind of man, believe me¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but pray for forgiveness from his emotional support, Shiina, after seeing Mark use that weird attack.


    Mark wasn''t even done yet; he encountered a lava lizard, and he used giant stone hands to forcefully open its mouth before slowly piercing it with a stone spike that pierced right through its whole body and came out from the other end.


    It was such a cruel sight that, if not for the aura around him being familiar, Jareth would have mistaken Mark to be Risa in disguise.


    ''He literally turned that lizard into a d*ngo while it was still alive!''


    Jareth was glad that he came here to supervise and made Shin leave; if Shin had seen all this, he would have definitely fainted on the spot.


    Grade 2 mages have strong mana detection.


    Shin could have easily seen the whole process, and unlike Jareth, Shin is a kind-hearted person after all; he really would have fainted after seeing that ''D*ngo-making process'' in such great detail.


    If Shin had asked Mark about where he learned this type of attack, he would have said that he learned it from Jareth, and then Shin would have really destroyed Jareth''s reputation as he is a chatterbox who can''t stop talking.


    ...


    Jareth stopped looking at what Mark was doing to make his way to the boss area.


    ''Forget it; I will just give him a light punishment, and he will be on the right track¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head and started to wait for Mark to arrive.


    Half an hour passed by, and Mark finally made his way to the boss area.


    Behind him, three giant stone hands were floating in the air, and each of them was holding a ''D*ngo stick'' that he made from the lava lizards.


    Those lizards were still alive and were screaming in pain like crazy, and their bodies were twitching from time to time.


    Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Mark glanced at the giant arena-like place and said,


    "From this arena, I assume I have to fight you, Vice-principal¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Yeah, but there are three conditions¡­"


    [1. I will only attack you with a low-grade fire spell, only once¡­]


    [2. You can use anything at your disposal to defend¡­]


    [3. If you can defend against my mana beam, then you pass¡­]


    Mark nodded his head at those words.


    With his amazing brain, he had already speculated that Jareth would likely be the final boss as the trail is taking place in a volcano and the only person he can think of who can use breathtakingly amazing fire magic is Jareth himself.


    This is also the reason why he used the methods that he learned from Jareth, as he wanted to show what he had learned from him.


    Mark was being a sincere student, but he was clueless that he had already caused great embarrassment to Jareth by mistake.


    He misunderstood Jareth''s way of fighting and thought that it was better to use shady tactics in a fight. (Although he isn''t wrong either¡­ but what he uses is really kind of weird¡­)


    Mark immediately used those three hands, as well as those twitching lizards, as a shield.


    Mark had come prepared; he knew that these lizards are very resistant to fire magic, and they would likely be able to defend against Jareth.


    This was also the main reason why he bothered to bring these lizards here with him.


    His purpose was to use them as meat shields that would provide extra layers of protection for him.


    Seeing that Mark was ready, Jareth nodded his head and cast his magic. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Ray of Compressed Fire!]


    Jareth shot a condensed fire beam that immediately pierced the lava lizards, penetrated Mark''s mana barrier, and cut Mark''s left cheek before moving away.


    Mark was so stunned by that move that he stumbled back a few steps before recovering from shock.


    ''T-this!?''


    Mark was so shocked because Jareth had said he would use a low-grade spell, but then he used grade-3 magic all of a sudden, which caught him off guard.


    If that attack had not changed its direction midway, it would have blasted Mark''s head off in an instant.


    *Step**Step*


    Jareth walked over to Mark''s side and said, in a serious tone,


    "Rule number one of being a wizard¡­ Never trust the words of another wizard blindly¡­"


    Only after hearing Jareth''s word did Mark understand what had happened, and his eyes widened in shock.


    ''He was actually teaching me!?''

 Chapter 118 Misunderstandings Continues... Part-2

    Jareth was messing with Mark on purpose, but Mark misunderstood that he was trying to teach him about the way of being a real wizard.Mark nodded his head and said,


    "I will keep it in mind!"


    Jareth nodded his head and said, Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Well, you still technically tanked the attack, so you win¡­"


    As Jareth said those words, a staircase appeared nearby.


    Mark was surprised by Jareth''s words; he wanted to say something but then stopped.


    Jareth had already declared that he had passed, which means he had to leave now. It would be rude to stay here anymore.


    Mark nodded his head and climbed the stairs to leave.


    After a few minutes of climbing the stairs, he found himself standing in the main garden of the university.


    ''Oh~ so there was a hidden staircase here? It must have been hidden with magic detection, nullifying artifacts¡­''


    Mark has visited this place before, and he never noticed this hidden staircase in the ground. Only after passing all three trials did he get to see this staircase.


    ''Well, this isn''t bad either¡­''


    Mark watched the flowers in the distance, and the slight breeze ruffled his hair.


    ''After going through those dangerous places, this place feels so peaceful and nice¡­''


    Mark shook his head and lay down on the finely trimmed grass nearby. He watched the clouds float in the sky, and soon his eyes closed as he fell asleep due to exhaustion.


    ¡­ S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Third-floor maze area.


    ''Ugh, where do I go now¡­''


    While Mark was sleeping comfortably under the warm sunlight and the caress of the cold wind breeze, Risa had lost her way in the maze of the third floor.


    Risa passed through the second trial, but she can''t find her way in this maze.


    Her shadow magic isn''t yet strong enough that she can just pass through these maze walls that are enhanced with magic.


    And she doesn''t have the massive mana capacity of Mark either, so she can''t directly blast her way through the walls.


    (By the way, those walls were healed by the illusion after Mark passed the trial of the third floor¡­)


    Moreover, her direction sense isn''t that good either, so she ended up losing her way in the maze.


    Truthfully speaking, it was already a great feat that she reached the third floor; most of the students got eliminated on the first floor.


    ''Sigh. It seems I will not be able to win this time¡­''


    Risa couldn''t help but feel sad; she wanted to win and force Mark to do naughty things with her.


    She knows that Mark himself won''t take the initiative, as he''s too shy and dishonest with his own feelings.


    Just as Risa was about to give up, she suddenly sensed someone approaching with her mana detection.


    ''hmm? This aura¡­''


    Before Risa could think about it much, Aria came running in her direction, and dozens of lava lizards were chasing behind her.


    As soon as Aria saw Risa, she said,


    "Student Risa, run!! The monsters here have gone insane!"


    Risa frowned a bit and glanced at the grade-5 lava lizards with a look of confusion.


    ''What? Why is Professor Aria running? Isn''t she a Grade 2 mage? She should be able to deal with these few weak monsters easily¡­ wait! This must be a mini-boss trial!''


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Lance Bombardment!]


    A giant magic circle appeared and bombarded the rushing Lava lizards with her shadow lances.


    Risa then manipulated the shadow elements, creating a sword out of the condensed shadow elements.


    [Fallen Style Sword Art: Thousand Shadow Mirages!]


    She raised the shadow sword about her shoulder and swung it downwards a thousand times in a matter of three seconds.


    She fired a thousand arcs made up of condensed shadow elements at the lava lizards and sliced the lizards into pieces without much effort.


    Although Risa is a mage, she is well versed in swordsmanship too. It would be a mistake to underestimate her close-range combat abilities.


    When it comes to close-range combat, she has the upper hand, even against Mark.


    Her combat style is very versatile.


    She knows magic, swordsmanship, archery, dagger arts, martial arts, and other combat styles.


    She has molded her body to be capable of fighting with or without weapons, so that she can keep fighting no matter if she has mana or not.


    This is also one of the reasons why even her own family members fear her; she is a maniac who has mastered the way of an assassin to the core.


    ...


    Seeing the dead lizards on the floor, Risa frowned a bit and thought,


    ''Eh? Aren''t these monsters a bit too weak? When I used this attack on Mark, he easily blocked it with his mana barrier, as if it didn''t have much lethality at all¡­''


    Risa often asks Mark to have friendly spars with her, so she was quite surprised that her attack was so effective.


    Most of the time, she only uses her magic when sparring with Mark, so she has become used to seeing her attacks fail.


    Mark''s mana barrier is so strong that her relentless attacks mean nothing to it; she hasn''t scored a single victory against him until now.


    Thus, even she was unaware of how lethal her own attacks are.


    ''Er¡­ I have been throwing these lethal attacks at him all along?''


    Risa glanced at her shadow sword with a complicated look on her face.


    ''T-this¡­''


    Thinking about this, Risa couldn''t help but feel guilty. She''s indeed a bit crazy in her mind, but she doesn''t want to be hated by Mark.


    If Mark starts to hate her, she will lose the purpose of her life; she''s so obsessed with him that she can''t afford to be on his bad side.


    ''I-I will need to apologize to him¡­''


    Just when Risa was contemplating how to apologize to Mark, Aria hugged her from behind.


    Her face was covered in tears, and a smile of gratitude hung on her face.


    "Thank you, student Risa! You saved my life today! I can''t thank you enough!"


    A look of confusion appeared on Risa''s face after hearing those words.


    "Eh? I saved you? When?"


    Risa didn''t know that Aria was a weak-hearted person! She only became a grade-2 mage by relying on her own potion-making talent!


    She doesn''t have any real combat experience, and she''s only good at healing magic!


    Even now, she was running from those lava lizards, not because she wanted to give Risa a trial, but because she had no idea how to fight them.


    Aria looked at the sky and prayed.


    ''Ah, my dear ancestors, I have survived one more day¡­ Please keep blessing me as usual!''

 Chapter 119 The Artificial Dungeon test ends...

    "So, you are telling me that you are actually very weak-hearted despite being a grade-2 mage?"Aria nodded her head at Risa''s question and said,


    "Yeah¡­ I don''t really like fighting and all, and I also lose control of my mana when I use combat-related spells¡­"


    Risa couldn''t help but frown at those words.


    This is the first time she has heard about such a unique case.


    Usually all grade 2 mages are strong people who have gone through various difficulties before reaching their level of strength.


    It''s very rare to see a grade-2 mage who can''t fight.


    "Then why didn''t you just become a healing-type magician? Why learn combat spells in the first place if you weren''t planning to fight¡­ Didn''t it waste your time and efforts to learn things that you are not good at?"


    Hearing Risa''s question, Aria shook her head and said,


    "No¡­ I wanted to become strong to protect my little sister¡­ but I don''t have the strong heart to do that¡­"


    Risa and Aria kept walking through the maze while talking with each other.


    "Well, you are good at potion making; I doubt anyone would say much about it, right?"


    Mark appears to be quite interested in learning potion-making, so Risa was ready to motivate Aria, who was always ready to teach Mark about it all.


    Although Risa gets jealous of this, she doesn''t want to become an obstacle in Mark''s way, so she keeps her jealousy on a tight leash; otherwise, she would have stabbed a dagger in Aria''s eye right now. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I am good at potion making, but¡­ I want to be good at other things too, sigh¡­ I asked Principal Thomas to place me on the volcano floor¡­ I wanted to temper my heart, but¡­ sigh~"


    Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    Seeing that sad look on Aria''s face, Risa couldn''t help but give her a pat on the back.


    "Keep working hard; you will definitely achieve success one day¡­"


    Hearing those words of motivation from Risa, Aria felt a bit more relieved, but then she shook her head and said,


    "Vice-principal Jareth has taken over the floor''s boss area¡­ He must have noticed me being chased by those lava lizards¡­"


    "Ugh, I feel that he might be disgusted by my cowardice and will blast me off the face of Earth once I go back¡­"


    Hearing those words, Risa looked at Aria in confusion and said,


    "Huh? Why would he do that? I think you are mistaking something¡­ He is a very calm and, you know, ''chill'' type of person¡­ I don''t think he will get offended over something like that¡­"


    "You know¡­ I think he doesn''t even get angry at anyone¡­ Truthfully speaking, I have never seen him get angry¡­."


    Unlike others, Risa is not even the slightest bit afraid of Jareth, as the word ''Fear'' doesn''t exist in her dictionary.


    She has put her life in danger so many times during her training to become an Assassin that she has lost the feeling called ''Fear''.


    Now, even if a demon god himself came to kill her, she still wouldn''t feel fearful at all.


    And as she is directly immune to Jareth''s intimidating aura, she can see his expressions more clearly than others.


    From her point of view, Jareth seems like a spitting image of her own father!


    Her father is a cold-hearted assassin in the eyes of others, but for her, he''s a loving and caring father who worries about her safety.


    Jareth gives similar vibes like that.


    (This is because Jareth thinks that if he had married Shiina and had a daughter, then she would have been just as carefree and free-spirited as Risa¡­ alas, his wish never came true¡­)


    ¡­


    Aria''s eyes widened in shock at Risa''s words, and she said in a nervous tone,


    "D-don''t say that; if he hears about it, he will get angry for sure!"


    "Didn''t you hear the rumor on the internet that he can control time¡­ He even went back in time to play volleyball with the dinosaurs!"


    "I bet he can hear our conversation too!"


    Risa frowned at Aria''s words and shook her head,


    "What are you talking about¡­ If he was capable of that, then he would have already become a god or something like that¡­ Why would he even dwell in the same mortal realm as us?"


    Hearing Risa''s words, Aria calmed down a bit and said,


    "T-then what about the rumor of him being the ''god of fire''? They even established a cult for him!"


    Risa couldn''t help but doubt Aria''s intelligence after hearing those words.


    ''How was someone with such a na?ve personality as hers even able to reach grade-2? She''s too na?ve for this world¡­''


    Even Risa couldn''t help but worry about the survival of this na?ve woman in this cruel world.


    ''I think if I told her about the kind of things that Professor Gazid writes in his books, she would go into a coma¡­''


    Risa shook her head and said,


    "Those are obviously fake rumors¡­ And if they really have established a cult or something like that, then the police will take care of it soon¡­"


    "Anyway, my point is, you are just thinking too much. Vice principal isn''t that bad of a person; you don''t need to worry about that¡­"


    Only after Risa''s continuous encouragement did Aria finally return to her usual self.


    While the two of them were talking and wandering in the maze, time passed quite fast, and the five-hour limit was reached.


    All the students who were still stuck in the artificial dungeon got teleported back to the basement, and the professors also left the dungeons to prepare the result.


    Risa waved goodbye to Aria, who was leaving with a confident look on her face, and then left to find Mark.


    ''He isn''t in the basement¡­ Sigh, it seems he ended up winning after all¡­''


    Risa felt a bit sad that she wasn''t able to keep up with Mark and then went to look for him outside.


    Although she lost to him today, she was determined that she would definitely win one day.


    ''Just you wait Mark; I will make you fall head over heels for me!''


    In her opinion, she can only win Mark''s heart if she makes him lose, either in a competition or in a duel.


    And that''s why she''s working so hard to improve and is always eager to compete with Mark.


    ¡­


    While Risa was planning various schemes against him, Mark was sleeping peacefully in a corner of the garden.


    Eventually, the gardener will find him and scold him for damaging a nearby flower in his sleep.


    That day, Mark got lectured about how precious plants are for our lives.


    {Don''t hurt a flower,


    That brings a smile to the faces of meek,


    Never corrupt a soul,


    That brings light into the world of weak¡­} (Source: Trust me bro)

 Chapter 120 The Lost Kid who met the Golden Light... Part-1.

    Midnight, Principal''s office.*Step**Step*


    Jareth walked inside the office with an expressionless look on his face and followed the same process as before to make the magic barrier appear in front of him.


    ''I really underestimated your determination to hide the things that are inside your hidden library, Nathan¡­''


    ''You really created a very impressive barrier; it must have taken at least a decade to perfect this barrier to this kind of state¡­. I never thought I would say this, but you really are ''Good'' at barriers¡­''


    Even with ''Mana Singularity'' and extreme mana purity, it still took Jareth such a long time to finally analyze the whole magic barrier and find a countermeasure for it. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    Moreover, he even ended up asking for help from Thomas too; all this just shows how much time and effort Nathan put into creating this barrier.


    If this was just a simple high-grade barrier, Jareth could have easily seized control of it in just a week, but the barrier that Nathan put on this hidden library is extremely strong.


    It''s even stronger than the monster protection barrier that is protecting the whole capital city.


    ''It won''t be wrong to say that this barrier is basically a ''Semi grade-0'' barrier that can''t be broken forcefully by even grade-1 mages¡­''


    Even if several grade 1 mages come and attack this barrier with all their might, they will still need to keep bombarding it for several months before it can finally be broken.


    ''It''s as if Nathan dedicated a significant part of his life just to make this barrier so perfect and powerful¡­''


    Every ''Artist'' dreams of creating a ''perfect'' masterpiece that they can dedicate their whole life to.


    And this Magic Barrier is without a doubt a ''Nearly Perfect'' masterpiece that you can''t replicate and can''t recreate.


    Even if Jareth copies its mana circuit and formula, the barrier is ''unique'' to Nathan, and it won''t have the same effect when used by others.


    Nathan ''Nearly'' molded the ''Law'' of ''Protection'' in this barrier.


    If not for Jareth having ''Mana singularity'', it would have been impossible to get rid of this barrier.


    ''I am really amazed¡­ to think someone as cunning and efficient as you will go and waste a decade or two just to create a barrier that can hide a small library inside it?...''


    ''Just what are you trying to hide so badly, Nathan?''


    Jareth raised his right hand, and his grimoire floated in the air beside him.


    He focused his whole mind and then used the countermeasure that he found to slowly seize the authority of the barrier by embedding his own mana in it.


    Time passed fast, and two hours went by in a flash.


    Jareth nearly emptied his whole mana reserve in just two hours.


    His mana is much purer and denser than others, which means that even a grade 1 mage wouldn''t have been able to keep up with the high requirement of mana needed to assume authority over this barrier.


    ''So this is the power of the world''s ''Laws''¡­ This barrier hasn''t even properly manifested the ''Law'' of ''Protection'' yet, and it''s already so strong¡­''


    Even Jareth was impressed by the amazing power of this ''World''s Laws''.


    Jareth''s ''Mana Singularity'' is a ''Legendary Grade'' skill that has the power of ''Law'' backing it up.


    But even ''Mana Singularity'' is just a ''path'' to that certain ''Law''; only by manipulating the ''Law'' itself can you achieve the power to bend the world to your will.


    And maybe that is one of the steps needed to reach the next realm, which humankind has always dreamt of.


    ¡­


    *shaaammmm~*


    The mana circle changed its color from golden to purple as Jareth took over.


    He waved his hand, and the magic circle got deactivated, causing the mana barrier to disappear.


    Now Jareth can activate and deactivate this barrier at any time with just a simple command using mana.


    ''Finally did it¡­''


    Once the magic barrier disappeared, a mechanism was activated, and a secret door in the wall opened by itself.


    Jareth searched through his space ring, brought out a mana recovery potion, and recovered his mana to full capacity first.


    Nathan put so much effort into ensuring the safety of this place; it can have anything stored up inside, so Jareth dared not be careless, and he deployed his own mana shield before entering.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Barrier!]


    ''Okay, let''s go in¡­''


    With the barrier ready, Jareth took a deep breath and headed inside.


    The hidden door closed on its own, as did the magic barrier, after Jareth walked inside.


    Jareth glanced at the ''Mana stone-powered bulbs'' that illuminated the area and thought to himself.


    ''These things¡­ they have mana bombs inside them¡­''


    Nathan''s preparations were indeed very thorough; he even put bombs inside the hidden library so as to keep the truth hidden.


    ''I guess if I had forcefully broken this barrier, these mana bombs would have self-destructed and the whole hidden library would have been reduced to ashes and smoke¡­.''


    ''Thankfully, I decided to do things more peacefully this time¡­''


    Jareth shook his head, moved through the narrow corridor, and arrived at a small, hidden room.


    The floor was made up of ordinary, weak stones, and there are more mana bombs buried under this seemingly ordinary floor.


    Jareth couldn''t help but frown.


    ''This place is equipped with bombs the same worth as the whole university, which is very expensive¡­''


    If these bombs explode, not only the whole university but the whole area within a radius of 2 kilometers will be destroyed. (For my freedom-loving readers who don''t know what a kilometer is, 2 km = 1.24 miles, approx...)


    ''He literally dug a hundred-foot-deep hole in the ground to fill it with massive mana bombs¡­''


    ''What the f*ck was this guy even planning!? Even the military needs permission to use such dangerous weapons¡­''


    ''Where the f*ck did he get so many of them in the first place!?''


    Jareth couldn''t help but be shocked at this insanity.


    ''Forget it; I should stop thinking of that guy as a sane human being¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and looked around to see what was so special about this place.


    All of a sudden, his intuition, his mind, and every single cell in his body were attracted to one single book that was placed on the highest shelf of the third book cabinet.


    Jareth didn''t think much at all; he just walked over to the cabinet and took out the book with a calm expression on his face.


    But after seeing the title of the book, even Jareth was shocked, and his expression changed to solemn for the first time in a while.


    What he has discovered today is indeed something that is worth being serious about.


    The title of the book that Jareth was holding in his hand was: S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [''Cosmic'' Records of Strar U''lbyatre the ''First King'' of the ''Unified Human Empire''!]

 Chapter 121 The Lost Kid who met the Golden Light... Part-2.

    Once upon a time, in the era of endless wars and chaos, humans were divided into many small nations and were constantly battling with each other to no end.An ''Ordinary'' child was born into a family of herdsmen.


    The small family that used to keep cattle and sell ''Milk'' to make their living, with the addition of a new member to the family, things became livelier.


    But human greed affects everyone; war spread its flames far and wide, and the small family lost their cattle.


    Day of difficulty came upon the poor family that had no other source of income.


    Eventually, the parents of the ''ordinary'' kid decided to abandon their child in the heart of the forest and migrate somewhere else in search of better opportunities.


    The ''Ordinary'' kid, who barely just learned how to walk, had no idea about the ways of the world.


    Fortunately, an old herb gatherer picked up the abandoned ''Ordinary'' kid and took him in as his own child.


    Years went by, and the once ''Ordinary'' kid grew up to be an energetic young man, yet he was still just an ''Ordinary'' person in the end.


    Soon after, he watched his adoptive grandfather die in front of him due to disease and a lack of medicine.


    The herbs that once used to work wonders couldn''t sustain the fragile life of the old man any longer.


    The young man, who was still in shock, would then go on to see the woman he once loved get murdered by the iron hooves of the marching armies.


    He would go on to see the village that he spent his whole life in get destroyed overnight.


    He saw the death, disease, pain, suffering, and fear that the wars brought to this world.


    The young man wanted to set things on the right ''Path'', he wanted to make the world a peaceful place where no kid would get abandoned for the lack of food.


    Where no villages will be destroyed for war, and where love will not be trampled under the march of the armies.


    But, all this was simply impossible for a simple and ''ordinary'' young man, he was nothing in front of the might of an organized army.


    Neither was he the son of an emperor, nor was he a chosen hero blessed with immense charisma and strength.


    He didn''t have the mind to make strategies that could overturn armies, and he didn''t have the luck of the blessed to turn everything in his favor.


    The moment he tried to raise his voice against the cruelties caused by the senseless wars, he would die without ever accomplishing anything in the world.


    He was ''Ordinary'', just too ''Ordinary''.


    ¡­


    And Yet.


    As they say, if the world doesn''t recognize you, then create your own path to the destination you want to reach and force the world to look at you with your own efforts.


    The ''Ordinary'' young man found his ''Path''.


    A Ray of Golden Light descended from the sky, and the whole world witnessed the Golden King''s majestic aura, who was holding the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'' in his hand.


    Some recorded that event as just a myth, and some created paintings of it.


    But only a few people heard the words of the Golden Light, and the ''Ordinary'' young man was one of them.


    [The Fluctuations in the space-time fabric have caused you to drift into the ''Sea of Endless Miasma''.]


    [I shall seal the dome and make this place peaceful, but thou shall not forget¡­]


    [Thou doesn''t belong to those who dwell in ''Corruption''; you shall return home; there is still hope¡­.]


    [Even if the world may crumble and my existence fade away, thou shall honor and remember thy origins¡­]


    [Reach the realm of ''Demi-gods'', seek the ''Power of Origin'', and return home as soon as possible.]


    With that message conveyed, the Golden King ascended to the sky and left this war-torn world behind just in a moment''s time.


    As if he were in a hurry, a look of worry was noticed on the golden king''s face by all those who saw him that day.


    ¡­.


    For others, those few words were just some meaningless blabbers of an incomprehensible being.


    But for the young man who saw it all, those few words seemed to carry the truth about the world itself.


    They seemed to carry divine enlightenment. Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire


    The young man decided to find the ''truth'' of those words; he achieved enlightenment that day and got the blessing of mana.


    From then on, he could control mana; his strength kept growing day by day, and he reached a height that no one had reached before.


    The mighty armies that he feared in the past weren''t invincible in front of him anymore.


    With a wave of his hand, he could create tsunamis, and with a flick of his finger, he could make the sky rain. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He seemed to have achieved a power that was beyond human comprehension.


    The young man climbed to the peak of the world with his unwavering resolve; he unified the nations and established the ''Unified Human Empire'', where no one would need to go on wars against other humans.


    The young man brought peace to the world and helped the human race reach a state of growth and advancement.


    More talented people started to be born, and the might of the human race increased strongly enough to dominate the whole world.


    That ''Ordinary'' kid who was born without the power to change the world became so ''Extraordinary'' that none could compete against his brilliance.


    The ''Ordinary'' young man was no longer ''ordinary''; he became so brilliant that his brilliance illuminated the world and gave warmth to those looking for comfort.


    He figured out the truths of the words of the ''Golden Light'', and he took many steps for humankind''s future.


    He was the one who found the exact locations of the seals of ''False Dome'' and created defense mechanisms for them.


    Not only did he help humankind learn the way of mana and understand the path of magic, he also created weapons that were able to even fight against the influence of a demon god.


    That young man¡­ No, The First King, Strar U''lbyatre, cultivated many geniuses who inherited his legacy and helped humanity go one step further in better understanding the laws of this world.


    Records say that the First King once ventured into the skies, and he died after passing on the responsibility to the next generation.


    Alas, people have forgotten his legacy as too much time has passed. His disciples became obsessed with power and murdered each other, and eventually his legacy was lost to time.


    No one knows the full extent of the capabilities that the First King had achieved.

 Chapter 122 A Hopeless World...

    ''Realm of ''Demi-gods''? Was there something like that in the game? And what is the ''power of origin''?''''Sigh~ this is all so confusing¡­''


    Jareth paced back and forth in the room and contemplated in his mind.


    ''First of all, the Golden King who descended to this world and the First King, these two are different people¡­''


    ''Secondly, the Golden King said to the whole world, ''Leave this place''¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but frown while thinking about all this.


    ''Could it be that he knew that there would be demon gods trying to invade this place in the future?''


    There was also a mention of a place called ''Sea of Endless Miasma'', and apparently, they are located in this place right now.


    Thinking this far, a thought came to Jareth''s mind.


    ''Wait, could it be that¡­ the seal of the false dome was created to keep the miasma from ''The endless sea of miasma'' away from this place?''


    ''And if the seal breaks¡­ then¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel a chill run down his spine at that moment.


    ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Now I understand the meaning of the quote that was shown in the ending of the game¡­''


    [The world may be hopeless, but you earned a happy life for yourself at least¡­]


    Only now does Jareth figure out why this world was referred to as ''hopeless''.


    If they are really in the ''Sea of Miasma'', then once the seal breaks, they will be flooded by an insanely dense amount of miasma, and all creatures will either be turned into demons or will be absorbed by corruption.


    And even if they do nothing, miasma is a powerful force. After thousands of years of corruption, it is very likely that the seal of the false dome would have started to get corrupted too.


    ''In the future¡­ there will be a time when the seal will get destroyed on its own¡­ This is inevitable¡­''


    Only now has Jareth understood the so called ''Reality'' of this world that all Grade 1 mages have been hiding from the world for so long.


    Grade-1 mages can vaguely feel and see the ''laws'' of this world, which means that once you become a Grade-1, you will be able to feel the overwhelming presence of the ''Law of Miasma''.


    You will be able to see and feel that the world that you exist in is just a hopeless graveyard that will be destroyed sooner or later.


    Even Grade 1 Mages are just ''Ants'' in front of the power of the ''laws'' of this world.


    ''So, all along, that demon god Azazel¡­ has been trying to break the seal of the false dome because¡­ he wants to destroy the whole of their world¡­''


    No matter if you succeed in preventing the seal from getting broken or you wait it out,.


    The result will be the same.


    It''s impossible for even grade 1 mages to fight against the laws of this world, and the destruction of their whole race is already confirmed; it''s just that it will take time.


    ''Sigh¡­ It seems I really came to a hopeless world. I would have preferred it if it were a world filled with mana and miasma¡­ Who could have thought that this world is literally floating in abyss¡­''


    Jareth sighed and rubbed his forehead.


    ''The main thing is¡­ how that ''Golden King'' came to this place if this whole place is submerged in the sea of miasma¡­''


    ''No wait¡­ If this place was already submerged in the sea of miasma before the ''Seal of False Dome'' was created by the Golden King, then why didn''t this place get destroyed?''


    ''Ugh¡­ There are just too many unanswered questions that I have no way of figuring out.''


    Just looking at one book from this hidden library, Jareth''s head was already filled with hundreds of questions, but there was no one or nothing that could answer his questions.


    The Grade 1 mages have always hidden this ''truth'' from the whole world, and none have ever told common people about it.


    Which means all the creatures on this whole planet are living a carefree life, and they have no idea that they are literally floating in the abyss; they can die any day, and there''s no guarantee for the future.


    ''This is insane¡­ I can understand why most Grade 1 mages are so selfish and arrogant¡­ It''s because they know that their existence is meaningless in light of the reality of this world¡­''


    When a person finds out that their life and their existence have always been nothing but meaningless, the grief brought by that situation is very great, and it can change a person''s personality for the worse too.


    ''I guess some of them must have even gone insane from ''existential crises''¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but look at the cover of the book again, and sure enough,.


    The cover features a design of a young man gazing at the sky and drawing a picture with a sad look on his face.


    ''The first king likely figured it all out that day when he heard the words of the golden king, and he likely wanted to prepare the world for the worst-case scenario¡­''


    ''Alas, his legacy is gone¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head while thinking about that.


    At that moment, suddenly a thought came to his mind:


    ''The good-hearted people aside, the interesting thing is, even the demon cult members are not spreading word about this topic in the world¡­''


    ''The demon cult members are always looking for ways to create chaos, and there have been many grade 1 cult members in the annals of history¡­ then why didn''t they spread word about it?...''


    ''This is strange¡­ very strange¡­''


    While thinking about this, Jareth noticed a ''Mana Contract'' scroll placed on the shelf of a book cabinet, and a thought came to his mind.


    ''Wait¡­ could it be that when you ascend to grade-1¡­ you aren''t allowed to tell anyone about the ''reality'' of the world because the ''laws'' of the world itself put a binding contract on you?''


    ''T-that''s insanity¡­''


    Before coming to this hidden library, Jareth was still thinking that he could just help Mark become strong, and then this world would have a happy ending.


    But only now has he realized just how f*cked up this world actually is.


    There''s literally no hope for this world; even if Mark becomes a grade 0, he will be fighting an endless battle with the unending sea of miasma and the infinite number of demons that dwell in it.


    Jareth believes that if it''s a one-on-one fight, then Mark will win against that so-called demon god, but no one can ever be sure that there is just one demon god in that endless sea of miasma.


    There can be millions of such creatures out there, and even Mark can''t deal with that many.


    In the main story, one of the most popular endings that you can get is that Allen ends the influence of the demon god on the world and goes home as a returning hero.


    He lives happily ever after with his massive harem and spends the rest of his life living like a king.


    But even then, the game refers to this as a bad ending.


    The other two endings are not much different; it''s just that the size and composition of Allen''s harem are a bit different in those two endings.


    All in all, this game only has three endings, and all three are referred to as ''Bad'' endings by the game developers. Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire


    ''I remember reading somewhere on the internet that the game developers themselves admitted that they only created this game for the players wish fulfillment, not for the sake of the world itself...'' S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''They likely didn''t even add any ''happy endings'' to this game.... d*mn, the more I think about it, the more I feel that I am in a dire situation...''


    ''Once this world gets destroyed, I will die, my soul will fall into the sea of miasma, and it will be corrupted and tortured by the endless sea of miasma... and then I will become a puppet of corruption...''


    ''That''s even worse than going to hell... This is literally what you call falling into abyss...''


    Jareth clenched his fist and thought.


    ''Unless I somehow escape from this place while still alive, my end will be horrible, and I will suffer from corruption for several millennia...''


    Jareth then remembered the clue left in the final lines said by the golden king.


    ''Reach the realm of ''Demi-gods''... is he saying that this ''realm'' of demi-gods is a place or a ''Grade'' that a human can achieve? ...


    ''And what is the power of ''Origin''?... I have never heard about something like this in the whole game...''


    Thinking this far, Jareth shook his head and thought,


    ''Forget it; I need to take these things step by step... I will have to find out more about these mysterious things; only then can I preserve my life...''


    ''I want to die in peace and not get tortured in the afterlife... I must do something about this all...''


    That day, Jareth finally found his true goal in life.

 Chapter 123 Theories and plans...

    Jareth flipped through the book and found that the book also had location and details written on it about all seven nodes of the seal of ''False Dome''.As long as you protect these seven nodes from being destroyed, you can keep the Seal of ''False Dome'' intact.


    The seal is actually so big that it covers the whole solar system, and all of its nodes are located on their planet.


    Only by using these seven nodes can someone open the seal.


    ''In other words, the motive of that ''False Dome cult'' must be that they want to open these seals¡­''


    Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Once the seal is open, the demon god can enter the solar system, and immense miasma will also flow inside with him.


    The destruction caused by such an event will make the whole solar system vanish into nothingness.


    ''Miasma and mana are invisible to the eyes of ordinary people and their equipment like telescopes, etc., which is likely the reason why scientists in this world have never discovered anything strange.''


    They see the galaxies and stars just like normal and can observe them without any problem.


    However, only grade 1 mages are able to see the reality of it all.


    Of course, if they can make telescopes or observation equipment that can sense the presence of the ''Laws'' of the world, they can also see it all.


    But the current human race is far from creating such an advanced technology.


    They have barely even started using mana stones as vehicle fuel and for other things.


    It will take centuries for them to reach a level where they can create spaceships that can leave this solar system.


    ¡­


    Jareth read through the whole book and then put it aside to read another book in the library.


    Aside from this one book that was explaining about the reality of this world, there are many other hidden secrets in all these books.


    Some are records of when and who Nathan lent a favor to, and some are records of where Nathan hid his treasures.


    Also, there are a lot of books on half-completed theories and spells that Nathan got from a lot of wizards and was researching in his free time.


    One of them was the original Jareth''s own theory book that he had written and given to the principal to get into the university without any problems.


    ''The original Jareth signed a mana contract that he would give this theory to Nathan in return for getting a job as a professor at the university...''


    ''But the current me isn''t a professor anymore; I am the vice principal of the university, which means the contract has become null by natural circumstances¡­''


    Mana contracts are indeed powerful, but they also have limits.


    All mana contracts have a time limit or a natural null condition.


    The most common way to end a mana contract without any backlash is if both parties agree to the nullification.


    The more uncommon way is to wait for the contract to become null naturally.


    Just like all creatures age, contracts age too; a contract loses power slowly but surely. For example, a contract made between two grade 1 mages can last for three hundred years.


    It all depends on the conditions and circumstances.


    But there is one more way: contracts become null if one of the two parties that have been contracting dies with or without the interference of the other.


    In other words, you can just kill the other party and make the contract null.


    But if the contract states that you aren''t supposed to kill the other party, then you can suffer backlash if you go ahead and kill them.


    Mana is a mysterious and amazing thing; anything can happen in this world full of supernatural things.


    Jareth''s case is the same.


    He has been promoted from the professor job and has now become a vice principal, which means he technically isn''t a professor anymore, and that nullifies the contract made with Nathan.


    This is a perfect example of a contract becoming null due to natural reasons.


    For example, if Jareth had left the job or had gotten expelled, then again, the contract would have become null because of natural reasons.


    The contract only stated that he would get the job; it didn''t state that he would not be expelled or promoted.


    ''This means I can take my theory back home now as the contract has become null¡­''


    Jareth stretched out his hand and put the theory book with the design of a purple flame inscribed on it into his space ring.


    The original Jareth gave this theory to Nathan, as he didn''t have powerful enough mana control to complete his own theory, but now things are different.


    ''I have mana singularity, and I can continue the original Jareth''s legacy¡­ Moreover, if his theory succeeds, I can create mana-powered nukes that can help me fight against the possible siege of the demons¡­''


    If Jareth didn''t know the reality of this world, he wouldn''t have cared about this theory at all, as he would have no reason or motivation to create a catastrophic weapon of war.


    A perfect mana nuke will cause no radiation, and it will be extremely effective against all living beings.


    Its main attacking power would not be just extreme heat; it would cause the mana itself to become chaotic, killing the organisms from the inside out by making the mana in their body go crazy.


    Keep in mind that mana deviation is one of the most threatening things that a mage can face in his life.


    Even grade 1 mages will be affected by mana deviation.


    Normal people who barely have any mana in their body and have no mana control will directly burst into blood mist at the very first contact with the mana waves produced by this type of bomb.


    Simply speaking, this type of weapon will be so destructive that it can destroy the whole human race in one go.


    ''To think the original Jareth was researching a weapon that wipes the whole human race from the face of Earth¡­ this guy really had a big ambition¡­''


    If the original Jareth had ''Mana Singularity'', it is guaranteed that he would have definitely been successful in creating this weapon, and the very first test subject would have been the whole of Artavia and its neighboring cities.


    Jareth would have been a villain that would have killed millions of people, and he would have been a great menace to the human race; even the protagonist would have had a hard time facing him in the game.


    ''The developers really did the original Jareth dirty¡­ He had so much potential and such a good backstory, yet his end was so miserable¡­''


    ''This is what we call a waste of potential¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    ''Forget it; I will complete his theory myself¡­ There''s no such thing as being too strong; if I can add more power to my arsenal, then why don''t I do it¡­''


    ''Weakness will get me nowhere¡­ This world is f*cked up already anyway; it won''t matter if I create a weapon of mass destruction now¡­''


    Thinking this far, Jareth made a mental note of what equipment and items he might need for it all.


    Now that he has found out about the fate of this world and how everything is on stake, Jareth has started to feel a great sense of urgency.


    If he doesn''t increase his own power, he won''t survive long.


    ''I must find a way to exterminate the whole ''False Dome Cult''; if they are gone, I will get more time to prepare as the seal of False Dome will remain intact for longer¡­''


    ''I need time; the more, the better¡­. Also, I need to look for those seven nodes; I need to observe them and figure out how much more time I have left before they break¡­''


    The nodes have been standing there for thousands of years, and they have likely been corrupted by the dense miasma for a very long time now.


    Which means they have limited time left before they break on their own.


    ''Sigh, even if I somehow repair those nodes and make the seal strong again, it will still not benefit me much¡­ If I die, my soul will be the one suffering from it all¡­''


    ''I must deal with all the chaos while I am still alive, and well¡­ only then can things become normal¡­''


    While thinking all this through, Jareth continued to search through all of the books in the library, and he found hundreds of powerful spells and theories that could be of help in the future.


    ''Only a few of the spells are of the fire type; most of them are related to other elements¡­ I guess I can give them to Mark and Risa, and as for these space-type spells¡­''


    ''I will need to find ''that'' guy¡­ the future martial king... That guy is likely still wandering in the desert of chaotic thunder¡­ With his help, things will be more easy¡­''


    With new goals and motivations in his mind, Jareth finally decided to prepare powerful allies to overcome the fate of this world.

 Chapter 124 Visitors from Afar... Part-1.

    Human Empire, eastern border.Near a small town.


    "Are you sure this will work¡­ They have three grade-1 mages now. Will humans still be willing to help us? We don''t even have grade 1 individuals anymore¡­"


    "If they find out about our weaknesses¡­ we might end up just like the mermaid race did¡­"


    A young, beautiful girl with pointed ears and silver pupils glanced at the other elven woman beside her with a look of worry in her eyes.


    "Are you sure we can trust the humans, Aunt Sylvie?"


    The older elven woman, who was named Sylvie, shook her head and said,


    "This is the reason why I didn''t want to bring you here, princess¡­ If things go south, the elven race will still have you, but you insisted on coming here¡­"


    "Now if something happens, the elven race will have no successors¡­"


    Sylvie gritted her teeth and looked at her niece with sadness in her eyes.


    Just a few months ago, she had suggested cooperating with the human race to her big sister, but she didn''t agree, and she ended up going on the mission herself.


    Now she''s been missing for months, and there''s no news about it.


    People have already started to think that the Elf queen has died on the mission.


    Sylvie''s older sister only had one child, Princess Ava Xilrel; thus, she''s the only successor to the throne of the elf empire in the world now.


    Her golden pupils and brilliant silver hair represent that she belongs to the royal elven family.


    Sylvie was actually an adopted child, so she doesn''t have the qualifications to inherit the throne for herself; only Ava can inherit the throne without any complications.


    That''s why Sylvie didn''t want Ava to come here with her; if something bad happens or the negotiations fail, then it will be difficult to return home.


    But Princess Ava wasn''t so weak-hearted that she would back off from difficulties.


    The expression on her face turned determined as she said,


    "No, if I let you go there by yourself, you will likely not be able to make it back alive¡­ But if I am with you, you will try to be as cautious as possible, and the chances of you coming back alive are higher¡­"


    "Also, we have the teleportation scroll, so there is no need to think too much of it; we will run if things go south¡­"


    Sylvie couldn''t help but sigh after hearing those words.


    "Sigh¡­ You know, you are just like your mother¡­ stubborn to the core!"


    Ava smiled a bit and took it as a compliment.


    "I guess the royal blood indeed runs in my veins then¡­"


    Sylvie shook her head and gave up trying to persuade Ava to return. She brought out a grade-1 scroll and embedded her mana in it.


    "This scroll will transform our appearance into humans; its effects will remain for two weeks¡­ which should be enough time for us¡­"


    "This thing is very precious as it''s a grade 1 scroll, but for your safety, princess, this is important, so please remain careful and don''t undo the spell at any costs¡­"


    Ava nodded her head at Sylvie''s warning.


    "Okay, I will keep that in mind¡­"


    The scroll burned by itself, and the magic spell got activated. Both Sylvie and Ava''s appearance changed, and the two of them turned into ordinary-looking human beings.


    With all preparations done, the two of them headed straight toward the small town without hesitation.


    ¡­


    "Whoa¡­ Even this small town has a magic barrier placed on it¡­ The human race really is much more prosperous than us¡­ We are barely even maintaining our barrier in the capital city¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words of admiration, Sylvie nodded her head and said,


    "Humans are weak individually, but they can create wonders when they work together¡­ We Elf don''t have such great camaraderie like them¡­ We interact and cooperate less with each other¡­"


    "Also, we elves don''t like bloodshed that much, so most of us never think of violence, and rarely do any of us try to learn combat techniques and skills¡­"


    Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire


    "We are physically and mentally stronger by nature, but if we don''t train, humans can easily overpower us¡­"


    "It''s a difference in mentality¡­ We are lacking that mentality of progress¡­"


    Although it seemed weird that Sylvie was badmouthing her own nation right in front of the national princess, she didn''t care about face value at all.


    For a battle-hardened veteran like her, the truth can''t be denied; she thinks and speaks logically without letting her emotions influence her.


    And she''s telling the truth to Ava just as it actually is.


    Hearing all that from Sylvie indeed made Ava feel a bit sad, but then her eyes became even more determined.


    ''If humans can achieve all this with their weak physique, why can''t elves do it¡­ If I become the queen, I will motivate people to work harder¡­''


    While Ava was still contemplating in her mind, Sylvie grabbed her like a sandbag with one arm, bent her knees a bit, and then jumped to directly bypass the city wall.


    A small crater was created on the ground from the impact of her jump.


    The barrier on the city is meant to defend against beings that are tainted with miasma and corruption; Elf''s are not tainted with miasma and are not monsters.


    They are highly intelligent beings with purer mana in their bodies than humans.


    So the barrier was basically useless against Sylvie and Ava.


    Unless the two of them get tainted with miasma somehow, this barrier won''t work against them.


    And as Sylvie is a knight, she has a strong body, so she can easily jump high enough to directly bypass the city wall without anyone noticing her.


    This way, the two of them entered the town without raising any suspicions.


    Sylvie placed Ava down and patted her shoulder before speaking.


    "Good work, princess; you didn''t scream; you have amazing control over your body¡­ You will become a fine wizard in the future, like your mother¡­"


    Hearing the excessive praise from Sylvie, Ava was a bit taken aback, but then she said, sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You are the one who''s more impressive; you even knew that the barrier wouldn''t work on us¡­ Did you do a lot of research?"


    Sylvie nodded her head at those words and replied,


    "I have visited the human race once before, actually¡­ I was quite young at the time and went to the human capital city of Delta with Father and big sis¡­"


    "At the time, we tried to negotiate a deal with the King of the human race¡­ but he refused, saying that they don''t want to get involved with other races''s internal matters¡­"


    Ava looked at Sylvie and asked, with a curious look on her face,


    "How long ago was that?"


    Upon hearing that question, Sylvie took a moment to reflect before responding.


    "Well, I think it should have been 150-200 years ago or something like that¡­ I don''t remember the exact date or time¡­"

 Chapter 125 Visitors from Afar... Part-2.

    "Doesn''t that mean your information on the human race is totally outdated now?""Two hundred years might not be that long of a time for us elves, but for humans, that''s enough time for eight generations to go by..."


    Ordinary elves have a life span of a thousand years, and royal elves like Ava can live for two millennia.


    And if they learn to harness the power of mana, then their lifespan can increase even further.


    But most elves don''t bother training, as their long lifespan makes them lose interest in most things over time.


    Like how humans become adults around 18 years of age, elves become adults around 200 years of age.


    Which means Sylvie, who is 230 years old, has barely just entered her twenties when compared to the human lifespan.


    And Ava, who''s only a hundred years old, is still just a minor. (Imagine being a hundred years old and still being forced to go to school¡­ That''s hell¡­)


    ¡­


    "No, although I have only visited the human empire once, I have been keeping up with the times¡­ I have fought those hateful human poachers all my life¡­"


    "I usually interrogate them and get a lot of information out of them¡­"


    "But still, seeing it with my own eyes is really a different experience after all¡­ They really have advanced a lot in the past two centuries¡­"


    "I highly doubt that the elven race can make this much progress in just two centuries¡­"


    Sylvie''s tone was filled with complicated emotions.


    Although she has known about various technological advancements of the human race from the mouth of the poachers that came to the forest to hunt down exotic animals or catch elves,.


    Words don''t do justice to the technology of humans.


    Sylvie can see metallic cars that she heard are called ''Cars''; they run using fuels that are naturally found on Earth.


    Elves have to use flying-type artifacts to achieve the same result as these cars.


    Sylvie looked at the tall buildings and concrete roads and said, with a look of awe on her face,


    "I knew that we were behind in terms of technology, but I didn''t expect we were this far behind¡­"


    "This place is just a small town, and it''s already so magnificent and full of wonders¡­ The capital city is sure to be more majestic than this¡­"


    Sylvie and Ava started walking on the footpath beside the road while looking at everything with interest and curiosity in their eyes.


    Then Sylvie noticed a food stall nearby and bought the two of them some spicy food to try out.


    Ava asked Sylvie in a quiet voice,


    "Where did you get the money, though?"


    Sylvie smiled and said,


    "Of course, from looting the poachers who came to loot our forest, it''s a fair exchange¡­"


    Only after hearing that answer did Ava realize that her aunt is by no means a simple person.


    Usually, elves are not much interested in socializing, and they rarely ever leave the Great Forest.


    But Sylvie was not only able to gather a lot of information on humans; she even got enough money stored to make the travels less difficult.


    In other words, Sylvie has likely been planning for this moment for years now.


    After eating the unique food of the human race, the two elven women started to walk on the road again.


    Sylvie glanced at the sky and noticed a giant bird that looked to be made of metal flying at a very fast speed.


    "Ah¡­ So that''s the flying machine called ''Plane''¡­ It certainly is fascinating¡­ I have only seen grade-1 individuals who can go so high in the sky¡­"


    "But to think even ordinary people can go into the sky with that machine¡­ the technology is amazing¡­"


    Ava was more shocked than Sylvie, but the two of them didn''t show too many expressions on their faces, as they didn''t want to draw too much attention.


    Ava glanced at Sylvie and asked,


    "Aunt¡­ What do you think the elves would need to do to become this prosperous?¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words, Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "Sigh~¡­. Princess, the thing is¡­ we elves don''t have the ''ruthless'' nature of humans; most elves are kind natured¡­"


    "To run businesses, to create great empires, and to reach prosperity, you need the emotion called ''selfishness''¡­. A society where everyone is kind and selfless can''t function properly¡­"


    Ava frowned a bit at those words and asked,


    "What''s wrong with being kind? Isn''t being kind to everyone a beneficial thing?"


    Sylvie sighed and explained,


    "Princess, I have fought humans for a long time, and I have learned a lot from their crafty techniques¡­"


    "You see, being kind is a good thing¡­ But kindness without limit is just harm to yourself¡­"


    Imagine a scenario where the owner of the owner of a food stall is a very kind elf.


    A hungry elf comes, eats food, and refuses to pay money as he doesn''t have it at the moment.


    The kind stall owner forgives him.


    This process will continue to repeat itself.


    Elves rely on each other''s kindness, and the stall owner will not ask for money back from anyone as he is kind; eventually, he will go bankrupt and starve to death.


    But elves are so stubbornly kind that they will accept dying rather than ask others to repay their favors.


    Even if the other elf that ate for free returned money eventually, the lifespan of elves is long.


    ''A while'' can mean years for them.


    This means that the business will slow down considerably.


    "Simply speaking, we don''t have the ruthless and selfish motivations that drive human society¡­ We need another kind of motivation¡­"


    "Asking elves that are kind by nature to become ''selfish'' all of a sudden is just a pipe dream¡­" S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Imitating humans is not going to work for us; we need to create a new and better societal structure for ourselves¡­"


    Ava looked at Sylvie with eyes filled with awe. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    "Aunt, you are so knowledgeable¡­ Seriously, you should become the queen instead of me¡­ You are the best candidate for being a good queen¡­"


    Sylvie smiled at Ava''s words and said,


    "Haha, princess, you seem to forget that I am also an elf¡­ I have the same stubborn kindness disease as other elves¡­ I can''t be selfish; I want you to get your rightful position¡­"


    "I want you to succeed the throne, as you are the legitimate successor¡­ Perhaps if I wasn''t an elf, I wouldn''t have been this kind either, princess¡­"


    "Sigh¡­ We elves really are a hopeless race¡­"


    Sylvie glanced at the sky and shook her head before saying,


    "At this rate, it won''t be long before our race goes extinct due to not being able to keep up with the changes in time¡­"


    "We are stuck with the old ways of living while humans are making rapid progress¡­ sigh¡­"

 Chapter 126 Visitors from Afar... Part-3.

    Inside a train, headed towards the capital city."This thing is so fast¡­ What was it called again? A bullet train?"


    Ava glanced at the scenery outside that was changing at a moment''s notice, and a look of awe appeared in her eyes.


    Hearing Ava''s question, Sylvie nodded her head and said in a quiet voice,


    "This speed¡­ It''s nearly the same as a grade-3 warrior¡­ And the amazing thing is that machines don''t get tired, so they can keep running at this speed for a long time¡­"


    The expression on Sylvie''s face turned solemn while she was thinking about this.


    "In other words, they can deploy their army anywhere at this insane speed; the enemy won''t even have time to react before the army reaches their home¡­"


    "Human technology is just as beautiful as it is horrifying..."


    Ava sighed at those words and inquired.


    "Then how about we sign some cooperation pacts with the humans and take their help to develop? We can trade in return, right?"


    Sylvie smiled a bit and patted Ava''s head before saying,


    "You are still a young princess; you don''t understand how cruel this world is¡­ The world works on selfish desires and motivations¡­"


    "If we don''t'' have valuable enough things, then we won''t be able to trade them with the human race¡­ And if we do have valuable things, then we wouldn''t have the army to defend them from the greedy eyes¡­"


    The reason why the mermaid race was destroyed was because they had access to sea areas.


    Humans could have just established trading routes with them, and there wouldn''t be any need for war.


    However, the mermaid race was weak, possessing a low level of technology and a small army comprised of less talented individuals.


    In other words, they did have the resources of the whole sea, but they didn''t have the strength to defend it, and once the greedy eyes noticed weakness, they wouldn''t let it go.


    "Trade can only be done between those who are equal grounds¡­ We need to enhance our military to be able to stand on equal grounds¡­"


    "But then again, the military would need resources, and we don''t have it¡­ So it''s a vicious, never-ending cycle¡­"


    Sylvie glanced at the humans who were traveling in the train along with them and thought to herself.


    ''Perhaps the reason why elves will go extinct is because they don''t have a society or economy that can support their growth.''


    Sylvie shook her head and sighed.


    "Forget it; let''s stop talking about this topic now¡­ The more we talk about it, the more headaches I get¡­"


    Suddenly, Sylvie had an idea and spoke,


    "By the way, princess¡­ We are not on an official trip; we can''t ask for help from their army or anything related to official stuff¡­"


    "We will be going to visit the grade 1 mages to ask for help¡­"


    Ava nodded her head and inquired in confusion.


    "Uh, we are going to all of them?"


    Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "No¡­ From the mouth of the recent poaching groups, I learned that one of their Grade-1 is locked up somewhere¡­."


    "We can''t find him¡­ As for the one who comes from the royal family¡­ it will be very difficult to get a chance to have a meeting with him¡­."


    "So, our best bet is the one who just recently ascended to Grade-1¡­"


    Ava appeared somewhat perplexed and inquired.


    "But how will we find him¡­ We don''t even know his name-"


    Before Ava could complete her sentence, Sylvie said,


    "We don''t even need to find him¡­ a grade-1 mage''s mana detection range is hundreds of kilometers wide¡­"


    "Once we enter the capital city¡­ we won''t need to find him; instead, he will track us down in an instant¡­"


    A look of concern appeared on Ava''s face after hearing that,


    "B-but¡­ wouldn''t that mean the other grade-1 will also notice us? This is very risky¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head at those words,


    "It''s risky; the outcome depends on luck¡­. That''s why I said you shouldn''t have come here¡­"


    "With the detection capabilities of a grade-1 mage, it''s easy for them to see through our disguise¡­"


    "And if they have even the slightest bit of knowledge about elves, then they will notice that you are from the royal family in an instant¡­"


    "If the other person is not a good-hearted person, then we are doomed today¡­"


    "Let''s just hope that the teleportation scroll will work¡­"


    Although Ava was quite nervous after hearing those words, she still didn''t hesitate to go to the capital city, and the look of determination in her eyes never diminished.


    ''For the sake of the elven race, I must take the risk¡­''


    ¡­


    The train reached the station in the capital city in just a few hours.


    While Ava was amazed at the sight of the majestic train station, Sylvie had already raised her guard; she''s ready to run away using the scroll at any moment now.


    *Step**Step*


    Just when the two were still wandering in the station, the sound of certain footsteps made them halt.


    The whole busy station went silent in an instant; people stopped moving, and they unconsciously stepped aside to give way to a single man.


    A man with dark purple hair and pupils walked into the station with a cold expression on his face.


    People immediately noticed him and figured out his identity, but none dared to approach him as the aura around him made the small distance near him unapproachable.


    Sylvie also noticed the man and hid Ava behind her in response.


    The man glanced at Ava for a second before his eyes met Sylvie''s, and then he spoke in a cold and intimidating voice.


    "Purpose?"


    Jareth only inquired about the purpose of Sylvie and Ava''s visit.


    If it were before he had read the book in the hidden library, Jareth wouldn''t have come here to see the two of them.


    But now that he knows a lot about this world, he has changed his mind.


    "Negotiations for cooperation on miasma and corruption¡­"


    Sylvie immediately stated her purpose for the visit.


    Although she was feeling quite nervous while standing in Jareth''s presence, she still had the courage to tell everything truthfully.


    Hearing her words, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Good¡­"


    With that said, Jareth turned around and started to leave the same way he came.


    Sylvie and Ava looked at each other and nodded their heads.


    They decided to follow behind him.


    Jareth went outside and entered a car, and Sylvie and Ava sat in a different car that was following right behind Jareth''s.


    (He just booked two taxis for them as he came flying and didn''t bring his own cars¡­)


    The two cars headed straight to the university and didn''t stop anywhere along the way.


    While sitting in the car, Ava glanced at Sylvie and asked,


    "Uh¡­ Did he agree?"


    Sylvie smiled at those words and explained everything to her,


    "He only agreed to listen to what we had to say¡­ He hasn''t agreed to help yet¡­"


    Ava nodded her head in understanding and went silent.


    "I see¡­."


    Suddenly Sylvie remembered something and said it in a quiet voice so that the driver couldn''t hear her words.


    "By the way, princess¡­ I heard there''s a famously talented kid named Mark in the current younger generation of the human race¡­"


    "I advise you to stay away from him¡­ We don''t want any trouble right now¡­"


    Sylvie was worried for Ava''s safety.


    She doesn''t want Ava to get noticed by some shady young master who likes to collect women as ornaments. (Classic Allen activities¡­)


    These types of people have a lot of influence, and it would be difficult if they took notice of Ava.


    "Okay¡­ I will be careful¡­" S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Ava nodded her head and continued to look at the giant buildings and amazing sights of the capital city.


    According to her, everything here looks super sci-fi.


    She''s thrilled to see all the amazing sights and has no thoughts about anything else.


    ¡­


    After half an hour of riding, the three of them reached the university together.


    Jareth led the way and took the two of them to the meeting room of the main building.


    He read through the locations of the seven nodes of the seal of ''False Dome'', and one of the seven nodes is actually located in the Elven Empire. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth can easily just barge in, but it''d be better if he had the permission of the elves.


    These two elven women came just at the right time.


    He can listen to their words and can also make his own demands for entering the Elven Empire.


    Jareth has no interest in establishing political connections between the two nations, but he has personal interests to take care of.


    Thinking about it, Jareth sat on the main chair of the meeting room, and the two elven women sat on the faraway chairs.


    Jareth sent a message to the staff members to deliver some drinks and juice for the three of them.


    The meeting place was all set¡­ Now all that needed to be done was to talk about everything that needed to be negotiated.


    (It may seem fast, but both Jareth and Sylvie are the type of people who don''t bother with pleasantries and stuff, so they didn''t really bother to do it¡­)

 Chapter 127 Meeting... Part-1.

    "Nice to meet you. I am Sylvie Xilrel, the younger sister of the current Elf queen, and this is Princess Ava Xilrel, next in line for the throne¡­"Jareth nodded his head at Sylvie''s words and said,


    "I am Jareth Ayad, the Vice-Principal of ''Ivan''s Higher Arcane University''¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Ava for a second and asked,


    "I am quite surprised by the courage of the elves¡­ You brought the heir of your empire to enemy territory without batting an eye¡­ Consider me impressed¡­"


    Even Jareth couldn''t help but be impressed by the fearlessness of the two women.


    Humans have a really bad reputation among other races, so it''s quite a surprise that Sylvie and Ava had the courage to come here alone.


    In the game, Ava is one of Allen''s harem members, and she sacrifices her life to save Allen from a certain death.


    That''s the reason why Jareth has a strong impression of this little girl, and he immediately recognized her the moment he first saw her.


    On the other hand, Sylvie is the knight who protects Ava all the time.


    During one of the missions, she acts as a decoy so that the hero''s party can run for their lives and avoid the siege of monsters.


    She dies fighting till her last breath, a true warrior through and through who refuses to surrender and tarnish her honor.


    Her famous quote was,


    {Upon my honor, I stand eternal¡­ under the grace¡­ of¡­ shining moonlight¡­}


    Those were her iconic last words when she died standing on the hill created from the corpses of her enemies.


    The moonlight shone on her body, as even after death, she stood proud and refused to fall.


    That cutscene created immense hype for the game as it went viral on the internet.


    ''Actually, aside from the fact that it was gifted by a friend, the reason why I played this game till last was partially because of her amazing last stand battle¡­''


    ''It was sad but very cool¡­''


    Although Jareth has a favorable impression of Sylvie, he isn''t sure if her personality is the same as in the game.


    Unlike the game, the main character is a total scumbag, or maybe he already was a scumbag in the game too, but it was hidden by the plot.


    Still, many things are different in this world, and there are a lot of small changes.


    Thus, Jareth isn''t sure if Sylvie and Ava had any changes in personality, so he decided to talk to them personally before determining it.


    ¡­


    "I was actually against bringing the princess here, but she kept insisting on it, and I can''t deny her orders, so here we are¡­"


    Sylvie took the lead and explained everything truthfully.


    Jareth himself doesn''t know it, but he gives off immense pressure to others just by being in close proximity to them.


    Not only is his mana extremely pure, but his mana control is also insane, so even though he always keeps his mana in check, it''s impossible to sense his aura easily.


    People with amazing instincts, such as Sylvie, can easily sense the danger that Jareth''s body is emitting.


    ''It''s like I am sitting near a lion who is disguising himself as a sheep...''


    Jareth uses his mana singularity to hide his grade and the mana fluctuations of his body; thus, not even grade 1 people can see through him.


    But this alone can make others feel intimidated by him instinctively.


    ''Even big sis didn''t used to make me feel so threatened¡­ My instincts are telling me not to offend this person¡­ or death is the outcome¡­''


    Sylvie has been fighting for decades, gaining extensive combat experience and perfecting her instincts.


    It''s much easier for her to notice details that others don''t.


    ''P-perhaps I shouldn''t have brought Ava here after all.''


    Just when Jareth and Sylvie were contemplating each other in their minds, Ava brought them back to reality by saying,


    "No, it''s actually a good thing that I came here¡­ I got to see a lot of amazing things on our way here¡­"


    "In the future, I will work hard to make the Elven Empire as prosperous as this amazing place¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Well, it seems the princess has a goal in mind already¡­ It''s a good thing; you should walk on the path you have chosen¡­"


    Even in the game, Ava wanted to make the Elven Empire prosperous.


    But she died prematurely, her wishes were never fulfilled, and the Elven Empire was destroyed by the overflowing miasma.


    So, it would be quite a good thing if the elves didn''t die, as that would award him a lot of credit points.


    ''Perhaps that flood of miasma and the outbreak of low-level demons and monsters also happened because the node of the seal placed in the Elven Empire broke apart¡­''


    Although the reason for the outbreak was never specified in the game, Jareth can speculate that this might be the real reason.


    Jareth glanced at Sylvie and said,


    "Well, pleasantries aside, shall we talk about the main reason for your visit now, Ms. Sylvie?"


    Sylvie nodded her head, brought out a small leaf from her space ring, and put her on the table.


    The small leaf was already withered and had turned pitch black; it was clearly corrupted by miasma.


    "This is the leaf of the ''World Tree''¡­ or at least it used to be¡­"


    "Actually, our ancestors have been trying to grow a world tree for several millennia now¡­ but we have never succeeded¡­" sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sylvie glanced at the miasma-infected leaf, and a look of sadness appeared on her face.


    "We used to have a hundred seeds of the world tree; we tried planting them all¡­."


    "All of them would just grow to the size of a small sapling, and then they would die soon¡­ as if something is stopping them from growing further¡­"


    Hearing those words, a thought came to Jareth''s mind:


    ''Could it be that the ''Laws'' of the world are involved in this matter too? Tch! Whenever the ''Laws'' get involved, everything turns into sh*t¡­''


    Jareth really has become irritated by the interference of the ''laws'' of this world.


    Until now, he still hasn''t found any method to cure twins that are stuck below the sea near the port city of Urona.


    If he could save them, he could earn a significant number of credit points, but it remains impossible.


    "So, all of your world trees are dead, and you don''t have any more seeds now? That''s quite the trouble you have got¡­"


    "But¡­. You can''t possibly be thinking that I can help you grow a world tree, right? That''s something a human can''t do; the world tree only recognizes elves, or so I have heard¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head and said,


    "Yes, the world tree can only be grown by elves, as it doesn''t recognize other races¡­ We aren''t here to ask you to grow a world tree for us¡­"


    "Actually, there is still one sapling of the world tree left in the world¡­ It was the first one that we tried to grow¡­ It has been said to have been planted more than nine millennia ago¡­"


    "It was the only sapling that grew to the height of ten meters¡­ but it''s been stuck at that height as if its progress is blocked by something¡­"


    Sylvie sighed, then continued.


    "But the main problem is that it has started to get corrupted by miasma since the past few decades¡­"


    "Miasma has started to destroy its roots, and it has started to die now¡­ We elves don''t want that to happen¡­."


    Sylvie glanced at Ava with a sad look and said,


    "The queen went to the forbidden land to visit the tree, but she has gone missing with her whole knight battalion¡­ She was a Grade 1 mage; if something can harm her, then it''s great trouble for our empire¡­"


    The tree is located in a forbidden place that has started to become a lake of miasma, and everything in the area has become dangerous and toxic to normal people.


    Even grade 2 individuals dare not go there.


    "We need the help of a grade 1 individual to track down or possibly rescue her from the place¡­ And if possible, it would be even better if the sapling could be extracted from that place¡­"


    Hearing Sylvie''s words, Jareth''s interest was piqued, but he was also quite surprised.


    Discover hidden stories at My Virtual Library Empire


    "So you are trying to say that the whole area that you are referring to as a ''forbidden land'' has become infested with miasma, and strange phenomena are happening there?"


    "You have caught my interest¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "But I have a condition¡­ I want to do some personal research in your elven empire, so you will need to give me a permit to freely go anywhere in your empire¡­"


    "If you can do that much, then we can start talking further¡­ Otherwise, this deal is as good as dead."


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvie was surprised. She thought that Jareth might have some big demands, but it turned out all he wanted was a permit to visit the place.


    Thus, Sylvie immediately agreed to Jareth''s request.


    "Yes, we can accept that condition as long as you don''t do any unethical research there¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "Of course¡­"

 Chapter 128 Meeting... Part-2.

    "That permit to research aside¡­ We are willing to give a ''Leaf'' of the world tree to you as compensation¡­""We haven''t been successful in fully growing our world tree, so an item like that is very rare¡­ You can say that there are not many of them in the world¡­"


    Hearing Sylvie''s words, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Good. I wasn''t expecting much, but you guys at least have things that intrigue me¡­"


    ''I can use that leaf to speed up the process of making that mana nuke¡­ I can also use this opportunity to closely observe the nature of miasma and corruption¡­ and if I can keep the node of the seal intact, then it''s even better¡­''


    Jareth has multiple reasons to go to the Elven Empire, and the invitation to go there came to his door on its own.


    There was no need to reject such a good thing; thus, Jareth nodded his head and agreed.


    "Very well, I will help you out on this one¡­ I also have some personal enmity with miasma-related stuff, so it''s not impossible to assist you¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvie and Ava smiled happily as their goal of coming to the human empire was finally achieved.


    At that moment, Jareth thought of something and then said,


    "By the way, I will be bringing my students with me to visit¡­ They can see the vast world and widen their horizons¡­ It''s a win-win scenario¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head at Jareth''s words and said,


    "No problem¡­"


    Jareth got up from his seat and asked,


    "When are you planning to carry out this plan?"


    Sylvie also got up and said,


    "Two months¡­ The door to the forbidden lands is sealed with a powerful magic barrier, and it can only be opened once every six months¡­"


    "So we need to wait for some time¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and asked.


    Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire


    "Are you planning on going back, or will you stay in the capital for the time being?"


    Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "I would have liked to stay here, but my presence is needed there, back at home¡­ As the queen is absent, I and the princess will need to take care of the empire¡­"


    Sylvie took out a map from her space ring and gave it to Jareth.


    "This is the map that will help you reach the Elven Empire easily. It''s hidden by many mana barriers, so make sure to follow the instructions written on the back¡­"


    Jareth took the map and put it in his space ring before asking,


    "Are you sure you should be giving something like that to me? This map can be used to invade your nation¡­ You know that, right?"


    Sylvie nodded her head at those words and said,


    "I am taking a gamble here¡­ If we let the miasma spread, then the elves will die from the corruption¡­ I am taking this risk because this is the only way out for us¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Well¡­ you have my word then; unless it''s someone I trust, none will see this map other than me¡­"


    Jareth doesn''t want the elven nation to get destroyed like it did in the game, so he isn''t really planning on giving this map to anyone.


    He wants to save the nation and earn a lot of credit points to improve his own power.


    Training can only improve the talents and skills that he already has, but if he wants more talents and skills, he will need to gamble in that lottery system, and you need ''CP'' to gamble.


    ''I have become so addicted to this gambling system that everything I do nowadays is based on whether I will get CP out of it or not¡­''


    Hearing the promise from Jareth, Sylvie was relieved. Although she doesn''t know if Jareth will really keep this promise, she doesn''t have any other choice.


    Her nation and her family need help, so she had no choice but to trust Jareth''s words.


    With all the negotiations done, Sylvie and Ava left the university and went to the train station in a car to board a train and return the same way they came. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They don''t have much time after all; they need to make preparations for a possible war that can start any time now.


    Once the miasma corrupts the seal on the forbidden land and invades the empire, anything can happen.


    The good thing is that Reynald isn''t in the capital city right now, so he never noticed the two elven women.


    He was enjoying his time with his wife and daughter on a private beach far away from the capital city.


    Looking at the two''s leaving figures, Jareth was impressed by Sylvie''s decisive nature.


    She didn''t let Ava talk much for fear that she might create some misunderstandings, and she only talked about the things that were important.


    Even though she was clearly at a disadvantage as she was the one asking for help, her resolve never wavered.


    ''It''s rare to meet people who aren''t afraid of me¡­ The game really doesn''t do her justice¡­ She''s more impressive than in the game¡­''


    ¡­


    In the train.


    "Phew~~ Finally, I can breathe properly¡­ That was so difficult¡­"


    After the train left the capital city, Sylvie finally relaxed her tensed nerves and leaned back on her seat''s back.


    Ava looked at her aunt and asked in confusion,


    "Uh, what are you talking about¡­ I don''t think he seemed dangerous¡­ Actually, he seemed more like an ordinary person¡­ I couldn''t even feel mana fluctuations from him¡­"


    "My mother had such strong mana fluctuations, on the other hand¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words, Sylvie sighed and said,


    "Of course you can''t sense mana fluctuations from him¡­ neither could I¡­ That guy is insanely power full after all¡­"


    "If not for my instincts¡­ I could have never sensed how extraordinary he is¡­"


    Ava doesn''t have the combat instincts of a veteran warrior like Sylvie, so she obviously couldn''t sense it.


    "Fortunately, he seems like a decent person¡­ But we will need to see him in action to trust him more¡­ But one thing is sure: he is indeed a strong grade 1 mage¡­"


    What Sylvie didn''t know was that Jareth is barely even in Grade 3 right now, and she has misunderstood him for a Grade 1 just like everyone else!


    Moreover, basic magic isn''t that effective against miasma either, so Jareth is literally the last person that she should have hired for this work.


    Without his basic magic, he''s quite weak!


    ¡­


    "By the way, was it really a good idea to give the map to him?... That thing can easily be used to locate our empire¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words of concern, Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "Nope, that was the best ever possible choice, actually¡­"


    "Humans have a technology called ''Satelite''¡­ that thing flies beyond the skies, and it can monitor everything that''s happening on the ground from thousands of kilometers high in the sky¡­"


    "Although that thing can''t see our nation because of the magical barriers, it won''t be long before humans can create a new version of it that is equipped with the ability to see through illusion barriers too¡­"


    Sylvie looked into Ava''s eyes and said,


    "Sooner or later, our nation will be discovered, and we will have no choice¡­ Before that happens, we need to establish a friendly relationship with the human race¡­"


    "If a war started¡­ Elves will go extinct¡­ Sometimes, humans can be crueler than demons, actually¡­"


    Sylvie has caught many human poachers in the forest before, and most of them betray their comrades when push comes to shove.


    "Once I accidentally locked up two humans in a cave and forgot about them, they ended up killing each other and ripping apart their internal organs like brutal ''animals''¡­"


    "I later asked a fellow comrade to use memory-reading spells and figure out the cause of their deaths¡­ It turned out they both liked the same women, and they killed each other over that matter¡­"


    The more Ava listened to Sylvie''s words, the more shocked she felt.


    Elves live a very long life, due to which their urge for mortal desires like love, hate, lust, etc. is much suppressed.


    So it''s quite a shocking thing to hear that two people ripped apart each other''s internal organs and bit each other to death like crazed animals over a petty argument about who loved a woman more.


    "I-I think we should keep a fair distance from humans even after we make an alliance with them¡­ They sound more like demons than demons themselves¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head at Ava''s words and said,


    "Actually, humans tell their children stories on how to murder and massacre hordes of demons¡­"


    (She''s referring to children''s fairytales where a prince in shining armor slaughters demons to protect his love¡­)


    Hearing Sylvie''s words, Ava felt quite fearful as she thought,


    ''Humans are scary¡­''


    ¡­


    Jareth''s dorm room.


    [Ding! You indirectly caused a heroine to change her mind and stopped her from getting with the protagonist!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You received 3000 CP!]


    ''Huh? What just happened?''


    Jareth himself didn''t know that Ava has become scared of humans, so she will not be getting together with Allen now, thus the plot has changed again indirectly.


    If Jareth knew about it, he would have given a thumbs up to Sylvie, saying,


    ''Nice assist, partner!''

 Chapter 129 The Vast Human Empire...

    Mark''s Dorm Room."Yes, just like that¡­ You are surprisingly good at massaging¡­"


    Mark smirked as he watched TV while sitting on the couch and made Risa massage his shoulders.


    She had been messing around with him for a long time now, and today is the day when he will get some payback from her.


    "Ugh¡­ If not for that giant maze on the third floor, I would have definitely beaten you this time!"


    Risa pouted her cheeks and said it in an annoyed tone.


    She wanted to win this time but ended up getting lost in the maze. If only her mana detection ability were stronger, she could have reached the boss area faster.


    ''I will go and train my mana detection ability so that something like this never happens again¡­''


    Although Risa was upset over the fact that she lost, she still wanted to make progress, as she''s just as obsessed with training as Mark is with magic.


    "No, no, even if you had reached the boss area¡­ you know who the final boss was? It was Vice- Principal Jareth himself! He let me go on purpose, or I would not have won either¡­"


    "But I will have to say, he really is a strong person; even the most casual attack from him is insanely strong¡­"


    Seeing that Risa didn''t want to acknowledge her defeat, Mark told her about the final boss to make her aware of the fact that it was impossible to complete their trail if not for the fact that Jareth had let him go on purpose.


    When she heard those words, Risa pouted her cheeks even more and said,


    "Wait, doesn''t that mean you didn''t actually win the bet? Y-you tricked me!"


    Mark didn''t deny it either; he smiled and said,


    "Exactly!"


    Just when Risa was about to say something, a notification sound came from both Mark and Risa''s phones.


    They both noticed that it was a message from Jareth himself; he was asking them to come to the principal''s office for a moment.


    Mark glanced at Risa with a look of confusion and said,


    "Did you do something? Don''t tell me you left your torture-related book open in the classroom and someone fainted after reading them¡­"


    Risa frowned a bit and shook her head before saying, S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "No, I didn''t do anything; I am innocent!"


    "If I wanted to make someone faint why would I use such an inefficient method any way? I can just throw a random poisonous dust on them, and they will faint on the spot!"


    Mark frowned at her words and said,


    "I seriously don''t know what is so interesting about learning these weird things; you really have weird interests¡­"


    Risa shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "Too bad, you''re going to get married to a weird girl, I guess¡­ what? Why are you looking at me like that? I really didn''t make anyone faint, you know!"


    Mark shook his head and said,


    "Sigh, forget it; let''s just go and see what the issue is¡­"


    The two of them nodded their heads and left the room to go to the principal office.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of walking, they arrived outside the principal office, and Mark gulped his saliva in nervousness.


    "Ugh¡­ This is the first time I have been summoned to the principal''s office. I wonder what I did to get called here¡­"


    "I certainly don''t want them to contact my parents to complain; my younger sister will laugh at me all the time if she finds out something about me¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but think of how mischievous his younger sister is; she even stole all his share of pastries and then blamed it all on Risa.


    ''I sometimes wonder where she even gets these weird ideas¡­''


    *Knock* *Knock*


    Mark knocked on the door and waited until a sound of ''come in'' came from inside.


    With permission to enter, he pushed the door open, and the two of them entered together.


    What came into view was Jareth sitting on the chair of the vice principal, and a map of the entire human empire was placed on the table in front of him.


    Jareth raised his head and glanced at the two of them before saying, in his usual cold tone,


    "Sit down¡­"


    Mark and Risa nodded their heads and sat down on the chairs positioned on the opposite side.


    Jareth then brought out some books from his space ring and gave a few to both of them.


    "I recently had the chance to find some secret spells that will come in handy for talented people like you¡­ Take them; consider that you owe me a favor¡­"


    Before Mark could ask the origin of these spells, Jareth added,


    "The previous principle had a hidden library that had a lot of secret spells. I got these from there. You can study these spells for now, and then you will have to return them to me¡­"


    "Also, you aren''t allowed to tell anyone else about this matter, or I will hang you upside down like a chandelier¡­"


    Hearing the warning from Jareth, the two of them nodded their heads and promised not to tell anyone about this matter.


    Mark glanced at one of the books and said,


    "But isn''t it illegal to take things without permission from the owner¡­ Like, wouldn''t this cause problems?"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "The owner of these books didn''t think twice before he did illegal things; he has no right to be suing others for doing illegal stuff¡­"


    "Also, the hidden library was located in the university; these spells are now public property, and once you two are done learning them, I will put these spells in the restricted area of the main library¡­"


    "Students who are exceptionally talented and perform well can also learn these in the future¡­"


    Only after hearing the reassuring words from Jareth did Mark finally accept the spell books and put him in his space ring.


    And since Mark accepted the offer, Risa didn''t think much either and took the spell books too.


    From her point of view, Mark always makes the right decisions, and since he agreed, it was fine if she took the spell books too.


    Then Mark asked with a voice of concern,


    "Well, that aside, what if he came out and blamed us for stealing though¡­"


    Jareth leaned his back on the chair and said,


    "If that guy really managed to come out, I will be dealing with him; you don''t need to worry about things that are supposed to be my business¡­ Just work hard and get stronger¡­" Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    "That''s what is expected from an excellent talent like you¡­"


    Mark nodded his head at those words and stopped mentioning Nathan after that.


    Seeing that Mark finally stopped talking about Nathan, Jareth continued,


    "Ah, another matter; you see this map; this is the map of the entire human empire¡­"


    "The ones that you see on the internet and in books are very inaccurate and don''t have the real details in them¡­"


    "But this one is a very detailed map created by a very skilled professional¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the map and explained,


    "To the north is the snow-covered mountain range, filled with hundreds of tribes of frost-type wyverns living there. It''s an area that''s very remote; very few people live there¡­"


    "Then in the west is the port city of Urona and the Vast Sea, which is filled with countless underwater creatures¡­."


    "Actually, Artavia is located in the middle area between the capital city and the port city of Urona¡­"


    "The empty areas have mountain ranges and forests; there are also many hidden military bases in these areas¡­"


    Jareth then placed his finger on the east side of the map and said,


    "To the east is the giant forest of illusionary flowers¡­ It''s filled with weird creatures that can send brain wave attacks and create illusions; it''s a dangerous place¡­"


    Jareth didn''t say at the moment that just past this large forest is an even bigger forest area that is the place where the entire Elf Empire is located; the distance to the Elven Empire is more than a thousand kilometers.


    Moreover, you have to traverse through this dangerous forest area to reach an even denser forest to finally arrive at the Elven Empire. It''s a difficult journey if you can''t fly or anything.


    ''Moreover, this whole planet is likely much bigger than Earth itself; on this one continent, elves and humans are living thousands of kilometers apart, and there are two more continents out there¡­''


    Jareth has visited many areas in the game; he knows the general locations of them, but things might be different in this world, so he isn''t sure.


    ''There''s the great dwarf tribe, and there is even an underground area where the beast men are living in hiding¡­''


    Jareth stopped thinking about all this and put his finger on the southern area and said,


    "To the south is the massive desert of chaotic thunder, where thunder clouds rampage violently all year long and it never rains there¡­"


    Jareth explained the whole topography of the human empire and then came to Mark and Risa before saying,


    "I need you two to follow me on a journey to this desert; I have something to find, and on the other hand, you two can get a lot of real combat experience by fighting monsters there¡­"


    "But let me be clear: it''s going to be a difficult journey; traversing the thunder-torn desert is no child''s play; it''s going to be a massive challenge¡­"


    "Many low-grade mages have died there¡­ But fret not, ordinary people still live there and there are cities located in that place too, so you won''t have much trouble once in the city¡­"

 Chapter 130 Jareth the manipulator...

    "Uh¡­ But why only us?"Mark was happy to learn new things, but he was confused as to why Jareth would go out of his way to just invite the two of them to follow him around.


    Jareth looked into Mark''s eyes and said in a calm tone,


    "Simply because you are talented, as your teacher, I want to see how far you can grow¡­"


    ''For the sake of my life and for the sake of my future, you need to become strong, Mark, faster than ever¡­''


    Jareth was planning to hit two birds at the same time. He will go to the desert for some important business and will take Mark and Risa too so that they can train to be stronger.


    In the game, Aiza used to despise and talk badly of Jareth a lot, so Jareth doesn''t like her much, so he doesn''t want to add her to the team.


    Just looking at her face makes him annoyed as he remembers the past of the original Jareth.


    If not for all that, Jareth would have added her to the team, as she''s a good fire mage.


    ''Doesn''t matter; I will keep working on my own fire magic, and it will be fine¡­''


    Instead of relying on a person that Jareth can''t trust, it''s better for him to become strong himself.


    ''Thankfully, I got mana singularity, or I would have died a hundred times by now¡­''


    ¡­


    Hearing the answer from Jareth, Mark left the office with Risa with a happy smile on his face.


    Jareth is known for his cold and strict nature, and for him to praise Mark means he is genuinely impressed by Mark''s talent and hard work.


    Mark didn''t know that Jareth wanted him to become strong for his own sake, so he misunderstood Jareth''s intentions and thought that Jareth had a lot of expectations for Mark.


    And Mark doesn''t want to betray those expectations; he wants to prove that he''s worthy of praise.


    Just when Mark was busy thinking about all this in his mind, Risa suddenly said,


    "See, didn''t I tell you that I didn''t do anything wrong, You just don''t believe me at all!"


    Hearing those words, Mark scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "Ah, that¡­ uh.. I am sorry for doubting you¡­ You know, when you pull up a lot of pranks, it becomes hard to believe you¡­ So you should stop pranking me, okay?"


    Risa immediately shook her head and said,


    "No way! That''s impossible! Pulling pranks on you is my fundamental right!! If my demands go unanswered, I will protest!


    Seeing the stubborn look on Risa''s face, Mark sighed and said,


    "Sigh, do whatever you like¡­ not like you are going to listen to me..."


    Mark suddenly remembered something and asked,


    "By the way, I heard that your cousins who are in the third year beat up one of our classmates?"


    Hearing those words, Risa contemplated for a moment and said,


    "Er¡­ I seem to have heard that rumor too, but I can''t remember who they beat up¡­"


    "oh wait! I remember it was that shady-looking guy! What was his name¡­ er¡­ It was Amel¡­ Alem or something, I guess?"


    Mark frowned a bit and asked,


    "Amel? That''s the first time I''ve heard that name? There isn''t anyone in our class with that name, you know¡­ Ah! Are you referring to that guy, Allen!"


    "Oh, he seems like a decent guy; why would they beat him up?"


    Mark doesn''t know much about Allen, as he has never even spoken to him once before, but he seems like a decent person from a distance, so Mark was surprised when he heard that the third-year students beat him up.


    "Well, you know that my cousins are just straight-up hooligans who have crushes on random girls, and they can''t tolerate someone talking to the girls they like, so he likely talked to one of their crushes and then got beat up¡­"


    "Seriously, those guys are so overprotective¡­"


    Risa glanced at Mark and narrowed her eyes.


    ''You should be a bit more concerned about me too, you know¡­ just like them...''


    Risa really wanted to say that she also wanted Mark to be as concerned about her as her cousins are about their crush, but she didn''t say that as it seemed too weird to say out loud.


    "Sigh, if they keep doing things like that, they will get expelled from the university¡­ Breaking up your juniors isn''t a good thing¡­"


    Mark doesn''t really care about these things.


    Once, they actually tried to mess with Mark too, but Mark beat the living daylights out of them, so they became more respectful in front of him.


    Unlike Mark and Risa, they are not that talented and thus aren''t very strong.


    Two of them are at the peak of grade 4, and one is in early grade 3, but even then, Mark can still beat the sh*t out of them with just one hand, so he isn''t really afraid of them.


    "Forget it; not like we have anything to do with it¡­"


    Seeing that Mark went silent, Risa suddenly said,


    "Uh, you know, you need to apologize to me for doubting me¡­ so.. er.. how about going on a date?"


    Hearing those words, Mark suddenly remembered that the last date they went on was quite fun, so he nodded his head and agreed.


    "Okay, when we go to the cities in the desert with Vice-Principal Jareth, we can take some time off from training and enjoy some free¡­"


    "It''s not every day that you get to go to such faraway locations¡­"


    Risa was so happy after hearing those words that she made her favorite poisonous tea that day and drank it with a happy smile on her face.


    (She''s immune to low-grade poisons and actually likes to drink them as mango juice or something¡­. The reason she can come up with new poisons on the spot is because she can taste them to check how lethal they are¡­)


    ¡­


    Principal''s Office.


    "Hmm, indeed, there really can be some clues hidden about the false dome cult¡­"


    Thomas, who just arrived a few minutes ago, found out that Jareth wanted to take a leave to go to the desert of chaotic thunder to find some clues on the ''False Dome Cult''.


    "Yes, when I defeated that woman named Zero in Artavia, she was saying something about the desert, so it''s a good idea to go there and investigate things¡­"


    "If we can find some leads on the ''False Dome Cult'', it would be beneficial for the university¡­"


    The False Dome Cult has been trying to destroy the university again and again. They are very relentless in their attacks, and if an attack like Abella''s happens again, the university will suffer more damage.


    Last time, they asked Reynald to pay up the cost of repairing the university, but now they don''t have the means to repair it if something happens again.


    So, it''s better to stay a step ahead of the enemy and find out their whereabouts before they attack again.


    Thomas immediately agreed with Jareth''s words and stated,


    "Good, you should take a look to confirm the clues; there is no need to worry about the paperwork, and I can handle everything easily¡­"


    Jareth himself never does any paper work anyway; Thomas is the one who is running the university alone on his own, so Jareth can just easily go anywhere without worrying about losing his job for being absent.


    ''Man, I love this vice principal job. I can get paid for going on trips and doing no work at all. That''s such an amazing thing¡­''


    While Jareth was contemplating in his mind, Thomas took the papers that were placed on the desk and said,


    "I will take them home to finish things up; I have not time to waste; a cousin''s wedding is coming soon, so I gotta go¡­"


    With that said, Thomas left the principle room in a hurry.


    Just then, Jareth noticed that Thomas forgot one of the papers on the desk, and he got curious what it was. Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire


    ''Oh ho, so it''s a complaint letter submitted by a student that Allen got beat up by some bullies? The protagonist really has a lot of backers.''


    Some random person took the effort to write a complaint letter to the principal just to help out Allen; this is pure plot armor.


    ''Unfortunately for you¡­ You have met me now¡­''


    Jareth used the main computer of the university and typed a letter with an evil smirk on his face. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    On the letter he wrote,


    [For harassing a female student and getting into a fight with three upperclassmen, Student Allen is suspended for 15 days!]


    ''Hehe, as a villain it would be such a shame if I don''t take benefit of your momentary weakness¡­''


    Jareth sent the letter via email to Allen directly and then sent it to the chat group too and used the main computer to do it all; in other words, Thomas would be responsible for this all!


    ''Allen, my friend, I hope you like this gift I made for you with great care¡­''

 Chapter 131 The Monster Born From Sin... Part-1.

    Capital City, Eastern District.A small hidden Bar ''Night King'' in dark alley.


    "KAHAHHAHA, I told you I would win this bet¡­ You really have no gambling sense!"


    A man in his late fifties laughed mockingly at a much younger man sitting beside him.


    The two of them seemed to be old friends who came to meet each other after a long time.


    "A year ago, I made the bet with you that you would definitely get kicked out of the house¡­ Look! Not only did you get divorced, you lost your house, your car, and all the money!"


    Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire


    "KEHEHEHEHEHE, I already told you that woman was no good, and what did you say to me ''Bro, I think this is the woman I can love for my whole life'', bahahahaha¡­"


    "Ah, my stomach hurts from laughing so much¡­ I knew you would become a pathetic joke and would lose everything¡­"


    The younger guy just sighed continuously while drinking and didn''t even dare to refute his friend''s criticism.


    "Man, I thought she loved me¡­ I gave her my everything!... sigh~"


    The old guy patted his man''s shoulder and said,


    "Bro, when the team got disbanded, I already knew you would mess up big time in life; people like us can''t live a normal life after all that we have done¡­"


    The young guy sighed at those words and didn''t say anything; he just kept drinking.


    After a few moments of silence, the older guy grinned a bit and said,


    "So¡­ you killed her then?"


    The young guy nodded his head without hesitation.


    "She dared to mess around with another man behind my back; I skinned her alive and forced the other guy to eat her corpse raw, then killed him and threw him into the sewers to rot¡­"


    "But¡­ sigh, I really loved that woman, bro¡­ I really did, if only she hadn''t betrayed me¡­ You were right; people like us don''t really deserve to be happy¡­"


    "By the way, how''s ''It'' now back at ''Home''?"


    The old guy shook his head and sighed before saying,


    "Disbanded¡­ The whole thing got disbanded after our team chose to retire; we were their best cards afterall¡­"


    "Sigh, after all those years of killing and all¡­ Normal life doesn''t suit me; I don''t feel alive enough¡­ Whenever I look at innocent people walking past me¡­ I feel the urge to strangle them to death¡­"


    "If not for the fact that the ''Home'' got disbanded, I would have gone back to join another team¡­"


    Hearing those words, the young guy sighed and said,


    "Seriously Zeran¡­ We shouldn''t have stopped what we were doing¡­ All those years of killing have made me bloodthirsty, and now I crave blood¡­ I want to see people beg for mercy in front of me¡­"


    "Living the life of assassins, we have become bloodthirsty monsters¡­"


    Zeran nodded his head and said,


    "When we retired, I already knew that we wouldn''t be able to go back to a normal life. I even tried to warn you about it, Hark¡­ But you didn''t listen."


    "Now the organization is gone, and we are left in the dust¡­"


    "The rest of the three members who committed murder got caught by police as they were not able to control their bloodlust and ended up getting the death penalty for committing murders¡­"


    Hark shook his head and kept drinking more.


    "Even the wine feels tasteless¡­ The days when we used to drink wine mixed with the blood of freshly killed people were the best days¡­"


    "I always want to go back to those amazing days; at that time, I used to feel so ''alive'' and ''happy'' that I couldn''t express that feeling¡­"


    Just when the two were talking and reminiscing about their past, a man wearing a big hat and a black coat entered the empty bar.


    Aside from the bartender, Hark, and Zeran, no one was there before.


    But now an unknown man has entered all of a sudden, which has caused the atmosphere to suddenly become tense.


    The old bartender glanced at the unknown stranger and said with a smile,


    "Oh, we rarely get new customers here; what might you be looking for, sir-"


    A magic circle appeared beside the unknown man before the bar tender could finish his sentence, and it fired an extremely condensed mana beam at the speed of Mach 2.


    The beam hit the bartender''s head, and his head exploded like a watermelon hit by a bullet.


    The blood sprayed everywhere and painted the walls a dark red.


    Even the faces of the two assassins were stained with blood; the body of the bartender fell down, and the gun that he was secretly holding in his hand also fell down with a loud thud.


    He was planning to hit the unknown man with a bullet, but the man was faster.


    "Ah, my hand slipped a bit after seeing that gun; you shouldn''t have pulled it out; you nearly frightened me to death¡­"


    The man''s tone carried immense coldness yet a hint of mocking in it.


    He moved to the side of the two assassins, removed his large hat, and spoke.


    "Nice to meet you, gentlemen. I am Jareth Ayad, an ordinary professor¡­"


    Although his words seemed friendly, the look in his eyes and the intimidating aura put so much pressure on the two assassins that they couldn''t even breathe properly in his presence.


    "Y-you¡­ h-how¡­"


    Zeran was so shocked by Jareth''s sudden appearance that he had no words to express the horror.


    Just by standing there and staring at them, Jareth made the two assassins feel fear and horror in an instant.


    "How did I find you? Well, it was a lot of work; it was very difficult¡­"


    "Assassins like you guys are very good at covering up your tracks, but you forgot that the police have their own records¡­ I just went to the police headquarters directly¡­"


    "I asked them to bring the photos in which the killing pattern was the same as in my mother''s case¡­"


    Jareth placed his hand on Zeran''s shoulder and said,


    "And you know what? It turned out that they tortured one of your team members after catching him, and that guy told the police about your appearance¡­"


    "But the police couldn''t find you, as you two are the most skilled assassins in your whole organization¡­ peak Grade-2 warriors are difficult to capture after all¡­"


    Jareth''s grip slowly tightened, and Zeran''s shoulder bone started to make sounds of cracking and breaking. A look of fear and pain appeared on Zeran''s face.


    "The police couldn''t find you two, but¡­ unfortunately for you, I have a strong mana detection ability¡­ I used it to scan the whole capital city¡­"


    "Well, I had to look at the faces of millions of people, so it was a difficult task, but¡­ it was worth it¡­"


    Jareth waved his finger, and a broken artifact came flying from a hidden corner of the bar.


    "You guys really found a grade-1 mana detection nullifying artifact just for enjoying some free time here¡­"


    "Your disguise was indeed good; if it were any other Grade 1 mage, they could have never found you¡­ but unfortunately for you, you messed with the wrong guy''s life¡­"


    "You met me¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s explanation, Hark spoke in a terrified tone.


    "W-what do you want from us? You know, we didn''t purposely go to kill your mother; it was for money; it was our job¡­ You have no right to blame us¡­"


    "What you are doing is against the law; if you want to punish us, you should go to the court or police-"


    Before Hark could continue, Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "Yes, yes, I will go to the court too¡­ but after I am done with the two of you¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shackles!]


    Chains made up of pure mana appeared and bound the two assassins tightly; in fact, he bound them so tightly that their bones started to crack.


    "Don''t die, okay, I have a lot in store for you two¡­"


    Zeran immediately started to think of ways to get out of this situation, and he said,


    "Stop! You can''t do this to us! You are revered as the hero who saved Artavia, right? A hero shouldn''t be so petty; we only assassinated your mother because we followed the orders; we have no personal beef with you-"


    Suddenly, a creepy smile appeared on Jareth''s cold face as he said, S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Ah, a hero? Me? You seem to have misunderstood something¡­"


    "I am a monster¡­"


    The shackles tightened and directly twisted Zeran''s leg 360 degrees, causing all of the bones to shatter and the muscles to tear apart, causing immense pain.


    "AAHHHHHHH!!"


    Zeran screamed at the top of his lungs like a beast, but Jareth just smiled and said,


    "Yes! That''s how it is! Didn''t you laugh when you killed my mother in front of me¡­ Look how loudly you are laughing now¡­ Isn''t this very amazing?"


    "Laugh more!!"


    The shacles tightened and twisted Zeran''s hand this time, causing him to scream again.


    "AHAHAHA LAUGH! YES YES! LAUGH MORE, Zeran! Don''t you like mocking others and laughing at them when they die! LAUGH NOW! Show me what you got!"


    Jareth stretched his hand, pierced Zeran''s stomach, and forcefully dug out his intestines before putting them on his unharmed hand.


    "LOOK! Your internals are spilling out! How amusing is that, right!? WHAT HAPPENED? Why are you not laughing anymore now!?"


    "Don''t you like all this!? LAUGH! Zeran LAUGH!"


    The immense pain messed up Zeran''s head, and he unconsciously followed Jareth''s order and started to laugh and cry at the same time while the immense pain tortured him.


    "YES! Just like that! GOOD!"


    Zeran became a bit relieved to see that Jareth was satisfied, and he was hoping that Jareth would let him go now, but before he could be happy for too long, Jareth''s expression became cold again, and he said,


    "Hmm? WHO ALLOWED YOU TO LAUGH!? You piece of SH*T!"


    The shackles tightened and twisted Zeran''s other leg so horribly that it was bent to the point that it could now flail in wind.


    "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

 Chapter 132 The Monster Born From Sin... Part-2.

    Hark desperately tried to run and free himself from those mana shackles, but it was useless.These shackles are enhanced by ''Mana singularity''; it''s extremely difficult to break them.


    Unless you use the power of a ''law'' or another ''legendary skill'' like ''Sword Intent'' or ''Dao Rhythm'' to counter this, there''s no breaking these shackles now.


    "L-let me go! Let me go! I am innocent! We were just mere pawns! We only followed the orders of the boss!! He accepted the assassination request given by the Blaze family to assassinate your mother!!"


    "We have been hiding like rats since the day we found out that you became strong!"


    "I am telling you the whole truth! I know nothing more than that!"


    To save his life and avoid getting tortured, Hark immediately spilled all the beans.


    Although, as an assassin, it is against the code to be spilling all the information, he''s already retired from that job, and he no longer wants to risk his life anymore.


    The desire to live took over his head, and he immediately told Jareth everything he knew after seeing how horribly Jareth tortured Zeran.


    "Ah, you should have told me about it all sooner. Look how injured poor Zeran has become from laughing too much¡­ Sigh, he really ended up destroying his own throat from shouting too loudly¡­"


    "Oh, by the way, I already put a silencing spell in place when I came in, so you don''t need to worry about others hearing his laughing voice¡­"


    "After all, people will get scared if they hear a man laughing so loudly and so late at night¡­"


    Jareth was behaving like he was the most gentle person possible, and what he was doing was for their own good, yet his expression remained cold, which made Hark feel a chill run down his spine.


    ''M-monster¡­ This guy is a monster! He is enjoying this! Sh*t! I shouldn''t have come here today!''


    Even if Hark hadn''t come here, Jareth would have still found him somewhere, and the outcome would have been the same.


    In other words, once Jareth recognizes your mana fluctuations, it''s meaningless to try to run away from him, as ''Mana Singularity'' can help him detect you easily.


    At that moment, Jareth kicked away Zeran''s half-dead body and then glanced at Hark.


    "Ah, no hurries, my friend; I have more than enough time. Take your time and tell me more about this ''Boss'' of yours, actually¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    With a wave of his hand, a magic circle appeared and fired a mana beam, directly blasting Zeran''s head into pieces like a watermelon.


    Then Jareth used his telekinesis to make a chair float; he put his hand on Hark''s shoulder, forcefully pushed him to sit on the chair, and then bound his hands and legs to the chair with the mana shackles.


    "I actually went through all the police recorded data on you, Mr. Hark, and it turns out, all of your victims have chunks of flesh missing from their bodies."


    "You are a cannibal, it seems, and you sometimes force your victims to eat their dead relatives or friends too¡­ So, today I have prepared a massive feast for you¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand, and a massive iron box filled with dead mice appeared from his space ring.


    "Before I came here, I actually went to the sewers myself to collect all these beautiful things for you¡­ You like meat a lot, right?"


    "You know what? I had to eat dead mice to fill my stomach when I had nothing to eat and was living like a dog, starving from hunger¡­ all because you guys f*cking killed the one person who gave a sh*t about me¡­"


    "So, today, I want you to know how amazing it feels to eat dead mice. Okay, trust me, the taste is so heavenly that you wouldn''t want to eat it ever again¡­ Oh, wait, you won''t even be alive to be eating them again¡­"


    "But forget about that; let''s get to the business¡­"


    The look on Hark''s face turned into horror. He certainly is a cannibal, but even he doesn''t dare eat mice that used to live in sewers.


    That''s beyond disgusting and unhealthy.


    "No no! Stay away! Keep them away from me-"


    Before Hark could finish his sentence, Jareth waved his hand, and four hands made up of condensed mana appeared in the air.


    Two of them forcefully opened Hark''s mouth wide open, and then the other two forcefully stuffed the dead mice in his mouth.


    "YES!! Don''t you like eating meat, Hark!! EAT IT!! Kahahaha, what''s wrong!? Isn''t this the same way you forced your victims!?"


    Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Wasn''t you just boasting about the fact that you made a guy eat the dead body of your wife raw!? Isn''t this all your favorite!?"


    "Yes!! EAT HARK!! EAT!! THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING TO OTHERS!! Don''t deny it now that it''s happening to you yourself!!"


    "This is your true calling!! You should re-name yourself! Mice eater!! AHAHAHAHAH"


    ¡­


    Half an hour later.


    Hark died from being forced to eat too much, and his stomach literally burst apart.


    Zeran and Hark lived the ugliest lives, killed people in ugly manners, and died the ugliest deaths.


    Maybe it was ''Karma'' or something, but they got exactly what they deserved.


    Only when it happened to them did they figure out that ''torturing'' is not a thing of pleasure.


    They used to take pleasure in others''s misery, and now that Jareth did the same to them, only then did they understand the weight of their sin.


    Their sin was the reason why a monster like Jareth was born¡ªa monster born from sin.


    ''Unfortunately, the rest of the three members of their team are already dead, as they got the death penalty after getting caught by the police department; otherwise, I would have ''helped'' them out a bit too¡­''


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Slow Wild Fire!]


    A magic circle appeared, and the whole place started to burn crazily.


    The fire spread to every corner of the bar slowly and burned everything to the ground, including all the evidence of Jareth coming here and torturing the two assassins.


    Only after everything was burned to the crisp did the neighbors in the area finally notice the fire and call the firefighters and police, but by that time, Jareth was long gone.


    Both Zeran and Hark''s bodies were burned into ashes, and nothing was left on the scene.


    ¡­


    A Sky-scrapper on the east district, rooftop.


    ''To live in a world filled with darkness, you need to adapt¡­ but I fear that I am adapting too fast to this world¡­''


    ''I have become more numb to death and blood¡­ Now I don''t feel anything, even if my hands get bloodied¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but sigh continuously.


    He used to be an innocent and naive guy who just liked to play games and sleep all day, but now he''s become a monster in a human body.


    ''This body will not be fully mine unless it fulfills the last wishes of the original Jareth¡­ and that is to slaughter all those who caused the tragedies for Jareth¡­''


    ''But I fear that I myself might become something much worse in this journey¡­''


    Jareth clenched his fist and stopped thinking about this matter further. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''This world is already chaotic enough; if I want to make it out alive from here, I need to do all that needs to be done¡­''


    ''Without proper control over this body, I can never reach grade 1 in this life. I need to synchronize my soul with this body in ''perfect'' condition¡­''


    ''In other words, making the residual will of the original Jareth dissipate is important¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth jumped from the skyscraper rooftop and flew in a certain direction.


    Before dying, Hark finally told all the secrets and told the name of his boss, who was still roaming free in the world.


    ''This is the last step; with this done, the original Jareth''s ''will'' should dissipate over time¡­''


    A mage who doesn''t have full control over their body and soul is just a half-baked person.


    He can''t even be called a proper mage, so to rid himself of this weakness, Jareth has no choice now but to do what needs to be done.


    Take revenge on the original Jareth''s stead, and then seize control over the body properly.


    If he lets this small problem stay and doesn''t make the final wish of the original Jareth come true, then he will have a fatal flaw in his soul, and the demon god, or whatever that thing is, can definitely exploit it.


    Jareth doesn''t want that; he wants to make everything full-proof, especially his own body.


    Although Jareth was using hideous methods to deal with his enemies, this was the most fair way.


    He did the exact same to the enemies as they had done to their victims.


    Zeran laughed at the corpse of his dead mother, and Jareth can''t forget that he had to eat dead mice to live while Hark was enjoying his time eating whatever he liked.


    Grudges of this magnitude can''t be forgiven, not even after death.

 Chapter 133 The Monster Born From Sin... Part-3.

    Capital City, Core Area.A luxury mansion, rooftop.


    An old man in his sixties was floating in the swimming pool wearing a floating tube, seemingly enjoying his free time with a relaxed smile on his face.


    The wind breeze felt particularly cold, refreshing, and comfortable today, and the night sky was adorned with stars and the bright moon.


    "Ah, this is life; it''s a good thing I retired; living like this and spending the rest of my days in luxury is not a bad idea at all¡­"


    Just when the old man was having a relaxing time, his phone, which was placed on the chair placed beside the pool, rang.


    The old man lazily reached for the phone while still standing in the swimming pool, and an annoyed look appeared on his face as he took the call.


    "What is it!? Why are you calling me so late in the night! Didn''t I tell you guys not to disturb me! I will go to the company to deal with the rest of the work tomorrow!"


    The other party on the phone hurriedly explained some urgent company-related business, to which the old man replied in a hurry.


    "Ah, forget about it; I will go to that banquet myself later. I can''t trust such a big deal to you newbies! You guys just know how to give me a headache and nothing else!"


    With that said, the old man cut off the call and threw away the smartphone in annoyance.


    "F*cking Garbage! These people can''t even do some simple tasks; the team I had in the organization was much better and more professional; these people are all so f*cking lazy!"


    "Tch, waste of time!"


    He jumped out of the pool and walked over to the edge of the rooftop to enjoy the amazing view.


    "Sigh, I really like this cold and refreshing wind¡­ If it''s like this, I can stay and enjoy it forever¡­"


    Just when he was enjoying the view, he suddenly felt an ominous premonition and then suddenly noticed an unknown man standing right beside him.


    The man took off his big hat that was partially hiding his face, and his dark purple hair flailed with the air.


    Seeing those dark purple eyes staring at him, the old man couldn''t help but feel a shiver run down his spine.


    "J-jareth Blaze? H-How is this possible?"


    Jareth tilted his head and said,


    "Nothing is impossible¡­ You are underestimating my capabilities, it seems¡­"


    The old man took a few steps back and said, in a shocked tone,


    "B-but I placed a self-destructive spell on the minds of all my minions!! The moment they try to reveal information about me, their heads will explode on their own!!"


    "I use a grade-1 magic artifact!! No one can undo such a powerful binding spell!! Not even a grade-1 mage!!"


    The old man was so shocked that his legs gave away, and he slumped down on the floor, desperately trying to run away.


    At that moment, Jareth just shook his head and said,


    "Yeah, indeed, if it were any other grade-1 mage, you could have really deceived them; no one could have found your whereabouts from your minions¡­"


    "But unfortunately for you¡­ you met me¡­"


    Jareth already sensed the presence of the self-destruct spell on Hark and Zeran''s bodies the moment he saw the two with his own eyes.


    He directly deactivated that self-destruct spell in Hark''s body and then tortured him till he spilled all the beans for him.


    "But I have to acknowledge it; your minions are really tight-lipped; if it were an ordinary person, they would have spilled everything the moment they saw my face¡­"


    "A grade-1 mage is in itself a force to be afraid of, after all¡­"


    The old man still refused to believe reality; his plan was full-proof, and he took all precautions that he could.


    Not only did he place the self-destruct spell, but he always used to wear a magically enhanced mask whenever he met with his minions, making it impossible for them to see his face.


    But what he didn''t know was that Jareth played the game, and he knew about all the major characters.


    "Old Man Barin, you really are very unlucky, you know¡­ Actually, I already had suspicions about you¡­" Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire


    "So I was already doing my research on you, and when your minions told me about the general behavior patterns and your powers, I easily figured out your identity¡­"


    Barin is a warrior and has wind affinity; he uses wind to create massive wind pressure and increases his swordsmanship speed to an insane level.


    Jareth knew about all this because Barin is a mid-level villain character in this game.


    He is a minister in the government now, but originally he was an assassin and the leader of the whole assassination organization that assassinated Jareth''s mother.


    Barin was the one who accepted the task from the Blaze family to kill Jareth and his mother.


    That day, the minions killed Jareth''s mother but weren''t able to kill Jareth, as a neighbor actually called police when he noticed screaming sounds from Jareth''s house.


    Later, Jareth lived like a beggar on the streets, constantly hiding in the sewers for fear of getting killed, which continued until he was taken in by the vassal family that raised him up.


    But then these same assassins killed that vassal family too.


    Although they were just doing their so-called ''work'', Jareth can''t forgive them at all.


    Barin glanced at Jareth with a look of horror on his face and said,


    "S-stay away¡­ "I had nothing to do with your dead family or anything; all I did was just accept a request for work that was sent by the Blaze Family¡­"


    "I work for money, and that''s my sole motive. I had no conflicts with you, so if you want revenge, go for the Blaze family or it''s vassal families; just s-stay away from me¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head and said,


    "Yes, yes, I know you are innocent; in fact, you are so innocent that you like to throw your victims in the sky using your wind-type attacks, and then you watch them fall to the ground¡­"


    "Your favorite dialogue for that moment is ''How does the wind feel above?"¡­ am I right?"


    The look of horror on Barin''s face became even more intense after hearing those words.


    "H-how do you know that all!? I-impossible!?"


    "I never left any evidence! This is impossible!"


    Actually, Barin had a final showdown with the protagonist, and he always keeps saying this same boss dialogue whenever he uses his signature move of throwing the opponent high up in the sky.


    It was a difficult boss fight, and Jareth lost many times, so he remembers this dialogue fairly well as he kept hearing it for hours straight.


    It''s not that Barin was not thorough enough in his hiding methods; it''s just that Jareth knew about his powers and skills beforehand from the game and when he heard the explanation of the powers that Hark gave about his boss.


    Jareth immediately understood that Hark was talking about Barin.


    ''Originally, I wasn''t planning on dealing with the villains, as they are actually on my side and can be helpful for beating the protagonist to earn more ''CP''¡­''


    ''But this guy crossed the line, so I can only do the same¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "Forget it; I am too lazy to explain everything to you in that much detail; it''s just a waste of time¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Bubble Cage!]


    A spherical bubble-like cage confined Barin inside it in an instant.


    "You like the sky, the wind, and the cold, right? Let me show you what the real sky and cold are like¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth cast a mana shield on himself and flew into the air at an incredible speed.


    The mana bubble containing Barin also followed behind him.


    "You know what is really cold and high? ''The Space''!"


    Jareth increased his speed, flew straight into the sky like a rocket, and crossed thousands of meters in a mere second.


    Barin couldn''t help but start crying, like beg for mercy, but the bubble cage locked all sound inside, so no one could hear him screaming at all and no one would come to save him.


    "You like throwing people into the sky, right? Today I will show you what it really means to throw someone into the sky!" S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth kept going up and up until he directly crossed the Earth''s atmosphere and reached outer space.


    At that moment, he deactivated his ''Mana Bubble'' spell, and Barin began to float in space like a rock.


    He clenched his throat and tried to breathe desperately but couldn''t, and his body started to freeze at an insane speed.


    "Grade-2 warriors like you can indeed survive the space much longer, but you know what? I directly destroyed your mana circuit, and you don''t have any mana now."


    "You are nothing but a helpless, ordinary old man¡­"


    A smile spread across Jareth''s face as he inquired.


    "So, tell me now, ''How does the wind feel above?'', Is it not blowing at all?"


    Barin died from lack of oxygen, and his body froze. The fatal radiation of the sun destroyed his body''s cells.


    Barin was completely dead.


    "You did say that if it''s cold and comfortable, you can stay for an eternity, right? I will let your dead body float in space forever now¡­"


    With that said, Jareth kicked the corpse, and it floated in the direction of the sun.


    ''Ah, it seems you aren''t going to stay cold for too long¡­ But that small time is good enough for you, right? The sun will burn you and give you a lot of warmth¡­ good bye¡­''

 Chapter 134 A peculiar experiment... (Skippable)

    "Okay, I get it that you guys are going there and all, but why the f*ck do I need to go there too!?"Shin, who just got the letter from Thomas yesterday that he had to accompany Jareth, Mark, and Risa on the trip to the Desert of Chaotic Thunder along with Aria, couldn''t help but complain endlessly.


    "You know that I am an ''Ice type'' mage, right? My magic will be the least effective in a desert!!"


    Hearing Shin''s complaint, Jareth just shook his head and said,


    "You and Aria are in the team as ''Emotional support'', I guess¡­"


    Shin gave me a strange expression and said,


    "Since when did you figure out the need for ''Emotional Support''¡­ O almighty sorcerer?"


    Jareth sighed at those words and said, Read exclusive adventures at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Not for me¡­ You are the emotional support for the students; when they see you two struggling to cross the desert, they will feel less conflicted in their heart¡­"


    Shin looked at Jareth with a look of annoyance and said,


    "Man, you are pure evil!! You are planning on me making ice for the kids when they get tired, right!? And then you will make Aria use her potions and healing magic for them!?"


    "You are a devil!! A schemer to the core!"


    Jareth frowned a bit at Shin''s loud voice and said,


    "Shut up, don''t you want to make amends with your wife for utterly destroying her lipstick? That famous company is located there in the central city of the desert; you can try your luck there¡­"


    Only when Shin heard those words did he finally calm down and stop complaining.


    "Er¡­ T-that¡­"


    A look of determination appeared in his eyes as he said,


    "Waifu is laifu!! Anything for the waifu!! Let''s go to the desert!!"


    Shin immediately changed his mind after hearing Jareth''s words and got ready to go in an instant.


    Jareth smirked a bit and said,


    "Then are you ready to work as the ''Ice Producting Machine'' for the students now?"


    Shin immediately gave Jareth a salute and said,


    "Yes!! I will produce so much ice! I will f*cking turn that desert into the North Pole!!"


    Aria, on the other hand, wanted to opt out of this trip, but she had no courage to say that in front of Jareth.


    ''Ahhh!! My ancestors!! Bless me with the strength to survive this ordeal!! I can''t say ''No'' or he will blast me off the face of Earth!!''


    ''I promise I will donate three.. no! Five boxes filled with sweets at the shrine as an offering to you all!!''


    Aria was holding onto Risa as a shield to protect herself from Jareth''s intimidating gaze; if not for Risa, she would have fainted from Jareth''s aura by now.


    On the other hand, Risa herself was confused at why Aria was hiding behind her, as if she were being targeted by some predator or something.


    Ignoring Jareth, who was waiting near the ''Helipad'' for the ''Helicopter'' to come, Shin came over to Aria''s side and said,


    "Hey, Aria, my dear comrade¡­ Don''t you dare say that you have an ''Idea'' okay!?"


    "Last time you said that and took the students to have a training at the ocean, a massive tsunami nearly drowned them all!! Don''t you dare jinx us now¡­"


    Although that tsunami was produced by Jareth, who was firing massive mana beams at the regenerating tree at the bottom of the sea, people still blamed Aria for jinxing it all.


    It was her ''Idea'' after all.


    Just when Shin was about to go back and grab some other important things for the trip, Aria said,


    "Uh, I actually had an Ide-"


    Shin quickly placed a hand over her mouth and spoke.


    "Don''t say it, idiot! You are gonna get us killed!!"


    Just when Aria was about to stop talking, Thomas arrived at the scene and said,


    "Come on, don''t blame her like that¡­ It was not her fault that things happened like that¡­ Her ideas are not that bad, actually. Professor Aria, please tell us what is on your mind?"


    Aria smiled happily and nodded her head,


    "Actually, there are quite a few ''one-way teleportation scrolls'' in the university''s inventory; we can just use that to go to the central city of the desert by just using its coordinates¡­"


    Thomas nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Oh, that''s actually quite a good idea; if this works, we won''t need to walk through that dangerous desert on our own¡­ In the past, people didn''t seem to have tried it, right?"


    Shin shook his head and said,


    "No, the technology of making ''one-way teleportation scrolls'' is relatively new; people likely didn''t try it in the past, and even if they have tried it in recent times, there is no information floating about it on the internet either¡­"


    "Which is quite strange, actually¡­"


    Hearing those words, Aria said them in an excited tone.


    "Doesn''t that mean we can create history if we succeed in it!? Let''s give it a try!!"


    Aria immediately ran to the storeroom of the university and brought back a ''one-way teleportation scroll'' with her.


    "Planes and other vehicles can''t go to that place because, for some reason, they get targeted by thunder, but if we teleport, then there will be no problems, I think¡­"


    With an excited look on her face, Aria put the scroll on the ground and embedded her mana in it. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth, who was standing far away, didn''t stop the experiment, but he used his telekinesis to secretly grab Mark and Risa and bring them to his side.


    A few seconds passed, the scroll started to shine brightly with mana, and a magic circle started to appear on the ground.


    Just when the three of them were about to laugh from happiness, a massive explosion happened, and then the teleportation scroll burst apart like a bomb.


    Mark and Risa, who were still confused as to why Jareth had forcefully dragged them back with telekinesis, looked at that scene in shock.


    "T-this!? The teleportation scroll exploded!?"


    Seeing the shocked look on Mark''s face, Jareth shook his head and said,


    "This is what happens when you try to mess with the power of the manifestation of a ''Law''¡­"


    "The ''Law of Thunder'' has itself manifested in that desert area; it prohibits any ''shortcuts''¡­ You are forced to go there by your own capabilities¡­"


    "It''s like a test placed by the world itself; if you can pass it, you will find your abilities improved¡­ But if you try to cheat, then this will happen¡­"


    When the dust finally settled, the scene inside the explosion became visible.


    The three of them were now covered in dust, and expressions of disbelief were fixed on their faces.


    Fortunately, the three of them deployed their mana barriers on time; otherwise, they would have gotten injured by this explosion.


    Jareth walked over to their side and wanted to say some words of motivation as the three of them seemed quite down, but his harsh mouth couldn''t say kind words at all.


    "Tch! Pathetic¡­"


    Actually, Jareth himself wanted to know what would be the result of this experiment, and he was ready to see them fail, but even he didn''t expect that they would fail so miserably.


    "Ahem¡­ I remember I still have some work to do. I shall leave now¡­"


    Thomas scrathed the back of his neck in embarrassment and left in a hurry to take a shower.


    On the other hand, Shin glared at Aria, saying,


    "I knew it! You truly have a cursed tongue! You jinxed it again!! D*mn! Why did I believe you!? I am such an idiot!"


    Jareth nodded his head at that moment and said,


    "Glad you have some self-knowledge¡­"


    Shin just sighed at those words and hurriedly left with a look of annoyance as he wanted to take a quick shower to clean up the dirt and change clothes.


    Aria, whose legs had already gone soft from the explosion, had slumped on the ground.


    Jareth glanced at her and said,


    "Well, although the experiment failed, it is still quite commendable that you have the courage to do such a dangerous experiment. You have my respects, Professor Aria¡­"


    Jareth was certainly praising her, but from Aria''s perspective, it all sounded different.


    "You really have the nerve to do such dangerous experiments!! You are so bold, Professor Aria!!"


    That''s what she actually heard. Fortunately, Risa helped her get up and supported her on the way back to her room; otherwise, she would have fainted right there.


    Just when everyone had left, the awaited helicopter arrived, and the pilot looked at Jareth with a look of confusion and said,


    "Uh, sir, I was told that there would be five people¡­ Where are the rest?"


    Jareth scoffed at those words and said,


    "Three of them just exploded in a bomb explosion¡­ Their ashes are flying in that crater right there¡­"


    The pilot was taken aback for a second, and he couldn''t help but gulp his saliva.


    He''s aware of Jareth''s reputation, he thought.


    ''Could it be that the people were not pleasing to the eye, so he blasted them off with his fire magic, and only ashes are left now¡­ h-how scary¡­''


    The pilot obediently shut off the helicopter and said, in a respectful tone,


    "Uh¡­ I-I will wait till you are ready to go, sir. Tell me anytime¡­"


    ''F*ck me! I shouldn''t have taken this job!!''

 Chapter 135 The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-1.

    "We can only go half-way with the helicopter? Man, that''s such a pain~"Sitting in the helicopter, Shin couldn''t help but complain as he glanced below and looked at the last city on their way before they entered the desert area.


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "The few cities in the desert have always been independent from the influence of the human nation; originally, they used to be places where talented earth mages would gather every decade or so to compete¡­"


    "But now they have established cities there¡­ Only a few of the people there can leave as the journey is dangerous; thunder can strike you from the sky at any moment..."


    "If not for the internet, people there would have been totally isolated from the whole empire¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but nod his head at Jareth''s words.


    "The Internet is a miraculous thing indeed; it can connect you to people that are located in faraway corners of the world¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Jareth thought of something and said,


    "Actually, there is one more method¡­ but well¡­ it''s not so ''friendly'' in nature¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the sky and said in a serious tone,


    "There is a ''Forbidden Magic'' called ''Mind connect''¡­ You use powerful human brains, extract them from the person''s body, put them in a glass box, and fill them with compressed and liquefied mana¡­" S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Then put a particular magic circle that will directly connect to your brain¡­"


    "If you repeat this process and put similar brains in many places, you can use them to access the internet just by using magic and spells; there is no need for phones or devices¡­"


    "They can even be used as communication devices¡­ This used to be a famous practice for demon cults in the era of the Cult of Demon God Therath¡­"


    "Although they didn''t have internet back then, they still used to use this method to communicate..."


    Jareth glanced at Mark, who was shocked to hear this all, and said,


    "They use the brains of young people, so you should always remain careful. Who knows if there are still people out there who know this method¡­"


    Aria was already shivering in the corner and was unable to talk after hearing those words. On the other hand, Shin glared at Jareth and said,


    "How the f*ck do you know about such a ''weird'' magic?"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "I have my own sources¡­ By the way, the brain of a grade 2 mage is most suitable as the main brain, so you should also be careful about this actually¡­"


    Shin couldn''t help but frown at those words.


    He doesn''t fear death at all; he already has children, so he can rest assured that his legacy will carry on, but no one wants to become a brain living in a confined box.


    "This sounds more like sci-fi horror than a magical spell¡­ Are you sure such a thing even exists?"


    Jareth nodded his head in agreement with Shin''s words.


    "I haven''t personally seen one, but they surely do exist out there¡­"


    "Just like darkness cannot be extinguished from the world as long as there is light, these morally questionable practices can never truly go extinct¡­"


    Even Risa couldn''t help but frown.


    "This is even more disturbing than torture¡­ What if the person''s brain can still remain conscious while still in that state?..."


    Mark nodded his head and said,


    "If such a thing exists out there, I surely wouldn''t want to see it¡­ It would be so disturbing afterall¡­"


    Jareth didn''t say further about this matter and only said,


    ''Well, Mark, it doesn''t matter if you want to meet it or not, that''s exactly how your lackeys ended up in the original story¡­''


    There are some surviving members of the lost, extinct cult of Therath.


    One of their successors is the mad man who turned your younger sister into a human chimera and then turned your lackeys or so-called friends into these communication ''brains'' used for connecting to the internet.


    Fortunately, Risa already died from the onslaught of the hero''s party; otherwise, the developers of the game would have definitely messed her up in this same horrible way.


    ''As I already figured out¡­ this world is totally messed up; any kind of horror you can imagine can actually exist here without you ever knowing¡­''


    The existence of the massive sea of Miasma itself is a horror that is beyond human comprehension.


    An ordinary mortal cannot dream of understanding the ''Laws'' of this world, and thus they remain incomprehensible horrors that haunt you forever once you know about their existence. Discover stories at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''I can kind of understand why most Grade 1 mages die from going insane instead of dying from age¡­''


    Imagine that you know that your world is doomed, your soul will be tortured for millennia by the sea of miasma once you die, and then there are your loved ones in front of you who are totally unaware of this all.


    They don''t know anything and are living normally. You can''t tell them the truth or save them from the inevitable doom they''re about to face.


    In other words, all grade-1 are just living while constantly under the stress that their loved ones will one day have to get tortured and turned into demons by the sea of miasma.


    The souls of your loved ones will one day float into the sea of miasma, and there is nothing you can do for them.


    {Sometimes, too much knowledge can also be a curse, and ignorance can also be a blessing¡­} (Source: Trust me, bro¡­)


    After three hours of long travel via the superfast helicopter, Jareth and the group finally reached the halfway mark.


    The helicopter landed on the sand, and the group got down one by one.


    Jareth nodded his head at the pilot and said,


    "Good work, you shall go back now; we will make the trip from here on foot; the helicopter will get struck by thunder if we go any further with it from here¡­"


    The pilot nodded his head and left in a hurry, as if he wanted to just be done with this job and go home.


    The pilot will go on and brag to his children that a Grade 1 mage sat in his helicopter today.


    ¡­


    Jareth used his mana detection to sense the surroundings and then pointed in a direction before saying.


    "There is an oasis there in this direction¡­ About thirty kilometers from here, let''s go there; we will set up a camp there for tonight¡­"


    The desert of chaotic thunder is vast; you can already see the dark clouds above the desert in the distance.


    Jareth and the others will need to travel at least three hundred kilometers before they can finally reach the central city.


    "You are free to use magic, but make sure you don''t pass out from depleting all of your mana. Use it sparingly¡­ Consider this as part of the training too¡­"


    Before Jareth could even finish talking, the whole group had already run away in that direction using their magic; only Mark was still standing beside him.


    ''Sigh, these people are always in such a hurry¡­''


    Jareth patted Mark on the back and said,


    "The key is not using your mana like a brute; find a method that can improve your speed yet conserve mana¡­"


    Mark thought hard for a moment, and then he pointed his wand on the ground and created a giant off-road muscle car from his stone magic.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Mark carrier type C!]


    Mark jumped inside the giant car, and that car ran surprisingly fast on the sand; even Jareth was surprised by it.


    ''It would have been good enough to make a simple ''pick-up'' truck¡­ Why the f*ck is a huge machine gun placed on both sides of this car!?''


    ''Isn''t that unnecessary weight!?''


    Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head.


    ''This kid is really obsessed with guns¡­''


    Mark actually caught up to Risa, who was using shadow magic to glide on the sand like she was skiing on water.


    ''Er¡­ I guess I should also head there; I wouldn''t want to be the last one to reach¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Acceleration!]


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Rocket thrust flames!]


    Jareth bent his knees a bit and took the position a professional athlete takes before going for a run.


    ''You think you guys can win just because you started the race early? How naive of you¡­''


    *Boom*


    Jareth directly broke the sound barrier and launched like a rocket in a straight line.


    Due to ''Active Heal'' he was able to raise his physical stats and is not way weaker than a veteran warrior in terms of raw physical power; moreover, his basic magic is much stronger than others.


    Thus, the ''Acceleration'' magic gave him immense speed.


    And lastly, the fire magic, Rocket thrust'' produced a continuous fire behind Jareth''s back that gave him a continuous boost in speed, as if he had a rocket''s thruster attached to his back.


    In an instant, Jareth''s speed crossed the speed of a fighter jet, and he ran faster than a bullet train, leaving the whole group behind in an instant.


    In other words, he was the one who reached the oasis first; others couldn''t catch up to his insane speed at all.

 Chapter 136 The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-2.

    By the time the others reached the oasis, Jareth had already placed a deckchair near the oasis and was lazily lying on it with sunglasses on, as if he was enjoying a vacation on a beach or something.Of course, Mark and Risa were the last to arrive, as Shin and Aria both just used ''Float'' magic to fly and reach the place faster.


    Mark and Risa can''t compete with genuine grade-2 mages like them yet, so they were bound to lose.


    The reason why Jareth didn''t use ''Float'' himself is because he wanted to try out the new spell combo with his amazing physique.


    ''Maybe I should start learning a few martial arts techniques myself¡­ With such a strong body, it would be a shame to not have some close-range fighting capabilities¡­.''


    Although Jareth doesn''t really need any close-range combat abilities due to the existence of a ''Nearly indestructible mana shield'' that can protect him perfectly from any close-range attacks, it''s always good to have more cards in your arsenal.


    ''If not for my low affinity for ''Fire magic'' I would have already been a genuine grade-3 mage by now¡­ sigh~''


    Currently, Jareth only has basic magic in his arsenal.


    Although he can indeed use fire magic too, its effects are far too weak due to the low ''Fire affinity''.


    When in combat, he can only use basic magic or his physical abilities to score a victory; he has no other methods, which is indeed quite concerning.


    ''Right now, I have four thousand credit points¡­ I wonder if I should buy an ''attack enhancement card'' or wait and collect more to pull a better lottery¡­''


    ''Sigh, if only I had an infinite number of credit points, then I would have splurged the money on the lottery to my heart''s content¡­''


    Just when Jareth was still contemplating the credit points in his mind, the rest of the group started to chatter loudly.


    "Hoho! You collected wood while on the way!? You are indeed an excellent person, Student Mark!!"


    Shin couldn''t help but pat Mark''s shoulder again and again while smiling in satisfaction.


    Mark used a massive car-like thing made out of magic, so he directly toppled down any dry trees that came in his way, and then he made them float and placed them on the roof of the car.


    "Yes! This place is a desert; it may be hot during the day, but at night it will become very cold here. It''s good we lit a bonfire¡­"


    Although temperature won''t have much effect on mages as they can just use their mana shield and keep the temperature inside it normal, it''s always good to have a bonfire when you are out camping.


    Jareth glanced at Shin and Mark, who were trying to make a bonfire, and said,


    "Do we really need it? It would be much better for your training if you tried to maintain your mana barrier for the whole night while in sleep¡­"


    "Learning how to keep a spell going unconsciously is a great skill¡­"


    Shin shook his head at Jareth''s words and retorted loudly while saying,


    "If not for a bonfire, can it still be called a camp? It''s a classic! There''s no point in camping if you don''t make a bonfire!!"


    Jareth sighed at those words and said, Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire


    "Alas, stupidity has no cure; otherwise, you would have been the first test subject for that cure if it existed¡­"


    Hearing those words, blood veins appeared on Shin''s face as he said in anger,


    "Go away! You don''t know what it means to be camping!"


    Jareth ignored Shin''s words and glanced at Mark before saying,


    "How are you planning on lighting the fire? Do you need my help?"


    Jareth is a fire mage; he just needs to flick his finger, and he can make the wood burn.


    "Er¡­ N-no, I want to try the method written in the survival books¡­"


    Mark has seen Jareth use the lowest and weakest fire magic and turn it into lethal attacks.


    Thus, he thinks that if Jareth used his fire magic, he would blast off half a kilometer of area just to light a fire.


    At that point, it can''t be called a bonfire; even the sand in the desert will start to melt into molten lava if Jareth uses his fire magic.


    Simply speaking, Mark has misunderstood that Jareth''s fire magic is just too strong; that''s the main reason why he uses basic magic most of the time and rarely resorts to fire magic as it''s too destructive in nature.


    "Well, do as you wish¡­"


    Seeing that Mark also wanted to pass time like Shin, Jareth lost interest and stopped caring about it.


    The main desert area that they have to travel to is still far away, and the sky here is not covered by the dark clouds, so there is still sunlight here.


    ''It''s already evening; it will be night soon¡­''


    ¡­


    Just when it was about to get dark, Mark and Shin succeeded in lighting up the bonfire by rubbing two dry pieces of wood against each other at a fast speed.


    The whole group took a big bark of the wood and used it as a seat to sit beside the bonfire; only Jareth was still lying lazily on his deckchair.


    Just when the group was about to start chatting, Jareth suddenly said,


    "Although we are in the outer area of the desert of thunder, we can still experience its mild effects even here."


    "During nighttime, a strange phenomenon happens: if someone tells a ''lie'' during the night in this desert, then they will get hit by thunder¡­"


    "We are in the outer area, so we will likely only get hit by a much weaker thunderbolt... but it''s still a bad idea to try this¡­"


    A serious look appeared on Jareth''s face as he said,


    "In other words, either talk the ''Truth'' while chatting or don''t talk at all; this is the rule of this place¡­"


    Jareth has been here before in the game, so he knows the general way things work here, but the reason behind it was never explained in the game.


    ''Although it wasn''t explained in the game, I can guess that this is also one of the effects of ''Law of the World''... The ''Law of Truth'' manifests in this place at night¡­''


    ''This place is so interesting and mysterious¡­ I am sure if it were the original Jareth, he would have definitely liked to do research on this strange manifestation of the ''Law'' of the world here.


    The original Jareth was kind of a scientist type of person; he liked to do research on mysterious things, and he had a smart mind.


    If he had grown up in a better family, maybe he would have become one of the most famous scientists of this era and would have invented many shocking things.


    ...


    While Jareth was busy contemplating the original Jareth''s life, the rest of the group was already shocked by his words.


    They had no idea that there was actually such a thing happening in this place.


    First of all, there is a scarcity of information about this desert, even on the internet, making it challenging to gain comprehensive understanding.


    "Er¡­ I will only say the truth from now on-"


    Just when Shin said those words, a small bolt of thunder came flying from far away and fell right on his head as if it were targeting him.


    Fortunately, he had deployed his mana shield beforehand; otherwise, it would have caused a minor injury at the very least.


    Mark and the others were really shocked to see this strange phenomenon.


    "Er¡­ I just wanted to test out if it was really true, but it seems it''s indeed the case¡­ If you lie, you get his by thunder; this has piqued my interest-"


    Before Shin could finish his sentence, another bolt of thunder fell on him again. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark made a complicated expression and said,


    "Uh¡­ Professor Shin, maybe you should stop lying too much; it''s bad for your health¡­"


    Shin just smiled at those words and said,


    "Haha, what are you saying, I never lie¡­ lying ain''t that bad¡­"


    Bolts of thunder kept falling on Shin like crazy, as if they were purposely targeting him for some reason.


    Shin got up from the seat and shouted at the sky.


    "I am the most handsome man in the world! I am the best teacher in the world!!"


    At this point, Shin was trying to get hit by thunder on purpose, as it seemed kind of fun; thus, he kept shouting lies and kept getting hit by the thunderbolts like crazy.


    If someone who didn''t know about the situation had seen this scene from far away, they would have thought that the dark clouds had some personal beef with Shin.


    Seeing that Shin was enjoying the effects of the thunder, Risa''s eyes shone brightly too.


    She glanced at Mark and said,


    "This is like a naturally made lie detector! How about we do a truth and lie test? We will ask one question to each other, and the one who lies will get hit by thunder!!"


    Mark became kind of interested in the game, so he nodded his head.


    "Let''s do it¡­"

 Chapter 137 The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-3.

    "Okay! The first question is, ''What food do you like the most?'', I wanna know more about you! So tell me~"Risa just directly wanted to ask the question about whether he likes her or not, but she hesitated and decided to ask some random questions first to lower his defense.


    Mark took a moment to consider Risa''s question before responding.


    "Hmm, generally, I like pancakes a lot... but if they''re made by you, I would like them even if they''re poison¡­"


    Risa was taken aback by Mark''s words, and she nearly fell off her seat. Mark rarely praises her or ever flirts with her, and now that he suddenly said those words, Risa was shocked to hear that.


    And surprisingly, the thunder didn''t strike him at all; in other words, he really does trust Risa so much that he can eat and like anything that she might make, even if it was poison.


    A slight blush appeared on Risa''s face at the moment.


    "Y-you could''ve told me about that sooner¡­ y-you idiot¡­"


    Mark just shrugged his shoulders at those words and said,


    "It would have sounded so fake if not for this ''magical lie detector'' being here to testify to the authenticity of my words¡­"


    Mark rarely ever spends much time with his family, and the most he interacts with is Risa. He knows that she is a skilled assassin, and she can do harm to anyone easily if she wants.


    But Mark trusts her a lot because they have spent a lot of time together.


    "Okay, now it''s my turn¡­ Hmm, so tell me, ''Why do you keep pestering me all the time?''¡­"


    The blush on Risa''s face deepened even more as she hesitantly said,


    "I-I want your attention¡­ all day, every day, forever¡­"


    Now Mark was taken aback by those words. He used to think that Risa drags him around because she likes to tease and mess with him; he didn''t expect it to be so simple.


    "Er¡­ this game is kind of making me feel embarrassed, even though I am not even a part of it¡­"


    While Mark and Risa were having a heart-to-heart talk, Aria, who was sitting nearby, muttered in a low voice to herself and complained in her heart.


    ''Ugh¡­ Why do I have to sit here and watch them flirt!? Argghhh watching them flirt makes me feel so miserable!! Is this what single people feel when in the presence of couples!?''


    Aria couldn''t help but stare at the bonfire with a complicated look on her face as she questioned her life decisions in her mind.


    On the other hand, Shin was trying every method to attract the thunder and was getting hit again and again, like a thunder-attracting pole placed on the top of a skyscraper.


    Meanwhile, Jareth was lying down with his eyes closed on his deckchair; nobody knew whether he was sleeping or thinking about something.


    ¡­


    "Uh¡­ Did you like it when we went to the last date?"


    Mark nodded his head at Risa''s question and said,


    "It was awesome! The garden outside the museum was so beautiful, and the museum itself was so interesting from inside!"


    "I was quite surprised that they even had the fossils of several long-extinct sea monsters stored there¡­ I certainly would like to go there again someday¡­"


    Risa pouted her cheeks and said,


    "I was asking about how you felt being with me at that time, not about the museum¡­ Sigh, I am glad you liked it, though¡­"


    Mark rolled his eyes and said,


    "Well, aside from the times when you deliberately try to mess with me, I certainly do like being with you¡­"


    After a few more random questions, the two went silent all of a sudden.


    Only the crackling noise of the wood burning in the bonfire and the thunder falling on Shin''s mana barrier could be heard from the distance.


    Aria seems to have sensed something in the mood, and she got up and did a tactical retreat from the area.


    At that moment, only Risa and Mark were sitting beside the bonfire.


    The light of the fire made their faces glow, and the sky was filled with stars.


    The bright moonlight shined and added another charm to the already clear water of the oasis, making the scenery even more beautiful than it already was.


    A cool breeze blew up, and Risa finally mustered the courage to say what she had wanted to say for so many years.


    "Mark, I like you."


    Mark wasn''t surprised by those words; he''s not a fool. He''s seen how persistent Risa has been in chasing him.


    Even a fool would have realized by now that the other person harbors feelings for you. No random girl will go against her parents will and sneak out of her house just to meet you.


    No random person will take the risk of getting punished by the professors and sneak in your room just to see you once, and no random person will try to spend so much time with you.


    Mark has known about it all for a while now; it''s just that he is afraid.


    He''s afraid that he can''t give her the time or love that she deserves, as he has dedicated his life to magic.


    Still, no matter how much he denies it and how much he tries to ignore it, he can''t hide the fact that the persistent efforts of Risa have indeed influenced him.


    A boring guy like him who never liked to socialize now can see the beauty of the world and can spare some time from his magic research just to spend some time with her.


    This just proves one thing.


    "Me too¡­ I like you too, Risa¡­"


    And as expected, no thunder appeared when the two of them confessed their feelings; in other words, those were true feelings, and even the ''Law of Truth'' had to acknowledge it.


    A mutual love that was acknowledged by the laws of the world itself, a relation that formed in the presence of the ''Absolute Truth'' itself.


    Clouds appeared in the sky, and for the first time in a hundred years, it rained in the desert of chaotic thunder that night.


    Usually only dark clouds remain in the desert, but they never rain and only pour down thunder. But when a ''Truth'' gets acknowledged by the ''Law of Truth'' itself, then a miracle like this can happen too.


    And that''s exactly what happened; it rained like crazy in the desert that night.


    Jareth and the group had to use their mana shield to resist the rain and protect themselves from getting wet.


    Even though Mark and Risa were the ones who created this inconvenient situation, Jareth and the other two weren''t upset at them at all. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Instead, they were happy for the two.


    Jareth simply shook his head, saying,


    ''They influenced the ''Law'' of the world just by saying a few words? Man, this is insane¡­ Sometimes I end up forgetting that Mark and Risa are both villain-type characters¡­''


    ''It would have been so much better if Mark was the real protagonist and not that dumb guy called Allen¡­''


    ¡­


    Ignoring the fact that they had created a massive rain just by talking, Mark and Risa just deployed their mana barriers and then kept on talking like normal as if nothing happened.


    "So, Uh,¡­ I have always wanted to know it but never had the chance to ask, What made you like me so much?"


    Hearing Mark''s question, Risa replied without hesitation,


    "What do I like about you? Hmm, I would say everything! The way you act when I tease you is so cute; the way you are so confident in your skills is so charming; the way you talk is so good¡­"


    "You are smart, you are dedicated to your goals, and you are just so good that I can''t praise you enough; I like everything about you!"


    Risa is literally just totally obsessed with Mark; she fell for him at first sight, and she''s been a ''yandere'' for him ever since.


    The two kept talking for a few more minutes until they fell silent and had nothing to talk about anymore.


    They just sat there, holding hands, with a happy smile on their faces.


    Although they have been engaged for years now, this is the first time they have confessed to each other, and only now can you consider them a proper couple.


    Originally, Risa was planning on one day defeating Mark in a fair and square fight and then making him acknowledge her love.


    But Jareth''s intervention changed everything.


    He brought them here to the land where the ''Law of Truth'' had manifested itself, and the two broke the wall of miscommunication and finally realized each other''s feelings for them.


    Of course, Jareth didn''t expect this outcome either; he just brought them here because he wanted them to get stronger for his sake.


    This event was just a bonus that he never anticipated. Nonetheless, it was still quite beneficial for Jareth.


    [Ding! You indirectly caused those two hearts to meet, who were supposed to never be together!]


    [Ding! You have received 4000 Credit Points!]


    Jareth was really shocked by this message.


    ''F*ck! Messing with the main protagonist only gave me 1k credit points, but helping out these two villain characters gave me 4k credit points!?''


    ''This is crazy!''


    At that moment, Jareth secretly gave a thumbs up to both of them and said in his mind,


    ''Good work, you two! Now get married soon and give me tons of credit points soon!!''


    Jareth seems to have discovered a new method to farm for credit points all of a sudden, and his eyes were shining brightly at the moment.


    ''Hehe, it was a good idea to bring them with me; from now on, wherever I go, they go with me! Kekeke¡­''

 Chapter 138 The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-4.

    The next day, the group used ''Float'' magic to head towards the designation. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.All of them flying together caused them to look like a pack of birds trying to migrate to warmer areas.


    "Ugh, we have been flying for the whole day! Can''t we rest at night now?"


    Jareth shook his head at Shin''s words and said,


    "I think yesterday''s rest was enough; we need to pick up the pace, and if we don''t travel at night, then we will waste a lot of time in this desert¡­"


    "There''s nothing here that can be considered a good practice target for Mark and Risa; the thunder that falls from the sky is much stronger in this place now that we are so deep in the desert¡­"


    "They can''t withstand it if it falls on them¡­"


    "In other words, wasting our time here is pointless; just keep moving till we reach the central city¡­"


    Shin shook his head and stopped complaining, seeing that Jareth had already made up his mind and there was no point in arguing anymore with him.


    Considering the fact that Jareth is misunderstood as a Grade 1 mage, Shin doesn''t want to offend Jareth too much.


    A few months ago, Jareth and Shin were in the same grade, so Shin didn''t care about offending Jareth and never held back from saying rude things.


    But things are different now; he can''t keep saying rude things because Jareth has become too strong for him.


    Unless he himself becomes a Grade 1 mage, Shin won''t be messing around too much from now on.


    The only reason he can still talk to Jareth so frankly is because he considers Jareth a rival and a friend.


    What Shin didn''t know was that Jareth only thinks of him as an acquaintance, not even a friend.


    ¡­


    Risa was getting bored from all the traveling, and she suddenly thought of an idea.


    ''Its night right now, which means even the professors will not be able to dodge if they lie¡­''


    She smiled a bit, glanced at Aria, and asked,


    "Professor Aria, are you a siscon?"


    Aria was so taken aback by that sudden question that she nearly lost her mana output and barely avoided falling down from the sky.


    "Eh¡­ w-where did that question come from so suddenly? Of course I-I am not a siscon-"


    Before Aria could finish her sentence, a massive bolt of thunder fell on her from the dark clouds above; fortunately, she was already using her mana shield and had avoided getting hit by it.


    "Ah! Student Risa, stop messing around! I nearly had a heart attack just now!"


    Aria was scared witless by that sudden thunder strike and complained to Risa with an aggrieved look on her face.


    Risa ignored her words and glanced at Shin before saying,


    "Professor Shin¡­ Who do you like more? Your wife or your favorite barber shop?"


    Shin started sweating buckets after hearing that question.


    "Er¡­ uh¡­ t-that''s quite a difficult question¡­ er¡­ i-I like them both-"


    A massive bolt of thunder fell on Shin and revealed that he was lying.


    "Ah, professor, you are lying. Tell me about who you like more!"


    Shin refused to say anything further; he wasn''t going to get tricked into saying something that he shouldn''t.


    Seeing that Shin was not going to say anything, Risa stopped talking to him and then glanced at Jareth for a moment before thinking.


    ''What do I ask him about?... uh¡­ I don''t seem to know much about the Vice-principal¡­''


    Just when Risa was hesitating to ask, Shin suddenly smirked and said,


    "Hey, Jareth, Tell us, Did you ever date anyone before?"


    Everyone was taken aback by Shin''s question and gulped their saliva in nervousness.


    All of them know, at least, that Jareth is a very cold and strict person; for him to fall for someone is an impossible thing. Even Mark and Risa knew that discussing such a topic with him would be a bad idea.


    Only Shin has the guts to ask such a question of Jareth, as he considers Jareth a friend.


    At that moment, Jareth remained silent for a while, and the answer he gave was extremely shocking for the group.


    "Of course I have¡­"


    Shin immediately glanced at the sky, and no bolts of thunder fell from the sky.


    Which means Jareth was telling the truth.


    "WHAAAAATTTTT!!!!!??????"


    Shin shouted so loudly after hearing those words that his voice seemed louder than the sound of the thunder hitting the ground.


    Jareth sneered at Shin and said,


    "What? You think you are superior or something just because you have someone to love? The heir of the Isaz family is indeed a weird guy, tch!"


    Although Jareth said that, he was actually quite surprised in his mind.


    ''I dated her in my past life, which has nothing to do with this body; then how come the thunder didn''t fall on me¡­ According to this world, I can''t be considered to have ever dated, right?''


    This thought made Jareth question many things.


    ''Wait, could it be that this ''Law of Truth'' only works according to what the ''Individual'' believes in their mind?''


    According to the speaker''s beliefs, the ''Law of Truth'' determines whether the words are true or not.


    In other words, if Jareth himself firmly believes that he has indeed dated someone before and thinks that this is the real truth, then the ''Law'' won''t consider it false either.


    It will only be considered false if you yourself know subconsciously that your words are false.


    ''I see, so if someone believes that they are true about something and has no idea about their falsehood, then they won''t get punished by this thunder, as according to that person, the false thing will seem like a truth¡­''


    ''It seems quite complicated, but it''s much simpler when considered carefully¡­''


    Although the expression on Jareth''s face remained as cold as always, he was already smiling happily in his mind, as he had found an amazing loophole in this so-called power of the ''Law''.


    ''If this law has a loophole, then other laws must have it too, which means there must be a way to counter the ''Law of Miasma'' too¡­ I just need to find that weakness¡­''


    ''Only by finding this weakness can I save my soul and get rid of the sea of miasma¡­''


    For Jareth, every little thing that can help him understand the laws of this world is very beneficial.


    Shin and Risa indirectly helped Jareth consider this aspect by making him a part of their stupid game.


    ''Is this what they call the power of working together and having good allies?''


    While Jareth was busy thinking about the new discoveries that he had made, Shin asked in a panicked voice,


    "W-wait, if you had a girlfriend then, where is she now?"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "She isn''t in this world¡­ Stop talking about this topic further, or this place will be your grave, Shin Isaz¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s warning, Shin finally shut up and understood what was going on.


    ''She isn''t in this world¡­ That means¡­ She died for some reason, and he doesn''t like talking about this matter¡­''


    Shin and the others misunderstood Jareth''s words and thought that Jareth was saying that the person he dated had already died, as she wasn''t in this world.


    Everyone went silent after hearing those words and didn''t dare say anything rude for fear of offending Jareth with their words.


    Thus, the rest of the journey was quite uneventful.


    Everyone remained silent, and Jareth kept thinking about what loopholes he could find in the ''Law'' of miasma.


    Eventually, the group crossed the desert and finally reached the outskirts of the central city of the desert.


    Jareth waved his hand and said,


    "You guys, go ahead; I have some other things to do¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Shin and Aria and said,


    "Take care of the students and have them experience the culture of the city; also, there''s a very large dungeon to the south of the city; take the students there to train¡­"


    "I am leaving their responsibility to you¡­"


    With that said, Jareth flew away in a different direction without hesitation.


    In the first place, the main reason why Jareth came here was to do some personal things and pick up a talented kid on the way.


    The only reason he even brought Mark and Risa was so that they could train, and Shin and Aria were brought here so that they could keep an eye on the students when he''s gone.


    Thus, he left Mark and Risa in their care and left to do his own things without worrying.


    Although Shin is a clumsy guy, he can keep the students safe, and Aria might be weak in combat, but her alchemy and healing magic are both very good.


    If Mark and Risa get injured, she can heal them in no time and can also give them some tips on how to improve their alchemy skills.


    ''That dungeon should be very beneficial for them both¡­ By the time I come back, they might have already conquered a few floors of it¡­''

 Chapter 139 Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-1.

    "Er¡­ and there he goes¡­"Shin sighed while staring at Jareth''s fading figure in the sky and glanced at Mark and Risa before saying.


    "The big bad guy is gone, so what do you say, kids? What do you want to do next? Directly go to the dungeon to train, or should we first wander around in the city?"


    Before Mark could say anything, Risa directly raised her hand and said, with a big smile,


    "Let''s visit the city! I wanna see what unique food they have here!"


    Hearing the word food, Aria also became excited and nodded her head.


    "Yes! Let''s go and eat something delicious!!"


    And since the two had already said it, Shin and Mark also decided to go with the flow, and thus the dungeon training was put on hold for the time being.


    ¡­


    When the group reached the city wall, the guards at the main gate had a shocked look on their faces.


    The journey to this city is very difficult; not only can thunder fall on you anywhere and anytime, you can''t even use any vehicles.


    Which means that the number of people who come to this city is extremely low.


    The only time people travel between this city and the others is when they have to import some resources, and even then, they have to use space rings to carry the resources while traveling on foot.


    You can''t even use mounts to travel in this place, or you will get struck by thunder.


    Thus, when the guards at the main gate saw Shin and others, they were really shocked and curious.


    But when they felt the aura of a peak grade-2 mage from Shin, they dared not behave rudely and treated the group with respect.


    This place might be located in an isolated area, but even the people here know how to respect the strong and avoid trouble.


    A Peak Grade-2 mage alone can level cities in a single attack; there''s no point in trying to offend such a strong person just to satisfy your curiosity.


    The person in charge himself came down from the office and said it with a flattering smile on his face.


    "Welcome honored guests to Bastille, the city built around the oasis of the full moon!"


    The chief guard hurriedly led the way for Shin and the group and decided to arrange a car for them.


    Although it''s nearly impossible to bring a car here from outside, that doesn''t mean you can''t build it here.


    There are car-making factories in this place too, so they have cars and other facilities.


    The place is isolated, but the government has made every effort to keep it as connected to the rest of the empire as possible.


    Although there is corruption in the government, they don''t want to lose even a single inch of the land under the human empire.


    So they take a lot of measures so that the people of this city don''t end up separating themselves from the rest of the empire.


    Shin nodded his head at the chief guard and spoke.


    "Good, take us to the most luxurious hotel in this place¡­"


    The chief guard smiled happily and ordered the driver to do as Shin said.


    Only when Shin and the group finally left in the car did the chief guard relax and wipe the sweat from his forehead.


    "D*mn, this is the first time I have seen a grade 2 mage up so close; only after meeting one in person did I understand why they are respected all over the empire¡­"


    Despite his extensive experience as a grade-4 mage, the chief guard seldom encounters any grade-3 or higher-grade mage in this city due to its isolation from the rest of the empire.


    The resources they have are not enough to support the growth of a grade 3 or higher mage, so even if someone talented had appeared here, they wouldn''t be able to grow up properly.


    Without resources, a person''s talent gets wasted.


    Unlike Jareth, who has a mana singularity, all mages need various rare elixirs and precious herbs while meditating and training. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Imagine a scenario where one person has to sleep and take rest to recover their mana after every training session, but the other person can just take a mana recovery potion and continue training without rest.


    That means the person who has more money can train for a longer time and can avoid many detours by consuming rare herbs to improve their abilities.


    This is the reason why people say that ''becoming a mage is all about who can splurge more money¡­''


    It''s a profession where the person with more money will always win, unless, of course, you are insanely talented like Mark or have legendary skills like Jareth.


    ...


    Sitting inside the car, Mark glanced outside and saw a lot of unique things.


    Not only the clothes that people wear in this place are different, even the vehicle designs and architecture of the houses here is very different.


    The houses in the capital city are more inclined towards the ''Modern'' look, whereas the houses in this place seem more traditional yet amazing to look at.


    At that moment, Mark noticed a small group of guards walking on the road, and they were dragging a lot of people in haggard clothes whose hands were bound by ropes.


    Mark glanced at the driver and asked,


    "Uh, what''s happening there? Why are those people being treated like that?"


    The driver took a quick glance and then said,


    "Young man, you don''t know¡­ There are certain rules in this city¡­ We live in a place that is surrounded by desert, and thousands of underground monsters are always ready to lay siege to our city¡­"


    "This city needs a lot of money to operate as the maintenance cost of the mana barrier is high, and we also need a lot of rations secured¡­"


    "Surely the government is helping us from outside, but that''s not enough¡­"


    The driver sighed and said,


    "So the minister in charge of this place created a few rules; they collect a lot of tax from people who live in this place¡­"


    "The tax is used to maintain the defenses of the city and provide better equipment to the guards¡­"


    "But the thing is, this tax is too high, and everyone has to pay it, so the people who are jobless and poor are helpless against it¡­"


    The driver hesitated for a moment but then said,


    "Those people who fail to pay tax for more than six months get dragged out of their houses and exiled from the city¡­"


    "This is what''s happening to those people right now¡­ Every single year, at least three or four thousand such people get thrown out¡­"


    Hearing those words, Mark asked back curiously.


    "And what happens to those people after their exile?"


    The driver shook his head and said,


    "Do I even need to say it? There''s nothing out there to eat; it''s no man''s land; thunder can fall on your head at any moment; hungry underground monsters roam the whole area¡­"


    "Most of these exiled people either die of starvation or become food for the monsters outside¡­"


    "It actually quells the hunger of the monsters, thus reducing the monster siege''s intensity every once in a while¡­"


    The driver sighed and said with a sad voice,


    "Although it''s sad, there is nothing we can do; for the survival of the majority, a few people''s sacrifice is always necessary¡­"


    "Unless the government starts sending tons of money from outside to support the lives of these people, there''s nothing we can do¡­"


    Hearing those words, Mark couldn''t help but sigh. He wanted to help out these pitiful people, but even he knew that this was an unrealistic thing.


    Even Shin sighed and said,


    "Helping a few of them won''t change the situation¡­ As long as this city exists in this desert where monsters keep attacking, there will always be a need for a lot of money to maintain the barrier¡­"


    Mark also stopped looking at that group of people, as he knew that helping them wouldn''t change anything.


    He can pay money for them today, but then what next? What about the other people who are also in need of money? Will Mark have to donate money to the whole city then?


    Even though Mark himself is a prince and has a lot of money in his bank, even that bank balance is extremely small when compared to the expenses of a whole city filled with millions of people.


    "Forget it, young man; leave things be; don''t get emotional over something that you have no control over... This is the way of the world¡­"


    "Only the fittest survive; without money, you have nothing in this world; either you earn or you die¡­ That''s how the world works¡­ Don''t blame yourself for it¡­"


    Hearing those words from the old driver, Mark nodded his head and said,


    "Thanks for the advice; I will keep it in mind¡­ This world really isn''t a place for innocent souls¡­"

 Chapter 140 Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-2.

    In comics and movies, it is usually shown that when the protagonist encounters such a situation, his first action is to go beat up the guards and rescue the people who are being forcefully dragged to their deaths.However, those films always fail to show the greater implications of this action.


    The main thing is that the government also doesn''t want to throw them out, but for the survival of the majority, they have to make this sacrifice.


    By exiling these people who give no returns to society, the government is fulfilling many goals at once.


    Not only does this serve as a warning to other people that they need to work hard if they want to live in their safe houses, but it also quells the massive monster siege.


    Once the monsters eat their fill, they don''t attack the cities like crazy, and massive monster sieges don''t happen. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The army from the outside can''t be deployed in time, and even if they deploy it beforehand, a massive army needs a massive amount of resources to maintain.


    If you increase the number of soldiers, you will need to keep in mind that you will need more money.


    More money means you will need to increase the tax more, or you will have to ask the government outside for support.


    Even though the government is trying its best from outside, they also have to take care of the rest of the empire; they can''t just keep funding this isolated city for free.


    In this desert, not a single crop thrives, and there are no regional specialties that are unique to this area.


    Which means that the government gets literally no benefits from funding this city that is isolated from all directions.


    Thus, the funding for this city can''t be increased, and more military personnel can''t be deployed here either.


    In other words, the government is just as helpless about this place as the people living here.


    Even if you want the people to relocate, you can''t possibly relocate millions of people.


    Where will you take so many people? How would so many people get new jobs so soon? Who will give them excellent living conditions for free?


    All in all, if you look at the bigger picture, the situation in Bastille is already in much better condition.


    If the government wasn''t funding it from the outside, then even more people would have died every year.


    Right now, things are in a proper balance.


    And imagine that suddenly an idiot guy comes and tries to destroy this equilibrium just because he doesn''t want the poor people to die.


    This will not only put the lives of the rest of the people in the city in danger; it will cause massive chaos for everyone.


    This is the reason why ''being a hero depends on circumstances; if the conditions are already in balance, you will only be a villain if you try to mess with them¡­''


    By saving a few people, you may feel happy, but you will fail to realize that you are putting the lives of millions of other people at risk.


    What if the monsters outside went crazy and attacked the city desperately due to hunger?


    You won''t have enough army to counter it, and no help will come from the outside as this place is very isolated.


    Even a grade 1 mage will need at least half a day if he wants to come here by flying while avoiding the thunder from the sky and the monsters below.


    And that half a day is enough for the tsunami of monsters to level the whole city to the ground and kill millions of people.


    It is often depicted in movies that a hero can do a last stand and keep thousands of monsters at bay, but that''s not a realistic scenario.


    There is barely one grade-3 mage in this city, and he himself is the city''s minister, so how would the city defend itself against hordes of monsters outside if the barrier collapsed?


    Thinking like a movie''s hero is a ridiculous thing; reality in this world is more cruel.


    ¡­


    Bastille, Core area, Hotel Grand Moon.


    When the car finally arrived at its destination, Mark and the other got down, and a gigantic skyscraper appeared in their view.


    Although the skyscraper looks modern, it also has a lot of traditional-type architecture in it.


    Just looking at it from the outside, you can tell that this building is definitely a five-star hotel.


    When the group was still looking at the hotel with an excited look on their faces, a luxurious car suddenly arrived at the scene, with several muscle cars following behind it.


    A man wearing a silver suit and dark red hair got out of the car and walked over to the group with a smile on his face.


    The man glanced at Shin and said,


    "Nice to meet you, sir. I am Zang Shao, a minister in the parliament and the mayor of this city¡­ It''s a pleasure to meet someone as strong as you¡­"


    Bastille also has internet, so the people here can access social media; thus, the city knows about Shin as he''s a famous grade 2 mage.


    And as grade 2 mages are quite rare in this place and rarely appear, the mayor decided to come himself to greet Shin and, if possible, try to coax Shin into staying here.


    If a grade-2 mage decides to stay in this place, the safety of this city will be improved.


    The main reason why no grade-3 or higher-ranking mages want to stay here is because they don''t have enough resources here.


    But if the mayor himself tries to arrange it, then they can certainly collect enough money to tempt people.


    "Ah, you''re the mayor? Nice to meet you, Mr. Zang. I see that you are running your city quite well. I came here thinking that things here would be much more backward¡­"


    "But you have surprised me; this place has developed well even though it''s isolated from the outside world¡­"


    Zang smiled dryly at those words and replied,


    "Mr. Shin is joking, haha. I am merely doing my duty; keeping the lives of the people safe is my responsibility, hahaha¡­"


    Shin didn''t mention the matter of the people who were being sacrificed, and Zang also didn''t acknowledge the fact that he was sacrificing the lives of people to save others.


    In other words, both of them were tacitly talking in a way that didn''t highlight each other''s problems.


    Shin himself has nothing to do with this city, and he doesn''t give a single sh*t about who is getting sacrificed here, so he didn''t bother arguing with Zang about this matter.


    Surely Shin''s words may put a lot of pressure on Zang as he''s a grade-2 mage, but even if Shin tries to argue about it, it won''t change anything.


    Matters like this are not so easy to resolve; they have many complicated things behind them.


    "Ahaha, look at me, I totally forgot about the main matter. Mr. Shin, please feel free to stay in this hotel; I will personally fund your and your group''s stay¡­"


    Shin was surprised by those words, and he nodded his head.


    "Hoho, Mr. Zang is indeed a generous person, it seems¡­"


    Zang laughed a bit at those words and said,


    "Haha, no, no, this is what I should do¡­ Okay, I won''t stop you anymore; please rest in the hotel; you must be tired from the long journey¡­"


    Zang only came here to show his goodwill, so he decided to leave early so as to avoid any unpleasant things from happening.


    From other people''s perspectives, Shin and Zang were talking happily with each other while laughing and smiling as if they were old friends who had met after a long time.


    But only the two of them knew that they were both just being polite with each other to avoid trouble.


    Zang doesn''t want to offend Shin, as he wants to hire him.


    Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire


    On the other hand, Shin has come to this city for the first time, and he also has the students with him.


    So, he wants to avoid any misunderstanding with the mayor so that he doesn''t target the students.


    The two were laughing happily, but they were actually scheming in their minds.


    "Ah, I forgot about one other thing¡­"


    Just when Zang was about to leave, Shin suddenly called out to him and said,


    "Actually, we are not the only ones here; Jareth Ayad has also come here with us; he went out to resolve some personal business, but he will likely come to the city later in a few days¡­"


    "So I would request the mayor to keep things ready for him too¡­"


    Hearing the name ''Jareth'', Zang was so shocked that he nearly fainted on the spot.


    Even a grade-2 mage is extremely rare in this city, and now suddenly a grade-1 mage who is known for being extremely powerful has suddenly appeared here.


    This information not only made Zang nervous, but even the bodyguards and other people nearby were shocked to the core.


    Zang glanced at Shin and confired again,


    "uh.. A-are you talking about ''The Wyvern Killer'', ''The Divine Flame'' Jareth Ayad? A-are you sure he''s the one who''s here?"


    Shin nodded his head and led the students inside as he spoke.


    "Yes, yes, that guy¡­ Just keep an eye out for him; he should be here soon¡­"


    Although Shin and the group were being casual, Zang and his bodyguards were already trembling in shock.


    Only one thought was ringing in Zang''s mind at that moment.


    ''F*ck me! How the f*ck did I attract a walking nuclear bomb on myself out of nowhere!?''

 Chapter 141 Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-3.

    "Er¡­ Are you sure we should be sneaking out of the hotel like this without even telling the professors?"At Mark''s words of concern, Risa smiled and said,


    "No worries! We will just make a quick trip and go back soon~, they won''t even notice it~"


    Mark sighed at those words and said,


    "Do you really think it''s so easy to escape the detection range of a grade-2 mage? We are years away from becoming strong enough to be competing with giants like them¡­"


    Risa shrugged her shoulders at those words and said in a confident voice,


    "We successfully made it out of the hotel, and no one appeared to stop us, which means the professors likely already detected us but gave their silent permission!"


    "So we are good to go~"


    At those words, Mark finally nodded his head and stopped thinking too much.


    "Well, if you say so, then let''s go¡­"


    The two of them held hands and walked towards the central market area of the city of Bastille.


    They took a bus to arrive here earlier and are now going on a shopping trip.


    Originally, Risa said that she just wanted to buy something quick and they would come back soon, but then she dragged Mark into the bus, and they both ended up coming here.


    But Mark can''t complain; this place is indeed unique.


    He glanced towards the sky and noticed the dark clouds don''t shroud this small area, and this city is free of their influence.


    Moreover, the weather here is much more normal when compared to the desert.


    The old architectural style just adds another charm to this place, and the decorated market area is just so unique and amazing that even Mark can''t help but be fascinated by it.


    When Mark and the group were living in the desert, the temperature would get extremely hot during the day and freezing cold during the night.


    Although the clouds in the sky cover the sun, this place still gets hot and cold, just like a normal desert, which is a strange phenomenon in itself.


    On the other hand, this city isn''t covered by those dark clouds, and the temperature here is much more normal and remains the same all day long.


    It doesn''t get too hot or cold, which is quite a beneficial thing for the people living here.


    Mark and the group came to this city yesterday, and Mark already did a bit of preliminary research on his own by reading through the books that were already placed in his room.


    The place they stayed at is a luxury five-star hotel, so they have a small collection of books in all of their rooms that describe the general details of this city in brief.


    Mark, being a knowledge-obsessed guy, read through nearly half of them in one night and didn''t even sleep.


    Nonetheless, full-night training and learning sessions are normal occurrences for him, so he wasn''t very exhausted in the morning, even though he didn''t sleep for the whole night.


    One of the few interesting things that he read about was that as this city expands with the increasing population, the dark clouds in the sky retreat further away, as if they are giving this city space to grow.


    This phenomenon is so strange that the researchers in the area have theorized that these dark clouds themselves are partially conscious and can sense that the people in the city are increasing, so they need more free space.


    This city is acting like a ''Safe Spot'' for the whole desert of chaotic thunder. You will get affected by the thunder outside, but once in the city, you are safe.


    If Jareth were here, he would have already figured out that this is basically a mechanism from the game world.


    Originally, there was no explanation for this in the game, but now Jareth knows that all this happens due to the manifestation and interference of the ''Laws'' of the world itself.


    The whole world is buried in a sea of miasma, and thus subtle changes in the ''Laws'' of the world happen often.


    These chaotic interferences from the ''Laws'' of the world cause strange phenomena to manifest in this world.


    In the first place, the manifestation and interference of the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' itself is the main reason why people can become wizards and can use mana and create unscientific things by using ''Mana'' as an energy source.


    They literally use ''Mana'' to mold the atoms in various forms and shapes to create things that would have been unscientific and unexplainable if there was no mana in this world.


    The ''Law'' of ''Mana'' itself is a strange phenomenon that can''t be explained by an ordinary mortal''s comprehension capabilities.


    Either you need to reach a realm that can manipulate the ''Laws'' of this world itself or you will have to invent a technology so powerful that it can see through the very fabric of reality.


    The current humanity is extremely far away from ever creating a technology of such a level.


    It may take millions or years, and the human race doesn''t have that much time; moreover, the existence of mages and mana itself causes a lot of hindrance to the development of technology.


    If the technology keeps depending on mana stones to fuel their cars and other things, it will create problems if something changes in the ''Law'' of mana.


    All technologies that are working on this ''Law'' of mana will stop working; moreover, changes in the ''Laws'' of this world are very random; you can''t rely on them forever.


    That''s one of the many reasons why only an extremely talented person can become the hope of this world.


    Reynald and Jareth both know this, and they both know that the human race can now only be saved by a single ray of ''Hope''. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    But as they say:


    {Even the hope itself needs an origin; if it''s not strong enough, that hope can never provide enough comfort to the masses¡­}


    ¡­


    Hotel Grand Moon, Parking Area.


    Shin sighed and said, in a sad tone,


    "Please, Ms. Aria, I beg of you, accompany me to the place where that company''s headquarters are located¡­"


    "I have no knowledge about makeup and stuff that women use, so help me out this one time, and I will definitely not make fun of your ''ideas'' ever again!"


    Aria, on the other hand, smiled with a pleased smile on her face.


    She nodded her head and said, with a smirk on her face,


    "Hehe, now you know how wonderful my ideas are? Of course I am the best when it comes to making plans!"


    Aria crossed her hands and smiled happily after hearing Shin''s promise.


    "Well then! It seems my help is indeed very important, so I will reluctantly help you out, Professor Shin¡­"


    Shin showed appreciation on his face while he had completely different thoughts in his mind,


    ''D*mn, this trick of getting others to work for you is really effective; good thing I learned it from Jareth¡­ That guy really does have some shady skills indeed¡­''


    Shin himself is not a big fan of being a shrewd person and manipulating others; he likes being straightforward, as he thinks of the former as a tactic of deceivers.


    But when push comes to shove, even the mightiest of people have to bend their heads to make do with things.


    Shin had to use this trick to deceive Aria by saying that her plans are amazing just so he could ask for her help in figuring out the gift for his wife.


    And sure enough, the plan was a big success.


    Shin glanced at Jareth''s image in his mind and said,


    ''You are a shady person¡­ but I trust you, bro¡­ just like how I trust the reels that have information on a car in their caption¡­''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in the mayor''s home.


    "Yes! Gimme that enchantment too! And that one too!!"


    Several mages were casting strong enchantments on the mayor''s overly luxurious and shiny protective gear for some reason.


    "Yes!! Although I can''t withstand the attack of a grade 1, this should be enough to get me through his aura at least¡­"


    Indeed! All this preparation is being done to defend against Jareth''s imminent arrival.


    The mayor once saw a random video where they were saying that a random fat guy was once stared at by Jareth, and the poor guy had so many nightmares from the residual effect of the aura that he became as thin as a dried stick in just a few days.


    Although there is no guarantee that this rumor is even true or is just some random, made-up bullsh*t, the mayor believed in it.


    He has never met a grade-1 mage before, so he misunderstood that Jareth''s aura might really be that strong.


    Now he''s making proper preparations to meet with Jareth without fainting from just getting stared at by him once.


    He even hired the best artifact enchanters in the city to come and upgrade his protective gear.


    (Bro really thinks that Jareth is some kind of walking eldritch horror that can make anyone faint at random¡­)


    sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 142 Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-4.

    Bastille, Central Market Area."Whoa~ A live music performance is going to happen here!"


    Looking at the giant posters and banners outside an auditorium, Risa''s eyes shone with excitement.


    Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    Seeing that excited look on her face, Mark sighed and said,


    "Let''s go in. I myself haven''t seen a live music performance before; let''s try it out now that we have the chance¡­" Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark walked over to the ticket counter and brought out a platinum card with a dragon design printed on it in golden.


    When the person at the counter saw that card, he nearly fainted from the sheer shock.


    The person at the counter glanced at Mark with a shocked look. He wanted to say something, but he stopped and hurriedly gave two tickets to Mark.


    When Mark left the counter, the man got up, went to a more secluded area, and screamed like crazy, saying,


    "I f*cking saw a ''Royal Draconic Platinum'' in my life! Ahhhhhhhh~~~"


    From that day onwards, that man will go on and brag to his friends and family that he actually saw the real ''Unique'' ATM card that only the royal family members have.


    Seeing that legendary card that is only seen on TV and the internet in person is a very big flex indeed.


    Mark, on the other hand, had no idea about all that; he just took the ticket and held Risa''s hand before entering the auditorium.


    He''s been using this card since childhood, and he doesn''t really care much about it; thus, he doesn''t know that the card he has has an unlimited amount of money in it.


    Mark was given this card as a birthday gift, and it has no limits at all.


    Additionally, it recognized Mark''s mana fluctuation, and since only he can use it, it doesn''t matter if it disappears.


    This card is directly linked to the family account of the Royal Family, and it will never run out of money unless the whole royal family goes bankrupt.


    Moreover, the royal family is so deeply involved in the government and companies all over the nation that the whole nation will go bankrupt before this card can run out of money.


    In other words, Mark literally holds the entire nation''s worth of fortune in this pocket.


    People on the internet make a lot of posts about the awesomeness of this card.


    Thus, seeing this card in person can make any ordinary person feel shocked, unless they live in a ditch and don''t even know about it at all.


    The unique thing is that this card has a certain magical aura of its own, and even ordinary people can feel its uniqueness just by being in its presence¡­


    So even if you don''t know about its existence, you can still feel that it''s ''unique'' once you encounter it¡­


    ¡­


    "Hurry, hurry, it''s about to start! We came just on time!"


    Risa and Mark hurried inside and took the VIP seats right away. Mark didn''t care about the money, so he bought the seats with the best view for Risa.


    Once the duo sat down, the curtain slid away from the stage, and an old man walked over to the stage. He appeared to be in his late sixties.


    While the old man took the microphone, a few other people also appeared and took their respective seats on the stage to play the various music instruments, such as the piano, guitar, drums, flutes, and so on.


    "Welcome everyone! Today we are presenting a song from the local folklore of Bastille. This one is the classic and one of the most popular songs that describes the history of our blessed city of Bastille!"


    Hearing the old man''s words, the whole audience clapped, and excited looks appeared on the faces of the audience.


    "Bastille didn''t originally used to be what it is today, so let us know about its origins more with this song!"


    The old singer smiled happily at the enthusiasm of the audience, and he also noticed the presence of Mark and Risa in the VIP seats.


    There are usually no people who buy VIP tickets for his show, so he was even more motivated to give his best today just for Mark and Risa.


    On the other hand, Mark was more surprised by a completely different thing.


    ''A grade-4 mage working as a singer? This is interesting¡­''


    Mark himself is a grade-4 mage, but his mana control is already grade-3, due to which he can sense the mana fluctuations better than other grade-4 mages.


    Thus, he easily saw through the old singer and figured out that the other party was magic too.


    Usually all mages go for a career that suits the dignity of a mage; for example, most of them become teachers, dungeon explorers, and some even join the military.


    It''s very rare to see a mage working in any other profession than these few.


    ''Let''s see what he has got¡­''


    The old singer closed his eyes and started his performance at that moment.


    "The story goes something like this¡­"


    [A broken shard of the bright moon,


    Once fell upon this land,


    Blessed was the land by the ''Laws'',


    And the people came from afar to see the miracle,


    Eventually, the shattered shard was forgotten,


    And people lived here to worship and admire the shine,


    Of that once forgotten Shard.


    May the shard forgive the world~


    May the shard bless the city of desert~


    May the moonlight shine on Bastille forever~]


    The old singer''s voice was solemn yet amazing to hear; even Mark was impressed by it.


    This amazing voice clearly showed that the man has a lot of experience in this field and has been working as a singer for years now.


    Not only did he sing the song, he also told the history of Bastille in brief.


    ¡­


    ''This must be a story that was passed down from generations to generations and then turned into a poem and then into a song by the people¡­''


    The history of this city alone holds a lot of mysteries.


    First of all, there is a mention of a ''shard of the bright moon''.


    ''I think that they are referring to some random meteorite that fell in this place¡­ People then came to see it from all over the world, and eventually some of them settled down here...''


    Although Mark failed to comprehend the ''Laws'' part of the song and only understood a few lines, this song indeed improved his knowledge of this city.


    If Jareth were here, he would have figured out that this is the same song that appears at the end of a certain quest in the form of a cutscene.


    You arrive at this auditorium to enjoy this song with your harem members, and it tells you more about the history of the place.


    But in the game, it was impossible to find out more about the ''Laws'', but now Jareth can understand it all.


    He can see that the person who originally created this story must have had some knowledge of the ''Laws'' of this world and must have witnessed the events happening in this place.


    Alas, there is no mention of who was the person who first created this story, told the people about it, and helped it pass down from generation to generation.


    Thus, it''s not possible to track the roots of this song.


    If he could have met that person, then he could have solved a lot of his questions, but now Jareth will have to find some other way to figure it all out by himself.


    Mark, on the other hand, also figured out a few other things from the song.


    ''That meteorite then went missing for some reason, but the city is still blessed by its shine?''


    ''This seems more like a puzzle than a song... Forget it; I will think about it later¡­''


    Mark and Risa got up from their seats and clapped at the end of the song, along with the rest of the audience, to show their appreciation for the performance.


    Aside from the singer, the piano artist and the other instrument users also did extremely well and kept up with the old singer''s rhythm perfectly.


    This just shows that this whole band is made up of experienced people who have been working in this field for years now.


    After the end of the live performance, when Mark and Risa were just about to leave, they met the old singer in person, and the old guy handed over his autographs to both of them.


    He saluted them and said,


    "Thank you for buying the VIP tickets; it''s rare for people to pay so much just to watch a single performance of our band¡­"


    Mark waved his hand and replied,


    "No worries, you are an excellent singer; perhaps you should come to the capital; you will get more opportunities there for sure!"


    The old singer waved his hand and said,


    "Haha, that might have been the case if I was still a young man. Today was my last performance, and our band will disband after today. It was indeed a lucky thing that I still had some VIP audience members at my last performance¡­"


    "I am getting old, so it''s about time I give my voice rest. I will leave the stage for the younger generation, hahaha¡­"


    With that said, the old singer left with a happy smile and went on to live a happy life with his grandchildren.

 Chapter 143 Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight Part-5.

    "Eh, I look so weird in these clothes¡­ Do we really need all this just to get a couple photo for us?"Mark, who was forced to wear the costume of a knight, walked out of the changing room and complained with a complicated look on his face.


    They both left the auditorium a while ago and then came to this photo booth to get a couple''s photo of them both.


    And he was forced to do cosplay by Risa, as she wanted to get a photo of him in knight armor protecting her as a princess.


    "Forget about that; tell me¡­ How do I look?"


    Risa, wearing the pure white dress, looked like a real princess.


    The moment Mark saw her, he was stunned.


    "I get it now¡­ It was indeed worth doing all this costume and all.. You look like a real princess¡­"


    A proud look appeared on Risa''s face as she heard the praise from Mark.


    "Humph! Now that you know the charm of this young lady, be proud; you will get a charming wife¡­"


    Seeing that smug look on Risa''s face, Mark suddenly had the urge to pinch her cheeks.


    "It hurts~ Don''t stretch my face like that, you idiot!"


    Risa ran away with an annoyed look on her face, while Mark laughed happily to himself.


    The two of them went and got a couple photo. Mark looked like a real knight in that armor-like costume, and his handsome face just added another charm to it.


    The two of them left the photo booth with a happy smile on their faces and found themselves at a caf¨¦ to have lunch.


    "Sigh, today is the only day we will get to enjoy something like this; we will likely be heading to the dungeon by tomorrow¡­ Ugh, why is time moving so fast¡­"


    "I don''t want this happy time to go away¡­"


    Hearing Risa''s complaints, Mark replied.


    "Well, the day isn''t over yet, milady; we still have a lot to do today¡­ For example, how about we eat as much as our heart desires¡­ The food in this place is quite unique¡­"


    "We should enjoy it when we still have time; it might not be possible to eat the food of this place again for a long while¡­"


    Risa also nodded her head and immediately ordered a lot of tasty food for them both.


    Both of them are kids from rich families; they aren''t worried about money at all; in fact, they have so much money that they can''t even spend it in a lifetime.


    "By the way, how''s your progress in magic these days?"


    At Mark''s question, Risa smirked and replied,


    "Worry not, my knight; this princess is already making a lot of progress! I shall soon ascend higher and render the bright sky dark!"


    Mark''s expression turned complicated while hearing that overly ''Chunni'' style of talking.


    "So, you mean you are about to ascend to grade 4 soon?"


    Risa glared at Mark agrily and said,


    "Idiot! You had to follow my word by saying, ''Yes! Milady!'', that would have been so awesome! But you broke the flow¡­"


    "Forget it; the food is here! Let''s eat!"


    Mark sighed at how fast Risa''s attention shifts from one thing to another; she really is a ball of random emotions.


    One moment she''s happy, and the other she''s glaring at you like a kid.


    Looking at all these different expressions on her face, Mark was enchanted for some reason and couldn''t take his eyes off her.


    ¡­


    Bastille, West District, ShineMoon Company,


    Parking area.


    "Seriously, all that trouble for just this?"


    Shin couldn''t help but sigh while looking at the box in his hand with a complicated look on his face. Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire


    He came all the way here to Bastille and even asked Aria for her help, just to get his hands on the exact same product from the company.


    "Well, it was a discontinued product; the one your wife likely had was from the last batch¡­ Fortunately for you, the staff was able to find one for you in the storerooms¡­"


    Hearing Aria''s words, Shin sighed and said,


    "Ugh, it''s likely that they got frightened by the appearance of a grade-2 mage and went out of their way to bring out a discontinued product¡­"


    "I guess being strong has its own perks¡­"


    Shin is a straightforward and honest type of guy; he isn''t the type to frighten people to get his work done, like Jareth.


    Thus, it felt quite weird to pressure the people here with his power.


    ''I don''t want to do it ever again¡­''


    Fighting monsters and evil people is another thing, but frightening innocent people is a completely different matter.


    You need a cold heart to be as ruthless as Jareth, and Shin doesn''t have that; he has family to look after and children waiting at home for him.


    He can''t take too many risks; all he does is for his family.


    On the other hand, Jareth doesn''t give a single sh*t about anyone else; everything he does is just for himself.


    Even the reason he''s helping out Mark and Risa is because he wants them to help him in return.


    Although with the ''Mana singularity'' Jareth is sure that he can become strong enough himself, it''s always good to have some backup plans.


    If he has the support of two more excellent mages in the future, why not have it? There''s no point in losing out on such a good deal.


    Except for the only person he once loved, Jareth never cared genuinely about the life of anyone else.


    ¡­


    Bastille, Central Area.


    "So, there is a lake here in the central area of the city! This place is so beautiful!"


    By the time Mark and Risa completed their trip to the market area, the sun had already set and the sky had started to get dark.


    The two of them took the nearest path to get to a bus stop, and while walking on the path, they noticed the giant lake.


    Risa was so excited by the scenery that she totally forgot about the bus and ran away towards the lake to get a closer look.


    "Hey! It''s getting late! We need to go back now~"


    Risa ignored Mark''s words and found a bench nearby to sit and watch the scenery.


    A smile appeared on her face as she said excitedly,


    "Look, the water is shining!"


    Mark frowned a bit at her words and said,


    "What? Don''t tell me you are having hallucinations from exhaustion after wandering around too much-"


    Before Mark could say anything else, Risa grabbed his hand and forced him to sit beside her.


    His eyes fell on the water of the lake, and he noticed that the water was indeed glowing with a bright blue color.


    If it were daytime, it would have been normal for water to look blue, but now it''s already quite dark.


    Just when Mark was a bit confused, the moon suddenly appeared from the clouds, and the moonlight seemed to have activated some phenomena.


    The whole lake began to shine brightly; even the moisture in the air started to shine, causing the scenery to become extremely beautiful.


    It looked as if the whole lake had turned into a starry sky, and the moonlight was adding amazing charm to it.


    Even Mark couldn''t help but be fascinated by this amazing scenery, and thoughts came to his mind.


    ''Ah, so this is what the song mentioned! The moonlight causes phenomena like this, and people consider that this city is blessed with moonlight¡­''


    ''That''s likely the reason why the city is called ''Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight''¡­''


    Not only is the manifestation of the ''Laws'' outside of this city quite fascinating, but this city itself is an amazing place on its own.


    Looking at that amazing scenery, Mark started to remember all the happy memories he had in his mind.


    ''This strange phenomenon has the power to make people remember their past memories. A strange power indeed¡­''


    Mark remembered the days when he used to mess around with his lackeys and annoy his classmates in school. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He also remembered how he went on so many trips with his lackeys and enjoyed days of gaming together.


    ''I think I kind of understand why people don''t want to leave this city, even though it''s so isolated and remote. This city has what the capital city doesn''t¡­''


    ''People live on feelings, and if the moonlight here can help people relive their past memories of the time spent with their loved ones, then no one would want to miss on this opportunity¡­''


    Mark couldn''t help but think,


    ''This power is just as beautiful as it is terrifying¡­ To be able to influence the minds of people to this level, it''s insane¡­''


    Mark glanced at Risa and found that she was also mesmerized by all this.


    He held her hand, and the two of them spent a few moments of silence while looking at that breathtaking scenery.


    ''This day might become one of the happiest memories of my life¡­''


    "Thanks for bringing me here, Risa¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa smiled and said,


    "Me too¡­"

 Chapter 144 Stealing Session Again. Part-1.

    Bastille, City Outskirts.A day ago.


    Jareth flew in the air like an arrow and headed in the southeast direction of the city.


    ''Hmm, I don''t know the actual location of that place, and I can''t even track that ''thing'' with my mana detection¡­ but I guess I can track ''them'' down instead...''


    What Jareth is looking for today is one of the few most important ''Chances'' that the protagonist got in his journey to the peak of this world.


    ''With ''that'' thing, the ''mana nuke'' making program can progress much faster¡­ Moreover, the power of the nuke can be enhanced further with it¡­''


    ''And forget about just a mere ''mana nuke'' with that thing in my hand; I can aim to create more sophisticated things like a wormhole or a portal to a different location¡­.'' Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Even if I can''t save the world, I can at least try to save myself¡­ and that''s all I need¡­''


    Jareth doesn''t care if this world has any hope or not; he only needs hope for himself, and he will create that hope with his own hands if there isn''t any.


    ''I read through that secret book that told about the ''Golden Lights'' words again and again¡­''


    ''And one obvious clue to escape the current situation is to find something called the power of origin, and to do that, you need to reach the demi-god realm¡­''


    ''Although I don''t know what all that means, if there is anything in this world that can be considered a real ''Divine'' object, then it must be the ''Chance'' buried here in the desert¡­''


    Out of all the opportunities and chances that Allen had on his journey, this one carries a small trace of the evolved form of mana.


    The power to turn miracles into reality. The power to influence the strings of destiny.


    A power that can turn the fate of the world around and conquer all that exists and doesn''t.


    That power is called ''Divinity'' or ''Divine Power''.


    ''Although it''s just a trace amount of it, it''s enough¡­ The bigger problem will be how to extract that thing¡­''


    Thinking about this, Jareth''s expression became solemn.


    The game did not explain the origin of this strange power known as "Divinity" or how to create or destroy it.


    But now that Jareth has read through the secret records and the words of the golden light, he is certain about one thing.


    ''In the game, it''s explained that the central lake in Bastille shines blue due to the presence of a unique object below it.''


    ''Without proper clues, everything seems so random and difficult to understand¡­ But when you have all the pieces in your hands¡­ the puzzle becomes very simple to solve¡­''


    With all the clues from the game lore and the words from the secret book, Jareth figured out a lot of things.


    ''First of all, I can assume that the ''Meteorite'' or whatever that ''Shard of Moonlight'' that fell in this place likely fell around the same time when the ''Golden King'' descended to this world¡­''


    ''Which means that this ''meteorite'' is related to a power existence like that ''Golden King''¡­''


    ''Moreover, this thing has a trace of ''Divinity'' in it. From that, I can assume that this ''meteorite'' is likely not just a rock or something inanimate¡­ It likely used to be a living being¡­''


    ''And Lastly, if I can harness it''s power, I can make something that can be so powerful that it can smash the fabric of space-time itself while keeping it stable enough at the same time¡­''


    A smirk appeared on Jareth''s face while he was thinking about this.


    ''And that is enough for me to escape¡­''


    Although Jareth himself has shattered the space-time fabric twice, once while fighting Zero and once while destroying the Demon God''s incarnation,.


    Both of those times, the gaps he created in the space-time fabric were just unstable factors.


    They couldn''t be considered proper ''wormholes'' as they had no proper end location; they were just empty gaps created in the void and filled with nothingness.


    What Jareth wants is a fully-functional ''Wormhole'' that can literally send him out of this ''Sea of Miasma''.


    Humans in this world are slowly progressing and might achieve this wormhole technology eventually.


    But Jareth knows that there''s not enough time.


    The seals of the ''False Dome'' are uncertain factors; they have already started to show signs of corruption, as told by Sylvie.


    Moreover, Jareth doesn''t have the long life span of a dragon or an elf.


    Even a Grade-1 Human Mage can''t live for a thousand years, which means that even if Jareth becomes a Grade-1, he doesn''t have enough time to wait for the human race to progress to the point that they can create ''Wormholes''.


    Unless he himself takes things in his own hands, things won''t change for him.


    Jareth knows that he can''t rely on the slow progress speed of the human race for this matter; thus, he can only try and look for shortcuts himself.


    ''First of all, you need massive amounts of energy to sustain a working wormhole that can connect two faraway places in the space-time fabric¡­''


    ''And this trace of divinity can become a great source of power¡­ Even the smallest trace of it is enough to sustain a ''Wormhole'' for a short time at least¡­''


    ''I cannot afford to lose this ''chance'' as it is my key to success¡­''


    Originally, Jareth was planning to fight with the siege of Miasma when time came with the help of Mark and the others.


    But now he has a much better plan.


    After he found the research documents of the original Jareth, he figured out a new way to counter this calamity.


    Even though the original Jareth was just a weak guy, he certainly had an extraordinary brain.


    The only reason such an excellent man failed to achieve his ambitions was because he wasn''t blessed with luck like Allen.


    If he had been born into a better family or had been given a good environment for research, he would have been one of the most famous scientists of this era.


    The human race would have progressed a lot with the help of his discoveries and research.


    Alas, ''Genuis'' and ''Talented'' are always shunned by the ''Heavenly Luck''; it''s as if the heavens themselves hate the existence of a ''Genius''.


    On the other hand, people like Allen who have no real ambitions or talents are strangely more loved by the ''Heavenly luck''.


    It''s almost as if the strings of destiny themselves don''t want a real ''Genius'' to achieve their full potential and always try to promote a person who clearly is the worst option to reach the peak of the world.


    ''I have a premonition... that even the strings of destiny and the so-called ''Law'' of ''Luck'' is ''Corrupted'' in this world.''


    ''No¡­ Not just this one ''Law'', I have a premonition that there''s not a single ''Law'' in this world that hasn''t been corrupted¡­''


    ''The influence of ''miasma'' and ''corruption'' runs extremely deep in this world¡­''


    Thinking this far, Jareth couldn''t help but frown a bit.


    ''And if this speculation is true, then it means that even if I escape this sea of miasma¡­ there is no safe place outside either¡­''


    ''Well, even if there aren''t any safe places, it would be better than this place at least¡­ The only thing I want is for my soul to stay unaffected after my death¡­''


    The power of the ''Laws'' is just too far away. Jareth can already guess that you can barely even control the power of ''Laws'' with the help of ''Divinity''; anything that''s weaker than that can''t even do that much.


    Even Jareth''s ''Mana Singularity'' can only influence the smallest trace of the ''Law'' of ''Mana''.


    If even a legendary skill is only capable of this much, then you can understand the vast power a ''Law'' of the world holds deep in itself. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''First step is to have a legendary skill, and the next step is likely to have ''Divinity''¡­ These are likely the basic steps to even having the qualifications to control a ''Law'' of the world¡­''


    ''But I think there is something more that you need¡­ something that''s even more important than these two things¡­''


    Thinking this far, Jareth sighed and calmed himself down.


    ''Forget it¡­ Let''s take things step by step. The first goal I have to achieve right now is to find that ''Trace of Divinity''¡­ then I will go and strengthen the seals of the ''Fasle Dome''¡­''


    ''Which should buy me more time, and lastly, I need to work fast and try to make the ''Wormhole'' that can help me escape¡­''


    ''I have nothing to do with the people of this planet, and I don''t have anything to do with the ''Laws'' of this world¡­ I just need to save myself, and that''s all there is to it¡­''


    ''No need to think about anything that''s irrelevant to my plan¡­ Everything else is just a distraction and hinderance for my goals¡­''


    ''It''s better to keep myself focused¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and focused on his mana detection more afterwards.

 Chapter 145 Stealing Session Again. Part-2.

    "So this is it¡­ As expected, it''s quite hidden¡­"After hours of searching, Jareth finally found the location that he was looking for.


    The exact thing that he wants to find can''t be ''tracked'' with mana detection, so he had to resort to detecting the things that exist near ''that'' chance.


    And due to the interference of the trace of ''Divine Power'', it was extremely hard for Jareth to find this place.


    Even grade 1 mages won''t be able to find this place with their mana detection; Jareth only found it with the help of ''Mana Singularity''.


    ''Let''s go!''


    Jareth stopped hesitating and immediately landed on the sand.


    This place is located nearly a hundred kilometers away from Bastille, and thus it''s still the deepest area of the desert of chaotic thunder.


    But as it''s daytime right now, Jareth didn''t need to worry too much; moreover, he could resist the thunder with his mana shield, so there were no threats to his life.


    He brought out his grimoire from his space ring and placed his hand on the ground.


    Then he embedded a bit of mana in the ground, and sure enough, a massive magic circle appeared at that moment.


    ''It''s just a mere grade-5 illusion barrier; even a novice can break through it¡­''


    With just a small amount of mana, Jareth directly seized control of the mana circle and deactivated it easily.


    The illusion disappeared, and the ground suddenly rumbled a bit as if some kind of mechanism had been activated.


    The desert sand was pushed aside, and a square box made up of metal rose from the ground.


    It would have been impossible to track down the trace of ''Divine Power'' even with the help of ''Mana Singularity'', so Jareth chose a different method.


    He decided to detect the mana fluctuations coming from that low grade illusion placed here, and sure enough, when he deactivated the illusion, this crudely made metal lift came up to take him.


    Jareth entered the lift without hesitation after its doors opened for him.


    ''It''s smaller compared to the game¡­''


    In the game, you would be able to find this lift during a hidden mission found in Bastille.


    But Jareth has no idea where to find that particular NPC who gave the mission in the game.


    This is a real world now; an NPC won''t just keep standing in one place and waiting for the player character to come and help them with their quest.


    Moreover, Jareth currently has no extra time to waste on helping some random NPC.


    With his notorious reputation, it will take extremely long to win the other party''s trust and then ask them to bring him to this place.


    This world is real, and the people that live here have their own feelings and thoughts, so obviously the NPC responsible for handing out this quest will also have their own thoughts.


    Jareth didn''t want to waste his time, so he directly ignored the first step of taking the quest from the NPC and went directly to find this location himself.


    Anyway, he''s a villain, and he doesn''t need to please anyone at all; he''s not interested in brushing the favorability of others to do things.


    So, he directly located this lift and entered without an invitation.


    Although it''s quite rude to barge into someone''s house without permission, Jareth doesn''t care as this is the only way to properly locate that trace of ''Divine Power''.


    The lift slowly went down, and the illusion activated on its own. The place was covered with sand, and everything returned to normal after a while.


    Jareth, who knew about it all, didn''t care much, as he knew that this illusion barrier was just a low-grade protective measure and wasn''t worth caring about.


    Moreover, it''s in his control now, so there''s no need to think too much about it.


    The lift was crudely made, and it trembled over and over while slowly descending.


    It didn''t even have the option to choose floors, which means that this lift can only go up and down and has a limited number of destinations.


    After a few minutes of descending, the lift finally stopped in place with a loud ''clank'' sound.


    ''This lift itself is so poorly made; it''s making such loud sounds even though it has to carry only one person¡­ This clearly shows that it won''t last long¡­''


    Although Jareth noticed this problem, he didn''t think about it for too long. The lift has nothing to do with him, and it''s not his responsibility to repair it, so there was no need to think about it much.


    The doors of the lift opened with loud ''creaking'' sounds, and Jareth walked out with the usual cold look on his face. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    What appeared was a small underground town. He could see children playing on the streets and adults going on with their work.


    The place that the lift opened was located on much higher ground, and the underground village is located on much lower ground than this place.


    A small staircase leads down from this cliff to the entrance of the village, where a frail old man is sitting on a chair as a guard.


    Jareth glanced up and figured out that this place is a naturally formed cave.


    ''In the game, it''s told that this place used to be a mine a hundred years ago, but it was abandoned for some reason¡­''


    That nearly broken lift was also installed a hundred years ago, and due to the lack of maintenance, it''s in bad shape now.


    Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth walked downstairs and slowly made his way to the entrance of the underground village.


    The old man sitting at the entrance as a guard suddenly noticed Jareth and said,


    "Ensha? You''re back so early? Didn''t you say you have something important to do outside and won''t return for a while?"


    Hearing that question, Jareth suddenly remembered that the name of the key NPC that gives you the quest for this area was ''Ensha''; that woman is the strongest and most talented mage in this hidden village.


    Even without the help of any teachers, she was able to reach grade 5 just by reading some books and past records.


    This shows that she''s quite talented.


    The original Jareth had the resources of the ''Great Ivan''s higher Arcane University'', but he wasn''t even a proper grade-5 mage after all those years of training.


    When Jareth didn''t reply for a while and was lost in thought, the old man frowned a bit and asked again.


    "Ensha? What happened?"


    Jareth used his mana detection and noticed that the old man is blind and can''t see; moreover, his one leg is missing too, which means he''s disabled.


    ''Sigh, a war veteran who sacrificed so much for the sake of his city¡­ got reduced to this state¡­ Life sure is strange¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "I am not Ensha; I am Jareth Ayad, a humble mage¡­"


    The old man hadn''t been to the outside world for years, so he didn''t know about Jareth''s reputation.


    But he was surprised to hear the voice of an unfamiliar person.


    "Eh? This place is quite hidden; how did you find this place? Uh¡­ we are just poor village folk; I don''t think there''s anything interesting here to attract a mage like you here¡­"


    Jareth just nodded his head at those words and replied in a calm voice.


    "It''s not that I came here to find you people in your village¡­ I accidentally noticed the existence of an illusion barrier and came over due to curiosity¡­"


    "Don''t mind me, I will just wander around for a while and leave¡­"


    Although the old man has regressed in strength and has become immobile, he once used to be a grade-4 warrior, and thus he still has the ability to detect the aura of others.


    He frowned a bit after he wasn''t able to see through Jareth''s aura, and a solemn look appeared on his face.


    ''I can''t even feel a single mana fluctuation from him¡­ This guy is¡­ ridiculously strong¡­ oh god! Where did such a monster come from in our small village!?¡­''


    The old man dared not be rude to Jareth, and he immediately waved his hand and said,


    "Haha, no need to be humble; although we don''t have much to offer, I sincerely welcome you to our village¡­"


    Although the old man was saying that with a smile, his heart was already filled with fear and anxiousness.


    ''I need to send a message to Ensha fast; only she has been to the outside world in recent times, she might know more about this person¡­''


    Jareth didn''t stop the old man from secretly using that low-grade artifact to send a distress signal to Ensha.


    If he wanted, he could just block that signal with his mana, but he didn''t do that as there was no need for that.


    He didn''t come here to mess with this village; he will just do his work and leave on his own. There''s no need to create an unnecessary conflict.


    With that thought in his mind,.


    Jareth entered the village with his arms behind his back and the usual cold expression on his face.

 Chapter 146 Stealing Session Again. Part-3.

    When Jareth entered the village, the children playing around on the streets noticed him and looked at his clean, new-looking clothes with awe in their eyes.Most of the children looked like they were from poor households, and they were wearing old clothes that had been clearly stitched many times already.


    Some of the kids didn''t even have shoes, and as they were all playing on the street, they were all covered in dirt.


    If not for the fact that Jareth has already fully taken over this body, he wouldn''t have been able to stop himself from saying unkind words to those kids.


    ''Sigh, as long as there are rich, there will be poor, and as long as there is light, there will be darkness¡­ Let''s not dwell on this matter for too long¡­''


    Jareth stopped looking at those kids, and the kids ran away with excited looks on their faces as they wanted to spread the news that an unknown man had come to the village.


    Jareth didn''t care about the movements of these kids.


    ''Once upon a time, you were also wandering around in the streets like a beggar; there''s no need to be overly conscious of them¡­''


    Jareth himself has lived a life worse than a sewer rat before, so he isn''t really in the position to be disgusted by these kids.


    In fact, these kids have parents, and even if they are poor, they are happy, unlike Jareth, who was neither happy nor loved.


    If you look at it from this perspective, these kids are living a better life than the previous Jareth did, so it''s not a good idea to look down on them.


    ''Ugh, why do I always start thinking about these things whenever I see such a situation¡­ Having the previous Jareth''s memories is just as big a pain in the A*S as it is useful¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and kept walking on the main street of the village.


    Some adults restrained their children and made distance from him, and some directly shut their house''s doors and windows for fear of getting involved.


    ''People here seem to not like visits from outsiders¡­ Well, it''s only natural; if a random stranger appeared in your vicinity and started to stare at your houses, anyone would feel anxious.''


    Jareth ignored the behavior of the villagers and walked on the main street until the end.


    He then took a few turns and reached the second gate of the village, through which he directly exited the village.


    He has nothing to do with the village folk here, and what he came here for is located much deeper in the cave.


    The only reason he even bothered to walk on foot to see the village was because he wanted to see if things were still the same as in the game.


    ''Aside from some minor details, most things are the same, which means there shouldn''t be much change in the deeper area either. I can rush there directly¡­''


    Ignoring the peeping eyes of the people of the village, Jareth waved his hand and cast his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    He flew into the air and immediately headed deeper into the mine.


    The underground village is located in the wide open area at the entrance of the mine, but the deeper you go, the darker and narrower this mine becomes.


    ''This place is like a maze; it will take a few hours for me to actually figure out the whole area, even with my mana detection¡­''


    Jareth used his mana detection at full capacity to create a mental map of this place in his mind.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    Jareth used the glowing mana orb to illuminate his surroundings, and he wandered aimlessly in the mine for quite a few hours before he finally figured out the path that led to the deepest area of this place.


    Even with his mana singularity, it took Jareth quite a bit of effort to locate the ideal path.


    ''I can kind of understand why this mine was abandoned; the power of ''that'' thing must have influenced the minds of the miners, causing them to leave eventually¡­''


    Jareth shook his head, took a left turn from the next intersection, and headed straight to the deepest area using the mental map he created with his mana detection.


    As this place is just an abandoned mine, Jareth didn''t even encounter a single monster or anything hostile blocking his path until he entered the closest area to his goal.


    Two giant golems made up of stone got up from the ground and tried to attack Jareth, but they were so weak that Jareth directly punched them, and they shattered into pieces.


    He didn''t even need to use his mana for such a small thing. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''The build quality of things here is very bad; these golems clearly used to be in grade 4 at their prime, and it''s only been a hundred years since they got abandoned, and they are already on the verge of falling apart¡­''


    Even if Jareth hadn''t destroyed them, these golems would have fallen apart on their own, as their core would have run out of mana sooner or later.


    ''These golems must have been used to guard and mine in this place at the same time¡­''


    As Jareth walked deeper, he found that the path ahead was blocked because the ceiling had collapsed.


    ''This is definitely the entrance to the deepest area¡­ If I remember correctly, the protagonist had to use a power mana bomb to detonate and clear the rubble here¡­''


    ''Using a mana bomb in a place that''s already prone to collapse, the game really did random things¡­''


    When he was playing the game, Jareth didn''t feel anything illogical about this operation, but only after seeing this place with his own eyes did Jareth figure out that if he really used a mana bomb here, the whole place would collapse.


    ''This must be another doing of the plot armor¡­ Otherwise, there''s no way that Allen could have survived if the ceiling of the mine had collapsed on him and his harem¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth used the float magic to make the rubble lighter, and then he used his telekinesis to put the rubble aside and create a path for himself.


    He even created a makeshift pillar made from the stones left behind by the bodies of the broken golems.


    Jareth placed his hand on the stone pillar and embedded his mana in it.


    [Basic Magic: Strengthen!]


    Although this is just a temporary solution, this much is enough.


    Jareth doesn''t need to stay here for long; just half an hour should be enough, and this small pillar made up of stone can definitely hold on for several days, at least before the mana runs out and the ceiling crumbles down again.


    Jareth walked in, and what came into his sight was a small space filled with strange-looking ''Bluish Crystals'' inside.


    The whole room is filled with giant blue crystals that seem to have a very peculiar aura coming from them.


    [Ding! You are getting attacked by memory-altering attacks!]


    [Ding! Your ''Mana Singularity'' makes you immune to such phenomena related attacks!]


    Jareth heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the notifications from the system.


    When Allen entered this place, he was also attacked by these memory-altering attacks, which also caused him a lot of trouble.


    But then Airin used her amazing healing magic and helped her teammates fight against these strange attacks with her purifying-type healing magic.


    Jareth doesn''t have the support of a healing mage who''s as talented as Airin, but he has mana singularity.


    He used it to strengthen his mana barrier, making it strong enough that no such brain-damaging attacks could pass through it.


    Thus, he was safe.


    Once you get hit by these memory-altering attacks, it will mess up your memory, and you will lose your sense of self and eventually go brain dead.


    It''s a fate worse than death.


    This is also one of the main reasons why this mine was abandoned; the miners who found this blue crystal-filled room went insane, and the mine had to be abandoned due to this.


    Unless you have legendary skills or some other ways to block these mental attacks, you are bound to lose your mind here, even if you are a grade-2 mage.


    And such high-level mages are already very rare in this remote place, so this blue crystal-filled room remained obscure for a long time, and no one else has found it yet except the miners who went insane after seeing it.


    ''Good thing I came prepared¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand and brought out a different space ring with much bigger space available in it.


    Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    ''This crystal, or, I should say, this crystalized corpse of a powerful being, is a very strong material for crafting weapons and other things¡­''


    ''Even Allen used this material to get a sword created out of it, for his harem member, obviously¡­''


    ''But this crystal is just a bonus; my main aim is this¡­''


    Jareth directly stuffed all the blue crystals inside his space ring, and then found a golden crystal at the center.


    ''This is the crystal that contains the trace of ''Divine power''¡­ Although I can''t extract it right now, it''s a good thing that I was able to find this treasure¡­''


    A smirk appeared on Jareth''s face as he looted the future chance of Allen and didn''t even leave a single crystal behind for anyone else.


    ''Hehe, thanks for helping me find the perfect materials for my great plans. I will never forget your great contributions¡­ You are indeed my biggest helper, Allen¡­''

 Chapter 147 Stealing Session Again. Part-4.

    [Item Name: Radiant Crystalized Remains][Item Rank: Semi-grade-0]


    [Item Description: As the sages witnessed it, there existed a beast that had sat its eyes on devouring the moon.


    Its arrogance attracted the wrath of the ''Bearer'' of the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'', and so the mythical beast''s reign came to an abrupt end.


    Its remains crystallized upon the land, and a city was created atop it that was blessed by its mythical radiance.


    Although not in its prime, this material is still worth every effort¡­]


    [Item Qualities:


    1. Can be used to forge semi-grade-0 artifacts or weapons.


    2. Can carry ''Divine Power'' if strengthened back to its prime.


    3. Can suppress mana fluctuations to extreme levels, making it nearly impossible to detect them.


    4. Any item forged from this material will be blessed by the radiance of moonlight.]


    ¡­


    Looking at the awesome item description and the item quality panel, Jareth couldn''t help but smile to himself.


    ''As expected of a material created from the dead body of a being that had surpassed the mortal realm! Even after several millennia, this thing is still powerful!''


    The reason why it''s said that the crystals aren''t in their prime is because, over the years, these crystals have lost a major amount of mana from them.


    Once an organism dies, mana slowly escapes from their body, and the same thing is happening to this crystalized body.


    Unless it''s used to create some artifact or other equipment, these crystals will keep losing mana, and eventually they will turn so brittle and weak that they won''t even be worth using anymore.


    Fortunately, Jareth found these crystals before they fell in grade even further.


    ''Moreover, if I can find some source of ''Grade-0'' level mana, I can still strengthen these crystals by nourishing them with it...''


    In the game, Allen took these crystals to the Dwarfs and asked them to create a sword that would be worthy enough to withstand the might of the Sword King.


    ''Sword King'' is a title given to a swordsman whose sword skills are acknowledged far and wide.


    This title can be claimed by anyone and has no restrictions in terms of gender, age, race, etc.


    In today''s world, currently there''s no one who has been able to claim this title, and there''s only three people who have the talent to become the next sword king.


    ''First is obviously Sylvie, who got the title ''The Broken Meteor'' after she split a falling ''Flaming Meteor'' spell of a grade-2 fire mage with one attack of her sword.


    The second one is a heroine from the cat folk who later became a member of Allen''s harem after he gifted her the sword made from this material.


    Thinking about these two, Jareth isn''t sure if he should create a sword and give it to them.


    ''I will think about it when the opportunity comes¡­''


    As for the last person, this is a special case.


    The third person is Mark''s younger sister, Alice. Originally in the game, she ended up becoming a human chimera, and her story ended quite tragically. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They experimented on her so much that she died from a mental breakdown, and she went brain-dead directly.


    Mark didn''t even get the chance to say his last good-bye to her.


    Although Alice died tragically, she was Mark''s younger sister after all, a true descendant of the royal family that has been ruling over the human empire for more than a millennia.


    Her mother is one of the most skilled swordsmen herself, and her father has insanely pure mana.


    Alice inherited both of these factors; she not only has insanely pure mana from the start, just like Mark, but she also has insane talent for swordsmanship.


    In the game, when Alice dies, you get a quote that says,


    {If not for human greed, this sapling was meant to shine as the next King of Swords¡­ Alas, the world has lost another possibility¡­}


    Although you don''t really get to see her in combat in the game, Alice''s talent is indeed extremely good if we take the lore of this game into consideration.


    ''Although I don''t know how much things have changed, it''s worth a try¡­''


    Alice may look carefree and frail now, but a dragon''s kid is obviously not a frail sheep.


    Born with the legacy of the royal family, she''s not to be underestimated; maybe she''s the only one in this world who can rival Mark in terms of sheer talent and potential.


    Sylvie and that cat girl heroine are uncertain factors; Jareth isn''t sure if they can even reach grade 1, as they both didn''t accomplish that till the very end of the game.


    Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire


    Sylvie ended up dying, and the cat girl was only in peak grade 2 by the time she became the Sword King at the end of the game with the help of the sword made of this material.


    There is no information in the game that can confirm that they really have the potential.


    However, Alice has an advantage in this matter.


    Her potential is guaranteed to be at least grade 1, and if she''s an equal to Mark, then she might go even further.


    ...


    ''Except for this single golden crystal that has the trace of ''Divine Power'' in it, I can see the description of all other crystals¡­''


    ''Hmm, is it because I am still too low in grade that I can''t see things that are too high in grade?''


    Although Jareth didn''t get to see a detailed description of it, he still knows most of the details about it.


    ''Everything about this crystal is the same as the other ones; the only difference is that it has one extra ''item quality''...''


    ''That is, ''It contains a trace of divine power''¡­ Everything else is the same¡­.''


    With all the crystals in his hand, Jareth immediately decided to go back.


    This place is located directly below the central lake of Bastille, and now that Jareth has stolen these crystals from here, the lake will lose its effects and will turn into a normal lake.


    In other words, people will definitely notice this sudden change sooner or later, and powerful mana detection artifacts will be used to do a thorough search of the lake.


    Although it''s nearly impossible for Jareth to get detected as he can suppress his mana fluctuations with his mana singularity, it''s always a good idea to be cautious.


    Moreover, there''s nothing left here that is worth his attention, so it''s better to leave this dark and gloomy place as fast as possible.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth waved his hand, cast the float magic, and flew away in an instant.


    ''As expected, float is really a very convenient spell¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but smile as he noticed how fast his speed was.


    Actually, float magic was originally only used to make heavy things float, thus making transportation easier.


    You can just load heavy artillery and weapons without the need for massive cargo cranes or anything else.


    This enhanced army mobilization, facilitated the slaughter of more innocent races, and enabled the human race to conquer more territory.


    A useful spell indeed.


    Later on, the mages found that if you keep controlling the direction of your floating magic and pouring a lot of mana, you can literally float in the air and it will seem like you are flying.


    All mages don''t have the ''Wind'' elemental affinity, so all grade-2 and low grade mages make do with this ''float'' spell if they want to fly.


    As for the Grade 1 mages, they can directly stand in void and ignore the constraints of gravity and all.


    This is a unique ability of the Grade 1 mages; they can simply ''fly'' because they are given this ability by the world itself!


    Their mana is pure, and they are closer to the ''laws'' of the world; thus, they can stand in void and fly freely.


    Jareth has already fulfilled the criteria of having pure mana; he only needs to improve his mastery over his ''Mana singularity'' or reach grade 1 so that he can get closer to the ''laws'' and fly like other grade 1 mages.


    Currently, the only thing that can cause people to figure out that Jareth is a fraud is this small detail of whether Jareth uses ''Float'' or not.


    Fortunately, he can hide the mana fluctuation to the extreme, so no one will notice that he has used ''Float'' unless they are semi-grade 0 or above.


    ''I may have become stronger, but I am still too far away from becoming someone who can protect himself in this world.''


    An endless sea of miasma has surrounded their solar system, and no one knows how many millions of demons and corrupted beings are present in that massive sea of corruption.


    ''I am quite sure that there are definitely more than one grade-0 being there¡­ which means I am still too weak to even withstand the very first wave of the demon siege if the seal of ''False Dome'' breaks¡­''


    As time passes, Jareth has to keep working hard to become strong; otherwise, let alone protecting others, he himself won''t survive even five minutes once the seal of ''False Dome'' is broken.

 Chapter 148 NPC Stories are important too... Part-1.

    Bastille, Underground Sewer Tunnels."Look, I came all the way here just to buy this spell book; don''t waste my time any further¡­ If you don''t hurry up, then don''t blame me later for beating the sh*t out of you!"


    A woman wearing an oversized hoody glared at a thin and frail-looking old man.


    Although half of her face was covered under a mask, just by looking at her light blue pupils, you can already tell that this woman is a breathtaking beauty.


    The old man shivered slightly at her words and spoke in a panicked tone.


    "C-calm down, Ms. Ensha. I got delayed because recently police raided one of my hideouts, and it took a lot of effort to dodge the chase this time¡­"


    Ensha''s eyes turned serious, and she asked,


    "Are you certain that you really threw the police off your tail? I don''t want to get involved with the sh*t that you have created for yourself!"


    "I myself already have dozens of charges against me; recently, police have been tracking me even more fiercely than before¡­"


    "Even getting into the city has become a very troublesome thing now¡­ This is also the reason why we can only meet in this godd*mn sewer! Ugh¡­"


    Ensha frowned and complained deeply.


    "I seriously can''t stand how filthy this place is¡­ Even my village, which is practically a slum, is better than this place¡­ Well, this is to be expected of a sewer tunnel, I guess¡­"


    Ensha took out a small bag containing several mana stones and handed them over to the old man.


    "Take this; due to the police, my accounts have been seized; fortunately, I bought a lot of mana stones earlier just in case such a thing happened¡­"


    "I will use these mana stones to buy that spell book¡­"


    The frail old man grabbed the bag of mana stones with a greedy look and counted them with a happy smile on his face.


    After he was satisfied with appreciating the shiny mana stones, the old man brought out an old-looking spell book from his space ring and then stuffed the mana stones in this space ring.


    He then put on a mask and said,


    "Okay, the deal is done; let''s leave fast; staying here too long is risky¡­"


    Ensha also nodded her head. She grabbed the spell book, opened it, and found that it was the real thing, which caused a smile to appear on her face that was hidden under the mask.


    "Good, now I finally have a grade 4 spell! Contact me again if you get your hands on any other spell books¡­"


    Ensha waved her hand to say ''bye'' and immediately cast her magic.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    With the help of float magic, Ensha immediately flew in the air and headed in a different direction than the old man had headed.


    The two of them are used to dealing like this; they have been longtime partners.


    For a long time, Ensha has bought all of her spell books and magic-related items from the old smuggler.


    They have completed so many deals now that the two of them have mutual trust between them.


    ''Sigh, if only there was a way to do things in a more legal way¡­''


    While flying, Ensha couldn''t help but sigh at her situation; she was born in that hidden underground village.


    Her mother died while giving birth to her younger brother, and the people told her that her father was punished with the death penalty by the court as he was a mass murderer.


    From the start, Ensha''s life has always been filled with unlucky times. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Fortunately, the old village chief raised her and her younger brother as their grandchildren.


    Ensha is much older than her younger brother; thus, she has always been responsible for taking care of him.


    She spoiled the guy so much that he grew up as a cheerful and mischievous kid. Nonetheless, she forged a bright future for him.


    On the other hand, Ensha herself went on to become a criminal with a dark future ahead of her.


    She''s charged with stealing, murdering, blackmailing, etc.


    As her village is poor and several of the people there die from starvation, Ensha just couldn''t bear to see it all.


    She wanted a bright future for her brother and all the other innocent children in the village.


    Once she got her hands on an abandoned wand while wandering in the mine, she found that she had some talent for magic.


    She came to the city, stole some money, and bought herself the basic magic''s spell book. By learning it, she started her journey as a mage.


    But this was just the start; she used that magic to steal more things and kill those who stopped her.


    She blackmailed rich people to cough up money, and she even went on to raid and loot the people who wanted to leave the city and go to the outside world.


    You can say that she''s more or less a bandit.


    Even though she could have had a bright future, she could have left her village behind and could have earned a lot by becoming a model, as she''s incredibly beautiful.


    Yet she chose not to leave and chose the most illegal method to help her village without even worrying about the consequences.


    She knew that doing an actual job would indeed earn her money, but that''s a slow process, and the starving children in the village needed food urgently.


    Thus, time passed, and she became a wanted criminal whom the police had orders to shoot at sight.


    The only reason she''s still alive and kicking is because she always goes on to hide in the hidden village that is practically undetectable by anyone.


    The reason why that village was so difficult to detect for even Jareth is because of the presence of those blue crystals that were suppressing the mana fluctuations in that area.


    Even a grade 1 mage can''t find that location as long as those blue crystals are there.


    Although Ensha herself doesn''t know why the mana fluctuations in that place get suppressed, she has always relied on them to hide herself.


    Even today, she came out to buy this spell book as she was aiming to become a grade 4 mage soon. Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire


    If not for this spell book, she wouldn''t have left the village.


    After all, every time she needs to sneak into the city, she will need to wait for weeks or sometimes even months to find a proper opportunity.


    Going in and out of a city that is so heavily guarded that it can withstand any monster siege is not a small matter.


    The city walls and even the sewers have mana detection artifacts placed in them; you need an insane amount of planning and luck to make it in and out unscathed.


    Nevertheless, Ensha has done this many times now, and she has a certain amount of experience in infiltration and stealth by now.


    Unless there''s a grade-2 or above-level mage in the city who''s scanning the whole city with his mana detection, none can find her now, as she''s just so good at stealth by now.


    Fortunately for her, there are no grade 2 or above-level mages in this city, and even if there were, they wouldn''t waste their time scanning tens of thousands of people just to look for her.


    ¡­


    Just when Ensha was halfway out of the underground tunnels, a sudden ''beep'' sound came from her wristwatch, and the look on her face turned solemn.


    ''Sh*t! This is a distress signal from the village! I was planning on buying a few other things over the next month and then leaving after stealing some more money, but I guess I should go back fast!''


    Ensha doesn''t care about the world, but she has a soft spot for the village in her heart.


    She grew up in that place and has always loved the smile on the faces of the innocent children that live there.


    She doesn''t want anything to happen to her home, so she has no choice but to hurry back home.


    She didn''t even bother to think if it was really a good idea to go back; she doesn''t care about her own safety.


    Her younger brother is in the village too, and if something happens to him, she won''t be able to forgive herself for not being there to protect him.


    She has given her whole life to create a better future for her brother and the other children of the village, and if something goes wrong with them, then she will really be broken from the inside out.


    ''I need to hurry!''


    Ensha increased her mana output, hurried out of sewer tunnels, directly ignored safety, and flew right out of the city.


    Before the police could react, she had already left the sky of the city and flown straight in the direction of her home.


    Even if the police tried to chase her, they couldn''t catch up with her speed right now, as she''s putting her all into rushing back home.


    ''Please be safe¡­''

 Chapter 149 NPC Stories are important too... Part-2.

    Imagine reaching home and seeing a literal nuke sitting on the sofa, ready to blast at any second.Or imagine a beast so strong that it could wipe out mountains and rivers and change the geography of an entire area with one attack, wandering around your home.


    Such a scenario would be so terrifying that you would rather take your family and run away from the calamity.


    But the problem is that this beast is sentient, and no matter where you go, you can''t escape its grasp, or rather, the beast won''t even let you leave in the first place.


    Just imagining this scenario can give chills to anyone who cares about their family''s safety.


    Ensha is the same; the moment she came back to the hidden village, she ignored her exhaustion that was caused by using too much mana and rushed to the village main entrance with a worried look on her face.


    Although she didn''t know what disaster had come to her village, she didn''t care about it and walked over to the old man sitting at the gate to ask questions.


    "Grandpa! Is everything alright!?"


    When Ensha asked a question, the old veteran replied in a panicked tone.


    "Oh, Ensha! You are finally back! Some unknown man suddenly came to the village a few hours ago¡­ He said he''s a mage! Just like you! So I sent a distress signal to you¡­"


    "We don''t have anyone in the village who can deal with him; also, I can sense that the other party is very strong; intuition tells me he''s dangerous¡­ You must be cautious¡­"


    Ensha nodded her head at the old man''s words.


    "Okay, I will keep that in mind¡­"


    Without waiting any longer, Ensha rushed inside and didn''t even wait to hear the last few words from the old man.


    "W-wait, he also told his name! A-are you there?"


    The old man tried to tell Ensha more information, but she just left in a hurry, which caused the old man to sigh deeply.


    ''Ugh, if only I was not such a useless old bastard¡­''


    Twenty years ago, the old man used to be a veteran in the army, and he himself was a strong warrior that was admired by many. But as time passed, he lost his eyesight and his combat senses due to an accident in the battle.


    Then he was forced to retire.


    With no kids or family, he had no source of income, and he was driven out of the city that he once used to protect.


    He wandered around for a while, but then he found a man who led him to this hidden village.


    The man was Ensha''s father.


    He was a criminal who found this hidden location by chance, and then he took as many people in as possible.


    He worked hard and brought all the people who had been driven out of the city to this hidden village.


    In other words, this whole village is made up of the people who were originally driven out of the city for not paying taxes on time.


    Eventually, Ensha''s father was caught and punished with the death penalty, as he was involved in many serious crimes that couldn''t be forgiven.


    The fact that he had saved many lives did not matter; in the eyes of the law, a crime is a crime, and one cannot avoid punishment.


    That man left his children in the old veteran''s and the village chief''s care.


    The old man never wanted Ensha to become a criminal too; he wanted a brighter future for her, but things were out of his control.


    An old man like him, who has already lost his eyes and even lost a leg while escaping from a monster while traveling outside in the desert, can''t really control much.


    Ensha chose her own path; her hands are already smeared with blood, and the law won''t forgive her crimes.


    At the very least, she will face fifty years in jail, and in the worst-case scenario, she may even face the death penalty, just like her father.


    And the old man can''t do anything to stop this; he can only sit here like a fool and watch it all happen. Such is the sad reality of his life.


    ''Ensha, be safe, kid¡­ and forgive me for being useless¡­''


    ¡­


    Inside the village.


    Ensha entered the village, and the villagers seem to have found their ray of hope.


    Several villagers who had previously hid rushed out of their homes to greet her with happy smiles on their faces.


    Even the children came over to greet her together.


    Ensha glanced at the old woman standing nearby and asked,


    "Village chief! Where is my brother?"


    Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire


    The old lady smiled a bit and said,


    "Ah, I remember seeing him wandering around the other gate of the village with his friends¡­"


    Ensha frowned at those words and asked,


    "And what about that unknown mage who appeared a few hours ago? Where is he? Did he do something suspicious¡­"


    Before the old lady could answer the question, a kid suddenly said,


    "A-About that, I remember big bro saying that he would go and catch that stranger!"


    Hearing those words, a look of worry appeared on Ensha''s face.


    The ''Big Bro'' the kid mentioned is obviously Ensha''s younger brother; he likely must have wanted to show off in front of his friends and would have gone to trouble the mage. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Not good! I need to stop him before things get bad¡­''


    Before Ensha could think about what to do next, a young boy''s voice resounded in the whole area.


    "AHAHAHA! See! I told you all! I will capture the stranger!"


    Hearing that voice, the village''s people turned their heads backward and then stepped back to clear some space.


    They saw a young man with light blue pupils and shiny white hair walking towards the crowd with a proud look on his face.


    Just behind him was a tall man with dark purple hair and eyes, wearing a luxury coat.


    Although the young man was declaring he had caught the stranger, the unknown man seemed to be walking behind him with an amused look on his face, as if he didn''t even care about those words.


    Ensha immediately rushed over and pulled her brother aside to check if he was hurt anywhere.


    "Azul! Are you okay!?"


    Azul nodded his head and said in a happy tone,


    "Yes! I am as good as always! In fact, I feel better than usual!"


    At that moment, a deep and cold voice sounded in Ensha''s ears.


    "I see¡­ So he is Azul¡­"


    Just when Ensha wanted to ask more questions from her brother, that cold voice brought her back to reality, and her eyes fell on the face of the man who was accompanying Azul.


    Only at that moment did she have a proper look at the man''s face, and just by seeing his face, Ensha''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    "J-Jareth Blaze!? ''The Wyvern Killer''!? H-how could this be!?"


    Ensha was so shocked that her loud voice surprised all the villagers and children nearby.


    Her body trembled, and she refused to believe the reality.


    "W-why¡­ would a grade 1 mage c-come to this abandoned place!? T-this is impossible!"


    Ensha retreated a few steps back in panic, dragging Azul behind her in hopes of protecting him.


    Even the villagers seemed to have understood the seriousness of the situation. They have never seen Ensha panic like this, so they also decided to step back in a hurry and make distance.


    But Jareth didn''t care about these small details at all.


    "Oh, your information is lacking, it seems. I am called Jareth Ayad nowadays, and there is no Blaze family in this world anymore."


    "But forget about that; let''s talk about what is more important¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the young man, who was refusing to hide behind his sister, and said,


    "Are you Azul Ignis, young man?"


    Azul was surprised that Jareth knew his name; he asked in shock,


    "Wait, I don''t think I ever told you my name before¡­ How do you-"


    Jareth waved his hand and said,


    "No need to worry about minor details; I have my means¡­ But your words sure have confirmed that you are indeed Azul Ignis¡­ Then this lady must be Ensha Ignis¡­"


    Ensha frowned deeply at Jareth''s words. She brought out her magic wand and pointed it towards Jareth with a look of worry on her face.


    "Y-you, what do you want from us? Were you sent here to capture me by the government¡­ No, why would the government send a grade 1 mage just to capture a small-time thief like me-"


    Before Ensha could finish her words, Jareth glared at her with his cold eyes and said,


    "First of all, I am talking to Azul, not you¡­ do you mind stepping aside for a moment?"


    Ensha''s body trembled, and as if her mana seemed to refuse her will, her hand lost strength, and she backed off with a look of fear on her face.


    She could feel it in her bones that if she dared to fire her magic, she would be meeting ''Death'' the very next moment.


    Although Jareth himself is not going to do anything unpleasant, Ensha has been a criminal for a long time, and she can intuitively sense the insane killing intent hidden deep in Jareth''s body.


    At that moment, Ensha couldn''t help but question one thing in her mind:


    ''How did such an insane beast stumble upon our small village?"

 Chapter 150 NPC Stories are important too... Part-3.

    "Eh, me? What do you want to ask from me?"Azul was honestly quite surprised. When he went over to the back gate of the village to look for the stranger, he found Jareth coming back from the mines.


    So he just declared that ''you are my captive now'', and then he just led Jareth inside on his own.


    Jareth, on the other hand, seemed busy thinking about something and didn''t even bother talking to Azul at that time.


    But he came back to his senses after hearing Ensha call out the guy''s name.


    "Yeah¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand and used his telekinesis to drag a chair out of a nearby house, and he sat down on it with his legs crossed.


    "The thing is, I stumbled upon this abandoned mine purely by accident, so I went into the mine out of curiosity."


    "But in this abandoned mine, there are no gems left for me to pick up, except for one¡­"


    Azul''s eyes shone in excitement as he heard those words.


    "There is a gem in this mine!?"


    Jareth nodded his head and pointed his finger at Azul.


    "Of course there is¡­ It''s you, Azul Ignis¡­ You are the most precious gem in this whole mine¡­"


    Before Azul could even say anything, Ensha mustered her courage and stepped forward to block him.


    "No! I-I won''t let you sweet-talk him! I know all about you; you are a monster in human skin! You are a grade 1 mage who can wipe out this whole village in one spell, I don''t trust you-"


    Jareth didn''t even bother listening to Ensha''s words; he waved his hand, and his telekinesis directly made Ensha step aside.


    [Basic Magic: Silence!]


    Jareth''s mana control is higher by thousands of times when compared to Ensha, so it was extremely easy for him to force his magic on her by directly ignoring her magic resistance.


    He directly cast the silence magic to shut up her mouth.


    Ensha is indeed a very good person at heart and is one of the most useful NPCs in the game, but to Jareth''s, she''s just another person with no worth at all.


    Not only has she several unforgivable charges against her due to her years of criminal history, but she has even practiced ''forbidden'' magic spells that are harmful to the body and mind.


    She''s beyond the point of redemption; she''s already gotten the taste of murdering innocent people, and she won''t be able to contain her bloodlust anymore.


    Her talent has already been more or less wasted by the forbidden boost spells that she used to escape the grasp of the police several times in the past few years.


    Originally, she was a talented bright star, but now all that is left of her is a dimly lit fire that has no future ahead of it.


    Even in the game, after the player completes her quest, you will find her dead later on, as she will go back to the city and end up dying during a police chase due to the overuse of ''forbidden'' physical boost magic.


    Her death will turn Azul into a villain.


    Azul is the same age as Mark and Allen, and he''s born with dual elemental affinities.


    Not only does he have amazing fire affinity, he even has the extremely rare spatial affinity that barely any of the mages have in this world.


    Just look at Nathan; he was able to become powerful with just Grade 1 spatial affinity, and Azul, on the other hand, is already born with Semi-Grade 0 spatial affinity.


    Later in his path as a villain, he nearly succeeds in slaughtering the entire hero''s party but ends up dying purely because of plot armor.


    He cared a lot for his sister and wanted to help her out, but after she dies, he goes berserk and slaughters his whole village in pure rage and despair.


    This incident of slaughtering his loved ones with his own hands transforms him into a mentally unstable villain who can harm anyone and everyone.


    He later collides with the ''False Dome'' cult and becomes a significant obstacle for Allen and his harem.


    Unlike Jareth, who was merely a third-rate villain who didn''t even last a few minutes in the game, Azul is one of the end-game villains who is extremely strong and brokenly overpowered.


    Of course, he still can''t compare to Mark in terms of potential, but his dual elemental control indeed gives him a significant advantage.


    Jareth has already associated himself with villainous characters like Mark and Risa, so he doesn''t care if he adds one more villain to his camp.


    Having one more talented helper under his wing will be more beneficial to him.


    Jareth arrived with the intention of obtaining the blue crystals, but if he can secure Azul''s support, he can accomplish two goals simultaneously.


    ¡­


    Jareth glanced at Azul and said,


    "I am the vice principal of a well-known university, and I formally want to invite you to join the university. Don''t worry about money and all; the university is always ready to sponsor talented kids like you¡­"


    "As the vice principal, I will write a recommendation letter myself, and you will get a swift entry, even if you are uneducated right now and don''t even know the basics of magic¡­"


    "You can just take your time and learn it from your fellow classmates¡­"


    Azul frowned at those words and said, Continue reading stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    "W-why are you offering something like that to me? What will you gain from helping me?"


    Jareth smirked at that question and said,


    "I will gain a talented student, and in the future, when you become strong, I will gain a talented helper and a pillar of support¡­ We mages gamble on the future. I am betting my money on you¡­"


    Azul asked again,


    "But what about my village and what about Big Sister? I can''t leave them behind, and I have no interest in magic-"


    Jareth smirked a bit at those words and said,


    "Of course I knew you would say that... so I came prepared¡­"


    Jareth stretched out his hand and said it with a calm voice.


    "Your big sister is a wanted criminal, and all the residents of this village are those who were driven out of Bastille¡­ If they find this place, you guys will not be able to live peacefully anymore¡­"


    "The world of wizards is cruel; don''t expect mercy from the city once they find you..."


    Azul frowned even more at Jareth''s words and questioned,


    "Are you threatening me that you will tell the people in the city about this place?"


    Jareth shook his head in response to those words.


    "No, what I am trying to say is that this place has already become vulnerable; it won''t be a matter of time before you get found¡­" S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The only reason why any mage wasn''t able to find this place even with mana detection was because of the presence of those blue crytals who were blocking the mana fluctuations of this place.


    But now that those blue crystals are in Jareth''s pocket, they can''t protect this village anymore.


    This village will definitely be discovered by the patrolling squads of the city, and what will follow is a massacre.


    The wizards are inherently cruel and self-centered type of people; they will stop at nothing to conceal their errors, and the expelled individuals essentially represent a blemish on the city''s image.


    Eliminating them can help the city preserve its reputation from getting worse. By eliminating them, you can eliminate the possibility of people from the outside world finding them.


    It''s cruel, but that''s the reality.


    "Just think that there was some artifact that was protecting this village in the dark, but it broke apart after I forcefully entered this place. Now they can easily find you¡­"


    "In other words, your village is already as good as gone¡­"


    An expression of despair appeared on the faces of the villagers as they heard all this from Jareth''s mouth; some even started to cry in sheer despair as they already knew what would happen if they got found.


    Azul''s eyes trembled as he asked,


    "T-then, if I agree to join the university, you will take care of it all?"


    Jareth smiled like a villain after hearing those words of defeat.


    "Haha, now you are being honest! Good! That''s what I was looking forward to¡­"


    "Azul, the world works on profits and benefits; here''s my offer: become my disciple, and I will put in a good word for your sister¡­"


    "Although she will likely still get punished, the jail time will not be more than a year or two¡­"


    "I will personally cast a seal on this village; only the person you guys allow will be able to enter this place. This place will become so safe and secure that even a grade 1 mage won''t be able to enter it without permission¡­"


    "And in return for all this, all you need to do is help me out in the future¡­ Isn''t this quite a generous deal?"


    Jareth knew the NPC stories quite well, so he was able to coerce such an important character into submitting to him.


    That''s why... NPC stories are important too.

 Chapter 151 Jareth, a disaster? Part-1.

    Jareth offered too much.Due to the amazing conditions, Azul had no other choice but to agree.


    Not only did Jareth promise the safety of his sister and the villagers, he even offered Azul a bright future.


    If Azul enrolls in a renowned university, he will undoubtedly acquire a wealth of knowledge and enhance his strengths with greater ease. He will have access to so many training resources that others can only dream about.


    In fact, his own sister, Ensha, had to go out of her way to steal so much money just to buy the lowest-level spells from shady places.


    Becoming a mage is a very difficult task.


    Being born talented is just the first step; even the most talented people can''t go far if they don''t have the resources to turn that talent into actual power.


    If you are born talented but come from a poor family, then you will have to struggle your way up.


    To learn more about magic, you would need to show your excellence and get sponsorship, or you would have to get into prestigious universities or magic academies.


    Surely you can buy low-level spells and basic magic-related books on the market, but they are always overpriced when, in fact, you can learn these things for free if you get access to the library of the university.


    This is the reason why most parents in this world hope that their children can awaken their talent for magic and go to some prestigious school or university.


    Putting the low-level spells aside, you only learn the higher-grade spells from the academies or universities; they aren''t available on the market.


    There are only a few ways to learn high-grade magic: either you need to find a master who can teach them to you personally, or you will have to learn them while at the university.


    Usually, the mages who have already graduated from university and are already high-ranking mages can go and choose to join the mage guild.


    High-ranking mages founded the mage guild solely for their own benefit.


    Only individuals in grades 3 or above can join this organization, and it is the best choice for mages who want to sell or buy spells and other artifacts.


    Jareth himself never joined it as he was too weak for it, and after becoming strong, he didn''t have the time for it.


    ¡­


    "I-I agree. I want to help my sister and village, so I will accept your offer."


    "But aside from basic reading and writing, I don''t really know much; I haven''t gone to school before either¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand at Azul''s words and said,


    "No problem¡­ A magical talent like you is too precious to be buried just because he isn''t good at other things¡­"


    Jareth was already planning on asking Mark to help Azul with things like this.


    Mark, being a genius who has already revised his whole year''s worth of syllabus three times over, can definitely help Azul learn things easily.


    ''If he can make a carefree girl like Risa pass such difficult exams just with a few group study sessions, then he can surely help Azul too¡­''


    No matter how hard they tried to hide it, Jareth already knew that Risa often sneaked into Mark''s room to ask him to help her with her studies.


    This was true in the game, and it is still true even now.


    Nothing can be hidden from his insane mana detection ability, so it was impossible for them to hide this.


    But Jareth didn''t care about the fact that they were breaking the rules.


    The two of them are already engaged, and 18 years is the legal age. Both of them are adults, so they have the freedom to decide their life choices.


    Jareth used to make excuses to hang out with Shiina too when he was young; thus, he never thought about stopping them from meeting.


    Jareth got up from his seat and waved his hand to undo the ''silence'' spell on Ensha.


    Without waiting for the other party to say anything, he just walked towards the entrance and ignored everything else.


    "You have two hours; get your things ready and say goodbye to whomever you want to say goodbye; we will leave after that¡­ Also, you have already agreed to my words, so don''t try running or doing anything else¡­ it''s useless¡­"


    With that said, Jareth left in the direction of the broken lift that brought him here in the first place.


    ¡­


    Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire


    Looking at Jareth''s fading back, Ensha wanted to just rush up and attack him, but her body refused to move.


    ''I was too powerless¡­''


    That day, Ensha realized that it didn''t matter how proud she was of her own strength; she was simply powerless in front of a being as strong as Jareth.


    ''Fortunately, he seems to have no ill intentions¡­ at least on the surface¡­''


    Ensha couldn''t understand why Jareth was doing all this just for the sake of the random kid he suddenly encountered.


    "Big sis.. uh, who is that man actually? Do you know anything about him?"


    Just when Ensha was staring at Jareth''s back with a look of worry and sadness, Azul''s questioning voice came into her ears.


    All the villagers also looked over curiously, as they also wanted to hear more about it.


    Seeing the curious look on everyone''s face, Ensha sighed loudly and said,


    "That man is a grade 1 mage; his name is Jareth¡­ He was in grade 2 just a few months ago, but he recently ascended to the grade 1 realm¡­"


    "Even as a grade-2 mage, he was already strong enough to kill an adult Wyvern with a single attack¡­ The attack he used to kill a peak grade-2 cyclops created an underground tunnel that is dozens of kilometers long¡­"


    "People use that tunnel nowadays like a normal tunnel to travel¡­ Also, he took part in the battle that was fought in Artavia¡­"


    "He has too many titles to his name by now¡­ ''Wyvern Killer'', ''Divine Flame'', ''Artavia''s War Hero''... these are just a few of them¡­"


    Out of them all, ''Jareth the goat'' is the most famous title, but Ensha didn''t say that as it was more of a meme.


    Ensha sighed again before continuing.


    "That man is so strong that he can blast this whole mine and wipe out the whole Bastille city along with half of the desert of chaotic thunder in just one attack¡­"


    "Thinking of going against is just pure insanity; only a madman will think of opposing his words¡­ For someone like him, we are just ants crawling on the ground¡­"


    "It won''t be wrong to say that he''s a walking nuclear bomb¡­"


    Hearing Ensha''s words, the villagers couldn''t help but get shocked.


    They thought that Jareth was someone strong, but who could have thought that he was someone so strong that his power was simply incomprehensible.


    Azul himself was the most surprised.


    If Ensha''s words are right that Jareth is an outstanding person, then it would mean that Azul is really very talented.


    After all, even someone like Jareth praised Azul so highly; that simply shows how talented Azul is.


    "Doesn''t that mean he has no reason to lie to us?"


    At Azul''s question, Ensha sighed deeply and nodded her head with a sad expression on her face.


    "Yeah¡­ Now that I have calmed down, I can think more clearly¡­ For such a strong person like him, there''s no need to lie to us mere ants¡­"


    "We have nothing that is worth attracting his attention; if someone like him has said that you have talent, then it is indeed likely true¡­ I don''t think he will get anything from lying to you about something like this¡­"


    All Ensha wanted was a bright future for her brother, and now that Jareth is offering it to Azul, Ensha can''t stop this.


    She walked over to Azul''s side and patted his head. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You should go¡­ Follow him and become a strong mage; your place is not in this dilapidated village; you are meant to achieve great things; don''t waste your life here¡­"


    "Go and follow the bright path¡­ I have already wasted my own life, but I want that at least you can be happy¡­"


    "Also, that offer of going to jail isn''t that bad either¡­ I will go and repent for all the sins I have committed¡­ I admit I am not innocent; I killed many innocent people. I don''t deserve a bright future anymore¡­"


    "So, just go; by the time I get out of jail, make sure you have already surpassed me at least."


    Hearing Ensha''s words, which were filled with deep sadness, Azul''s eyes became moist, and tears started to flow.


    "I-I will miss you a lot¡­ I-I¡­"


    Just like that, the brother and sister spent a few minutes trying to console each other''s sadness-filled hearts.


    Even the villagers couldn''t help but weep over this cruel fate of separation.


    Some of the adult villagers were even motivated by this incident, promising that they would stop being useless and would try to find some work in the city to earn money.


    With Ensha gone, they will need to find alternative means of providing for their families.


    First of all, the fact that the entire village relied on a single individual for survival was already problematic.


    But at least now they will all wake up and try to work hard for themselves.

 Chapter 152 Jareth, a disaster? Part-2.

    Standing near the lift on the hill, Jareth could see the whole village from here.Looking at the crying and sobbing villagers and children, Jareth suddenly remembered some past memories.


    ¡­


    An orphanage.


    "I didn''t know you were the type to come and donate money to places like orphanages¡­"


    In response to Shiina''s question, he replied in a rather vague tone.


    "Er¡­ I do some good work from time to time¡­"


    Shiina smiled at those words and flicked her finger at his forehead before saying,


    "Hehe, these small good things you do are the reason why you stole my heart, you little thief¡­"


    At Shiina''s words, he just gave a dry laugh.


    He couldn''t muster the courage to tell her that he came here to do pre-mission scouting; he was gathering information on the security of this area.


    Shiina was oblivious to how evil her own father could be; she never knew how much darkness there was in that seemingly bright and happy world.


    Just a day after that random date, the whole orphanage burned to the ground, and hundreds of people and children lost their lives.


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    ''I have already crossed the line in my past life¡­ I can''t say that I have humanity left anymore; I carry the lives of several innocent people on my back¡­''


    Jareth decided to recruit Azul purely for his own benefit; if he wanted to escape, he would need time, so there is a need for people who can buy that time for him.


    ''Truthfully speaking, I am no different from Nathan; he took advantage of his students for his own sake, and I am doing the same¡­ In fact, I may be worse than him¡­''


    ''I am manipulating them to go for their deaths¡­ Humanity? Life? Sympathy? What a joke¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and entered the lift to leave the village.


    The things he came here for are already in his palm, so he isn''t planning on wasting any more time here.


    The only reason why Jareth was still able to live normally in his past life was because of Shiina''s existence.


    But now that she isn''t present to keep him connected to his humane side, he has finally figured out his true nature.


    ''Being selfish is the way of the world; if I was selfish enough from the start of my past life, I may have never died in the first place; being an upright and good person doesn''t suit me¡­''


    If Jareth had been selfish in his past life, he could have slowly seized control over the boss''s subordinates and overthrown him before things turned bad for him.


    His na?ve beliefs were his demise.


    ...


    The lift stopped and the door opened. Jareth walked out, and the same familiar desert appeared in his view.


    ''Come to think of it¡­ there are monsters with strong life essences in this world¡­ like a hydra or a phoenix... I can extract pure life essence from them and improve my own life span...''


    Ever since Jareth has found the truth of this world, he can''t help but feel that his life span is just too short.


    There is no guarantee of how long he will need to wait until he can find some proper solution that can help him leave this sea of miasma.


    He will need a long life span if he wants to wait for a longer time and a better opportunity.


    ''But the main problem is finding these two types of monsters¡­ There is only one hydra on this whole planet, and as for a phoenix, it never even appeared in the game¡­''


    In the game, Phoenix was only ever talked about in random quotes or lore-related stuff; it never really appeared even once.


    So, Jareth isn''t sure where to find it.


    ''Although I don''t know where to find a phoenix, I certainly do know where I can find that hydra¡­''


    There is only one hydra that ever appeared in the game, and it''s an optional boss monster that is located in the deepest depths of the sea.


    ''I will need to make some time to go and extract the life essence from it¡­''


    Just when Jareth was busy thinking about his plan to butcher innocent creatures to extract their life essence purely for his own selfish gain, time passed fast and two hours went by in a flash.


    Azul and Ensha took the lift and came out of the village with solemn looks on their faces.


    Jareth ignored their expression and directly placed his hand on the ground. He replicated the same seal that Nathan had put on his hidden library and placed it on the whole village.


    Now only the people of the village can go in and out of this barrier.


    Moreover, this barrier is of high quality; it will automatically register the aura of the new people that the villagers might bring in to live with them.


    Thus giving them its protection too.


    Nathan himself may not have been of any benefit to Jareth, but the treasures he collected and the seal he created were quite useful and of good quality.


    ''Sigh, if only I had some ability to steal others''s talent, I would have gone and extracted Nathan''s spatial talent to honor his good deeds for me¡­'' sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth shook his head and waved his hand.


    He used telekinesis to carry the siblings, and then he used ''Float'' to fly in the air.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    His float magic is nothing like others; it''s extremely fast and efficient due to his mana singularity.


    Ensha was shocked to the core after seeing the insane flying speed of Jareth''s float magic.


    If not for the telekinesis that was carrying and protecting them at the same time, Ensha and Azul would have already burned to a crisp from the friction created by flying in the air so fast.


    Honestly, it felt like teleportation; one second they were in the desert, and next they had already crossed nearly a hundred kilometers and could see the city walls already from the sky.


    Jareth didn''t bother stopping; he directly went ahead and did a full mana detection on the city just to figure out where Shin and the others were.


    [Basic Magic: Wide Area Mana Detection!]


    For someone with Mana singularity like him, scanning the aura and faces of one or two million people is nothing but child''s play; he already did something similar when trying to find the assassins.


    Thus, he has experience in this matter.


    In fact, his scanning speed is faster than making a phone call; that''s the reason why he didn''t bother making a phone call to Shin to ask about where the group was staying.

 Chapter 153 Jareth, a disaster? Part-3.

    "Mr. Mayor, you really are quite enthusiastic about your work; I haven''t seen anyone as enthusiastic as you before, haha¡­"Although Shin praised Zang on the surface, he was already quite irritated by the other party.


    ''What''s the deal with this guy? This is the tenth time he has come to my room¡­ I have seen people trying to flatter me, but this is the first time I have seen someone so persistent and annoying!''


    Ever since Shin came back from the make-up company headquarters, Zang has been pestering him again and again!


    He even made several lame excuses to stay longer near Shin.


    ''I kind of feel like a woman who is being stalked by a pervert stalker who refuses to leave even after getting beaten up brutally¡­''


    ''M-maybe I should have borrowed the pepper spray from my wife before coming here¡­''


    Shin smiled a bit and said, in a serious tone,


    "Mr. Zang, let''s be honest. I am a married man, and I am not really interested in ''that'' kind of thing. I have a wife and children, so it''s really inappropriate¡­"


    "If you have any so-called¡­ strange intentions¡­ Please leave now, or I will have to kick you out personally¡­"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Zang wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and replied in a panicked tone.


    "S-strange intentions? I-I don''t know what Mr. Shin is talking about, ahaha¡­"


    Although the mayor was trying to keep himself as sane as possible, he was already losing his sanity from being stared at by a grade-2 mage.


    ''Sh*t! Did he perhaps figure out that I am trying to stay near him because I want to hide behind him and protect myself when that walking disaster called Jareth Ayad returns!?"


    Indeed! Although Zang had already prepared a lot of magical armor, he still wanted to be hundred percent sure.


    Thus, he was trying to stick to Shin''s side as much as possible, as he thought that staying by Shin''s side would increase his chances of surviving this great calamity.


    But this move was misunderstood by Shin, and he thought that Zang had some other intentions in his mind.


    Right now, the situation in the room is very complicated.


    On one side, Shin is on his highest guard, and he won''t let any pervert have his way with him at any cost.


    ''My wife likes to have her way with me, but that doesn''t mean I am someone who can be taken advantage of! If you dare to move, I will freeze you to death!!''


    And on the other side, the mayor is trying his best to stay longer in Shin''s room to save his own life.


    The two of them kept smiling at each other, and the tension in the room kept increasing bit by bit.


    *Knock!*


    Just then, someone ''Knocked'' on the door, and Shin''s eyes lit up.


    The door opened before Shin could even reply, and Jareth walked in with the same cold expression on his face as usual.


    His eyes fell on Shin and Zang, who were sitting quite close, and he stopped for a moment before saying.


    "Am I interrupting some unexpected development?"


    Jareth felt that the atmosphere in the room was quite strange, so he was already thinking of retreating for the time being.


    However, Shin hurriedly prevented him from leaving.


    "Ah, you are back! Meet this person; he''s the mayor of the city, Mr. Zang Shao, and he has offered us a free stay in the city¡­"


    Zang laughed dryly while looking at Jareth as Shin introduced him.


    "Haha, N-nice to meet you, Mr. Jareth; I have heard a lot about you! I am a big fan!"


    Jareth nodded his head and said, in his usual cold tone, S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I appreciate your efforts¡­ also¡­ I can see that the mayor is quite enthusiastic about safety¡­"


    "This is the first time I have seen someone wearing so many magic armors¡­"


    Due to his insane mana detection, Jareth easily saw through Zang''s coat, which was enchanted by more than a hundred magic barriers.


    ''It won''t be wrong to say that the barriers on his body are thicker than the barrier placed on this whole city¡­''


    Zang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,


    "Haha, yes, I have to take care of safety. I have a family and kids, so it would be quite bad if something happened to me¡­ My children will starve to death¡­"


    Seeing that things were quite calm, Zang got up from his seat and decided to take his leave early.


    "You two, please enjoy the stay. I still have some work left, so I will leave early¡­ If you need anything, please feel free to call me¡­"


    Just when Zang was about to leave, Jareth put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.


    "Ah, wait, you are the mayor, right? Here I have brought a wanted criminal with me; take her into custody and put her in jail¡­."


    "By the way, I have already punished her, so her jail time should not be more than two years¡­ I leave her in your care¡­"


    Zang nearly fainted from fright when Jareth suddenly stopped him.


    He nodded his head honestly and said,.


    "Yes! Yes! I will make sure that she gets two years in jail! You can trust me; I have a lot of connections in the city!"


    With that said, Zang asked his bodyguards to bring Ensha with them, and he left the hotel as fast as possible.


    Ensha also waved her hand to say a final goodbye to Azul and left with a sad look on her face.


    Zang has already shown his face to Jareth, and now he can just go and hide in some corner; there was no need to stay so close to a walking disaster.


    Thus, he left in a hurry.


    Currying favors is one thing, but saving your own life is another.


    If it were Reynald or Nathan, then Zang wouldn''t have been as nervous, as those two seem easier to talk to.


    But Jareth is just a straight-up terror incarnate; he''s famous for blasting monsters from the surface of Earth like they''re nothing.


    Just a simple stare from him is enough to make people nervous.


    ''Hmm, he seems quite enthusiastic about his work; I guess I can leave things to him¡­''


    Jareth decided to check out Ensha''s state tomorrow; for the time being, he handed over Azul to Shin.


    Zang was just too fast at running; Jareth didn''t even get the chance to ask him to arrange a new room for Azul.


    So he just asked Shin to let Azul stay in his room and also tell him basic details about the academy and the world in the meantime.


    After finishing everything, Jareth returned to his own room for a peaceful night''s sleep.


    That day, the mayor smiled from ear to ear in happiness, as he had survived a great disaster.

 Chapter 154 The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-1.

    Outside Bastille, Eastern desert area.[Grade-4 Earth Magic: Stone Spike Rain!]


    Mark waved his wand, and ten giant magic circles appeared behind him and fired gigantic stone spikes at a man wearing heavy steel-plated armor.


    The heavy armor-wearing knight jumped aside at an astonishing speed; it seemed like that heavy armor didn''t weigh him down in the least bit.


    Mark''s forehead was already drenched with sweat.


    ''This knight is too strong!''


    Mark has trained a lot, and he has amazing reaction speed and magic abilities, yet the other party is still able to dodge all of his attacks easily and is unharmed even after fighting Mark continuously for half an hour straight.


    This just shows that the other party is not a weak person either; he''s not only at the peak of grade 4 but is also extremely skilled.


    Just when Mark was still thinking about how to deal with this person, Risa also jumped in the battle and brought out her shadow sword to fight.


    [Shadow Fallen style: Moon Blade Dance!]


    Two wings made up of shadow magic appeared behind Risa''s back and increased her speed and agility. Not only was she able to dodge the knight''s sword attacks, but she was also successfully able to keep the other party busy.


    Mark took advantage of that moment and seized the opportunity to fire a stronger spell.


    ''I copied this one from ''him''¡­ It should be effective in this battle¡­''


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Stone Spear!]


    Mark concentrated a huge amount of mana on his magic circle, and two layers appeared on his magic circle.


    This means that Mark has achieved a higher proficiency in this magic, as he can stack up two circles of it.


    Mark timed the moment and unleashed the magic when the opportunity arose.


    Risa twisted her wrist and did an upward slash, causing the other party to back off and lose balance for half a second, and Mark didn''t miss that timing.


    His double-layered magic circle fired an extremely thin stone spear at three times the speed of sound!


    It was so fast that the knight wasn''t even able to react, and the spear directly pierced the other party''s heart.


    The power of that spear was so strong that the shockwave created by the collision of the spear with the knight''s upper torso blasted a massive hole in his chest.


    [Shadow Magic: Shadow Bubble!]


    A bubble made up of shadows directly covered the body of the knight, and Risa immediately jumped away without hesitation.


    *Boom!*


    The body of the knight exploded, and the explosion was strong enough to create a small earthquake that caused a small landslide nearby.


    Fortunately, this is in the middle of a desert, and there are nothing but giant hills of sand and boulders here; thus, no one was harmed by that earthquake.


    When the dust settled, Risa opened her eyes and found that Mark had created a giant stone shield to protect them both from the explosion.


    A smile appeared on her face, and she gave a thumbs up to Mark,


    "Nice work partner¡­" S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although, Risa was happy, Mark, on the other hand, was calmer. He glared at Risa and said,


    "That was too dangerous! You shouldn''t have jumped so close! You could have gotten injured from such a strong explosion!"


    Risa shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "I am not so weak that a mere explosion will sweep me away¡­ By the way, it seems we have finally dealt with this troublesome guy¡­"


    Risa and Mark walked towards the massive crater caused after the knight self-destructed his own body, and a look of shock appeared on their faces.


    "This guy really was ruthless; he didn''t even care about leaving an intact body behind, and he really wanted to take us down with him."


    Mark also nodded his head at Risa''s words and said,


    "Yeah.. Well, we slaughtered several of his subordinates; as the leader of the bandits, he was obviously going to get angry at us¡­"


    Just when Mark and Risa were thinking about what to do next, Jareth and Aria landed on the ground.


    Jareth was holding a bandit by his neck, and the other party was desperately trying to get rid of Jareth''s hand.


    Jareth threw the bandit on the ground and glanced at Mark before saying,


    "This guy was sneaking around¡­ likely he was part of their group and had gone somewhere when you slaughtered the other bandits¡­"


    "Now that he has returned, we can extract information about their hideout from him¡­ Go ahead, student Mark, show me how good you are at information extraction skills¡­"


    Risa also wanted to give it a try, but Jareth stopped her by saying. Read latest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Student Risa, you can instruct him in the process; I think your information extraction ability is good enough¡­"


    Jareth had no doubt that Risa can extract information easily; she''s skilled at torture and other stuff, so it would be pointless to ask her to demonstrate her skills.


    Instead, it is a better choice to ask Mark to do it; this way, he will be able to train his mind more.


    Jareth himself has been a heartless murderer, so he is very resistant to killing and bloodshed.


    But Mark is not accustomed to too much bloodshed.


    In fact, Mark hasn''t even killed a human before; this is the first time he has even killed a real human.


    He has indeed fought quite a few battles, but he hasn''t killed a person.


    Born into a prestigious family and raised with care and love, Mark had no reason to turn into a heartless monster who could kill without batting an eye. That''s why it''s important to train his heart now.


    If Mark doesn''t take action now, he won''t have the courage to make decisive decisions in the future. A pawn is only good when it has some value; without abilities, a pawn has no value.


    ¡­


    Following Jareth''s words, Risa helped Mark understand how to put psychological pressure on the other party and make them spit out all the information.


    Mark frowned a lot at the start, but slowly he got used to it.


    As a genius, he has insanely fast adaptability; he can copy others spells to great extents and improve his own combat power, and his insane adaptability gives him a great advantage.


    Creating spells to counter specific conditions on the spot is just child''s play for someone like Mark.


    Jareth only used that fire beam spell on Mark once during the end of the three trial competitions.


    And Mark directly copied its fundamental ability to concentrate mana.


    Thus he enhanced his spell, turned it into a double circle spell, and made the earth elemental so concentrated and dense that its power was insanely strong!


    It directly killed a peak-grade 4 knight on the spot!


    Even Risa herself was surprised at how fast Mark learned the tricks that she taught him.


    A thought came to her mind:


    ''Could it be that Mark has a hidden talent to become a sadist torturer!? That''s so cool!''


    Risa''s idol himself is someone like Gazid who conducts illegal experiments; obviously, she will find ''Sadists'' types of people quite cool.


    ''Ah, how romantic would it be if we both stab each other and make hearts on the ground with our blood!''


    One thing was sure: Risa was definitely messed up in the head.


    Mark sighed and used a stone spike to kill the bandit and put him out of his misery.


    Although it didn''t seem quite good to hear the loud wails of the other party, Mark also knew that he needed to grow out of his passive mindset.


    He idolizes Jareth, and he wants to become a true mage like Jareth, who is strict, cold, and selfish.


    To become like Jareth, he has to learn to be decisive and ruthless.


    What Mark didn''t know at the moment was that the reason Jareth was making him do these unpleasant things was because he was angry.


    Jareth had originally expected that Mark and Risa would have already conquered at least a floor or two in the dungeon, but when he came back, the two hadn''t even gone out to practice yet.


    Jareth was so angry that he kicked Shin in the back and asked him to teach Azul while he personally led the group towards the dungeon.


    On their way to the dungeon, they found this group of bandits that were setting up an ambush to attack any passersby who were heading towards the dungeon.


    Jareth directly ordered Mark and Risa to fight this group of bandits just to punish them.


    Moreover, he has dragged Aria with him because he is going to punish her by making her heal the students at even the slightest scratch.


    ''Hmph! I thought they were going to work hard honestly. But who could have thought that they were busy buying ''make up'' materials all this time!''


    ''Forget it; let''s go to that dungeon; I will make them understand what it means to be strict!''


    Jareth smiled evilly in his mind, which caused the other three to feel ominous in their hearts.

 Chapter 155 The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-2.

    The other bandits also laughed heartily at those words.Actually, bandits are quite rare in this world.


    Society has shifted towards technology, and the lives of ordinary people have become much easier.


    Thus, bandits and thugs are very rare.


    But Bastille is different.


    It''s a very isolated city and is surrounded by a vast desert! Nothing grows in this place except for some inedible thorny plants. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Most of their food is imported from outside.


    There are only three sources of food in this place; one is imported food.


    Second is the meat obtained from killing monsters that run rampant in the desert and often lay siege to the city.


    And lastly, the meat obtained by killing the monsters in the dungeon and clearing its floors.


    The city rewards the people who kill monsters in the dungeon and also buys the monster corpses from them at a decently good price.


    These three sources are barely sufficient to meet the food needs of the people in this city.


    The majority of dishes in this city are part of a non-vegetarian diet because meat is more readily available than vegetables.


    Due to their importation from outside, vegetables and other plant-based food ingredients are extremely expensive. Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire


    Half the population in Bastille has never known the taste of Karela juice, which they consider to be their excellent fortune. (That sh*t is bitter as f*ck!)


    These three sources of food are crucial to the survival of the city; thus, a lot of mages and warriors often go to the dungeon to hunt monsters.


    And every so often, a few groups of bandits appear and ambush these warriors and wizards midway and then force them to give money as a ''tax'' for traveling on a ''non-existent'' road.


    The city police often do patrols to deal with things like this, but there''s just no end to them.


    Even if you exterminate one bandit group, a new one will appear in a year or two.


    Most of these bandit groups consist of individuals who were exiled from the city due to their inability to pay taxes. Eventually, they formed groups and joined forces with random, strong individuals to engage in extortion.


    Jareth is not particularly interested in charity work; he didn''t target the bandits because one day in the morning, a random thought occurred to him, like,


    ''Oh, I feel like being a good law-abiding citizen today! So, Let''s butcher some bandits!''


    No, Jareth''s decision to deal with them stemmed from his observation that their boss, a grade-4 knight, appeared to be an ideal practice dummy for Mark and Risa.


    So Jareth just threw his two excited monsters-in-training at that group of pitiful bandits without a second thought in his mind.


    ¡­


    Inside an underground cave.


    "But seriously, the boss''s idea of creating a hidden underground cave and covering it with giant boulders to make it inconspicuous was really great!"


    A bandit laughed happily as he gulped down a mouthful of wine in one gulp.


    Another bandit nodded his head at those words and replied in an amused tone.


    "Yeah! Furthermore, he acquired a mana fluctuation concealment artifact! With it, the patrol squads of the city police won''t be able to find up no matter what!"


    "Boss is mighty!"


    At that moment, one of the bandits''s wine jars got empty, and he said,


    "Tch! Someone has more wine left? Pass it to me-"


    Just when the bandit was about to finish his sentence, something flew to his side and directly landed on his wine jar.


    The bandit was confused for a second, but when he saw the severed head of his boss placed in his wine jar, his face went deathly pale, and he fainted from shock after screaming loudly.


    "AAHHH WHAT THE!!!"


    Before the other bandits could react to what was going on, a giant spike of stone burst out of the ground, pierced their bodies, and turned them into human sieves!


    Blood splattered on the ground, and internal organs fell everywhere. Some of the bandit''s brain got blasted by the stone spikes, and some had massive holes in their upper torso.


    Those bandits who were more quick-witted dodged that initial attack barely on time, but then a pitch-black shadow enveloped the stone spikes and increased their length and lethality.


    Causing the rest of the bandits to get caught up too.


    Moreover, the ground became pitch black, and a hand made up of shadows tightly locked their feet, stopping them from moving and causing them to die on the spot after losing their ability to dodge.


    With all the bandits dead, the shadows retreated, and two young people came in from the entrance to the underground cave.


    "Hmm, the ratio was slightly off; we need to make our control over this combination spell more, and less control reduces its destructive power¡­"


    Mark analyzed the performance of the combination spell he and Risa used just now.


    The two of them have done this same combination spell quite a few times before, but even then, they have yet to reach perfect sync in this spell.


    "It will take us some time before we can reach Professor Gazid and Professor Yoseh''s level of combination spell mastery¡­"


    Risa also nodded her head at Mark''s words and replied in a calm voice.


    Gazid and Yoseh have fought many battles together before, and from their past battle videos, you can easily see that whenever they use combination magic, it seems like it''s in perfect sync!


    Even in Artavia, when fighting that death knight, Gazid and Yoseh were firing magic in perfect sync, as if they already knew what the other party was going to use and what they should use to maximize the power.


    They both fight a lot on the surface, but no one can deny the fact that there''s not a single duo in the human empire when it comes to cooperation in fights.


    It''s like they can read each other''s minds.


    When Jareth and Shin or any other mage fight together, they use hand-sign language to communicate in a stealthy and fast way.


    Sometimes they even use precise and specific words to describe the situation of the battle and pass instructions.


    Mark and Risa are still just first-year students, so they have a lot to learn.


    The university not only teaches you about magic; it also teaches you basic alchemy, battle tactics, mid-battle communication, practical combat, survival tactics, monster habits and skills, human and monster anatomy, etc.


    In other words, those who graduate from Ivan''s Higher Arcane University are proficient in many things that can increase their survival chances by a lot, no matter what the condition is.


    The reason someone as ''weak'' as the original Jareth graduated from the university was because he received full scores in all his exams, except for practical combat.


    And luckily, in Jareth''s time, the final test for practical combat was a dungeon survival; he easily survived it with his wits and tactics.


    In other words, you can graduate from the university even with sh*tty combat skills as long as you score well enough in other exams.


    Moreover, the teachers aren''t innocent; you can just bribe them to pass, and that method is even easier if you have the money.


    All mages are selfish beings after all; they all lack resources and money; no amount of money is ''too much''.


    Taking money to create a backdoor for the students to pass is an underhanded tactic, but it happens so often that people have now become numb to it.


    Even Nathan used to just close his eyes and pretend like he had seen nothing, as long as you gave him some part of the bribe you got willingly.


    The whole structure is corrupted, as expected of a world heading for ruin.


    ¡­


    After Mark and Risa confirmed that all the bandits had died, they left the cave, and Mark waved his hand and manipulated the sand in the area to directly bury the whole cave.


    Now there will be no evidence left about who killed this group of bandits.


    Although you can earn rewards if you tell the police that you dealt with the bandits, Mark and Risa weren''t interested in that meager amount of money.


    They have enough money to buy the whole police department through bribery; why would they need such a small reward anyway.


    Thus, the two just followed their hearts; they flew in the air and headed toward the dungeon with Jareth and Aria, who had been waiting for them all along.


    ¡­


    After an hour of flying, the group reached the dungeon entrance.


    After dealing with the bandits, the rest of the journey was very uneventful, so they didn''t stop anywhere and arrived at the dungeon before noon.


    "Whoa! So this is how the dungeon near Bastille looks like!"


    Risa''s eyes widened in shock as she saw that the entrance was a majestic and giant door carved out of stone with various traditional designs on it.


    Jareth shook his head in response to those words.


    "This stone gate was likely created by the city folks¡­ This dungeon has one of the most amazing entrances, but also the most depressing insides¡­"

 Chapter 156 The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-3.

    "I don''t really get it¡­ Why aren''t those undead attacking the monsters? Don''t all undead hate the living and attack anything that is alive, human and monster alike?"At Risa''s question, Mark nodded his head and said in a confused tone,


    "What you said is indeed the truth; this is the first time I am seeing a phenomenon like that. I haven''t read about something like this in any books either¡­"


    Even Mark had no idea what was going on.


    The group entered the dungeon just half an hour ago.


    Many others had already cleared and occupied the entire first and second floors of the dungeon.


    A lot of people come to this dungeon to hunt down monsters and earn money by selling their corpses in the city.


    So when Jareth and the others entered, they found that the first two floors had too many people, and it wasn''t a good idea to train there.


    Thus, they went deeper, bypassed the third floor, and finally stopped at the fourth floor.


    The fourth floor is the second-deepest floor of this dungeon, and mostly monsters of grade 4 or above wander in this place.


    There are extremely few grade-4 individuals in the whole of Bastille, so this floor hasn''t been conquered even once yet.


    You would need a full party of peak grade-4 individuals to conquer this floor, but there really aren''t any such parties in Bastille.


    As for the fifth floor, no one has even been there yet.


    There may have been someone strong enough to conquer this dungeon in the past, but even if you manage to conquer the entire dungeon once,


    Monsters will flock into it eventually as time passes, and there is likely at least one or two Grade 3 monsters in this dungeon''s deepest areas.


    For this reason, the city frequently dispatches veterans to patrol the outer area of the fourth floor, monitoring the movements of the monsters.


    And in the event that a strong monster attempts to emerge from the dungeon, the city will immediately deploy its strongest defenses to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''If not for the fact that this dungeon is important for the economy of Bastille, I would have just smashed this whole thing with a giant mana beam and leveled the whole dungeon down¡­''


    ''That way, no new monsters will enter it, and the hidden danger of grade-3 monsters attacking the city will be eliminated¡­''


    ''But I guess I shouldn''t do so; I should just mind my own business, get Mark and Risa some decent training, and leave¡­''


    Jareth glanced at his system panel for a moment.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze] S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [HP: 5780/5780] [MP: 7800/7800]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the Goat, Divine Flame.]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 3), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 20100]


    [Evaluation: The Ruler of Mana, the Dominator of an era¡­ you are on the path to becoming a new ''King'' of the human race...]


    ¡­


    Initially, Jareth possessed ''5100'' credit points due to his frequent plundering of Allen.


    Then he went ahead and interfered with Ensha and Azul, thus changing the plot even further. He also stole a very powerful item from Allen this time, so it also added more points.


    Thus, the number of points he has now reached is twenty thousand!


    ''Alas, when I killed that assassination organization, it didn''t give me any points, which means that those people weren''t really relevant to the plot¡­''


    ''Nonetheless, I just need to collect a few thousand more, and then I can buy a new gold lottery again¡­''


    Last time Jareth bought a gold lottery, he immediately improved his mana purity to the max.


    Thus, he''s looking forward to getting something that can boost his powers further.


    He needs to get as strong as possible if he wants to survive the inevitable great calamity.


    ''In a world where your own parents might kill you at any moment for the sake of benefits, it''s always good to aim to become stronger¡­ This world is too corrupted, so I won''t feel any regrets for leaving this place¡­''


    Jareth shook his head, glanced at Mark and Risa, and then spoke.


    "The two of you¡­ Go, conquer this whole floor; I have already scanned it with my mana detection; only the boss monster of this floor is a semi-grade 3 monster; the rest are all grade-4¡­"


    "Which means that this place is an ideal training ground for you two¡­ Aside from that, if something happens to student Risa, then don''t bother coming back, student Mark¡­"


    "I want you two to reach the boss room in three days in a single piece; you aren''t allowed to fail this test¡­"


    Mark and Risa both nodded their heads solemnly and then hurriedly left to explore the dungeon.


    At this point, only Jareth and Aria were left standing alone.


    While Jareth was busy contemplating what to do next, Aria was already having a heart attack.


    ''AHHHH! I have to stay alone with a walking ballistic nuclear missile that can blast at any moment!? T-this¡­''


    Aria gulped her saliva and tried to remain as quiet as possible while chanting in her mind.


    ''I am a worm on the wall; please don''t notice me; I have no presence! My ancestor-''


    Before Aria could finish her prayers to her ancestors, a giant skeleton holding a bone spear and sitting on the back of a mutated pig-type monster rushed at them from a nearby corridor.


    Undead are fearless creatures; they attack any living being without hesitation; thus, the undead attacked Jareth and Aria even after sensing their strong aura.


    Every time the giant pig monster jumped, it created a loud noise, which interfered with Jareth''s thoughts and caused him to get irritated.


    ''Will you shut the f*ck up!!''


    Jareth bent his waist a bit and punched the pig monster in the head with the usual cold look on his face.


    That ''99'' strength stat in Jareth''s stats panel is no joke; that punch was so strong that the pig monster died in an instant as its body burst apart like a balloon from the impact of that punch.


    It was barely a grade-intermediate-grade-4 monster; such a strong punch was beyond its defenses.


    So it died in an instant.


    Aria just couldn''t believe what she saw at that moment, and she was shocked to the point that she had no words to speak.

 Chapter 157 The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-4.

    That punch alone created such intense wind pressure that Aria had to activate her mana shield to withstand the wind pressure and shockwave.Her mouth nearly fell to the floor from sheer shock.


    ''Er¡­ I-I feel like my eyesight has become bad these days. I just saw a mage punch a grade-4 monster to death! That''s unbelievable!''


    Aria rubbed her eyes a few times just in case, but she had no choice but to accept the reality.


    Jareth successfully killed a grade-4 monster by punching it to death and exploding its body like a balloon.


    Even the undead skeleton that was sitting on the back of the monster had all of its bones crack as it died on the spot from the shockwave of that punch.


    Although Jareth''s face remained as cold as usual, he was feeling quite complicated in his mind.


    ''Er,¡­ I used physical strength to deal with an enemy despite being a fully mage-type character. This seems so weird¡­ I feel like I have lost my dignity as a mage¡­'' Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth glanced at Aria, who was already half lying on the ground, as if she were getting ready to sleep on the floor, and said,


    "Professor Aria, keep my close range combat capabilities a secret, I wouldn''t want Mark and Risa to think that I helped them behind their back by dealing with a monster of the fourth floor myself¡­"


    Jareth made up an excuse on the spot, and as he knew that Aria has a more na?ve type of personality, she will be able to keep this secret, thus his dignity as a mage won''t get tarnished.


    ''I should use my physical capabilities as a last resort effort; it can surprise the enemy at critical moments. It''s better to not reveal this ability to the public¡­''


    ''Let them think that I am just a mage and weak in physique¡­''


    Although Jareth''s words were said in a calm and respectful manner, Aria heard everything completely differently.


    "You pathetic worm, you were so shocked that you fell from just that? How pathetic! You better not tell the world about your patheticness, or you will tarnish the name of the university!"


    Aria hurriedly nodded her head at Jareth''s words and said,


    "Yes! Yes! I-I will do as you say!"


    Seeing Aria''s face, which was on the verge of crying, Jareth frowned a bit but ignored her and stopped caring about the matter, thinking that Aria was moved by his strength.


    The two of them misunderstood each other and thus didn''t even bother to clarify the situation.


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "Professor Aria, let''s go to the boss room. We will go and wait for student Mark and student Risa there¡­"


    Aria was taken aback by those words for a moment; she wanted to deny it, but just when she was about to say it, dozens of undead skeletons walked out of the several corridors in front of them and rushed towards them with their spears.


    This time, there were no living monsters; only skeleton-type monsters attacked them.


    Thus, Jareth raised his hand and cast his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    The glowing mana orb has the ability to repel darkness and miasma slightly.


    Jareth, possessing mana singularity and incredibly pure mana, utilized this mana orb to its utmost potential.


    The miasma-repelling ability became extremely strong.


    When the bright light of the floating mana orb fell on the undead skeletons, they started to disintegrate into dust in an instant.


    Aria was forced to close her eyes as the brightness was just too high; it was so bright that if an ordinary person had seen this glowing orb, they would have lost their ability to see permanently.


    After getting extremely pure mana, it won''t be wrong to say that Jareth''s basic magic is indeed at the level of a usual peak grade-1 spell!


    It''s so strong that these grade-4 monsters die from just getting touched by the light of that glowing orb and don''t even leave intact corpses behind. In an instant, they turn into ash.


    Jareth was quite satisfied by seeing this outcome; he butchered dozens of undead skeletons while using the minimum amount of mana and wasting nearly zero effort.


    Jareth didn''t wait for Aria; he started to walk in the direction that was leading to the boss''s room.


    He has actually already scanned this whole dungeon with his mana detection, and he knows which way to go to reach the boss room faster.


    Aria was perplexed for a moment when Jareth suddenly started to leave, but then she immediately ran to his side to follow along with him.


    She''s more of a healer-type mage than a combat one; she doesn''t want to stay alone, as that would mean she would be stuck in a place where she would be forced to fight.


    But if she stays with Jareth, she will be able to safely survive this dungeon.


    ''Ugh¡­ to think I will need to depend on a hot-tempered person like him one day¡­ I just hope he doesn''t notice my meager presence too much and doesn''t end up killing me from the collateral damage of his spells¡­''


    Many people in the nation admire Jareth because of his strength, but Aria, being a weak-hearted person, can''t feel safe around someone who can blast wyverns and cyclops with one attack.


    For her, it''s like she''s walking with a giant wolf that can attack her at any moment without even giving an explanation.


    Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    With how strong Jareth is, he can take advantage of her, and she won''t even be able to defend herself, which is a very scary thought.


    What she didn''t know was that Jareth never thought about taking advantage of her; instead, he feels that any other woman except for Shiina is not his type.


    They seemed too bland in front of her; she was mature, calm, cheerful, and mischievous at the same time. She stole his heart to the point that now he''s unable to like anyone else.


    Moreover, Aria is engaged to someone else; it''s not a wise idea to ignore boundaries that should not be crossed.


    Jareth learned to be ruthless and cruel through his experience, but he also learned to respect boundaries from falling in love with someone as wonderful as Shiina.


    {After all, you can only mature in the truest sense if you experience all aspects of your own ''self''...} (Source: Trust me bro...)


    ¡­


    For the next three hours, Jareth and Aria flew in the direction of the boss room.


    Jareth already figured out the way out of this mage, so they were able to travel fast while ignoring all paths that lead to dead ends.


    Only Mark and Risa will have to work hard to reach the boss room, as they don''t have the same insane mana detection as Jareth.

 Chapter 158 The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-5.

    There are many types of dungeons in this world.Some are filled with acidic poison; some are hidden in forests, while others are hidden underneath the ocean surface.


    There are dungeons where thousands of monsters live, and there are also dungeons where only one strong monster resides.


    Most dungeons have several floors, and the lower the floor, the stronger the monsters that reside there.


    This isn''t because strong monsters like living in dark and deep underground hell holes; it''s because the stronger a monster, the stronger their intuition and intelligence.


    Strong monsters who are in grade 3 or above can understand the benefits of hiding in deeper caves.


    Ever since humanity conquered many races and became the overlord of the whole planet, they have been hunting and killing monsters like crazy.


    Before humans, monsters roamed the land freely, and everything followed the law of the jungle.


    Only the strongest survived, and the weak were just prey, but all this was destroyed by the interference of humans.


    Not only did they kill monsters, they killed their own kin, and they laid siege to many races.


    Hundreds of races went extinct, and millions of creatures perished in the long annals of history.


    Intelligent monsters learned from this experience; they adapted to the environment for survival and found deep caves and hidden areas to hide and strive for survival.


    This instinct of hiding in caves got passed down from generation to generation, and now it''s in the genes of these monsters to look for dungeons to hide in and live in.


    This is basically a result of natural selection.


    Those monsters who ran and hid in deep caves survived and were able to create offspring, but those who refused to hide died from the endless march of the human armies.


    Mermaids are just one of the few races that were wiped off the face of earth by the human armies just because of land and resources.


    These monsters who live in dungeons are not actually doing so because they get some benefit from it; this is their way of self-preservation.


    You can go and look at any race in the world and understand the terror that is the human race just by reading about their histories.


    Yet, humans still teach in schools that they are the ones who are always in danger of monster attacks and invasions from other races.


    The real truth is that there is no race in the world that has the capability to fight toe to toe with the current human empire.


    The current human empire is extremely advanced in technology and has huge numbers of strong wizards and warriors.


    No other race has this capability.


    Then why do humans spend so much money teaching false histories to children, you ask?


    The answer is simple: if you make humans seem like victims and brainwash the kids from a young age, they will have more patriotic sense in them when they grow up.


    Humans need money for the army, so they must always demonstrate that they are in constant danger of invasion. This way, funding for new weapons of mass destruction will never stop.


    And those who see through this fa?ade end up dying from ''Natural Causes'' after getting hit by ten bullets in the back of their heads.


    These monsters, who are forced to live in dark and humid caves called dungeons, are the best example of the terror of the human race.


    Humans have hunted them for several millennia, and they hunted them so much that all monsters went through natural selection and were forced to run and hide to survive.


    Today, the situation is so severe that various kinds of monsters go extinct every year, non-stop.


    Strong monsters push deeper into the dungeon and force weaker monsters to guard the upper floors for them.


    Those monsters that humans call ''floor bosses'' are usually the guardians who are keeping an eye on the entrance to the lower floors of the dungeon.


    The stronger they get, the deeper they can stay in the dungeon; this is how dungeons work in this world.


    But even after all these measures taken by the monsters, humans still never let them go.


    Whenever a new dungeon is discovered, humans rush to conquer it and slaughter all the monsters that were peacefully living there.


    All that is just for the sake of discovering rare artifacts that were originally dug up by the monsters from various places.


    Sometimes these monsters even decide to cooperate with other types of monsters to survive together.


    The same is true for the dungeon into which Jareth and others have entered.


    The wolf-type monsters here have learned to cooperate with the undead beings for survival.


    ¡­


    Still, regardless of the cause and reasons, a floor boss is by no means an ordinary monster.


    It rules over all the monsters on the floor of the dungeon and only takes orders from the dungeon master, who lives in the deepest area of the dungeon.


    Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Aria has always thought that she won''t be able to face a monster without panicking her whole life.


    But today that misunderstanding was cleared from her mind.


    When she entered the boss room with Jareth, the floor boss of the fourth floor, a steel-boned wolf rushed at them to attack.


    Aria''s legs immediately went weak from just seeing that ferocious beast, but to her shock, Jareth didn''t even flinch.


    Just when the wolf was about to attack him, he raised his hand and slapped the wolf on the face, and a massive shockwave was created.


    The wind pressure alone cracked the ground, and a loud sonic boom rang out in the air.


    The wolf''s face hit the ground, and the impact of the collision created a massive crater in the ground.


    The wolf jaw broke apart, and it suffered heavy brain damage from the impact, and one of its eyeballs shattered on the spot.


    Several of its broken teeth fell to the ground, and it fainted on the spot from that attack.


    For the wolf monster, that was the strongest attack it had ever faced, but for Jareth, that was just a casual flick of his hand.


    He ignored the monster as if he had done something completely insignificant, then glanced at Aria before speaking.


    "Hmm, would you like to stay here and wait for the students? I am thinking of going deeper to take a stroll¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Aria could feel complicated emotions in her mind.


    ''He made a semi-grade-3 monster faint on the spot with one attack¡­ I guess wandering in this dungeon is like taking a walk in a park from his perspective¡­''


    Aria was shocked at Jareth''s power, but she collected herself and said,


    "I-I will follow along with you¡­"


    Aria didn''t know if the wolf would wake up suddenly and if the students would take a while to get here, so she didn''t want to stay in this dangerous place.


    Instead, it was better to follow Jareth.


    At least by staying by his side, she can ensure her safety from the monsters. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Actually, I am having difficulty distinguishing who is the real monster here¡­ This wolf looks more like an innocent puppy in front of this monstrous guy who doesn''t have the word ''Mercy'' in his dictionary¡­''


    Aria shook her head and followed Jareth to go to the next floor.


    While walking, she summoned her courage and inquired,


    "Uh¡­ Vice-principal, I wanted to become as strong as you¡­ b-but whenever I try to fight, I end up losing my will to hurt the other party¡­"


    "Er¡­ Can you tell me how to become as¡­. You know, as calm and indifferent as you?"


    Jareth was taken aback by Aria''s sudden question, but then he shook his head and said in a calm voice,


    "You want to become a ruthless, merciless, and cold ''monster'' like me?"


    Jareth felt quite funny thinking about this, but he replied in a serious tone,


    "Professor Aria, the thing is that I myself wasn''t born as a ''monster'' from the start¡­ I also had a warm heart once¡­"


    "In my opinion, having a merciful, warm heart and a benevolent personality is actually a much better option¡­"


    Jareth glanced at his palm and said,


    "With a good personality, you live an honest and happy life, but when you have the personality of a monster, you live a lonely life with your hands smeared in blood¡­"


    A rare look of envy appeared in Jareth''s eyes as he glanced at Aria.


    "In my opinion, you don''t need to change and turn into a ''monster'', you are already much better than that. Aim to become a savior, not an evil manic¡­"


    "Taking others lives is easy, but giving life to others¡­ that''s basically only a ''god'' can do¡­. It''s impossible for us mortals¡­"


    "Professor Aria, don''t taint yourself with darkness; you have a pure soul; it''s better to not pollute it with corruption¡­"


    Jareth''s own miserable life has contributed to his cold and ruthless personality.


    But if he had the choice, he would have preferred to live a happy and honest life with those he cared for.


    ''Entering that shady company in hope of impressing her father was the worst choice I made in my life¡­''


    Aria was taken aback by Jareth''s words.


    She thought that he would belittle her and say mean words to her in return. She was already expecting him to say that she could never become as strong as him.


    But the answer she got was completely different than she expected.


    Jareth praised her clumsy personality, which she was most ashamed of. In his opinion, no one should strive for the bloody path that he has been following.

 Chapter 159 The Benevolent Fairy powder... Part-1.

    Walking down the narrow path in the cave, Jareth used the glowing mana orb to illuminate the path.Right now, Jareth and Aria are at least ten kilometers deep underground; oxygen is nearly nonexistent in this place; and the temperature is also very hot.


    But for individuals in grades 3 and above level individuals, lack of oxygen and fluctuations in temperature matter very little.


    You can just deploy the mana barrier and use mana to forcefully pull oxygen molecules from the air inside the mana barrier.


    Even if there is no oxygen outside, they can still manage to survive on mana alone for a day or two.


    On the other hand, Grade 1 individuals don''t even need oxygen in the first place; they can just use the mana as their primary source of energy in the body.


    Thus eliminating the need for ''oxygen'' to break down proteins in the cells to form ''ATP'', you can use mana instead of ''ATP'' to power your body cells and can eliminate a lot of complex procedures.


    Although this is a complicated ability, the mana control of a grade 1 mage is strong enough to accomplish it.


    Thus, they have no need to either eat food, drink water, or even breathe; they can survive on mana alone.


    This is one of the reasons why grade 1 individuals aren''t even considered proper mortals anymore.


    Reaching grade 1 is said to be the very first step to breaking out of your mortal coil.


    ¡­


    ''If it were me from previous lives, I would have likely never been able to experience this feeling of wandering in random hell holes like this where no one wants to come¡­''


    Only when you are strong will you have the confidence to travel to any and every place in the world.


    Embarking on adventures needs confidence, and if you are strong enough yourself, then you won''t need to worry about losing confidence in any situation.


    ''This feeling is kind of similar to when I used to raid low-grade dungeons with my max-level character¡­''


    Jareth glanced at Aria, who was shaking from fear of the darkness.


    Seeing that she might faint and become a dead weight on his shoulders, Jareth had no choice but to ask random things to distract her mind from the fear.


    "Professor Aria¡­ Why did you choose to become a mage? In my opinion, you would have lived a much better life without entering this dog-eat-dog world of selfish mages¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Aria was taken aback for a second. She thought that Jareth noticed that she was at the end of her wits and was shaking from fear, so he was being sarcastic.


    ''Ugh, is he trying to say that I shouldn''t have become a mage in the first place as I lack confidence in myself?...''


    If it were any other person, Aria would have definitely glared at them and said that they were being rude for doubting her abilities as a mage.


    But since Jareth was the one to ask the question, she dared not talk loudly.


    She has no idea what goes on in his head or when he might get angry, so she didn''t take any chances and just told the truth in a calm voice.


    "Well¡­ I wanted to become a musician originally, I had interest in music, all of my childhood friends chose to pursue their careers and ambitions, all of them avoided becoming a mage like a plague¡­"


    "My parents had a lot of expectations from me¡­ The younger me didn''t have the courage to say ''No'' to her parents, so she went along with their wishes and became a mage¡­"


    Aria sighed at her own words and said,


    "I wanted to make my parents proud of me¡­ But the younger me didn''t know the harsh truth: in this world, everyone and everything pursues ''benefits''¡­"


    "There are no eternal relationships, only eternal benefits¡­ My parents were urging me to become a mage from start to finish, all because they wanted me to earn a ton of money for them¡­"


    "It took me a very long time to understand this harsh reality¡­"


    The younger Aria did her best; she trained and trained¡­ Eventually, she became one of the best alchemists in the whole human empire.


    She earned tons of money just by filling out one or two commissions from the rich.


    But the harsh reality was that all that money that she gave to her parents was never enough.


    It is a human tendency that once you start getting benefits without putting in much effort, you become addicted to them and want more and more.


    The same happened in this case too; her parents kept demanding more and more money.


    There came a time when they started to threaten and use abusive words when she wasn''t able to give them money on time.


    At that moment, Aria asked herself a question:


    ''All these people do is just threaten me and abuse me¡­ Do I really need to appease them? Do I really need to continue caring for them?


    That is how Aria matured; now the only two people she cares about in this world are her sister and the person with whom she is engaged.


    She has stopped doing free charity work; she has stopped giving people money because they begged her with fake tears in their eyes.


    Most parents have the so-called ''superiority complex'' when facing their children. They think that their children can''t make their own decisions and have no rights to do so at all.


    They can''t afford to see the bird that was previously in their cage and used to sing and dance for their entertainment, so they leave the cage and fly away to pursue its very own sky.


    Most parents fail to realize that this very act of putting their children in a cage of false emotions will cause the children to become numb to their daily bullsh*t, and eventually there will come a day when they will lose them forever.


    Aria grew numb to her parents'' daily bullsh*t and went on to pursue her own career.


    She started living in the academy dorms and cut her ties with her family.


    Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire


    Now, she is living a very peaceful life.


    Although she isn''t strong, there''s no one who will disrespect one of the best alchemists in the whole human empire.


    She was able to cure too many mana-related conditions and has even received several national awards by now from the president himself.


    Young alchemists from all over the country worship her as their idol and source of motivation.


    She may seem weak and cowardly, but doubting her capabilities as an alchemist would be a big mistake.


    "Well, things are going well for the most part¡­ The only trouble I have had recently is that my younger sister, Airin, she seems to like a shady person¡­"


    "I think she told me that the guy''s name was Allen; he''s been urging her to bring more and more training potions and rare elixirs lately, and she finds it hard to refuse him¡­"


    "This situation makes me think that she''s being taken advantage of¡­ I am worried about it, but I fear that I will interfere with her love life if I do something¡­" S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth already knew most of Aria''s backstory from the game; he was only listening to it because he didn''t want her to faint and was trying to distract her from the darkness of this cave.


    But when Aria mentioned Allen''s name, he suddenly felt the urge to slap that sh*tty protagonist again.


    He glanced at Aria and said in a calm voice,


    "Allen?... Ah, isn''t that the student who got suspended for harassing his upperclassmen and getting into fights with quite a few students¡­"


    "Also, I remember some students saying that he beat up random classmates and extorted money from them¡­ Aside from that, he''s been repeatedly reported by many female students.."


    "Professor Aria, I think you should really have a serious talk with your sister¡­ Hanging out with a shady person like that will create a lot of problems for her future¡­"


    Actually, Jareth wasn''t even lying to Aria; many of the female students did report complaints against Allen because they saw him beat up Mia badly during a sparring session.


    Ever since Jareth saw that complaint, he has had doubts about Allen.


    ''Everything in this world has been tainted by corruption¡­ I won''t be surprised if the protagonist himself has been corrupted too.''


    Jareth was already expecting things to go in a different direction due to his own interference, which was further enhanced by corruption.


    ''Still¡­ it''s kind of weird that the protagonist, who was depicted as a bright and sunny person in the story, has now become a scumbag and sadist type of person¡­''


    Aside from Jareth, Aria was also frowning at this situation.


    She didn''t know much about Allen, but now that Jareth has told her about his dark history, her resolve to deal with Allen has strengthened.


    ''I don''t want my sister to suffer like I did¡­ People only see benefits; he''s likely only pursuing her for the resources too¡­ I need to be strict on Airin this time, it seems¡­''

 Chapter 160 The Benevolent Fairy powder... Part-2.

    An hour went by in a flash, and Jareth and Aria walked continuously and reached the end of the long path.Unlike the other floors of the dungeon, the fifth floor had no mazes or monsters residing in it.


    The only monster on this floor is the dungeon master.


    The final floor is basically the ''home'' of the strongest beast in this whole dungeon; thus, no other monster is allowed to wander around in its home.


    As a result, after walking for a while, Jareth and Aria arrived directly at the giant door of the final boss room.


    Most dungeons in this world follow the same pattern; the final floor in most dungeons is relatively empty, and only the final boss resides there.


    Strong monsters are extremely protective of their territories; after all, they won''t let random monsters wander around in the place that they live and consider their home.


    This is also one of the reasons why the boss monsters always attack the invaders at first sight, because they mistake the invaders for challengers who want to seize their home and territory.


    For a beast, its home and territory are its source of food and very important to its survival; challenging it for the territory is basically asking it to initiate a death battle that will only end when one party dies.


    Most adventurers who raid dungeons only have two endings: they either win and return with a lot of fortune, or they end up dead and never come back from the dungeon.


    There are rarely any who are able to run and make it out of the dungeon alive, even after losing a battle with the dungeon boss. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The Dungeon boss won''t let you run; it will chase you till you die or run out of the dungeon''s main entrance.


    Therefore, you need to be ready for a life-or-death scenario prior to entering the ultimate boss room.


    ¡­


    Unless, of course, you are already too over-leveled for a dungeon.


    *Boom!*


    Jareth kicked the giant door casually, and the whole stone door broke apart and flew away as if it were made up of cardboard or something.


    Since Jareth already showed Aria his physical power, he didn''t bother hiding it in front of her anymore.


    For someone like him who has ''99'' in strength stats, most doors and barriers are just as weak as paper; he can break them easily.


    When the broken door fell to the ground, a gigantic hall appeared in Jareth''s vision.


    There were many statues of knights holding swords placed near the walls as decoration, and the floor was also quite smooth with a giant magic circle-like design carved on it.


    Jareth wasn''t much surprised about it, as he had already seen this in the game, but Aria was indeed quite surprised.


    She has rarely been to the final boss room of a dungeon, as she doesn''t really like fighting much.


    "This boss chamber looks quite beautiful, actually¡­ It''s hard to believe such amazing architecture is hidden beneath hordes of monsters that reside on the upper floor¡­"


    Aria''s eyes shone in admiration when looking at the amazing designs made on the ceiling of this hall.


    This place actually looks like the interior of a five-star hotel.


    "Well, of course it is beautiful; the great architect Erik Aigner personally designed this place!!"


    Just when Aria was admiring the scenery, a hoarse and eerie voice rang out in the hall.


    Jareth and Aria glanced towards the small stage built in the front area of the hall and found an undead person standing there.


    The undead skeleton was wearing a dark black robe and had a big hat on its head; moreover, it had a blue staff in its hand.


    Aria was really taken aback by the appearance of that undead.


    "A greater Lich!? How come there''s a peak grade-2 monster in this dungeon!?"


    There are many types of undead in this world, and this type of undead is one of the most dangerous of them all.


    They can control mana much more effectively than humans, and nearly all of them have the ability to control a huge army of lower-grade undead monsters.


    "Ah, no wonder the undead skeletons on the upper floors were cooperating with the wolf-type monsters!! You were controlling the skeletons and stopping them from attacking the wolves!"


    Erik nodded his head and replied in a shrewd tone.


    "Yes! Those are all my subordinates; I use them to monitor everything that happens in the dungeon; I keep an eye on all who come to this dungeon with their help of them¡­"


    "And whoever tries to reach the fifth floor, I gather all my minions and attack them continuously to make them retreat or die on the spot¡­"


    "You two are the first who have made it to this hall ever since I took over this dungeon¡­"


    Aria was perplexed by those words; she also used her detection before, but she didn''t sense the presence of the Lich, as he''s much stronger than her.


    This greater Lich is a peak grade-2 monster, and Aria is still not at the peak of grade-2; thus, it was impossible for her to sense his presence beforehand. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire


    "I see, so the reason why I was not able to sense the presence of any monster in the final boss room was because you were suppressing your mana fluctuations¡­ sigh, and here I thought that there were no monsters here¡­"


    Aria was not able to sense anyone in the final boss chamber, so she thought that it was empty, but it turns out that from the start to the end, their every move was being monitored by the greater lich.


    "W-wait, if you already knew that we were heading in your direction, then why didn''t you attack us with your minions¡­."


    The lich shook his head and said,


    "I may have lost my wits a lot after dying and becoming a lich, but I have become extremely sensitive to ''Death'' now¡­ and I didn''t want to provoke ''Death'' for no reason¡­"


    The lich glanced at Jareth and stopped talking.


    Although he can''t sense any mana fluctuations from Jareth''s, he can already sense in his bones that the moment he tries to attack, he will meet his death.


    Jareth, on the other hand, was still indifferent.


    He had already sensed Erik''s presence before even entering the dungeon; in fact, he knew that Erick would be here, as he had completed this dungeon in the game many times.


    The main reason for bringing Mark and Risa to train here was so that he could also visit Erik, who is one of the game''s few hidden NPCs.


    Yes! Erik is not actually a monster; he''s a hidden NPC merchant. You can buy a lot of rare and shady items from him.


    "Erik, the Greatest Smuggler of ''Benevolent Fairy powder''¡­ It''s nice to meet you. I am Jareth Ayad, a humble wizard¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Erik went silent for a moment and then laughed a bit,


    "Hahaha, I didn''t expect that there would still be some people left who would have known about me! Ahahaha, this is amazing!!"


    "It''s been more than fifty years since I have felt so excited and happy!!"


    Erik didn''t bother upholding the status of the boss monster anymore; he put his wand back in his space ring and walked over to Jareth and Aria''s side, completely defenseless.


    Jareth wasn''t surprised by this move, but Aria backed off quite a few steps in fright.


    In the game, you have two options to deal with this hidden NPC: one is that you fight him and loot his equipment; the other is that you say that he used to smuggle ''Benevolent Fairy Powder''.


    Saying this will turn him from an enemy to a friend.


    He will consider you a customer who came to buy the ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' from him, and thus he will turn into a merchant.


    Aside from that powder, you can also buy some other things from him, like the heart of a fox-man from the fox tribe that lives in the Beast Folk Empire.


    Also, he sells illegal drugs and poison, and if you buy a lot of Benevolent Fairy Powder from him, he will even sell you some shady forbidden spells.


    One of them is the spell that can be used to turn humans into literal potions that can help you improve your grade temporarily.


    That kind of potion has severe side effects, and you need to use a human as ''material'' to extract life essence and soul power to make that potion.


    Thus, it''s forbidden magic.


    In the game, there are also unique methods to use these forbidden magic books. If you give this book to Aria, who''s a pure-hearted merchant, she will go mad and lose her mind.


    Eventually turning into an evil alchemist, this is basically a bad ending scenario for Aria''s character in the game.


    Some players, who like to complete the game 100%, engage in this shady behavior to earn trophies.


    Jareth himself never tried it, as Aria is a very useful NPC in the game, and he didn''t want to lose a merchant who sells potions at a low price.


    Even today, Jareth only came here for that ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' and not for those shady forbidden spells.


    "Let''s cut the chit-chat and talk about business¡­ I want the whole stock of that powder you have; we can negotiate the price¡­"


    Erik laughed happily at Jareth''s words and said,


    "Hoho, it''s a rare occasion to meet a customer who has a lot of money in their hand, it seems it''s my lucky day today!"


    "But, forgive me, Mr. Jareth, I don''t need money from you¡­ How about you do me a favor instead, and I will give you the whole stock for a very big discount!"


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed a bit at those words.


    "Hmm¡­ sell them to me first and then tell me more about it¡­"

 Chapter 161 The Benevolent Fairy powder... Part-3.

    As the name implies, Benevolent Fairy Powder has something to do with fairies.Innocent people will think that it''s some kind of usable powder or something that fairies make.


    But the truth about this thing is just as dark as it is lethal.


    In the human empire, there is an organization that regulates and checks the quality of food produced by various companies and factories.


    They have compiled a list of the 100 most deadly poisonous substances in the world.


    The ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' is ranked first on this list of the most lethal and horrifying toxins.


    If it''s a poison, you might wonder why it''s called ''Benevolent'' in the first place.


    We must understand its composition to comprehend the significance of its name.


    As the name already suggests, this thing''s main ingredient is related to ''Fairies'', but to what extent?


    Benevolent Fair Powder is made by squashing a fairy alive and grinding its corpse into a meat paste.


    You would need to grind the whole corpse; not even the bones must be left behind, and then you would need to dry the meat paste at insanely high temperatures that only a grade-2 or above-level fire mage can provide.


    Once you do that, the paste will burn into charcoal, and then you need to add a refined soul''s power to that burned charcoal. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This will turn the charcoal into powder that will shine with a faint green light.


    The main thing is that you would need to torture the fairy for a hundred days at a time before turning it into paste; you would need to corrupt the fairy''s soul with hatred and darkness.


    Fairies are a small and very harmless type of creature, the size of a human palm. They are well known for having the best healing magic, and they often help people in need.


    They are the most benevolent and kind race out there, and it''s near impossible for hatred to corrupt them, even in extreme cases.


    Only one in a thousand fairies will get corrupted by hatred if you use this process on them, which means most fairies will die a meaningless and pointless death in this process and will turn into waste material.


    This powder bears the name ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' due to the benevolent nature of the fairy race, which prevents even a few from succumbing to hatred.


    It''s a substance cultivated with the purest form of hatred and darkness; just by a touch of it, anyone below grade 3 will instantly lose their mind and will get corrupted to the point that their body will start rotting while the person is still alive.


    This was the primary reason the entire fairy race went extinct a century ago.


    Not only did the various demon cults use this method to kill their enemies in the most brutal way, but they also hunted down fairies like crazy.


    Fairies used to exist in every corner of this planet, and you could encounter one or two every day by simply taking a casual stroll outside.


    Yet, now there are none left in the world.


    Such a successful race met its demise in the most brutal manner.


    The fairies were unable to protect themselves.


    Fairies never learned any other magic except for healing magic; they believed that harming others was a great sin and that only healing magic was the true path to ascension.


    Although the path they walked was indeed very good, and they could have achieved a lot with it, they forget one thing: people''s greed knows no bounds.


    The king who ruled the empire during the height of the Cult of Therath even recognized the use of this fairy powder as legal at one point.


    Tens of thousands of fairies were killed every day to make this powder and create lethal poison to kill the enemy.


    The fairy race kept declining, and eventually they went extinct a hundred years ago.


    Even though the previous king had placed a ban on this thing, the fairy race was never able to recover from this blow, and there was no saving them.


    In the whole fairy race, there is only one type of fairy that barely learns basic combat skills.


    That is the King Fairy.


    Every hundred years, a king fairy with extremely high talent is born among the fairy race.


    The King Fairy usually has the potential to reach grade 1 on its own. But the sad thing is that no King Fairy ever reached that level, as they never really trained seriously.


    The fairies would inevitably become targets again and again without the ability to defend themselves.


    Teenage children can easily capture fairies without the use of mana because they are such weak creatures!


    And once caught, their end would always be horrible!


    Jareth has read about many races that were destroyed by humans in the past in this game''s lore, but the fairy race met the most tragic ending of them all.


    They weren''t even regarded as living creatures; they were treated as mere ''ingredients'' and slaughtered mercilessly.


    And what did the fairies do to retaliate?


    Nothing; they still kept helping injured people and never chose to abandon their kind-hearted ways.


    That is the reason why anything related to a fairy is associated with ''benevolence and care''.


    Even the most lethal toxin has the name ''Benevolent'' in it¡­ how ironic.


    Just by seeing this item once, weak-hearted people can lose their minds and go mad.


    That''s how lethal this thing is; its very existence is a curse on the world itself.


    The world''s kindest existence turned into the most lethal toxin; this is the cruelty of this corrupted world.


    ¡­


    Jareth knew the whole history of this item, and he also knew what its effects were.


    This substance is not only a potent toxin, but it can also aid him in his goal of creating a ''wormhole''.


    Although it feels awful to be using this item, Jareth has no other choice.


    The whole fairy race is already extinct; only a few ancient tombs and dungeons have some hidden bottles left that have fairy powder stored in them.


    The fairy powder that Erik has was also extracted from one of the ruins of a previous demon cult''s headquarters.


    Nowadays, this thing is strictly banned; whoever is found carrying it with them is sentenced with ten years in jail just for having it.


    ''Although they created monuments and statues to sympathize with the fairies¡­ it''s all useless in the end¡­''


    The sins committed by the humans of this world are just endless; there are just too many beings whose lives were destroyed by the human race.


    ''I guess living in a solar system that is surrounded by an endless sea of miasma indeed causes a lot of subtle influence¡­''


    In Jareth''s previous world, humans were evil, but they weren''t this corrupt.


    Miasma undoubtedly affects people in this world, if only very slightly, but even this little impact can lead to significant changes.


    Jareth doesn''t think of himself as an incarnation of justice, so he isn''t going to slaughter the human race for doing what they did.


    All he can do is just feel pity for what happened to the fairies. In his opinion, the humans have failed humanity itself; it won''t be wrong to say that they are the real monsters in this world.


    ''The longer I stay in this world, the more I want to leave this place¡­ sigh. If not for the circumstances, I would prefer not to use this item for myself¡­''


    The fairy powder can be used as a fine material to stabilize the wormhole, and as the fairy race is already dead, there is no point in hesitating.


    Jareth shook his head and urged Erik to bring out the stuff.


    Erik nodded his head and pulled out two palm-sized glass bottles filled with Benevolent Fairy powder that were glowing with a faint green light.


    Jareth hurriedly put it in his space ring, as he didn''t want it to affect Aria''s mentality.


    He then transferred money to Erik, just as he had promised.


    Erik smiled happily after he found out he got the message from his bank account on his phone.


    But before he could remain happy for a long time, Jareth directly increased the size of his ''Glowing Mana Orb'', and the ''Mild Darkness repelling'' effect got boosted in an instant.


    "NOOO!!! You are a Liar!!! You f*cking monster!! AHHHHHH!!!"


    Jareth sighed while looking at Erik''s body, which was turning into dust, and said in a calm voice,


    "You seem to have misunderstood something¡­ I fulfilled my promise, made a proper exchange, and even gave money; thus, I am not a liar¡­ But yeah, you can say that I am indeed a ''Monster''¡­"


    Erik, a shady individual, resorted to transforming into an undead lich to evade the police''s relentless pursuit. He staged his death to make his escape possible.


    However, even after becoming undead, he never stopped his business of smuggling illegal drugs and harmful substances to various places.


    Many innocent lives have been destroyed by him for profit, and he also has many forbidden spells in his arsenal.


    If one day he sells those forbidden spells to others, then more people will die horrible deaths.


    Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth simply eliminated this unstable factor on the spot. Although he can''t bring back the dead fairies who died unjust deaths, at least he can prevent a few innocent people''s lives.


    The fairies would have also chosen to help, so Jareth just did this to make amends for the fairy powder he was going to use.


    Fortunately, he had cast a silencing spell earlier, so Aria didn''t hear what he talked about with Erik, and he also hid the powder fast enough without letting her catch a single glimpse of it.


    Thus, she was unaffected.

 Chapter 162 Konda, The Incarnation of Terror! Part-1

    "Hmm, I guess we should head back now¡­"Hearing Jareth''s words, Aria immediately nodded her head.


    Although she didn''t know what Jareth was talking about with that monster or why he suddenly killed it on the spot, she agreed to leave immediately.


    She knew that asking too much might get her in trouble, so she didn''t bother questioning Jareth''s decision to cast a silencing spell nearby while he was talking with Erik.


    Jareth also didn''t bother explaining too much and turned back to leave, but just as he took one step back, he stopped and glanced at the ground.


    *Rumble!*


    The ground suddenly started to rumble. At first, it was just a weak trembling, but the rumbling started to get stronger and stronger.


    It seemed like an enormous earthquake was coming.


    ''What''s going on? I don''t remember something like this happening in the game¡­''


    Jareth has cleared many dungeons in the game, and not a single dungeon collapsed after killing the dungeon master. Such a thing doesn''t happen in this world.


    But the current scenario seems to differ for some reason.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Detection: Maximum Output!]


    Jareth waved directly, used his mana detection at full power, and tried to figure out what was happening.


    And after seeing the results of the mana detection, Jareth''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    ''What is this thing doing here!?''


    [Basic Magic: Float: Maximum Output!]


    Jareth directly used telekinesis to grab Aria, and he flew towards the ceiling at an insanely fast speed. He directly smashed the rock ceiling of the fifth floor and arrived at the fourth floor in an instant.


    Then he used mana detection to find Mark and Risa in an instant.


    The two of them were trying to navigate their way in the maze of the fourth floor, and since Jareth''s telekinesis''s range is very big, he wrapped them with telekinesis, and they flew towards him on their own.


    Jareth didn''t waste a single second; he flew higher and broke the ceiling of the rest of the three floors before finally coming out of the dungeon in a hurry.


    Aria, Mark, and Risa were taken aback by the sudden change in scenery and had a hard time understanding what just happened.


    One moment they were still in the dungeon, and the other they were floating in the sky above the dungeon.


    Although it may seem that Jareth did many things at once, he might have been slow, but the fact is that from the start to the end, it only took Jareth three seconds to bring himself and the rest of the three out of the dungeon.


    His mana singularity gives him an amazing boost in flying speed, so he was able to achieve it by expanding some extra mana.


    Just as Mark and the others were about to inquire about the situation, Jareth waved his hand, causing three of them to fly towards the city.


    "You three, go back to the city and tell the mayor to deploy the city''s barrier at full power¡­ Tell him that it''s an order from me, a grade 1 mage."


    "This place is about to turn into a hell hole soon, so make sure you protect yourself. Leave now¡­"


    Jareth used his telekinesis to throw the three in the direction of the city. He threw them like he was throwing rocks.


    Aria was the first to react; she immediately covered Mark and Risa with her own telekinesis and protected them from the insane wind pressure.


    Then she flew towards the city, using the boost from Jareth''s throw.


    Although she didn''t know what was going on, if something can make even Jareth serious, then the situation is definitely not good.


    Seeing that the three of them had gone far away, Jareth heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''They are carefully chosen assets; I can''t lose them here¡­ Good thing they are quite obedient and left early without asking too many questions¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stared at the dungeon below while casting several buffs on himself.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    [Basic Magic: Physical Enhancement!] Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Basic Magic: Smoothen Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Enhanced Mana Fluctuation Sensitivity!]


    Jareth held nothing back at the moment; he was ready to go all out at this moment.


    ¡­


    While Jareth was preparing for the fight, the dungeon started to crumble from that insanely strong earthquake.


    All the warriors and mages who were present in the dungeon also started to run out in a panicked state, and those who couldn''t make it out got buried under the debris as the dungeon walls started to collapse.


    The earthquake spread far and wide; even Bastille was affected by it, and an urgent earthquake emergency warning was broadcast on all internet devices in the city.


    Those adventurers who were able to make it out of the dungeon became happy that they had survived, but before they could enjoy the happiness for too long, cracks appeared in the desert.


    The sand of the desert sank in the giant cracks, and a gigantic claw broke out of the ground.


    *BOOOM!!!*


    The pitch-black claw was covered in pure miasma; it was so eerie-looking that just its mere presence was giving people chills.


    When the miasma of that enormous claw touched the adventurers who had survived, they instantly died and their bodies rotted away on the spot.


    *BOOOM!!*


    Another claw broke out of the ground, and massive amounts of sand and debris flew in the air.


    The giant being violently excavated itself from the ground, showing no concern for its surroundings.


    Observing this, Jareth smirked slightly to himself and said,


    "It''s been a while, Abysmal Bone Dragon, Konda ''The Empty shell''¡­"


    [Ding! Warning, You are standing in the presence of a former ''true dragon''!]


    [Ding! Warning, you are in the range of ''Dragon''s Aura''!]


    [Ding! Due to the ''Dragon''s Aura'', all creatures in the vicinity will have their power reduced by 75 percent in the presence of the true Dragon!]


    [Ding! Mana Singularity triggered! You are unaffected by the ''Dragon''s Aura''!]


    [Ding! When in the presence of the Former ''True Dragon'', all creatures in the vicinity will be inflicted with ''Extreme Fear''! and other mental Debuffs!]


    [Ding! Mana Singularity triggered! You are unaffected by the mental debuffs placed by the dragon!]


    Looking at that giant bone dragon standing in front of him, Jareth couldn''t help but marvel at how amazing that creature looked.


    Even though it had no dragon wings or a living body, just its bones alone seemed too beautiful, as if it were a piece of world Class Art.


    Although it only had a body made up of just bones and nothing else, that existence itself seemed so majestic that even Jareth was in awe for a moment.


    Even when corrupted by miasma and rotten to the point of only bones being left, this being seemed so majestic and awe-inspiring that people might have mistook it for a divine being if not for its eerie presence.


    That bone dragon was so tall that even Jareth''s whole body seemed shorter than the size of the eyeball socket on its skull.


    Jareth had seen this so many times that he was just too familiar with it.


    Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire


    ''Abysmal Bone Dragon, Konda¡­ the destroyer of civilizations and a great calamity for the world¡­ This thing, this awe-inspiring and majestic shell of a former true dragon, is one of the final three boss opponents of this game¡­''


    The more Jareth thought about it, the more serious he became about the situation.


    ''A peak Grade-1 monster that has insanely high resistance to ''Magic''¡­ How can I forget you¡­ After all, you are the ''Dread'' of all players¡­''


    In this game, not a single boss monster has higher magic resistance than this absolute beast; this thing is exactly what you would depict in the history books as the literal incarnation of terror.


    This game has a decently sized player base, but there was not a single player who didn''t complain about how difficult this beast ''Konda'' was.


    In this world, mana primarily enhances most skills and attacks, making them either complete or partial magical abilities.


    And Konda, the ''Abysmal Dragon'' has 95 percent magic resistance.


    Since most bosses in this game are weak to magic, most players used a magic build; as a result, this very dragon nearly defeated all players to the point of absolute frustration.


    And if you think that he might be weak to physical attacks, then you are sorely mistaken.


    Despite how fragile its bones may look from the outside, this beast is 99.99 percent immune to physical attacks, even if that minimal amount of 0.01 percent of a physical attack landed on it.


    It will still be reduced further by the 95 percent physical attack resistance.


    In other words, using physical attacks on this thing is basically useless.


    This thing is so brokenly overpowered that the game developers had to later turn it into an optional boss so players wouldn''t keep complaining about him.


    This boss monster alone caused nearly 90 percent of the of the player base to quit this horrible game.


    Fighting Konda is like attacking your own foot with a nuclear missile; you are wasting your life.


    The number of players who have ever defeated this boss monster can be counted on the fingers of a single hand, and obviously Jareth was not one of them as he was a casual player.


    ''Ah, what bad luck! What is this thing doing here!? It should be sealed in the depths of the ''Abyss altar'', which is basically the end game area!!''


    Jareth had no idea why this beast had suddenly appeared here; all he knew was that unless you kill this thing right here right now, nothing will survive.

 Chapter 163 Konda, The Incarnation of Terror! Part-2.

    ''This won''t do¡­ Even if I use the attack enhancement card, there are still high chances that this thing can tank it¡­''Jareth hasn''t defeated this bone dragon in the game, but he has certainly fought it a few times.


    He has also used boosting cards like ''Attack enhancement'' cards, but still, this monster has just too much resistance.


    It won''t be wrong to say that in terms of resistance, this bone dragon is stronger than a semi-grade-0 existence.


    Even that incarnation of the demon god had much weaker magic resistance than this thing.


    If it were any other powerful beast, Jareth would have either killed it or run away to avoid battle.


    But right now, Jareth has no choice.


    He has to kill this bone dragon right now.


    The very reason why this bone dragon was sealed in the depths of the ''Abyss Altar Area'', was because this thing can spread miasma and corruption on its own without even doing anything and just existing.


    Jareth glanced down and found that the ground that the bone dragon was standing on had already started to turn pitch black, and this corruption was spreading outwards extremely fast.


    Just by existing, this thing can corrupt and corrode everything that''s in it''s vicinity. If it''s not killed right now, then it will keep rampaging all over the continent and eventually corrupt everything.


    This will greatly hinder Jareth''s ultimate plan of escaping the corruption; the weakening of the false dome''s seal will accelerate, and things will become even worse than they already were.


    ''The main problem is¡­ why is this thing here? Did someone break the seal placed in the abyss altar?''


    Ever since Jareth read the map in Nathan''s hidden library, he already knew that there was one of the seven nodes of the False Dome seal located in the abyss altar area.


    The fact that this beast has escaped indicates that someone has already broken one of the false dome''s seven nodes.


    ''This is extremely bad news¡­''


    Jareth already knew who had an idea and was behind all this.


    ''I see, the false dome cult likely has found some method to track down the nodes, and they have already started their work of breaking the nodes¡­''


    The abyss altar area is a dangerous place, but for the False Dome cult, which has quite a few peak grade-1 mages, it''s not that difficult.


    ''They must have found this dragon sleeping there in the seal and likely set it free when they broke the node¡­ The thing that the abysmal dragon hates the most is the pure form of mana¡­''


    ''And in this world, I have the purest form of mana, which means it sensed my presence when it was wandering around underground¡­''


    Although Jareth knew that this theory was not likely 100 percent correct, he had already figured out most of the truth in a matter of seconds.


    His genius mind talent is no joke; he can figure out hidden things with just a few clues. If he were back on earth with this talent, he could have become one of the best detectives in the world.


    ''No matter the case, I will still need to fight this thing anyway¡­ better early than late¡­''


    This boss monster prevents access to the Abyss Altar Area''s deepest hidden chamber, which contains a sealed item of utmost importance.


    Jareth would have gone to fight this boss even if it hadn''t come looking for him itself.


    Thus, this fight was inevitable; he just didn''t expect that this beast would suddenly detect him when he was on a random stroll on the fifth floor of a dungeon.


    [Basic Magic: Wide Area Type: Magic Beam Bombardment!]


    Hundreds of giant magic circles measuring half a kilometer each appeared in the sky and began to fire massive beams of mana at the bone dragon below.


    ''Small attacks won''t do much damage; I need to slowly accumulate some damage before finding an opportunity to launch a big attack that can insta-kill this thing; otherwise, there''s no end to it¡­''


    Those giant beams that could have turned a peak-grade-2 mage into ashes weren''t even scratching this dragon''s bones. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It seemed like there was barely enough to even tickle its body.


    The dragon didn''t even bother dodging these attacks, as they seemed as weak as a fly trying to hit it.


    The bone dragon raised its head toward the sky and opened its giant jaw.


    [Dragon Breath: Rotten Abyss!]


    The bone dragon fired a massive amount of miasma and corruption from its mouth as a breath attack and directly corrupted those mana circles in the sky before breaking them easily.


    Jareth knew that if he didn''t cut off his connection to those magic circles, Miasma would corrupt the connection as well, harming him in the process.


    Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire


    Simply attacking this dragon is not the problem; the bigger issue lies in its ability to counterattack you so severely that your own magic can become harmful for you.


    Simply speaking, this boss monster is so overpowered that it seems like the developers created it just to torture the players on purpose.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    Even the darkness-repelling effect of the glowing mana orb was pretty useless on this boss, even after being enhanced by ''Mana Singularity''.


    At best, it was barely slowing the spread of corruption on the ground.


    ''Tch, this is the most troublesome enemy I have ever faced since coming into this world¡­''


    [Mana Command: Mana Shackles!]


    The mana in the ten-kilometer area immediately solidified at Jareth''s command and restrained the movements of all creatures within this range except for Jareth himself.


    The shackle momentarily halted the bone dragon, but it soon began to actively disperse miasma from its body, thereby contaminating the surrounding area.


    But Jareth wasn''t sitting idle in this small time frame either; he raised his hand towards the sky, and the night witch''s grimoire shone brightly, boosting and amplifying his magic.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Flaming Meteor Bombardment!]


    Boosted by mana singularity and the power of extremely pure mana, along with the amplification effect of the grimoire, Jareth cast the grade-3 flame magic that he had just recently learned after becoming a grade-3 mage.


    An insanely big magic circle appeared in the sky, and a gigantic burning meteor flew down at the speed of Mach 5.


    Its target was the head of the bone dragon.


    The power of this attack was indeed immense; just by its mere presence, the meteor evaporated all the moisture in the area, and the air became extremely dry and warm.


    Even the people in Bastille felt this sudden change; everything became hot, to the point that even those dark clouds that always cover the sky of the chaotic thunder desert started to dissipate.


    This attack raised the vigilance of the bone dragon, and the bone dragon immediately took an offensive approach.


    It poured a massive amount of miasma into its tail and flung its tail towards the falling meteor before it could even hit its body.


    *Boom!*


    The tail and the meteor collided, a massive shockwave was created, hundreds of tons of sand flew in the air due to the massive wind pressure, and a giant sand storm was created.


    The debris of the broken meteor flew in all directions, and some of it flew so far away that it hit the barrier in Bastille City, causing temporary cracks to appear on it.


    Although those cracks healed instantly due to the output of mana being high in the barrier, the people of Bastille understood one fact.


    In front of those two absolute powerhouses, this barrier is as weak as a sheet of paper.


    If that Bone Dragon wanted it, it could easily break this barrier and slaughter all of the people in this city.


    It will take just one attack to wipe this whole city off the map.


    This realization caused people to tremble in fear.


    Some people denied reality and hid in the corners of their houses to find some sense of security, while others directly fainted from the sheer shock of being powerless and insignificant.


    Ordinary people are so weak and powerless in front of this monstrosity that even their own existence feels insignificant when looking at that giant monster.


    The Bone Dragon is so tall and big that it seems to be touching the dark clouds in the sky just by standing there.


    Although Jareth seemed as small as an ant in front of that giant beast, he was the only hope for the people at that moment.


    People started to pray for his victory, and some even started to chant Jareth''s name with reverence and awe in their eyes.


    The abysmal dragon itself is a source of terror, and to think that a human is fighting this source of terror head-on is a very exciting thing.


    Jareth and the dragon''s fight seemed extremely out of the reach of ordinary people; it seemed like two gods were fighting each other while the mortals could only look up to them and wait for their fate to be decided.


    Thankfully, Aria and the group returned to the city on time and informed the mayor about the situation before things escalated.


    The city barrier was deployed at maximum power, and even Shin was invited to defend in case some stray attacks came their way.


    Although Shin and others can''t take part in that battle of absolute giants, they can at least help Jareth by trying to protect the common people from the collateral damage.


    Everyone knows that when peak powerhouses fight an all-out battle, the collateral damage caused by them alone can be very devastating.


    Shin and the group immediately took positions to help reduce this; even the mayor deployed the whole police force to control the people and reduce panic.

 Chapter 164 Konda, The Incarnation of Terror! Part-3.

    Standing on the city wall, Shin looked at that giant behemoth with a nervous and shocked expression on his face.''T-that bone dragon¡­''


    Shin belongs to one of the most influential and oldest wizard families; thus, he has had access to a lot of history books that were completely out of the grasp of ordinary people.


    In the history books, there is a mention of a dragon who came on this planet in a meteor and then rampaged like a berserk insane beast for years!


    Eventually, it somehow fell into a forbidden area and was sealed off by several powerful Grade 1 mages.


    This dragon is mentioned in numerous folktales.


    The dragon had dark black scales and was extremely intimidating to look at; it was a true Abyss Dragon; it could control miasma and corruption easily; and it killed millions in its rampage.


    Except for this one dragon, there are no mentions of dragons in the history of this world.


    In the long annals of history, no one has discovered another dragon other than this Abyss Dragon.


    In other words, the bone dragon that Jareth is fighting is likely the same one.


    ''It doesn''t have black scales or a proper body¡­ Perhaps staying in that so-called forbidden place caused it to age and its body to rot. or perhaps the miasma that it controls has corrupted and destroyed its own body¡­''


    ''No matter the case, it''s a relief that this thing is not in its prime form at least¡­''


    Indeed, Konda isn''t even in its prime; if it had a proper body, its defense would have been even higher.


    You can even see cracks on those shining bones of this bone dragon; they were likely also created from centuries of corruption running deep into its body and penetrating its bone marrow.


    Jareth''s flame meteor left only a few scratches on its tail and didn''t affect it much. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shin was extremely shocked by this outcome.


    An attack that could have easily wiped out a grade-2 mage like him didn''t even injure the bone dragon.


    ''T-this is going to be troublesome¡­''


    Shin can already see that Jareth will have to retreat if things keep going like this.


    Moreover, there is no one in the current world who can contain this dragon; in the past, the dragon was only sealed because of its own mistake, but that might be impossible now.


    Furthermore, nearly a dozen grade-1 mages were required to seal this dragon, and there are currently only two grade-1 mages in the human race.


    In other words, sealing the dragon is also impossible.


    Looking at that dragon, Shin could feel endless helplessness.


    In the face of absolute power, tricks are useless; the gap in power is just too huge.


    The current human race can''t even beat Grade-2 mages with their advanced technology, so the weapons of the human race are pretty much useless against the bone dragon.


    And if things stay this way, then the world really may come to an end; this dragon will rampage in all directions and slaughter anyone and everyone.


    Mark and Risa, who just arrived at the city wall with Aria, also had a nervous and worried expression on their faces.


    They were worried about Jareth.


    At that time, they didn''t know why Jareth was sending them away in such a hurry, but after seeing this absolute monstrosity burst out of the ground, they figured everything out.


    If they were still beside Jareth, they would have been a hindrance for him.


    Weak people have no place on the battlefield of the true giants.


    Mark couldn''t help but clench his fists tightly while looking at Jareth, who was standing in the air and was stopping the Bone Dragon with his power alone.


    ''I must work hard¡­ I want to help him too; I don''t want to be considered a hindrance by the person I admire¡­''


    Mark has always wanted to follow in Jareth''s footsteps and become someone whom Jareth could acknowledge.


    Although Jareth''s figure looked so small in front of that massive dragon, his presence was giving unwavering hope to the people.


    He was representing the ''Hope'' of survival for humanity right now.


    At that moment, Mark realized what he needed to accomplish in his life: he needed to become someone who can singlehandedly create ''Hope'' for people in the darkest of times.


    To be a hope is to create light in a situation where everything seems ridden with despair and darkness.


    ¡­


    On the battlefield,.


    ''So even a meteor didn''t do much?''


    Jareth is now sure of the fact that even if he used the ''Attack Enhancement Card'' he still can''t beat this dragon.


    With his current abilities, Jareth can surely launch an attack that is much stronger than the one he created in Artavia with the help of a grade-1 mage and four grade-2 mages.


    The attack they created in Artavia was not only boosted by the power of several mages; it was also boosted by Jareth''s mana singularity and even had the amplification boost from the night witch grimoire along with the attack enhancement card.


    ''We were able to break the space-time fabric with that attack, but the area was too small¡­ If I use an attack enhancement card, I can certainly break the space-time fabric, but the area will not be much bigger either¡­''


    ''This dragon is just too big; that attack will barely be able to injure a small portion of it even if used¡­''


    ''I need something that can directly target this dragon as a whole¡­''


    Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire


    While contemplating in his head, Jareth wasn''t sitting idle at all; he was launching many strong attacks, one after another, on the bone dragon.


    But just like before, they barely left a few scratches on its bones and didn''t do much damage.


    *Boom*


    The bone dragon did a claw attack and pounced at Jareth like a lion, but Jareth immediately utilized his float magic to dodge the attack in mid-air.


    He has already placed a massive mana detection field in this area and has also boosted his mana fluctuation sensitivity.


    Every time this dragon moves, its miasma collides with the mana in the air, creating mana fluctuations.


    Although they are very small and nearly untraceable mana fluctuations, Jareth can sense them with the help of mana singularity and increased mana fluctuation sensitivity.


    Thus, he could easily dodge the attacks of the bone dragon, as he could detect them the very moment the dragon moved even a single inch.


    It''s like Jareth has some kind of ''Dodge Hack'' placed on his body; he can dodge all of the dragon''s attacks before the other party''s attacks are even half-way to actually attacking.


    The bone dragon has long lost its mind to corruption, and it can''t make strategies or perform coordinated, proper attacks.


    It''s just a beast with an overly resistant body who only does things purely on instinct.


    The most basic instinct of an abyss dragon is to destroy everything, as they are literal incarnations of terror and destruction.


    And because its body and mind have rotted away, leaving only this instinct in its bones, it will continue to rage wildly until it dies.


    The overly defensive body of this bone dragon rendered Jareth''s attacks useless, despite his ability to easily dodge the attacks of this mindless beast.


    The situation between Jareth and Konda is that neither of them is able to harm each other, and the fight has entered a stalemate.


    Whenever Konda tries to attack Jareth, he flies away and attacks from a different angle, but no results are created from those attacks.


    This back-and-forth battle of fighting like crazy kept going and going endlessly.


    Three days and three nights passed by, and Jareth kept replenishing his mana from the surroundings forcefully and kept bombarding the dragon while the dragon kept jumping at him and even swung its tail to attack.


    The two of them battled from near Bastille to hundreds of kilometers away; they fought on the ground and in the air; hundreds of gigantic cracks were left on the ground, and the desert became even more of a wasteland than it already was.


    Although Jareth did his best to contain the miasma and corruption, the endless battle started to cause mental stress, and he stopped caring about the corruption on the ground.


    Jareth''s expression remained as cold as always, but the battle kept going.


    This battle was so fierce and terrifying that the phrase "The heavens were pierced and the earth was shattered¡­" seems to fit it perfectly.


    But these three days weren''t for nothing.


    Jareth finally seemed to have figured out a way.


    ''Although I don''t know if this method will actually work but¡­ I have nothing else left in my arsenal¡­ I have already fired all types of magic that I know on it¡­''


    Jareth suddenly flew up towards the sky, glanced down at Konda, and then spoke.


    "Konda! Don''t you think that the weather is quite nice today?"


    The dragon had already lost its mind long ago, so it couldn''t understand Jareth''s words. It opened its jaws and used sound waves to create a roar.


    *ROOOOARRRRRR!!!*


    Jareth wasn''t intimidated by that roar; instead, a smirk appeared on his face.


    ''Got you!''


    The dark clouds in the sky shone with purple thunder, and a massive bolt of thunder was launched towards Konda.


    ''In these three days, I have been purposely wandering, trying to fight in the sky, as I was analyzing the composition of the thunder in the sky¡­''


    Jareth started to analyze the thunder in the sky as soon as he entered this desert of chaotic thunder.


    He knew that the thunder here has the power of the ''Laws'' of the world in it, and he can learn more about the ''laws'' by analyzing this thunder.


    He declared to Mark and Risa that he was bringing them here for their training, but in truth, he came here to train himself, not them.


    ''This is it¡­ I will gamble it all on this one move¡­''

 Chapter 165 Heavenly Punishment!

    The desert of chaotic thunder is blessed by the ''law'' of ''truth'' at night, and if you say things that are not true, then you will get struck by the thunder.The force of this thunder is always equal to what you can handle, and it varies from person to person.


    The stronger someone is, the stronger the thunder that falls on them, but the power of this thunder is usually very weak, and it barely just burns you a bit and numbs your body for a few seconds.


    It is never lethal and doesn''t do much harm.


    But things can be changed if another power of the ''Law'' interferes in the process.


    Jareth had been analyzing the thunder in the sky for a long time with his ''mana singularity''.


    After using mana singularity on full capacity for so long, he figured out one thing.


    ''Mana singularity is likely not a true legendary skill¡­ The power of the ''law'' of the world behind it is much weaker¡­ or perhaps it has been degraded¡­''


    An endless sea of miasma surrounds this entire solar system. And as the ''law'' of ''miasma'' and the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' are completely opposite factors, they suppress each other actively.


    Due to the presence of the endless seas of miasma, the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' is much weaker in this place, and thus the ''Mana singularity'' skill is a much weaker version of the true legendary skill.


    ''I played the game for quite some time, and I never knew such a crucial thing¡­ sigh, as long as I am still in this endless sea of miasma, I can likely never see the true form of mana singularity¡­''


    Jareth figured out that he will have to make do with it for now; if he had the perfect version of this legendary skill, ''Mana Field'', then he could have analyzed the ''laws'' even faster.


    But even with this weaker version called ''Mana singularity'', Jareth was able to analyze most of the composition of the thunder that has manifested in the clouds above the desert.


    He purposely asked a random question and made Konda use his skills to roar at him.


    Jareth already knew that Konda doesn''t have consciousness, and no matter what he says, it will be considered a ''Lie'' by the ''law'' of ''Truth''.


    Not only are the ''laws'' of this world themselves against ''Miasma'', but Konda''s inability to tell the ''truth'' made him even more targeted.


    Then Jareth took advantage of this matter, the very moment the thunder was about to launch from the clouds.


    He raised his hand towards the clouds.


    [Mana singularity: Mana command: Enhance Composition!]


    Jareth used mana singularity to interfere with the formation of the thunder in the clouds.


    He forcefully enhanced the power of that thunder by giving ''Mana Command'' and forcing the mana in the area to enhance the composition of the thunder.


    He not only poured nearly all of his own mana to carry out that ''mana command'', he even used the grimoire to amplify the power of that thunder.


    And now that Jareth has added his own mana into this thunder, it can ''technically'' be considered an attack on his own.


    Which means now Jareth can use his Trump card as he has fulfilled the condition.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! You have used an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)!]


    [Ding! Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    When Jareth finally received the notification that the attack card had activated, an evil smirk appeared on his face.


    He pointed to the sky and glanced at Konda, who was rushing towards him by jumping in the sky.


    "If heavens don''t dare to punish you,


    I shall bring the divine punishment upon you, Myself!"


    *BOOM!!* *CRACK!!* S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Amplified by the grimoire, enhanced with Jareth''s mana singularity, and further strengthened by 500 times, the bluish thunder became so strong and overwhelming that it changed colors.


    After undergoing such significant enhancement, the "Law" of thunder fully manifested in that lightning bolt.


    The thunder itself changed color and became pure golden; at that moment, that bolt of thunder was so wide that even Konda seemed smaller in front of it.


    It was no longer even possible to refer to it as a bolt of thunder; it was ''Divine Punishment'' that descended from the heavens.


    The moment the ''Divine Punishment'' fell, it shattered the ''space-time fabric'', ruptured the void, and reduced Konda''s whole body into ''absolute nothingness'' along with the whole space-time fabric in that place.


    In front of the overwhelming power of that ''Divine Punishment'', the space-time fabric itself seemed as weak as a piece of paper.


    Even Jareth felt a threat of ''Instant Death'' from just looking at that massive bolt of thunder.


    Fortunately, ''Divine Punishment'' didn''t target him, and even when he stood directly in its center, it didn''t hurt him in the slightest.


    In the first place, this ''Divine Punishment'' was created by enhancing the power of the ''Law'' of ''truth,'' which only targets those who ''Lie''.


    It was Konda who didn''t tell the ''truth,'' and thus Jareth was not the target of this ''Divine Punishment''.


    As they say,


    {Only those who commit sins fear the heavenly punishment; those who are untainted from sin have nothing to fear about in the face of divine tribulations!} (Source: Trust Me Bro¡­)


    Jareth already knew he wouldn''t get harmed by that heavenly punishment, so he didn''t even bother dodging and stayed still so that Konda could get a chance to pounce at him.


    And as Konda had already lost its mind to corruption long ago, it couldn''t feel the ''Emotion'' called ''Fear'' thus he never felt that the heavenly punishment might kill him instantly.


    And as he was so sure of his defensive power, he didn''t bother dodging; this was the main reason for his demise.


    If he still had a functional mind, he could have at least dodged the attack, albeit with fatal injuries.


    ¡­


    Once the heavenly punishment finally disappeared, the broken crack in the void became unstable and started to heal rapidly.


    Upon witnessing this, Jareth sighed and pondered in his mind.


    ''Sigh, so even the divine thunder can''t create a permanent gap in the void? I guess I really need to work harder if I really want to create a stable ''Wormhole''¡­''


    Jareth has long figured out that the ''Fabric of reality'' in this world is likely much stronger than the one in his previous world due to the influence of ''Mana'' and other factors.


    Due to this, it will be more trouble to create a stable wormhole, which could have been easier in his previous world. Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire


    ''Sigh, at least not everything was for naught, I figure out a little bit of the traces of how the ''Laws'' of this world works¡­ That''s already a huge gain¡­''


    Although Jareth was already mentally and physically exhausted, a rare smile hung over his face.


    ''I may not have the perfect form of the legendary skill, but at least I now have a proper direction¡­''


    The name ''Mana Field'' sounds quite underwhelming for a skill that is stronger than ''Mana singularity'' but there is a reason for it.


    When Jareth completed analyzing the thunder, he came in contact with the ''Law'' of ''Truth'' for a millisecond, and in that small time frame he got knowledge about the ''True'' function of his legendary skill.


    ''Mana singularity'' can do a lot of things, but it can''t enhance magic, which you don''t have affinity for.


    But Mana Field can do that.


    As the name already suggests, Mana Field can be used to create a ''Field'' that will let you do literally anything with the ''Mana''.


    As long as you master it to perfection, you can create a ''Field'' where you can use mana as if you are a ''God of Mana'' or something.


    You can forcefully enhance your magic, regardless of whether you have an affinity for it or not.


    If Jareth had ''Mana Field'' he could have easily used any and every type of magic in that specific ''Field'', he could have directly nullified others mana and could have even stolen mana from the bodies of his opponents.


    ''Er.. thinking about it¡­ Mana Field seems like a bit too overpowered, even when compared to other legendary skills¡­''


    But Jareth has already learned the ''Truth''.


    All legendary skills are very overpowered if you master them to ''Perfection''.


    For example, if you can achieve ''Perfect'' mastery over ''Sword Intent'', you can cut anything and everything in the world.


    You can even ''Cut'' the ''concept'' of ''Life and Death'' from your body, which means death won''t come for you no matter what, and you will technically become ''Immortal''.


    Every legendary skill is a direct manifestation of the power of the ''Laws'' of the world in a person''s body; that is what makes them so broken and overpowered.


    ''Sigh, if only I had mana field, I wouldn''t have needed to bother creating a wormhole at all; I would have mastered it to perfection and would have used the ''Field'' to create a wormhole with ''Spatial magic''¡­''


    Jareth has been trying to figure out the way to escape this place for so long, and only now did you figure out that this whole time, he already had the easiest way attached to his own body all along.


    ''Forget it; now that I have finally gotten rid of this troublesome dragon, I should head back¡­ ugh.. I am just too mentally exhausted from the long battle¡­''


    Jareth used his float magic and flew away in the direction of Bastille.


    A notification rang out in his ears at the same time.


    [Ding! You successfully got rid of one of the three endgame bosses and changed the plot!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 15000 Credit point!]

 Chapter 166 A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-1.

    Hotel Grand Moon, rooftop.Shin kept moving back and forth with a nervous and tense look on his face. Mayor Zang was standing on the side with dark circles under his eyes, and even Aria was standing nearby with a dazed look on her face.


    The three of them were already under a lot of pressure, as they hadn''t heard any news from Jareth for a whole day now.


    When the fight originally started, Jareth and Konda kept fighting near the bastille, and with the insanely huge body of that dragon, it was easy to see what was going on.


    But eventually the two of them kept changing the battlefield; the fight kept going for hours, and the two of them disappeared in distance while fighting.


    Shin and the others dared not use mana detection ability on that dragon; the dragon will sense it instantly and might even target Bastille too.


    No one had thought that the fight would keep going for so long.


    Whenever the dragon moved or attacked, its huge body caused small-scale earthquakes, making the lives of ordinary people in Bastille a mess.


    People have been living under the threat of annihilation these few days.


    The mayor had to work continuously to stabilize the chaos in the city, and the whole city is currently under martial law; no one is allowed to come out of the house.


    In fact, the massive amount of debris that flew towards the city during Jareth and Konda''s fight has already destroyed the barrier.


    Thankfully Shin was there to deal with the collateral damage, so there are no casualties.


    The whole desert in a fifty-kilometer area where the dungeon was originally located has been scorched black, and massive valleys filled with lave have been created.


    All of this is just a result caused by the fight between two peak powerhouses.


    Shin and the others dared not even think about entering that battle, as they could feel in their bones that if they entered the battle, they would surely die.


    In fact, they will be a hindrance for Jareth and will drag him down.


    Thus, they never entered the battle and kept praying for Jareth''s victory.


    Now that it''s already the night of the third day, there has been no news about what has become of that battle.


    Shin and the others are dying to know the outcome, as the outcome of this battle will decide their fate too.


    Konda is corrupted with miasma, and miasma hates living things and always tries to corrupt them; thus, it is absolutely certain that Konda will definitely rush back to destroy the city if it wins the battle.


    The mayor sighed at the situation and said in a depressed tone,


    "Sigh, I have already sent a distress message outside, but they said that they can''t send army in this isolated place so fast as military vehicles don''t work here¡­"


    "They will think about dispatching the military after knowing the outcome of the battle between that bone dragon and the ''Divine Flame''¡­"


    Shin frowned at those words and replied,


    "No, by the time we know the outcome of Jareth''s battle with that beast, it would be too late¡­ Although I don''t really think that Jareth will lose, we need to be ready for everything¡­"


    "Jareth may be a grade-1 mage, but he''s a human too after all; he has a limited amount of mana¡­ I don''t know how he hasn''t run out of mana until now, but surely he can''t keep going at this rate¡­"


    "The attack speed of that dragon is too fast¡­ Despite it''s huge body, its power and speed are on par with a Grade-1 Warrior¡­"


    Unlike mages, the appearance of a Grade-1 warrior is more difficult in this world.


    The human body has limits; magic can help cross those limits and grant amazing power.


    Warriors don''t have the support of magic; they are just people with stronger bodies and flashy weapon skills.


    In this world, to become a grade-1 is to break through the genetic limits of your body; for mages, it''s much easier as they have an insane amount of mana and the help of the mana circuit.


    But Warriors don''t have massive mana pools or a mana circuit; their mana is just deposited in their body, thus ascending to become a grade-1 warrior is very difficult.


    There hasn''t been a single grade-1 warrior in the past three centuries.


    In the current world, only Mark''s younger sister, Alice, has the potential to reach the level of a grade 1 warrior and become a true sword king.


    Due to birth defects, she was born with broken magic circuits, and thus even grade 1 individuals can''t help extend her magic circuit, but as if to compensate for the inability to wield magic, she has an insane talent for swordsmanship.


    The power and speed of a Grade 1 warrior are by no means weaker than those of a Grade 1 mage at all.


    Which means Konda not only has the miasma-type grade-1 mage-level magic abilities, it also has the power and speed of a grade-1 warrior.


    The fact that Jareth has been able to even keep up with such an insane beast for three days without getting injured is already an insane feat.


    Not even Reynald or Nathan could have achieved this feat, even after going all out.


    Jareth has a very strong physique, and his mana singularity helps him replenish his mana at an extremely fast speed; thus, he technically has infinite mana.


    He would have been defeated long ago if not for these two abilities.


    ¡­


    Just when Shin and the other two were getting more and more stressed, the night suddenly became bright all of a sudden.


    Gold light came from the direction where Jareth and Konda had gone during their fight.


    "W-what going on!? T-this golden light¡­ and this bone chilling sensation¡­ H-heavenly punishment!?"


    Shin has read a lot of history books; thus, he immediately figured out what that golden light depicted.


    Only when the heavenly punishment falls does such a pure golden light appear and spread such insane spatial fluctuations in the void.


    Shin could feel that the space-time fabric itself was trembling and even Mana was getting chaotic.


    Looking in the direction of that golden light, a shocked expression appeared on Shin''s face.


    Heavenly punishment is the highest level of punishment an individual can get; it not only annihilates your body, it destroys your soul, will, consciousness, and everything.


    It straight up ''deletes'' you from existence and turns you into ''nothingness'' along with the space-time fabric in the area. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Heavenly punishment usually only appears when the ''heaven''s'' itself is angry at something or someone.


    Now that it has appeared here, it means that it either has killed Konda or Jareth.


    Heavenly punishment is impartial; it doesn''t matter if you are tainted with miasma or not; it can fall on anyone that angers the heaven itself.


    In other words, there is still a chance that it could have fallen on Jareth too, and that''s extremely bad news for Shin and the others.


    Once something happens to Jareth, they are all as good as dead. The bone dragon will not let go of even a single person, as it can sense ''living'' beings with the help of miasma from hundreds of kilometers away.


    You can''t hide from its detection. The only way is to fight him to death or just keep running.


    Time passed slowly, the golden light disappeared, and everything went dark again.


    Half an hour passed by, and the tension in the air kept increasing for the three of them.


    Just when they were about to collapse from stress, a figure flew towards the city and bypassed the barrier before finally landing on the rooftop of the city.


    Jareth was alive and well.


    The usual cold expression was still on his face, the only difference being that he had a tired look in his eyes at the moment.


    Seeing him appear so suddenly, the three of them were shocked for a moment, but then happy smiles appeared on their faces.


    Shin quickly inquired in a worried tone,


    "W-what happened to that dragon? Did you win? Are you injured somewhere?"


    Aria also hurried over to cast healing magic, but Jareth waved his hand and denied it.


    He walked towards the stairs slowly. But before leaving, he said in a calm and tired voice,


    "Dead, that dragon was destroyed by the heavenly punishment; I was lucky to survive as the heavenly punishment didn''t target me¡­"


    "I am a bit exhausted, so I will leave the aftermath to you three¡­"


    With that said, Jareth went downstairs and headed towards his room to take some rest.


    He has been fighting for so long, and he was already mentally exhausted. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire


    Continuously dodging the endless attacks of that dragon for three days without getting injured and still counterattacking with powerful spells along with trying to analyze the thunder in the clouds above.


    Jareth was doing all of these at the same time.


    If he didn''t have the help of the mana singularity and the help of insanely pure mana, this would have been impossible.


    But not everything was fruitless.


    ''I gained 15000 credit points¡­ And even after using 4000 on that attack enhancement card that I used on Konda¡­ I still had 16100 left¡­ Now I have 31100 cp¡­''


    ''Now I can do another gold lottery¡­''


    A rare happy smile appeared on Jareth''s face as he entered his room and thought about his gains.


    Konda really pushed him to his limits, but the rewards he brought were equally generous.


    ''Let''s sleep for now¡­ I will use the lottery once I am back to my peak state¡­ I can''t wait to see the result¡­''

 Chapter 167 A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-2.

    Next Morning.Hotel Grand Moon, Main Entrance.


    Jareth woke up early today because he had a press conference to attend.


    The fight with Konda was a big deal; even the government was alarmed, and the military was on the move. If Jareth himself doesn''t come out to say that he has dealt with the threat already, things will not settle down.


    The chaos in the nation will hinder Jareth''s plan to find various important items and will likely change a lot of things that were in the original plot.


    Although changing plots can earn Jareth a lot of credit points, Jareth''s real goal is not to earn credit points after all.


    His goal is to create a stable wormhole.


    If things change too much and become too unpredictable, not only will Jareth lose the advantage of having information about the future, but he will also lose various items as their location might change.


    ''Well, I have always been ready for subtle changes; the biggest issue is that one of the seven nodes of the ''False Dome Seal'' has been broken...''


    Konda was located extremely close to the seal, and if this guy managed to escape the Abyss Altar area, then it only means one thing: that the seal node in that place has already been destroyed.


    ''It''s likely the work of the False Dome cult¡­ Although I don''t know how they found the location of the seals even without finding the hidden library, they likely already have the information in their hands.


    ''This is very bad¡­ Now that they have the initiative, they might attack any of the seals, and I might not be able to stop them¡­''


    Originally, Jareth planned to visit all seals, strengthen them, and put up a very strong magic barrier around them with the help of his own mana singularity. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A magic barrier placed with the help of his mana singularity will be at the level of pseudo-grade 0, and to break such a barrier, even the False Dome cult will need a lot of time.


    Moreover, once the barrier gets destroyed, Jareth will immediately find out about the other party''s location, and he can directly rush over to seize the opportunity and slaughter all members of the cult.


    Jareth now has enough power, so he isn''t afraid; the moment he finds out the location of the False Dome members, he will slaughter them on the spot.


    Currently, Jareth has the ability to disrupt the entire plan of the False Dome Cult if he discovers their whereabouts.


    But the main problem is that he has no idea where these people are hiding.


    Even with his insane mana detection skills, Jareth can''t scan the whole planet after all.


    He doesn''t have that ability yet.


    Of course, if he had ''Mana Field'', he could have directly asked the ''Law'' of mana to help him and guide him to his targets.


    Mana is practically everywhere in the world, and if Mana helps him out, then nothing in the world can hide him at all.


    This is the power of a ''Law''; if not for the suppression of the endless sea of miasma, Jareth would have had this power in his grasp.


    ''I will need to speed up things¡­ If I don''t hurry, things will really get bad¡­''


    As long as the cult is able to successfully destroy at least four of the seal''s nodes, miasma will start leaking at an unstoppable level.


    Once four nodes are destroyed, the other three won''t have enough power to keep resisting the insane pressure brought by the endless sea of curroption.


    The rest of the nodes will get corrupted at an astonishing rate, and the seal will break easily.


    In other words, Jareth has to at least protect four nodes of the seal if he wants to stop the calamity.


    Now that one has already been broken, the situation has already started to head towards a dire state.


    The main problem in front of him is that no one in the current world knows how to repair this node.


    The whole seal of the False Dome was created by that Golden King, and no one knows what methods he used to create the seal.


    Even if Jareth has to reverse-engineer this seal, it will likely take him a few years; at least after all, the seal is just too big; it covers the whole solar system.


    Even Jareth isn''t arrogant enough to think that he can reverse-engineer a seal that can cover the whole solar system in just a short time period.


    ¡­


    While thinking about various countermeasures in his head, Jareth walked out of the hotel entrance gate and approached a luxurious car that was waiting outside.


    The mayor personally opened the door of the car for Jareth.


    Jareth patted the other party''s shoulder and said,


    Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire


    "I heard you did a good job protecting the citizens and keeping the chaos in the city calm¡­ You are indeed worthy of your position, Mayor Zang¡­"


    With that said, Jareth entered the car and waved his hand towards the mayor and asked him to enter the car too.


    Although Mayor Zang really didn''t want to sit in the same car as this walking nuclear missile, he had no other choice.


    He had to follow Jareth''s order, as he didn''t want the other party to get angry at him.


    He sat beside Jareth and kept wiping the sweat from his face with the handkerchief.


    These few days, Mayor Zang has sweated so much that he has lost half his weight by now.


    He used to be a bit fat, but now he looks much thinner. Jareth''s aura is really quite a good power for people who want to reduce their weight.


    "By the way, has there been anything unusual in the city lately?"


    Upon hearing that abrupt question from Jareth, the mayor panicked and thought,


    ''F*ck! Could it be that he found out I am purposely taking bribes from a lot of people!?''


    "Er.. Unusual¡­ ah! Come to think of it, several people recently reported that the central lake that always used to shine with bright bluish color under the moonlight has now stopped shining¡­"


    "People have now become unable to ''vividly'' remember their past memories, unlike before when sitting around the lake¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied with a calm voice.


    "That bone dragon was lurking underground before it burst out from the ground near the dungeon¡­ It is very likely that the bone dragon likely messed up with something that was important to the river¡­"


    Jareth directly pushed the whole blame of this matter on Konda without even batting an eye; he''s really too good at manipulating facts.


    The mayor also believed Jareth''s words without even a single shred of suspicion.


    To him, the words spoken by an all-powerful grade-1 mage like Jareth are like the words of God; they are absolute.


    Even if Jareth admitted that he was the one who caused this change, the mayor won''t dare to bother Jareth about it, as you can''t blame a ''nuclear weapon'' for causing destruction.


    Blaming a walking natural disaster for such trivial matters is like looking for your own death.


    Even when the people came together to protest against Nathan back in the capital city, no one really dared to actually go and break inside the academy forcefully.


    They''re all afraid of an absolute powerhouse, after all.


    Even the nuclear weapons can''t kill Grade 1 mages, let alone these powerless ordinary people.


    All that protest did was damage his reputation and demonstrate the attitude of the populace.


    ¡­


    "Uh, I have been meaning to ask it¡­ Do you have any information about the origin of that dragon¡­ Not that I suspect you, sir, its just I need some information as I need to report things to my superiors¡­"


    Mayor Zang was really in a desperate state right now.


    His superiors are urging him to report everything related to the matter, but he doesn''t have the courage to just go and interrogate Jareth about the details.


    Although this is just an official and harmless procedure, it would be him who would bear the consequences if Jareth got displeased by this matter of questioning him.


    "Ah, yes¡­ Don''t worry about it much; just tell your superiors that this bone dragon likely came from the ''FA-AA''; they need to increase security¡­"


    "Once you tell them about this, they will understand immediately and stop bothering you¡­"


    Mayor Zang had no idea what this code word meant, but he didn''t dare to ask too many questions.


    Jareth has already given him enough of an explanation; there was no need to pester the other party for a further explanation.


    If Jareth''s words are true, then his superiors will figure things out on their own after hearing this code word; it doesn''t matter if he himself knows about it or not.


    ''Sometimes knowing too much is also harmful to yourself; it''s better not to get involved in things that are not related to yourself..''


    The mayor considered this in his mind and ceased his speech.


    The mayor didn''t know that this was one of the best decisions of his life.


    FA-AA stands for ''Forbidden Area¡ªAbyss Altar, and simply knowing about the existence of that area in itself is a curse.


    That area contains the vilest and corrupted creatures of this world. It''s a land fully corrupted by miasma; just looking at that place once is enough to drive an ordinary person insane.


    That place can easily corrode people''s minds and bodies and demonize them at an alarming speed.


    Even in the game, that place was so difficult that the developers had no choice but to turn that area into an ''optional'' place along with its boss monster, ''Konda''.

 Chapter 168 A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-3.

    Azul has never been to the outside world before.He grew up in the underground hidden village, and thus he never knew he saw the real sky.


    In fact, even people of Bastille can only see the sky over Bastille; the rest of the sky in the desert is covered with dark clouds after all.


    He originally followed Jareth here because he wanted to help out his village, but he was also quite excited to see the outside world with his own eyes.


    As he was promised, his sister was sent convicted for her crimes, but she only got two years of jail time because of Jareth''s words.


    Due to the urging of the mayor, the court hurriedly completed the Ensha''s case, and in just a mere half an hour, everything was a done deal.


    Usually it takes months to properly complete a case, but this one was so fast that it seemed rushed.


    Even the judges knew how serious the situation was; a grade-1 mage has a lot of say in the empire after all.


    Jareth''s casual words were enough to make them work fast and resolve things according to what he had said.


    For grade 1 mages, jail, law, and police, these are just mere decorations; they can''t really do anything to them at all.


    A person who even a nuclear bomb can''t kill isn''t considered ''human'' by the court anymore.


    If someone dies due to a grade-1 mage, the court will simply declare that the death occurred due to a ''Natural Disaster'', not human intervention. Therefore, there is no need to initiate a case in this regard.


    Grade 1 mages are considered ''Natural Disasters''; they aren''t judged like human beings anymore; they are in their own league after all.


    This is also the reason why Mayor Zang has been so frightened these past few days.


    Even if Jareth kills him in broad daylight in front of a large crowd, no one will blame him.


    Instead, there will be people who will clap and come forward to say that Zang must have been a traitor or something.


    When you have power to overwhelm a country, common sense doesn''t apply to you anymore. People come forward to stick to you and try to gain your favor even when you are doing bad things.


    Mayor Zang has a family to take care of after all; he can''t afford to lose his life. As a grade-3 mage himself, he''s not afraid of death, as he has fought in many battles before. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The thing he is afraid of is that his family will be implicated if something goes wrong.


    For a being who can destroy a whole country, killing a few people is just a matter of waving his fingers slightly.


    Mayor Zang''s fear has genuine reasons behind it.


    Only someone like Shin, who has been hanging around Jareth for a long while, can afford to behave so carelessly; Zang does not have that luxury.


    ¡­


    Bastille, Central Area, City Park.


    ''I wonder what he will say in the conference today¡­''


    A large press conference has been arranged by the mayor for Jareth in this central park.


    Azul, Mark, and the rest of the group were also sitting on the chairs that were placed in front of a temporarily made stage.


    Hundreds of bodyguards were standing on guard in the whole central park, and dozens of reporters and cameramen had already occupied all the chairs in the place.


    Now everyone was waiting for Jareth to come on the stage.


    Looking at this scene, Azul couldn''t help but feel nervous.


    Although he''s not who''s going to be on the stage, this is the first time he has seen such a grand scene after all.


    But this was not the real shocking thing for him.


    The biggest shock he got was when he saw Jareth fighting that massive bone dragon.


    Azul had heard from his sister that Jareth is one of the strongest people in the whole empire, but he had no idea just how strong Jareth actually was.


    Only after seeing Jareth in real combat did he figure out that Jareth is really an insanely strong man.


    Azul was already feeling dizzy just by looking at that dragon, but Jareth was able to fight with that beast toe to toe.


    And he even won the battle in the end after fighting continuously for three consecutive days.


    Jareth''s performance has completely shattered Azul''s worldview.


    Azul used to think that the magic of his sister was powerful and amazing, but in front of Jareth''s magic, it was not even worth comparing.


    "Uh, Big Bro, when is Vice-principal going to arrive?"


    Hearing Azul''s words, Mark couldn''t help but smile happily.


    "He should be here soon¡­"


    Originally, Mark was a bit tensed when he found out that Jareth had personally brought Azul as a student.


    Mark knew that if Azul has been acknowledged by Jareth as his student, then Azul is likely not a simple guy at all.


    In his opinion, Jareth is the most intelligent wizard in the whole empire; everything he does has a reason behind it, so Mark immediately figured out that Azul must have very impressive talent if he can catch even Jareth''s eyes.


    Jareth doesn''t seem to like untalented people, but if he finds someone who''s genuinely talented, Jareth always favors them.


    Mark has always liked this aspect of him.


    After all, being a wizard means that you must be selfish first. Only a student with great talent can return the investment you put in them.


    As someone who''s been following in Jareth''s footsteps for a while now, Mark has realized a lot of things.


    He was originally going to teach a good lesson to this newbie to assert his seniority, but it turned out that the other party is just a weak village kid who doesn''t even know how to use basic magic properly yet.


    There was no point in beating someone so weak.


    Mark will not gain any fame or honor from beating someone who''s already too weak for him; it''s pointless.


    Then Azul started to call him ''Big Bro'' after he figured out that Mark was the first disciple of Jareth and referred to Risa as ''Big Sis''.


    Both Mark and Risa were thrilled that they felt like they forgot about making things difficult for Azul.


    Mark indeed has a younger sister, but she''s a very mischievous kid who doesn''t even refer to Mark as Big Brother most of the time, so now that someone started calling him ''Big Bro'', it felt amazing.


    On the other hand, Risa doesn''t have any younger siblings, so being called ''Big Sis'' was a new and happy experience.


    She was originally going to give Azul her ''torture''-related books to read, but then she decided not to do so as that might break her ''Big sis'' like image.


    Azul, on the other hand, was totally unaware that his two seniors were originally planning to beat the sh*t out of him but didn''t do so after they figured out that he was too weak to even bully.


    Instead, Azul was thankful that there were others of the same age as him.


    Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire


    But the difference is that Mark and Risa are much stronger than him.


    They have received a lot of training since childhood, and thus it will be near impossible for Azul to close the gap in combat power for a short time.


    He will likely need a year or two to even catch up to the current abilities of the two of them.


    Thinking about his own combat power, Azul sighed and clenched his fist tightly.


    ''I must become strong¡­.''


    When Azul was still in the village, he was unaware of how things were in the outside world.


    He was physically stronger than all the kids of the village and used to be proud of himself as his sister was the strongest in the village.


    But only after coming out of that small place did Azul realize that he was a just frog in a well.


    Only after coming out of that well did he realize that the world is very big and there are strong people in every corner of the world.


    Dangers lurk everywhere.


    That insanely strong Bone Dragon was lurking underground for who knows how long.


    Luckily it attacked the dungeon, and Jareth was there to keep it in check, but if the dragon had attacked their small village, nothing would have been left alive.


    Azul would have lost all his family in a matter of seconds.


    Only after witnessing the horror of that bone dragon did Azul realize how insignificant and weak he is in front of dangers of that level.


    ''I must become strong, or I will not be able to save those who I care for¡­''


    Azul firsthand saw just how much people fear and respect Jareth. Just a few casual words were enough to get his sister forgiveness for all those crimes she committed over the years.


    Now Azul has made it his life''s goal to reach the level of Jareth and protect his loved ones with his own power.


    He can''t keep relying on his sister or his newly found master; he must carve out his own path for himself.


    That is what Mark and Risa are doing, and he should also do the same.


    Without the power to defend yourself, you are nothing in this world; a random bone dragon may burst out of the ground any day and smash your home and family right in front of you.


    There is no guarantee that there was only one bone dragon; there may be more in the future.


    If he doesn''t have the power to keep his loved ones safe, he will regret and blame himself his whole life.

 Chapter 169 A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-4.

    Mayor Zang followed behind Jareth with a smile on his face; he kept wiping the sweat from his face and maintained those perfect mannerisms that nobles follow.Just standing in Jareth''s presence is already a difficult thing, and he''s been doing so for more than half an hour now.


    Fortunately, the mayor finally got the chance to breathe a sigh of relief after Jareth went on stage, and he himself got to sit on one of the seats in the front row.


    ''Phew~ after this speech, I guess they will be ready to leave¡­ although it would be good. If a grade 1 mage can permanently stay in this place and improve safety, that is just my wishful thinking¡­''


    Although Zang still harbors fear for Jareth, he understands the crucial role a Grade-1 mage can play in safeguarding civilians from extremely powerful threats.


    If Jareth hadn''t happened to be here at the right time, that bone dragon would have laid absolute destruction on Bastille.


    The whole city would have been wiped off from the surface of Earth.


    Everyone in Bastille owes Jareth a big favor now, including the mayor himself.


    ''I guess I should prepare a generous farewell gift for them all¡­''


    Just when the mayor was still busy thinking about random things, Jareth took the mic and glanced at the sky first.


    "Before we start the meeting, let''s change that gloomy weather first¡­"


    Jareth''s abrupt declaration stunned everyone at that moment.


    No one knew what Jareth wanted to do; he slowly floated up in the sky and raised his finger towards the sky.


    [Mana Singularity: Mana Command: Law interruption: Eliminate Phenomena!]


    ¡­


    (Sudden Flashback)


    Mayor Zang has always been a calm-minded person since childhood; he was good at studies and inherited the position he has today from his father.


    Once upon a time in his younger days, Zang had a conversation with his father.


    "Father, why is it that only our city is surrounded by clouds and the rest of the world isn''t? Is there no way to solve this?"


    Zang''s father sighed and patted the young kid''s head before saying,


    "My son, there are two types of phenomena in this world, one that we can control and study about¡­ And the other is the one that we mortals can''t control or comprehend with our abilities¡­"


    Standing on the balcony, Zang''s father pointed towards the distant dark clouds and said,


    "Those clouds represent the uncertain future, Zang; no one knows where or when they will rain thunder¡­"


    "Our lives are also like that; no one can see the future, and thus we never know what difficulties might come our way in the future; it may be calm one moment, but deadly the other¡­"


    "Life is a game of surviving difficulties and improving your mentality¡­"


    "Those who can pass these tests live, and those who can''t, end up forgotten in the long annals of history¡­"


    Zang''s father smiled and said,


    "So, I hope you will grow up strong enough to face any situation with a calm mind¡­"


    At that time, Zang asked a silly question out of curiosity.


    "But father, what if one day a person appears who can really control these clouds?"


    Zang''s father laughed a bit at that question and replied in an amused tone,


    "Well, if such a person were to exist¡­ that being couldn''t be called a ''Human'' anymore¡­ No mere human has the ability to influence the ''Laws'' of the world to this extent¡­"


    "I guess we can say that such beings would have transcended the''mortal'' form and can be considered something above the realm of mortals¡­"


    "Such a being would be even stronger than a grade 1 mage! At that point, we can already refer to such a being as a ''Demi-god''!!"


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    Everyone, including the mayor, got up from their seats with a look of absolute shock in their eyes.


    Mayor Zang remembered the conversation he once had with his father and thought to himself,


    ''Father, you were right¡­ A being of this caliber can indeed be called a demi-god¡­''


    As if the sky had heard Jareth''s command, everything went silent for a moment, and then the change started.


    The clouds started to dissipate at an insanely fast speed, and the clear blue sky slowly started to become clear.


    The warm sunlight finally fell on the desert after who knows how many millennia.


    The sky seems to be blessing Jareth, and Jareth seemed to be blessing all the mortals at this moment; he seemed to be shining with divine radiance.


    This wasn''t an illusion though; Jareth had figured out how to ''influence'' the law of thunder in this area while fighting Konda.


    He figured out that he only needed to make a slight change in the way of the ''Law'' of thunder, and the whole sky would be free from its influence.


    If Jareth didn''t have mana singularity and the purest form of mana, doing something like this would have been just a pipe dream.


    But Jareth was able to achieve this today all because he had the ability.


    All the problems in Bastille are happening just because of these clouds; they make vehicles and other things completely useless.


    But now that Jareth has fixed it, everything will become normal.


    The government will be able to establish a proper trade route, vehicles will connect Bastille to the rest of the empire, and there will be no more shortage of food and resources.


    The military could be placed here much faster, and there will be no more need to exile people from the city as the excessive tax will be eliminated soon.


    Just by removing these clouds, Jareth not only improved his own control and knowledge over the ''laws'' of this world, he even helped nearly a million people who live in Bastille.


    Jareth''s previous feats were impressive too; he was able to beat strong monsters, but those were his personal achievements; they didn''t benefit anyone else much. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    But now that Jareth has helped a million people not only once but twice. Once from Konda and now from the fate of living in isolation.


    He''s created a miracle that no one has before.


    At that moment, Jareth didn''t know that this casual act of his will would cause his name to spread far and wide; his name will be recorded in history books, and the Flame God Jareth''s cult will gain thousands of believers after this event.


    ¡­


    As everything was being broadcast live on TV and various social media platforms by the reporters, all the people on the internet directly went crazy after seeing Jareth perform that insane miracle.


    "Godda*mn! We got the goat performing miracles before G*A 6!!"


    "Roses are red, violets are blue, dark clouds, f*ck you!!"


    "Ah, the sun, the sun!! Praise the sky! Praise the sun!! Praise the Holy Flame!!"


    "Babe, wake up! A new earth update just dropped; the dark sky glitch got patched up by the god of flames!!"


    "Looking at the dark scenery, the goat felt that it was lacking, so he waved his finger and said to the god of dark clouds, "Okay buddy, pack up; it''s time to piss off from here¡­", The mortals were left in shock at that arrogance¡­"


    The people on the internet went crazy on the spot.


    Several travel companies'' faced massive customer flow that day; people threatened the tour and travel companies to open trips for Bastille.


    That day, people willingly came forward to donate money so that the government could hurry up and build a road to Bastille.


    Unaware of all the chaos that Jareth created that day, he just went and gave a random speech.


    He told people some random details about the origin of the bone dragon and also told them that he used the heavenly thunder to help him out in battle.


    This made the people even more excited.


    No one in the long annals of history has been able to control the power of ''Heavenly punishment''.


    If Jareth has really achieved this feat, then he has really surpassed most people in this world.


    His name will be remembered by all, and people will create biographies and movies on his life and his achievements.


    Azul, Mark, and others who were present on the scene were so shocked that they had no words to describe their thoughts.


    They originally thought that Jareth would just give some speech, and then they would leave the city quietly and go back home.


    But who could have thought that Jareth would come forward and create such an insane miracle out of nowhere! Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Moreover, it seemed as if Jareth was thinking of this matter as just a casual thing; he didn''t even bother talking about it and just gave a speech and left afterwards; he didn''t even take a single question from the reporters.


    Although it was a press conference, no one was even able to question him, as they still hadn''t recovered from the shock by the time Jareth left the scene.


    ''He''s become stronger again¡­''


    Mark clenched his fist and figured out that Jareth had become even stronger than before now.


    The gap between the two was already very big from the start. Mark was hoping to close this gap slowly, but all his efforts were rendered useless by Jareth.


    No matter how fast Mark tried to improve, Jareth was always one step faster.


    ''At this rate¡­ I will not be able to catch up to him in my whole life¡­ I must work harder¡­''


    Jareth''s miracle marked the day for a new beginning for Bastille.


    From now on, people can come and leave Bastille easily, the place will no longer be isolated from the rest of the world.

 Chapter 170 The Bleak future...

    Next day, Morning.Standing atop the city wall, Jareth glanced at the military vehicles pouring into Bastille.


    Now that Bastille is no longer isolated, the government has decided to send the military to strengthen the defenses of this place.


    Moreover, they will soon be able to create a military base nearby, and the whole desert has now become available to the empire.


    The benefits this place will bring are immense.


    The government can create hidden bunkers and nuclear powerplants in this vast desert. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Solar panel farms can be created now, and the amount of solar energy this place will bring is immense.


    Although most of the money will still end up in the pockets of corrupted ministers and officers, people will still have access to a significant amount of energy.


    The more energy sources the empire has, the cheaper the electricity bills will be.


    In the end, the whole empire will benefit from this one move of Jareth.


    This is the reason why Grade 1 mages are considered above ''Law'' in the empire; they have the power to sway the whole nation and change the geography of a country.


    Just by using his understanding of the laws in this area, Jareth directly influenced the change.


    From now on, Bastille will become a hotspot for those who want to personally come and see the traces of battle left behind by Jareth and Konda.


    Tourists will arrive in this place from all over the nation, and the economy will be boosted a lot.


    ''Even after all this, I barely got just two thousand credit points¡­ I guess that these clouds didn''t have much effect on the main plotline afterall¡­''


    ''Still, two thousand is more than nothing; I can still make do with it¡­''


    Jareth''s dark purple hair waved along with the warm breeze. He put his hands behind his back and glanced at the horizon with a look of contemplation on his face.


    ''Moreover, Bastille will not stay a desert anymore¡­ The reason why it''s currently a desert is because it hasn''t rained in this place for several centuries¡­''


    ''Now that those dark clouds are gone, the whole area will finally get to have changing seasons¡­ There will be monsoon soon¡­''


    Eventually the land will start recovering, vegetation will grow, and this vast desert will turn into a large forest area.


    ''Alas, it''s pointless¡­''


    If Jareth hadn''t known about the truth of this world, he would have thought that everything would become better now.


    But as he knows about it, he also knows that it''s pointless.


    The whole planet will get destroyed by the unavoidable tide of miasma; there''s no future for this world.


    Perhaps this was also the reason why none of the grade 1 mages in the past tried to solve the crises in this place.


    They would have had to devote a lot of energy to studying the workings of the ''laws'' here, and the result would have still been ''pointless''.


    Jareth can understand the thoughts of the grade-1 mages now; he can see why most of them are so fixated with benefits and stuff.


    They already know that the world is going to end; why not just enjoy the time they have left?


    If they already know that the whole planet will get destroyed, they won''t waste their time solving this crisis here, as it''s just pointless efforts.


    The reason why Jareth decided to solve it was not much different thought.


    He already knows that there''s no saving this planet, but at least the people will be able to live a decent life in these last few years.


    Death is not what''s terrifying; it''s the thought that it might happen to you that is more terrifying for the common people.


    If he tells people that the whole world is going to get destroyed soon, then panic and chaos will happen.


    But if he keeps them in the dark about it, then at least the people will die without suffering too much.


    Knowing about the exact date of death will just cause them to panic and anxiety.


    And now that he has already decided to escape from this place, Jareth is just trying to leave a few last gifts behind for the people.


    ''Sigh, if there was a way to completely resolve this sea of miasma and destroy it thoroughly¡­ I would really like to take that path instead¡­''


    Jareth personally doesn''t like the fact that he has to ''escape'' from something, but when things are out of hand, it''s always good to retreat.


    ''If my guess is right, the sea of miasma is much bigger in size than a whole galaxy¡­ It likely spans across many galaxies¡­''


    ''To destroy something of that scale¡­ I really can''t think of what can achieve it¡­''


    Even the mana-powered nuclear bombs are, but at the level of being able to destroy a continent at most.


    Against the power of a sea of corruption that spread across galaxies, this is nothing; it isn''t even enough to barely cause any damage.


    And it''s not just that the sea of miasma is big; it''s blessed by the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' itself.


    ''I wonder if there exists a legendary skill that can be used to command ''Miasma'' like how I use mana singularity to command ''mana''¡­.''


    If there was someone in this world who could control the power of Miasma, it would have been much easier to eliminate the Endless Sea of Miasma with their power.


    ''No wait, I need to consider the worst-case scenario too¡­''


    If there really is someone who can control the miasma with the help of a legendary skill, then that certain someone might be their actual reason why this sea of miasma even exists in the first place.


    Jareth''s thoughts weren''t actually baseless.


    He has mana singularity himself, and if he can get his hands on ''Mana Field'' and master it to ''perfection'' he would be able to control the law of ''Mana''.


    Then he can artificially create a massive sea of infinite mana too; in other words, there''s a possibility that the sea of miasma could be an artificial thing.


    Jareth has to consider all possibilities after all.


    ''Hmm, I can already consider that my escape plan might have three different possibilities..''


    The first possibility is that Jareth succeeds in escaping, learns mana field, and then counterattacks on some later date after perfecting it.


    This is the optimal result, precisely what Jareth is striving for.


    The second possibility is that his escape plan fails and he gets engulfed by the sea of miasma.


    At that point he will be stuck in a battle with the demons while still trying to resist the corrosion of the sea of miasma.


    Eventually he will run out of mana and die, then his soul and body will get corrupted and he will turn into a demon; at that point he will never be able to escape the control of Miasma.


    Once his soul gets corrupted, he will have no free ''will'' of his own.


    Jareth is trying his best to avoid this outcome.


    The third one is the worst possibility.


    The third outcome can be that the sea of miasma is being controlled by someone, and that demon god who is leading the False Dome cult is likely also just a minion of that certain someone.


    If this possibility is true, then the wormhole will never even open, and then the demon god will personally capture his soul and torture him till his soul gets annihilated into nothingness.


    This is the possibility that Jareth doesn''t want to face at all.


    It doesn''t matter if he can reach grade-0 or not; unless he has ''perfect'' mana field, he can''t win against someone who can control the sea of miasma.


    ''Sigh, I don''t know what the future holds for me¡­ but all I can do is get stronger for now¡­ I already have enough credit points, so I should do another lottery draw soon¡­''


    Just when Jareth was still contemplating his future, the mayor came over with a bright smile on his face.


    He saluted Jareth respectfully and then said,


    "Sir, the hidden village that you informed us about has been officially recognized; all of the people in that place will receive support, and that place will be turned into a new underground city for them¡­"


    "Bastille is open to the outside world now; there''s no need for extra tax, and people will get a lot of subsidy from the government. I promise you that there will be no more people who will be exiled anymore¡­"


    "It''s all thanks to you that things have improved so much. I would like to sincerely thank you for your efforts¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied in a calm tone,


    "I just did it on a whim, no big deal¡­ From now on, put your most efforts into improving the lives of people; that way your family will be able to wash away the sins of exiling so many people¡­"


    "Maybe those dead souls may not forgive you¡­ But you can at least try your best¡­"


    Originally Jareth was just going to leave that village as it is, but then Azul came over and requested that it would be better to connect the village to the outside world now that things are getting better.


    He even contacted the people back home personally and made them agree to this offer.


    Jareth directly agreed to this matter, as he personally doesn''t care much; in the end, it doesn''t really matter where these people want to live or how they want to live.


    This world''s fate is already decided; it''s just a matter of time.


    Even the false dome seal can only buy extra time but can''t save the world forever.

 Chapter 171 Flames of Destruction... Part-1.

    Bastille, A newly built helipad.Standing near the helipad, Jareth nodded his head at Mayor Zang and said in a calm voice,


    "I am surprised you were able to build a new helipad in just a day. I have to say, you are really a capable person, Mayor Zang¡­"


    Mayor Zang shook his head and gave a flattering smile in return for those words.


    "Haha, Sir is joking. I put a lot of workers on work just so that you and the others will have the opportunity to board a helicopter to return home¡­"


    "This way, your journey will be much smoother¡­"


    Zang wanted to show that he will work hard and improve the infrastructure in this place fast, and Jareth was really impressed by this enthusiasm.


    ''I guess there are still a few people in the government who are not corrupt and are genuinely working for the good of the common folk.''


    Jareth stretched out his hand to do a handshake with Zang and patted the other party on the shoulder.


    "Keep up the good work. I shall take my leave now. Let us meet again if fate allows it¡­"


    With that said, Jareth boarded the helicopter along with the rest of the group.


    Now that he has gotten both the important materials that he needed from this place, it is time to go back to the capital city first.


    Not only Jareth, the rest of the group also gained a lot from this small trip.


    Shin originally agreed to tag along just for buying the lipstick for his wife, but he got to witness Jareth''s battle against Konda and got a lot of new insights of his own.


    Aria traveled with Jareth in the dungeon, and she got a huge boost in her confidence. From now on, she will not be as intimidated as before; she will aim to conquer her fears.


    Mark and Risa both got to learn a lot of things and got to spend an amazing time in Bastille too.


    Lastly, Azul''s entire life was changed by Jareth. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Now his fellow villagers will not die and will live a happy and decent life; his sister will be free from the endless pursuit of the police and will become a free person after completing just two years in jail.


    By that time, he will also be close to his graduation, and she will be able to attend his graduation ceremony from the university.


    For Jareth, his actions were meant for his own benefits, but he still ended up changing many lives with his actions.


    He even saved the people of Bastille from the endless cycle of taxation and exile.


    If you ask him about it, he will say that these people have clearly misunderstood him as a hero; he is no hero at all¡­ He''s a selfish person, working for his own benefits.


    Originally, Jareth was misunderstood as strong; now he''s misunderstood as a hero, but only he knows the reality of himself.


    In front of the endless sea of miasma, he is as weak as an ant, and due to his own goals of abandoning this planet, he''s not a hero at all.


    Still, he doesn''t really care about these things; he didn''t bother clarifying these misunderstandings at all.


    These misunderstandings can now work in his favor; after all, it''s better to let them stay for a while.


    ¡­


    The helicopter took off, and the people of Bastille collectively came together to wave their hands and say farewell to Jareth.


    In their eyes, he''s a hero after all; his name will be recorded in the annals of history as the Great Sorcerer who defeated a bone dragon and commanded the heavens to get rid of the twisted ''laws'' near Bastille.


    Mark and Risa glanced down and smiled when they saw so many people coming out of their homes, waving and cheering for them in the streets below.


    Shin glanced at Jareth, who was sitting with his eyes closed, and said in an amused voice,


    "You really created quite the scene this time¡­ How does it feel to be considered a hero?"


    Jareth opened his eyes and replied with his usual cold tone.


    "I did everything out of my own free will; what people think of me doesn''t affect me one bit¡­"


    "Connecting Bastille to the empire has its own benefits; in the future I will not have to worry about shortages in research materials, and there are a lot of rare ores in this desert¡­"


    "People will dug them out, and we mages will benefit from this by a great margin¡­"


    The price of rare artifacts and expensive wands will become much cheaper now; although this will cause short-term problems for some companies, it will benefit the whole mage guild by a large margin.


    And in return, all mages will have to spend less money on buying rare artifacts and wands.


    Mark also nodded his head at Jareth''s words.


    ''Yes! As expected of the vice principal, a mage''s thought process is much more inclined towards their own profits¡­''


    ''Not only he earned the respect and love of the people, he also achieved the goal of getting a lot of benefits for himself¡­ This is how a real wizard should be!''


    ''As I thought, except for Vice-principal Jareth, all other wizards are just random frauds who don''t even know what it means to be a real wizard!''


    While the group was busy chatting endlessly about various things, the helicopter flew out of Bastille and traveled a long distance in just half an hour.


    The speed of this advanced, magically enchanted helicopter was so fast that the group had already traveled more than a hundred kilometers in just half an hour.


    Jareth glanced down and noticed an oasis, then he asked the pilot to land as the area was already far away from the city.


    "Er, what happened all of a sudden? Why are you making the helicopter land here in the middle of nowhere¡­"


    The rest of the group was also just as confused as Shin.


    This helicopter is very fast in speed, and it can directly take them back to the capital city without needing to stop anywhere for refueling or maintenance.


    So Jareth''s decision to make it land near the oasis was really odd.


    "Well, the area here is deserted enough; if I go back to the city, it will cause damage¡­ You guys stay here for a while; I will be back in a bit¡­" Continue your journey at My Virtual Library Empire


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth ignored the bewildered look on the rest of the group and directly flew into the sky and distanced himself from the group.


    Shin suddenly understood something and shouted in a shocked voice,


    "T-this!? D-don''t tell me he''s going to breakthrough again!?"


    From Shin''s point of view, Jareth just recently ascended to grade-1 and it should take him several years to achieve any further breakthrough.


    But what Jareth is doing now clearly shows that he''s preparing for a breakthrough.


    The reason he stopped in the middle of nowhere and distanced himself from the group, obviously, is because he will create a massive mana wave when ascending higher that might harm them.


    "Come to think of it¡­ He did say that he learned to control new powers and got new insights during his fight with that bone dragon¡­"


    "Could it be that fighting for three days straight helped him improve? Yeah, that must have been the case¡­"


    At this point, Shin and the rest of the group were simply too speechless to say anything else.


    For them, fighting a bone dragon would have been a death sentence, but for Jareth, it seems it was a wonderful opportunity.


    Not only did he get the admiration of millions of people, he even improved his strength.


    For others, Konda was a literal terror incarnate, but for Jareth, he was a great treasure box that helped him upgrade his strength.


    ¡­


    Ignoring the thoughts of the group, Jareth simply stood in the air and smiled to himself.


    ''Last time I used the golden lottery, I ended up creating a massive scene; thankfully I was standing on a faraway mountaintop at the time or I would have caused a lot of problems¡­''


    If Jareth was located in the middle of the city at that time, the mana tornado he created would have destroyed half the city, and many people would have lost their lives from being pressured by the insanely dense mana around him.


    Thus, Jareth didn''t want to take any risks now.


    He stopped the helicopter and decided to use the golden lottery while still in the desert.


    The desert is rather empty, so no one will be harmed in this way, and he can ascend without any worries.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 5780/5780] [MP: 7800/7800]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the Goat, Divine Flame.]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 3), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit, Chant less Magic]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 33100]


    [Evaluation: The Ruler of Mana, the Dominator of an era¡­ you are on the path to becoming a new ''King'' of the human race...]


    Jareth originally had 20100 CP, but then he bought an attack card for 4000 CP to beat Konda and then got 15000 as a reward for beating it.


    Also, he got 2000 CP for clearing the clouds; thus, now he has 33100 CP at his disposal.


    Now he can already buy a gold lottery, and there will still be a few thousand left to buy another attack enhancement card.


    ''Let''s start the party¡­''

 Chapter 172 Flames of Destruction... Part-2.

    ''First, let''s buy the attack enhancement card; I might end up needing it in the future anytime¡­''[Ding! Are you sure you want to buy ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    Jareth already has enough credit points to support the purchase of both the attack card and the golden lottery, so there was no need to hold back.


    [Ding! Congratulations, you have received an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [-4000 CP]


    After finishing that, Jareth looked at the golden lottery and took a deep breath to calm his mind.


    ''Although I know now that there is basically no such thing in the golden lottery that can be considered useless, but still, I want things that can be of immediate benefit to me¡­''


    ''If I got something like a strong sword or something, it won''t be of any use to me; I will need to give that weapon to someone else instead, which would be quite the loss¡­''


    Currently, although Jareth has become stronger, he''s still nothing in front of the power of the laws; he needs more time to develop.


    The power of the laws is something that you can''t just understand and control in one day or two.


    Even though Jareth figured out how to control the thunder in the desert area, he was barely just able to modify it in the slightest.


    He can''t actually command the law of thunder like how he commands his mana singularity.


    His mastery over it isn''t that high; moreover, he has no affinity for thunders anyway, so it''s a waste of time to be trying to really learn how to command thunder.


    Without high enough thunder affinity, he will never be able to grasp the true core nature of the law of thunder, even with the help of mana singularity.


    ''Actually, ever since I got this system, it has been giving me things that I need the most at the moment¡­ So I am sure I will get something that''s useful for me¡­''


    May it be fate or something else, Jareth has been getting things that could improve his situation.


    When he didn''t have the original body''s memory, he got the newbie pack that gave him memories of the original body.


    Then he got the attack enhancement card that resolved his immediate crises of dealing with the wyvern.


    Afterwards, he was aiming to become stronger and got mana singularity, which directly improved him tremendously.


    Getting mana singularity was a turning point for him.


    Before getting it, he was relying on just his attack enhancement cards and random luck to survive.


    But if he hadn''t gotten mana singularity, he would have long died in the hands of those two death squad twins who came to the university specially to assassinate him.


    Even if he had used the attack card on them, the two of them wouldn''t have completely died as they were blessed with the power of miasma.


    Only the way of continuous bombardment and massive miasma repelling was more useful on them.


    In other words, from the start, this system has been supporting him with exactly the right things that he needed for the moment.


    ''Except for that one time when I got that questionable forbidden spell¡­''


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to buy a golden lottery?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    ''It''s time I use my luck-increasing ritual that I haven''t had to use since the Heian era; didn''t think I will need it today¡­''


    ''Oh, god of thieves and gamblers, bless me with luck, and my life is yours!!''


    Jareth rubbed his hands to pray, and as if the system really heard his pleas, he indeed got something really useful today.


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received the ''Affinity Improvement Card (Advanced)''!]


    Although Jareth''s expression was still as cold as ever, he was already crying tears of happiness in his mind.


    ''Ah, it''s indeed true; this system is really working according to what I need the most!'' S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth wasn''t sure about the origins of this system, but he knew one thing: that without this system, he couldn''t have reached his current heights so fast at all.


    If Jareth didn''t have the system, he wouldn''t have survived the very first event anyway, so he has nothing to complain about it.


    Currently, the one thing that Jareth was lacking the most was his fire affinity.


    He indeed has basic magic that is very strong, but basic magic doesn''t have many spells that can be used for offense.


    Most of the time, Jareth has to use mana beams and mana bombs; that''s all he has in his arsenal.


    In fact, the battle with Konda has taught him that if he one day met someone who is completely immune to basic magic, then Jareth will have no way to fight and he will be defeated extremely easily.


    ''Let''s not delay now¡­''


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Affinity Enhancement Card (Advanced) on your Fire Affinity?]


    [Warning! This action will cause great changes in the strings of destiny and might lead to dangerous situations!]


    [Warning! This action will attract the prying eyes of many great beings across the universe!]


    [Warning! This action will cause great destruction in the nearby area!]


    [Warning! This action may cause great pain to the user''s body!]


    [Do you still want to continue?]


    [Yes or No!]


    Just when Jareth thought that improving his affinity would be just an ordinary matter, he was bombarded with several warnings one after another.


    ''So many warnings at once!? What the!? It''s not like I am launching a nuclear missile on innocent civilians; I am just trying to improve my fire affinity here¡­''


    There were no such warnings in the game, so Jareth has no idea what''s going on here.


    The very first warning is that if Jareth used the card to improve his fire affinity, it would change the strings of destiny.


    ''Actually, wouldn''t that be a good thing for me? The more changes there are in the strings of destiny, the more credit points I will be able to earn in the future¡­''


    In Jareth''s opinion, this was actually a beneficial thing for him, so he directly ignored this warning.


    This same warning had appeared before too, but aside from Konda appearing out of nowhere, not many great difficulties have come his way.


    ''Ah, yes, that incarnation of the demon god could also be considered something that I caused with my butterfly effects¡­''


    The second warning would have been the real problem, actually.


    The prying eyes of great beings would have caused Jareth a lot of trouble as all his actions would have been monitored by those so-called great beings.


    But now that Jareth knows that this planet is surrounded by the sea of miasma, there''s no need to worry about this matter.


    The seal of the false dome will hide this matter anyway, so there is no need to care about this warning either.


    As for the third and fourth warnings, Jareth already has distanced himself enough; no one will get harmed as it''s just barren desert near him, and only the last warning will cause trouble for him.


    ''Ugh, it seems I will be suffering a lot of pain next¡­''


    Jareth gritted his teeth, and a look of determination flashed by in his eyes.


    ''No pain, no gain¡­ For a better chance of survival in the future, the pain I suffer right now doesn''t matter¡­''


    If Jareth didn''t succeed in escaping, his soul will be caught in the sea of miasma, and he will suffer eternal torture.


    Suffering immense pain now for a limited time is a much better option than suffering for an eternity.


    After making up his mind, Jareth decided to finally use the card.


    ''Yes''.


    [Ding! You have used the Affinity Enhancement Card (Advanced)!] Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire


    [Ding! Your fire affinity will be improved to the extreme levels!]


    At that moment, Jareth''s whole body started to heat up to a very high degree.


    His body became so hot that he was sweating buckets.


    All of a sudden, the mana in the air also started to turn into fire and rush towards him.


    The temperature in the area started to get hot at an insane pace.


    Shin, who was standing in the distance, immediately sensed the situation and cast a massive shield to protect himself and the others.


    Even Aria helped to strengthen that barrier with her mana so as to avoid any dangers.


    Jareth''s skin seemed to have caught fire at that moment, and an insane amount of fire elementals were rushing towards him at the moment.


    The sky turned red from that heat, and the sand on the ground turned into molten lava.


    Shin and the others had to close their eyes as Jareth was now emitting extremely bright light.


    It was as if Jareth had turned into the center of a nuclear explosion.


    The ground was turned into molten lava for hundreds of meters; even the moisture in the air evaporated, making it extremely dry.


    Yet the heat kept on getting more and more terrifying.


    In the center of it all, Jareth was trying to scream in agony, but no words came out of his mouth as the fire elementals had blocked his senses at the moment.


    It was as if his very soul was being burned by the flames. It was pure torture. Torture of the level that ordinary humans can''t survive for even a second.


    Pain, suffering, regret. Jareth experienced all of them in that half an hour.


    A massive tornado of flames rose in the sky, and the winds in the area became extremely chaotic.


    Shin glanced at all this and shouted in shock.


    "What the actual f*ck is happening!? I have never seen anyone create such a massive scene just to ascend a small realm!!"

 Chapter 173 Flames of Destruction... Part-3.

    (Broken Memory 1)Back on Earth, previous life.


    "BAHAHAHA! Yes! To prove your allegiance to the company, you definitely need to complete the candleburn ritual!!"


    The candleburn ritual is essentially a torture method that the company disguises as a welcoming ritual for newcomers.


    They used literal torture to ensure that the newbie joining their group wasn''t a spy or something.


    If the newbie is a spy, he will reveal all, and if not, he will obediently follow the procedure.


    It was a crude method, but that''s how Jareth joined that shady company and became an obedient dog of the boss.


    He did what he was asked of, and for the sake of impressing the father of the person he loved, Jareth went through great troubles. Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth wanted to get the approval of Shiina''s father, and a poor guy like him didn''t have many methods to do so.


    He had no talent for business or anything, so there was no way for him to get close to the boss.


    He joined the company for the sole reason of impressing the boss.


    In the process of impressing others, he unknowingly lost his own humanity.


    The previous Jareth still had massive burn marks on his back. They had engraved a huge symbol of the company on his back by directly burning his skin.


    It was pure torture, but the original Jareth was a love-struck man; he did everything that he needed to.


    That was the first time he came into such long-term contact with ''fire''.


    ¡­


    (Broken Memory 2)


    Current Life.


    The day when all of Jareth''s misfortune started was the day when his mother was assassinated.


    The assassins laughed at his mother''s corpse, and the young Jareth cried tears of blood that day.


    Those assassins had twisted personalities; they left Jareth alive on purpose so that they could toy with him for a longer time.


    But the young Jareth was smart.


    He set his own house on fire, destroying all evidence of his escape; he immediately jumped into the nearby sewers and fled, unconcerned that his entire body now bore horrific burn marks.


    Living like a sewer rat, hiding his neck from the world for the fear of being killed, Jareth used dry wood to light fire and repel the darkness in the underground sewer tunnels.


    At that time, for the first time, Jareth thought.


    ''Fire is such a soothing element¡­ So warm and pure¡­ it brings comfort and protection¡­''


    That small burning wooden stick that he created haphazardly brought him protection from sewer rats and various other small animals like stray dogs and food-stealing crows.


    Perhaps by that time the assassins had already been bored by the young rat rolling in mud, so they left for other missions after it was declared that the boy would be adopted by a vassal family.


    Their mission was over, and they had played enough.


    But by that time, the young Jareth had learned the true value of the pure strands of flame, which had the power to preserve his life.


    Perhaps his affection for that flame was the reason why he even got fire affinity in the first place.


    ¡­


    (Broken Memory 3)


    When Jareth got the news that the Vassal family that raised him was destroyed, he returned home to visit once.


    All he saw was a burnt ruin and nothing else.


    He was too late and too weak.


    He cried at how pathetic and weak he was; even with all the efforts and all the intelligence, he couldn''t reach his goals.


    He couldn''t take revenge and couldn''t even do justice for those who raised him.


    Let alone the mother who gave him birth; the one who raised him was also burned to death, and only her ashes were left for him to collect.


    Those broken and burned ruins taught Jareth that fire can protect and it can also destroy things.


    The same fire can be gentle and fierce in the hands of different people.


    Jareth used the fire to protect himself, and the assassin group used it to murder and destroy the evidence.


    These were two completely opposite matters, yet they seemed to have taught Jareth a lot of things.


    Walking a difficult path, Jareth lived a hard life.


    The constant pressure and fear solidified his mentality, causing him to mature quickly; his talent in theories flourished, and he fortunately graduated without any issues.


    By that point, Jareth had already become extremely familiar with the flame of protection and destruction.


    ¡­


    Back to current time.


    While suffering the immense pain of being burned alive, Jareth''s mind wandered off to random moments of his life and made him remember past memories that he had suppressed before.


    For fear and for regret.


    He wanted to hide and forget about these things, but the burning fire made him remember those times when he had faced the real, true nature of fire.


    ''Ah, how could I forget¡­ It was with me all along¡­''


    From previous life to now, Jareth has witnessed the ''True Nature'' of fire many times.


    He''s been in it''s close proximity many times.


    And every time he was in contact with the ''True Fire'' he was going through an unforgettable memory and had intense emotions in his heart.


    When tortured by the company in previous life, he had infinite love to support him through it; when running through the sewers and hiding, he had immense hatred in his heart.


    And when visiting his burned home, he had guilt and regret in his heart to the extreme.


    All three times, when he was in contact with the true flame, he had the power of extreme emotions.


    ''I had already grasped the nature of the flame long ago¡­ I just never acknowledged it¡­''


    Jareth had already realized the true ''essence'' of flames long ago, and he had already seen through the ''Law'' of ''Fires'', but he just refused to remember those past memories.


    The burning fire made him remember everything.


    ''I had been rejecting this warm, protective, and destructive fire¡­ I need to accept it, as it is my true nature afterall¡­''


    Jareth''s nature is the same as the nature of a fire¡ªwarm, protective, and yet destructive at the same time¡ªor perhaps he picked up this nature from the fire that fascinated him so much.


    ''Sigh¡­ I admit it then; I acknowledge you¡­ my eternal burning flame of destruction¡­''


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have achieved a feat that no one ever has!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have been acknowledged by the ''Law'' of ''Flames''!]


    [Ding! Your fire affinity has been increased to the extreme!]


    [Ding! You have become immune to Fire Damage of any type and form!]


    [Ding! You have received a new title ''Master of the True Flame''! All fire type attacks will be enhanced by 99%!]


    [Ding! Your Flame-type attacks will be blessed by the ''Law'' of true ''Flame'' from now on!]


    [Fire attacks will ignore 50% of the opponents defenses and resistances!]


    Controlling and manipulating the ''Laws'' of the world is a very difficult matter, and doing so needs immense mental power and magical capabilities.


    But if the ''Law'' itself has acknowledged you, then it is a completely different matter at that point.


    Instead of you needing to control the power of that ''law'' forcefully, the ''law'' will help you willingly and grant you immense power in moments of need.


    Although the presence of the sea of miasma is weakening the effect of all ''laws'', Jareth can still conjure immense power once he''s blessed by the Law of Flames.


    What normal fire mages use is a fire forcefully created from manipulating mana and turning it into fire elementals, but now that Jareth has the ''Law'' of ''Fire'' helping him out.


    He can directly consume the mana to summon the power of the ''Law'' of ''Fire'' itself.


    From now on, all his fire magic will be made up of the power of true flames, which means his fire magic has been enhanced to the extreme now.


    [Ding! All conditions met...]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have ascended to Grade-2!]


    Due to the forceful entry of an immense amount of mana in his body in the form of flame elementals.


    Jareth''s maximum mana capacity increased, his originally small mana circuit was forcefully enlarged, and he directly became a peak grade-2 mage on the spot.


    This is how terrifying the power of the blessing of a ''Law'' is. Jareth ascended from the level of an intermediate grade-3 mage to the peak of grade-2 in just a matter of minutes.


    The terrifying aura created by the appearance of the true flame in his body caused even the space-time fabric to tremble and warp unstably.


    Seeing that his immense aura might really cause some spatial phenomena, Jareth hurriedly suppressed the aura and used mana singularity to hide everything about him again.


    Shin and the others who were standing in the distance were simply too stunned to say anything, even after Jareth finished his ascension.


    Jareth created shockwaves directly in the space-time fabric and even made the space-time fabric tremble horribly.


    Not even Grade 1 mages create such massive scenes when ascending their small realms.


    At most, they create small mana whirlpools that cause disturbance in the air and create tornadoes in the worst-case scenario. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But not even they are so destructive that hundreds of meters of area get turned into molten lava and even the space-time fabric becomes unstable.


    Jareth has directly changed the landscape of this area now.


    People will stand in awe when visiting this place in the future and will think.


    ''How is it possible that there is a massive lava lake just one kilometers away from an oasis!?''

 Chapter 174 Massive Improvements...

    Jareth flew down and landed on the ground after everything was done.The heat burned his clothes, so he immediately pulled the spares from his space ring and put them on.


    He could already feel that his mana reserve had become much bigger than before, and he could feel enhanced vitality from his body.


    ''Finally reached grade-2, I see¡­''


    After so long and going through so many troubles, Jareth has finally reached the level that the people thought he had reached years ago.


    ''At least I am not a proper ''fraud'' anymore¡­ I have beaten the ''fraud'' allegations, and now I am only a partial ''fraud''¡­ Once I get to grade 1, I will be completely rid of this identity of a fraud¡­'' Explore stories at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth shook his head and glanced at his status panel.


    ¡­


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 7800/7800] [MP: 10800/10800]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the Goat, Master of the True Flame]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 3), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit, Chant less Magic, Blessed By the True Flame.]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 14100]


    [Evaluation: Blessed by the power of true flames, you have changed the course of destiny¡­]


    ¡­


    Looking at his own improved panel, Jareth couldn''t help but feel happy.


    The first and foremost improvement was in his health points and his mana capacity.


    His mana capacity directly broke through the 8000 level and he got promoted to grade 2.


    The second significant improvement is that he now holds the title ''Master of the True Flame''.


    ''I didn''t expect that I would get blessed by the ''law'' of ''Flame'' after using this enhancement card¡­''


    When you use this card in the game, it only improves your affinity to the grade-1 level; that''s the highest your affinity can get in the game.


    But now, Jareth directly got blessed by the ''Law of Flame'' and his fire affinity went off the charts in an instant.


    At this point, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that he has the strongest flames in the world, and no one can compete with him in terms of fire magic.


    ''I will need to learn higher grade spells soon; right now I only know grade 3 and lower level spells¡­''


    The reason why Jareth''s fire magic is still in grade 3 is because he hasn''t yet learned any higher-tier spells yet.


    Once he learns them, his fire magic level will also increase.


    And lastly, there''s the passive skill ''Blessed by the True Flame.'' This passive skill will enhance all his fire-type attacks with the True Flame, which will improve his powers by an immense level.


    ''Moreover, true flames are closely related to the power of a ''law'', which means they will have a more potent effect on things related to miasma¡­ Now I have stronger methods to deal damage to miasma corrupted beings¡­''


    If Jareth had this ability before fighting Konda, he wouldn''t have needed to fight the other party for three days and three nights.


    He could have directly used the enhancement card on the true flames and burned that pile of bones on the spot.


    ''Now that I have this ability, I can finally go and venture in the abyss altar area without worrying too much about safety¡­''


    Originally, Jareth was thinking of visiting that place only after visiting the other six nodes of the seal.


    That place is one of the most dangerous areas to go to after all, and most enemies there have very high resistance against magic.


    When miasma corrupts a being so thoroughly that they literally become slaves to corruption, at that point, mana-related attacks start to become weaker against such beings.


    Mana and Miasma are polar opposites after all; if miasma is stronger in a person, then the person will have a higher ability to resist mana as miasma repels mana and negates it.


    The same is true for mana; it can negate miasma if miasma is of lower density.


    Both the law of mana and the law of miasma are like mortal enemies to each other; neither of them can stand to gain an upper hand, and the outcome depends on conditions and various external factors.


    In Jareth''s case, he has extremely pure mana and even has mana singularity that further improves control over mana, thus his resistance to miasma is nearly high.


    Corruption will have a nearly nonexistent level of effect on him.


    Moreover, now that he has the blessing of the flames, he can eliminate even that nonexistent possibility of getting corrupted by miasma.


    ''With such high resistances and defensive powers, it would be stranger if I got corrupted in the first place¡­ If not for the sea of miasma, I wouldn''t have needed to be so frustrated¡­''


    Although Jareth has insanely high resistances, the sea of miasma is much stronger after all; the law of miasma has manifested in it to a very great extent, and Jareth can''t bet his life on these small resistances.


    ''Regardless of this current matter, I still need to work hard to get stronger and leave this place fast; the road ahead is still very long¡­''


    Although the seal in the abyss altar has broken apart, the false dome seal as a whole hasn''t weakened too much yet.


    Demons still can''t get in, but Jareth can still go there and look for the hidden chamber that was located behind Konda''s boss area.


    ''If my luck is good enough, then the false dome cult hasn''t yet gotten their hands on that thing, and if it''s still there, I can take it and use it as another material for creating my wormhole opening device¡­''


    Jareth isn''t going to go in that god-forsaken place for no reason; he has a mission in his mind, and he has to find many rare items so that he can create the wormhole stabilizing device.


    He was originally planning on using some other material in place of the one that is locked behind Konda''s boss fight, as Konda is too f*cking strong.


    But now that Konda is dead and gone for good, Jareth can go ahead and infiltrate his home to steal the things that originally should have belonged to the protagonist.


    ''Well, the area is optional anyway, and I highly doubt that Allen could have ever been able to defeat this optional boss, so I am technically not stealing anything this time¡­''


    ''I am just claiming what I earned with my own efforts¡­''


    ¡­


    While contemplating various things in his mind, Jareth flew back towards the group and landed near the helicopter.


    "I have already dealt with my matters; we can continue our journey now¡­"


    The pilot was too speechless to say anything, and he just nodded his head at Jareth''s words before starting the helicopter again.


    The rest of the group also kept giving Jareth curious stares from time to time, but they also boarded the helicopter honestly along with Jareth.


    Once the helicopter started flying again, Shin was the first one to ask the questions.


    "Are you sure you are a Grade 1 mage? How did you end up creating such a massive scene just while ascending from early grade 1 to intermediate grade 1?"


    Yeah, Shin and the others think that Jareth just ascended to the intermediate level of grade-1.


    Well, their reasoning is not unfounded either.


    Jareth had just ascended to grade-1 recently, and right now, his next breakthrough will obviously be to grade-1 intermediate. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    What the others didn''t know was that Jareth is barely just a grade-2 mage right now, and he''s not even a grade-1, yet Shin is suspecting him of being stronger than an ordinary grade-1.


    "You are thinking too much; it''s just that my fire magic affinity is too high, so when I had a sudden ''realization'' it caused chaos as the fire elementals in the area went out of control¡­"


    Jareth''s reasoning was logical, and even Shin couldn''t find any flaws in it.


    "Your overly lethal basic magic aside¡­ your fire magic is really something else¡­ to think it would create such a massive scene just from a small improvement¡­"


    "Sigh, I wonder when I will be able to reach grade 1.. ugh.."


    Shin couldn''t help but complain and envy Jareth''s improvement speed.


    Just a few months ago, the two of them were still in the same grade, and now the gap between their strengths is just getting bigger and bigger as time goes by.


    Shin feels depressed that his improvement speed is much slower than Jareth.


    Looking at that depressed face, Jareth shook his head and spoke in a calm tone,


    "If you weren''t always busy lazing around, you wouldn''t have been left behind¡­"


    Shin spends most of his time nowadays being pampered by his wife and lazing around all day long in his house, so obviously he''s not making much progress.


    ''Still, I don''t blame him for being that way¡­ He''s not aware of the truth of this world and thus can live a happy life¡­ As they say, ignorance is bliss¡­''


    Being ignorant of the fact that this world is a literal hell hole that is destined to be doomed one day or another, Shin is able to live a satisfying and happy life with his family.


    What else does a man want anyway? A happy family and a peaceful life are the most sought-after things.


    ''I guess I would have done the same as him and lived a life of ignorance and bliss too if I was in his shoes¡­''


    As a wise sorcerer once said:


    {Love is the most twisted curse of them all¡­}

 Chapter 175 The Underground Lab... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, National Airport.The helicopter landed on the reserved helipad. Jareth and the others left the helicopter landing area and went over to the parking area to get in the cars waiting for them.


    Shin went back to his home as he couldn''t wait to meet his family, and Aria headed towards the academy with Mark, Azul and Risa in tow.


    Jareth took another car to head towards his own mansion that he had bought with the money taken from the Blaze family''s accounts.


    ''Abyss altar... sigh, this one is going to be a great hassle.''


    The promised date for the journey to the Elven Empire is also coming near, and there''s not much time left before he needs to go there, so if he wants to visit the abyss altar, he should be quick about it.


    ''This time, I should go there alone¡­ Taking anyone else will only hinder me; moreover, others don''t have as high miasma resistance as me¡­ Taking Mark and Risa there will also be a bad idea¡­''


    Jareth would have surely liked to take Allen with him to go on this trip, but it turns out that Allen is just a useless guy and isn''t worth mentioning at all, so there''s no need to do that.


    Even though Allen has the extremely rare ''Light Magic,'' he hasn''t made much progress in it; he''s more focused on ''Charm Magic'' instead. Which is basically useless in combat.


    Charm magic has a lot of restrictions.


    First of all, the effect of charm magic will get reduced by eighty percent if you use it on someone who already has feelings for someone.


    Secondly, the charm magic''s effect can be easily detected and negated if you are of the same grade or of a higher grade than the user.


    Third, charm magic doesn''t last for a long enough time, and the more you use it on the same person, the more the other party will get resistant to it, and at one point it will stop being effective.


    Risa went through hard training to become an assassin, so she has built up her resistance to many things.


    Not only is she immune to all poisons of the same grade or lower, she''s completely resistant to charm magic of the same and lower grades.


    Moreover, she''s been in love with Mark for a long time, so the effect of the charm spell was already very low on her. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the old times when they didn''t know how to counter charm spells in wars, they always used to advise the soldiers.


    ''Fall in love before going to war; that way you will be motivated to come back home alive and will also be more resistant to the enemy''s tricks¡­''


    This technique actually worked wonders in the war against the druids, and it became much easier to slaughter them mercilessly as fewer people were affected by their charm spells.


    Most of the forest area that the human race owns today was snatched from the druids by slaughtering them and eliminating them from the area.


    ''The point is, this useless guy is focusing more of his energy on charm spells instead of learning proper combat spells¡­''


    ''I seriously find it hard to believe that such a guy has been chosen as the hero of this world¡­ The heavenly luck must have had some personal beef with the ''world'' that it chose this guy to be the protagonist¡­''


    ''If I had light magic, or even Mark had light magic, it would have been twice as easier to deal with miasma¡­''


    Jareth simply gets irritated whenever he finds anything new about Allen, due to which he doesn''t like talking to that guy at all.


    ''Even if I want to take him as a student and train him properly, it would be impossible to make a proper asset out of that rotten apple¡­''


    No matter how rotten Allen is, he''s a protagonist after all; he has the blessing of the heavenly luck, and making him submit to anyone is near impossible.


    Allen will never acknowledge Jareth as his teacher from his heart, and he might even create problems in his plan of escape.


    ''Protagonists always like to pretend to be all-knowing and question others motives as they please¡­ If I helped him get strong, he will definitely become a great problem for me in the future¡­''


    Jareth has watched too many movies and anime to know that the villain teacher who helps out the main character just for their own benefit always ends up getting beaten themselves.


    ''Even if I am stronger than him¡­ there is still that bullsh*t called ''power of friendship'' that can beat even the strongest of villains in the universe¡­ So it''s better to keep my distance¡­''


    One of the main reasons why Jareth always avoids Allen like a plague is also because he''s a villain-type character and his motivations and goals are also quite selfish.


    No one knows which way the strings of destiny might get tilted if they stay too close to the protagonist.


    If Allen tried to make his escape plan flop, then there will definitely be many factors that can cause problems for him.


    ''I might even get unlucky, and the wormhole might end up connecting to some even more horrible place than this¡­ So I need to stay away from that unlucky omen¡­''


    Jareth has long known that it is impossible to kill Allen completely as long as he''s blessed by the heavenly luck.


    Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire


    The luck of that guy is simply too high; he won''t die even if hundreds of grade-1 mages start bombarding continent-level magic on him and pursue him to the end of the world.


    This may sound like an exaggeration, but it isn''t.


    It is canon that Allen was on a whole year-long run from a grade-1 demonized human in the lore, and he managed to survive till help arrived and even was able to counter-kill the other party.


    ''My stealing activities are also just small things; they don''t really matter much in the grand scheme of things, and the heavenly luck will prepare more opportunities for him as a replacement anyway¡­''


    ''Opportunities, chances, heroines, side characters, etc. are all are replaceable parts of this grand scheme; if you kill one heroine, another will appear to fawn over him¡­ It''s just an endless loop¡­''


    The existence of a person blessed by infinite luck is already strange in itself; there''s no point in arguing about how ridiculous it can get from there.


    ''All that talent and luck¡­ and yet no progress and proper path¡­ Just how corrupted the heavenly luck has become to be choosing trash like that as the protagonist¡­''


    Jareth sighed and shook his head.


    ''Forget it; it doesn''t matter. If there is any way to save this world, then Allen can find it on his own. I have nothing to do with it; I will just mind my own business.''


    ''Leaving this place as early as possible is the way for me; it doesn''t matter how many unfair advantages Allen has; I have to focus on my own goals.


    ¡­


    The car reached the mansion while Jareth was still busy thinking about the protagonist.


    Jareth opened the door of the car and went inside the mansion.


    Ignoring all the beautiful decorations on the walls and that comfy-looking sofa, Jareth first went to the lift and decided to go to the basement first.


    ''Out of the ten items that I need to create the wormhole stabilizing device, I already have three of them now¡­''


    The lift door opened at the lowest floor of the basement, and a research lab-like place appeared in Jareth''s view.


    The main reason Jareth went out of his way to buy this overly luxurious house was to hide the fact that he is conducting illegal research underground in this place.


    No one in the whole empire, not even the government, would dare to raid a Grade-1 mage''s house without any extreme reasons, so this place is the safest to do illegal things.


    ''Even though I am working on technology that can benefit whole humanity, it is still illegal research as the items I am using are all questionable things¡­''


    There is simply no way that you can get permission to use these items.


    Aside from the illegal items, Jareth doesn''t want to reveal his technology just yet, so he has to hide and do things in secrecy.


    ''Maybe I will give this technology to them when I am already about to leave and am done with all the things¡­''


    Jareth is not a saint; all the items that can stabilize the wormhole strong enough to cross the whole sea of miasma are extremely rare items and are very few in quantity.


    If Jareth revealed the technology too early, others will try to get their hands on these already few materials, and he himself will have no way to continue his research at that point due to a lack of materials.


    For example, the ''benevolent fairy powder'' alone is so rare that there was only one merchant in the whole game who sold it; it was Erik, and even Erick only had this one bottle.


    If you want to find more, you will need to look through ruins of the past.


    It will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.


    ''Moreover, I highly doubt they can even find the blue crystals in any other place of the world¡­ All of them have been harvested by me already, and there''s likely none left¡­''


    If Jareth had the ability, he would have at least tried to save the innocent people of this world, as this world has given him a second chance at life, but right now all he can do is just be selfish.

 Chapter 176 The Underground Lab... Part-2.

    Jareth walked inside the lab and reached towards a container made up of magically enhanced glass.[Basic Magic: Float!]


    Opening the large container lid with float magic, Jareth poured all of the blue crystals into that specially prepared container.


    ''Good thing I already bought high-quality blue rhino blood to store these crystals¡­''


    The blue rhino blood is transparent in color, just like water, and is one of the highest-quality liquids that can preserve mana crystals and various other highly sensitive metals in top condition.


    ''The space rings in this world are very weak¡­''


    The biggest problem is that time works normally even in Jareth''s system space, and even the space rings only slow down time by barely a small margin.


    Thus, putting these blue crystals into the system space and the space rings is not a good idea.


    There are only a handful of mages in this world who can even use time magic, and most of them end up becoming favorite employees of the space ring forging companies.


    Although they have high-paying jobs, the workload is also immense.


    They have to cast time-slowing spells on each space ring that is forged in the factory personally, so the process is not only slow; it also puts a lot of burden on the mage. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Moreover, using time magic has a lot of restrictions, and most time magic users don''t even make it past grade 5 in their whole life as there''s simply not enough research done in that area.


    Most mages learn spells that were invented long ago and were researched and improved by many people over time.


    That''s the reason why fire magic is considered the strongest in this world, despite there being other powers like space and time.


    Fire magic was the first type of magic that humanity learned, and countless people have researched and improved the fire spells over many generations and centuries.


    Fire magic is the most researched and advanced branch of magic in today''s world.


    On the other hand, there has barely been any research in time magic.


    It''s not that people don''t want to do research and improve; it''s just that there''s not enough people to conduct research on.


    Only one person among a million mages has time affinity; it''s extremely rare, and most people who awaken time affinity don''t have high potential either.


    So they can barely use low-grade spells and can only work as space ring-making wizards to earn money.


    This is also the reason why space rings are so expensive; there''s just not enough people who are capable of making them.


    The demand for the space rings is high, but the supply is too low.


    ''Even if the supply is improved, the quality of these space rings is just too low¡­''


    There''s not a single-time type magician in this world who is above grade-4, which means at most only an intermediate-level space ring can be created in this world.


    Creating ''Advanced'' or ''Master'' level space rings that can directly slow down time by half or ever eighty percent than normal is just a pipe dream and is not possible.


    Unless a grade-1 time mage appears and personally creates a space ring, Jareth can''t rely on the space rings to store the blue crystals.


    ''It''s much more cost-effective to store the crystals in this specially prepared preservative¡­ At least it can suppress the quality of the crystals from degrading too fast¡­''


    These blue crystals were stuck underground, and there was nothing to preserve them from degrading; their power was leaking every day, and that leaking power was what caused those blue-shining lights on the central lake of Bastille.


    If someone had put these crystals in a preservative, like Jareth has done now, the power leak would have been suppressed greatly, and these crystals would have been of higher quality than semi-grade 0 now.


    ''Well, if there really was someone who knew the true value of these crystals, they would have rather hidden it somewhere extremely well, and I wouldn''t have been able to get my hands on them¡­''


    ''In one way or another, these crystals being located in that hidden mine was a good thing for me¡­''


    Just one of these blue crystals is precious enough to be sold at an extremely high price.


    Jareth can buy the whole country with these blue crystals alone. The value of these crystals is equal to the whole wealth of the human empire, which is currently the richest nation on this planet.


    ''To think that such precious treasures are now being placed in my lab as test materials is really something unique¡­''


    If people outside knew that Jareth was planning on using these precious crystals as experiment materials, they would shed tears of blood and curse at him and his whole bloodline like crazy.


    These crystals are indeed precious, but Jareth doesn''t care about them.


    When it comes to rescuing himself from the never-ending agony of corruption, monetary value holds no significance for him.


    ''If there was no such thing as the sea of miasma, I would have sold a few of the crystals to buy major companies, and then I would have directly retired from my job¡­''


    With such immense wealth in his hand, Jareth would have lived a life of luxury and peace.


    But things always don''t go the way you want them to; even with such precious treasures in his hand, Jareth can only forget about an easy life and try his best to survive.


    ''A momentary feeling of success is not worth getting tortured for eternity¡­''


    ¡­


    After submerging all the blue liquids in that large glass container, Jareth put the lid back on it and sealed the whole container with a mana barrier.


    ''Now, unless someone has the power to manipulate the laws of the world, it''s near impossible to destroy the barrier, thus the crystals can stay safely here for the time being¡­''


    ''Even when I am away on missions, no one will be able to take these crystals even if they make it to this lab safely¡­''


    Jareth has not seen a single NPC in the game who had ''Mana Singularity''; only players liked to use it, so he''s not worried that someone will come and steal these crystals.


    And even if the other party did manage to steal them somehow, Jareth has already placed a small trace of his own mana singularity on these crystals; he can track them as long as he''s in a 500-kilometer radius of them.


    Aside from the crystals, Jareth also placed the bottle containing the fairy powder on a nearby shelf and sealed it with a mana barrier too.


    The benevolent fairy powder and the crystals are both great treasures that can be sold for insane amounts of wealth.


    But these two are not the biggest treasures in his lab; the biggest treasure are the research notes of the previous Jareth.


    The other party poured all his genius into researching how much mana can affect atoms of the world and in what conditions mana can cause the atoms to disintegrate.


    The original Jareth failed to accomplish any great results in this research, and all he achieved was tons of failures and test results that showed no results at all.


    His notes are filled with the various failed test results, and there is not a single point of success in them.


    Even Nathan did more research in the past three years on this matter, but there doesn''t seem to be much progress.


    However, despite being nothing but records of failure, these few books, sheets of paper, and diagrams are enough to make any scientist tremble in shock.


    Any experienced scientist can see how extraordinary this research is. If this thing can be studied and a successful result is created, humanity as a whole will be able to progress further.


    Once you find the proper ratio of mana that can be used to break the atom and create energy out of it while also preventing radiation, you can literally create the most clean and efficient fuel in this world.


    Mana can also be used as fuel, but the number of mana crystals on this planet is finite, and creating mana crystals artificially is very ineffective.


    You would consume twice the energy to condense mana and create mana crystals than it can be produced from that mana crystal.


    This inefficiency has caused many companies to abandon artificial mana crystal production altogether.


    But everything could have been changed for the better if the research of the original Jareth was completed successfully.


    If a proper ratio is found, then a device can be created that can burst atoms by using that set mana circuit while emitting a set amount of mana.


    This will create a thousand times more energy than the energy used to burst the atom.


    All you need is to measure the mana ratio needed.


    And everything fell apart at this very step; not only Jareth but even Nathan failed to grasp this ratio.


    The original Jareth already knew that his mana control was lacking for such a minute and precise task, so he decided to hand over this task to Nathan, thinking that the mana control of a grade-1 mage would be enough to do this.


    But even that speculation was wrong.


    Even Nathan was not able to control mana to such a minute and precise level.


    That''s where ''Mana singularity'' comes into play; this is the only skill in the world that can influence mana in the most efficient way.


    In other words, only someone with this legendary skill is capable of completing this research that started from the original Jareth and now has reached his hands.


    ''Now it''s up to me to create success from this tome that is filled with failures¡­''

 Chapter 177 To The Snowy North... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, Core Area, President''s Residence.Main Meeting Room.


    Unlike usual, the president and the other ministers were not having a proper meeting today.


    They were just sitting on their respective chairs and staring at a single man.


    All the ministers sitting beside the roundtable were either thinking of running away or were sweating buckets at the moment.


    Only the president was the calmest among them.


    "Mr. Jareth Blaze¡­ No, it''s Jareth Ayad now¡­ Do you not know that barging into the president''s residence without permission is a crime?"


    Jareth ignored the question of the president and directly stated what he came here for.


    "I want permission to enter the ''Abyss Alter Area.'' I would like the president to make an exception for me and grant me a token that can help me enter that place¡­"


    "That''s all I need; grant me access to that place and I will be on my way; no need to make things difficult for each other, right?"


    The president also knew that there was no point in reciting the laws and restrictions in front of a Grade 1 mage, so he stopped caring about it; he only said so to show that he wasn''t afraid of Jareth.


    Although Jareth is a Grade 1 mage and the president is an ordinary person with no magical capabilities, the dignity of the whole nation is on his shoulders, so he won''t be afraid of anyone at all.


    Moreover, the current president is known for his strict policies and stubborn nature; he would rather die than bow his head.


    He''s the type of person that Jareth actually likes the most.


    Even at his advanced age, he''s still following a strict schedule and working, which is commendable.


    As for corruption and all, everyone in the government does that; it''s nothing new, so Jareth doesn''t care about it at all.


    He himself is no saint either; he''s not going to expose these guys for no apparent reason.


    Chaos in the country is not what Jareth wants to see right now.


    This is also the reason why he came over to ask for the token to enter the Abyss Alter Area.


    If he wanted, he could have forcefully broken the massive protective barrier to the entrance of that place.


    But that would have triggered the self-destruction functions, and even with mana singularity, Jareth couldn''t have stopped it on time.


    The Abyss Altar is a place personally created by the First King; the barrier alone involves the power of ''laws''; messing with something like that by force is not a good idea.


    The self-destruction of the main entrance of the Abyss Altar will create massive chaos in the nation, and that''s not what Jareth wants to see.


    Thus, he decided to choose a more peaceful method this time.


    He came over to ask for the token to get proper and official entrance permission in that place.


    Only the president has the token that can grant access to that barrier; thus, Jareth directly came to him to ask for it in person.


    Grade 1 beings are above the law; they can go wherever they want, and no one can stop them or blame them for it.


    Thus, Jareth didn''t bother putting in a formal appointment request.


    What will the president say to him? Put him in jail? There''s not a single jail that can hold a Grade 1 in it.


    Only something like the death cage can keep a grade 1 mage stuck in one place, like Nathan is.


    "You want to go into the Abyss Alter Area? That place is a literal hellhole; going there is suicide even for a grade 1 mage¡­ Are you sure about it?"


    A look of concern appeared on the face of the president.


    The human race recently lost Nathan, and Jareth''s presence has filled that gap.


    They can''t afford to lose another Grade 1 mage.


    Although Grade 1 mages are above the law and are quite the arrogant folk, they are also one of the greatest benefactors of the empire.


    Just look at Reynald; he''s the head of the royal family, and hundreds of industries are working under him.


    The tax his companies pay alone supports 40 percent of the nation''s GDP, and the fact that he also takes private commissions is also a matter of great benefit.


    Anyone who has enough money to gift him can go and hire him to help out in trouble.


    Many rich ministers or family heads go to him and request him to improve and extend the mana circuit of their children so as to give a brighter future to their children.


    Reynald aside, Jareth, who has only just recently become a grade 1, has already helped the entire nation by connecting Bastille and the whole desert to the nation.


    Moreover, he also helped out in dealing with Konda, who could have destroyed the whole nation if left alone.


    Not a single weapon of humanity would have worked on that bone dragon; it''s the fortune of the human empire that there''s a grade-1 mage like Jareth protecting them from such insane dangers.


    Grade-1 mages may be selfish and arrogant beings who are disliked by many, but their strength is indeed respected by the whole nation, including the members of the parliament.


    Jareth is being seen as a great pillar of support and protection by all of the citizens, as he has saved them once already, so if something happens to him, it will cause massive chaos in the nation.


    Jareth''s popularity is no joke either; even the children in the most isolated corners of the empire know his name by now.


    "I can give you access to that forbidden area, but are you sure you can make it back?"


    The president himself doesn''t care what excessive demands Jareth has; for him, Jareth is a great hidden weapon that is absolutely necessary for the safety of the empire.


    With demon cults like False Dome wandering around freely, people like Jareth are absolutely necessary right now.


    "Haha, president, you are the first one to be so concerned about my well-being after my mother¡­ You have earned my respect¡­"


    Jareth felt quite amused by the fact that the president was worrying about his well-being despite him being the weaker one.


    This situation is like worrying about the health of a walking nuclear bomb that can cause destruction on an immense scale.


    The president shrugged his shoulders and replied in a calm tone.


    "Well, I will give you the token¡­ But there''s one condition: there''s been reports recently about an outburst of miasma-infected beasts on a floating island near the northern regions of the nation¡­"


    "If you can help us solve that problem, I will give you the token¡­"


    The president smiled a bit and continued, S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Please don''t consider this an order; it''s just a request¡­ It''s not compulsory..."


    Jareth felt even more amused hearing those words.


    "So, you''re saying that even if I refuse to do this work for you, you''ll still hand over the token to me? Interesting¡­"


    The president nodded his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "Well, I don''t have the means to stop you from directly taking the token from me; it''s just that I hope to make it an equal transaction¡­"


    "I have heard that mages believe in the law of equal transaction; you do me a favor and I will give you the token¡­ So, how about it?"


    Jareth nodded his head, and a rare smile appeared on his face.


    "Good! I will deal with this little thing of yours before heading towards the Abyss Altar; it would be too petty of me to just take advantage of this matter; I also believe in the law of equal exchange after all¡­"


    Jareth got up from the seat and walked towards the door of the meeting room.


    "I will be waiting in the main hall outside; ask someone to compile all details and give them to me; you have fifteen minutes¡­ Delay a single second, and I will directly take the token and leave¡­"


    The president nodded his head and agreed immediately.


    Only after Jareth left the room did the other ministers let out their suppressed breaths.


    Most of them were looking at the president with a look of absolute shock on their faces.


    All of them were having a hard time even breathing under Jareth''s pressure, yet the president was as relaxed as always.


    Which was quite a shocking thing.


    What they didn''t know was that the president already has an incurable disease and he won''t live more than two or three years, so he doesn''t fear death at all.


    As he already knows that the jaws of death are already quite near him, he has nothing to fear at all.


    When in a near-death state, even an ordinary person can show insane resolve; maybe this is the miracle of the so-called ''Indomitable Human Spirit''.


    "Don''t waste the time on chit-chatting; ask your subordinates to give the details of the mission to him; it''s a good thing that he''s in a good mood; don''t waste this opportunity!"


    "There are not many people who can solve this disaster; if we let this opportunity slip out of our hands, then no one knows how many people will die¡­"


    "That will create problems for our government¡­"


    After being scolded, the ministers worked faster and ordered their subordinates to gather all details that were important to the mission.


    They even assigned their strongest knight to go and accompany Jareth on this mission so as to patch all loose ends.


    The lady knight had a sore look over her face when she found out that she would have to accompany Jareth on a mission, but she had no other choice; orders from the superiors are unavoidable.

 Chapter 178 To The Snowy North... Part-2.

    President''s Residence,Garden, Near the Teleportation Altar.


    Sitting on a chair near the teleportation altar, Jareth was waiting for the maintenance staff to make some final adjustments to the teleportation altar.


    This teleportation altar will transport him directly to the northernmost city, eliminating the need for him to exert any additional effort to fly to the north.


    While Jareth was sipping tea, waiting patiently, a knight wearing silver armor walked over to his side.


    She was holding her helmet in one hand and some papers in another.


    With a frown on her face, she handed over the papers to Jareth.


    "These are the documents the staff asked me to hand over to you¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and took the papers and skimmed through all the information recorded in them.


    ''Ah, no wonder they haven''t been able to deal with this incident until now; I remember this thing from the game¡­''


    ''It''s one of the most notorious sidequests, which takes a lot of time to complete¡­''


    There are several floating islands near the northern cities of the empire. These floating islands are mostly empty, and only a few of them have anything on them beside random trees and plants.


    But the biggest island of them all has a massive dungeon on it, filled with extremely deadly traps and metal golems. For the average golem, there is a peak grade-2 enemy.


    There are many grade-1 mini-bosses inside, and the final boss is a peak grade-1 too.


    ''The quest to clear this dungeon was extremely long, and I remember that most players wrote hate comments about this quest¡­''


    The main reason for the hate was that despite having float magic, the players couldn''t fly high enough to reach that island in the game.


    Thus they had to go through a very long and difficult quest to unlock teleportation altars.


    First, you will get teleported to the smallest island.


    Then you would need to make your way up to the highest island, which is the final and biggest island, all while avoiding massive laser beams fired by the defense mechanisms of the central island.


    If you get hit even once, you will directly fall down and die in an instant. And as this place was very buggy in the game.


    If you fell, all your items that should have been in your inventory will get stuck in the sky due to the bug when the character falls.


    And even if you make it to the final island, there''s no save point there; if you die in the dungeon, you will have to repeat the whole process all over again.


    To clear the dungeon, you need to carry many buff items and equipment''s in the inventory; thus, if you fall from being hit by the laser, you will lose all items, and as there''s no save point on the island, you will have to take this risk over and over.


    ''I remember that barely any of the players had completed this quest, as it was just too difficult, and only those who had no life and no jobs had the time and energy to invest so much effort in it.''


    Jareth himself never completed this quest and gave up on it after losing nearly all his precious equipment once.


    The quest itself is not that difficult; if the developers had placed a save point on the island and had fixed the bug in the sky, then this quest would have become a thousand times easier.


    But the developers never fixed these issues.


    In fact, they said only two words to the players who were complaining, ''Git Gud!''.


    Those two words were enough to make the whole fanbase shut up their mouths and accept their own defeat.


    In fact, instead of fixing the bugs, the developers enhanced the laser''s firing speed to torture the players even more.


    It was so outrageous that unless you put some hacks or cheating methods in place, you will not be able to complete this quest without losing your sanity.


    Thinking about that time, Jareth couldn''t help but feel nostalgic.


    ''Ah, those days of being turned into a sieve by the lasers and cursing at the developers for their crimes¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head and placed the papers in his space ring, then he glanced at the lady knight and was a bit surprised.


    ''Hmm, wait, I remember seeing this character somewhere in the game¡­''


    ''Oh yes! Isn''t she Jui Qeiy!?''


    Jui is a mid-game villain-type character.


    According to the lore she''s a former subordinate of Mark''s mother. She can basically be considered Mark''s aunt, as his mother thinks of her as a sister instead of a subordinate.


    She''s that overly doting aunt-type character who dotes on Mark like crazy, and she was one of the few people who directly dared to try to assassinate Allen, the protagonist.


    Mark didn''t like Allen, and the two were eternal rivals. Jui took it in her own hands to assassinate Allen and get rid of him for Mark.


    And as everyone might already have expected, she met her end due to the protagonist.


    Any beautiful women that Allen likes only have two endings: either they enter his harem or they die tragically and get considered a villain.


    This is basically the heavenly luck saying, ''If you don''t want to help the protagonist then f*ck off and die!''


    ¡­


    "I am Jui Qeiy, a knight; I have been assigned to accompany you on this mission¡­"


    She didn''t even bother saying any greetings like ''Nice to meet you'' or anything; she just stated her name and purpose and then went silent again while trying her best to not show an irritated look on her face.


    Jareth knew the reason behind her annoyance.


    She hates Grade-1 mages as a whole.


    First of all, her master, whom she swore her loyalty to, ended up marrying Reynald and retiring, leaving her behind to fend for herself.


    Reynald himself is a selfish person and doesn''t bother respecting anyone at all; his rude behaviors and carelessness in raising Mark made Jui resentful of him.


    Then Jui also served as an escort for Nathan once and got to see his dark side with her own eyes, so now she has a very bad opinion of grade 1 mages.


    In her opinion, all grade 1 mages are corrupt and bad people. Hanging around with them is not a good idea.


    And Jui is not wrong in this matter either; all grade-1 mages are more or less mentally different from others.


    They have seen the reality of the world, and thus their thought process is different. In their eyes, life is insignificant and worthless, as the world is already doomed from the beginning.


    No one can understand the mentality of the grade-1 mages unless they become grade-1 themselves; only by knowing the reality of this world will you know why all grade-1 mages are so selfish and weird people.


    Reynald finds entertainment in growing his wealth and family power; Nathan finds entertainment in doing random weird research.


    They both don''t have bigger goals, as they both know that there''s no point in helping the nation or anyone else, as everything is meant for doom anyway.


    It''s better to just cater to yourself and enjoy the little time you have left to live.


    Jareth finished the tea and got up from his seat.


    "Good, then I will be relying on you for a few things, Ms. Jui¡­"


    Jareth doesn''t care what Jui thinks or what resentments she has; he has nothing to do with them.


    All he needs to do is complete his own motives; there''s no point in worrying about what others think of him.


    Ignoring the piercing gaze of Jui, Jareth stepped on the altar and got ready to head towards the north.


    ¡­


    Meeting Room.


    Standing on the balcony, the president sighed as he saw Jareth and Jui leave via the teleportation altar.


    "Er, president, was it really a good idea to send Ms. Jui with him¡­ You also know that she hates working with Grade 1 mages¡­"


    Hearing the secretary''s words, the president sighed again and replied in a helpless tone,


    "We only have her at our disposal who has experience working with Grade-1 mages; if we send anyone else, they won''t even be able to keep up with the pressure of a Grade-1 mage¡­"


    "Although she has resentment for them, she also knows her own boundaries. She made it back alive after arguing with the king and the former principal despite being so much weaker than them¡­"


    "That proves she has her own ways¡­ I believe she''s the best candidate for this task¡­ Others will faint on the spot if Jareth just glared at them once¡­"


    The secretary sighed at those words and spoke in a concerned voice.


    "I just hope she doesn''t end up pissing him off; otherwise, he might even attack the parliament¡­"


    The president shook his head at those words and replied in a rather vague tone,


    "No¡­ If he wanted, he could have just forcefully taken the token; he agreed to the request we made; that just shows he isn''t someone with no moral sense¡­"


    "Unlike the former principal Nathan, he has a bottom line at least¡­"


    It turns out that the president has mistaken Jareth for a decent person.


    Jareth''s actions of saving Bastille and helping the nation have caused many people to misunderstand that he''s a good person.


    If they had seen Jareth use his torture methods, they wouldn''t have dared to think of Jareth as a benevolent good person.


    By now there''s so many misunderstandings revolving around Jareth that he himself has given up on clearing them up.


    They just keep getting more and more outrageous, and Jareth feels completely dumbfounded whenever he opens the social media apps and sees weird reels circulating everywhere.


    Some people don''t even know his real surname but know him as ''Jareth the goat''. That has literally become his surname in their opinion.


    sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 179 To The Snowy North... Part-3.

    Looking at the snow-covered streets of the city and the children playing in the snow, Jareth couldn''t help but nod his head.''It''s been a while since I last went to a place where it snows this much¡­''


    The last time he went to such a place was years ago in his previous life. The location where he used to live and work was closer to the equator, so it never snowed there.


    To see the snow, he would have needed to go to the northern areas of the country, but that wasn''t possible in the recent years as he was too busy with work.


    ''Who could have thought I would end up seeing snow in a different world altogether¡­''


    Jareth has more or less already considered the possibility that he can never go back to his original world. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And even if he went back, there''s no guarantee he would be able to return to the same timeline.


    Maybe time moves faster in his previous world compared to here, and by the time he returns, hundreds of years might have passed away.


    There will be nothing left for him to call home by that time.


    ''Forget it, it''s better this way; at least Shiina will be able to find someone better for herself and live a happy life now¡­ I should also move on¡­''


    Walking on the streets, Jareth left footprints on the snow and kept enjoying the beauty of this amazing scenery.


    After all, it''s not every day that you get to enjoy such amazing sights.


    ''Maybe I should click a photo or two; I will show them to Mark and Risa later¡­ Ah, there''s Azul too now; I nearly forgot about him¡­''


    Without knowing himself, Jareth has already started to care for Mark and Risa.


    Azul, on the other hand is even more special.


    He has dual affinities; he can use space magic and fire magic, which means he''s a perfect candidate to inherit Jareth''s legacy.


    Jareth can teach him all his fire spell knowledge.


    Mark and Risa are children from powerful families; after all, Jareth can''t really turn them into his faithful pawns as they will always be more inclined to their own families.


    But Azul has no one else to rely on, and he can definitely become a qualified pawn that can be very helpful in the future.


    ''Although I assume that there''s not really enough time left for these pawns to grow up and be useful to me¡­ It''s always better to make preparation for all circumstances¡­''


    While Jareth was busy thinking about various things, Jui glanced at him before saying,


    "This is Keim, the city of everlasting snow¡­ It is said that it snows for six months continuously in this place, and thousands of tourists come here every year¡­"


    "This place is referred to as ''Heaven on Earth'' as the scenery here is indeed very beautiful¡­"


    "The snow crystals that Frost type mages use mostly come from the mines located in the mountain range nearby¡­"


    "This place is extremely important to the nation, not only because it produces a lot of money; it also has a lot of resources hidden beneath the snow¡­"


    Jareth was quite surprised that the description that Jui gave of Keim was exactly the same as the guide who led him here in the game had provided him.


    Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire


    ''Hmm, it''s as if I am being considered a player even now¡­ What an odd feeling¡­''


    Jareth didn''t dwell on that matter much, and he nodded his head at Jui.


    "Well, I can see why they would dare to give this place an arrogant title like ''Heaven on Earth.'' This place is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen before¡­"


    Not only are they putting a lot of efforts into maintaining the natural look of this place by controlling human intervention, they are also putting a lot of money into cleaning.


    Whenever tourists come to a place, they spread tons of garbage, and the tourist spot gets ruined completely by the overflowing flow of people.


    The reason why this place is still so good-looking despite the massive tourist flow all year long is because the government has not only made strict rules to restrict people from throwing garbage at random places.


    They also have hired a lot of cleaning workers who work tirelessly to keep this place clean and beautiful all year long.


    "By the way, the islands we are looking for are located on the other side of the mountain range¡­"


    "That''s actually a no man''s land; it''s extremely close to the border of the country, and no one lives there¡­ The military likely wants to establish an air base in those floating islands¡­"


    "Otherwise they wouldn''t have wanted to deal with those islands¡­"


    Jareth was surprised at Jui bluntness; she spilled all the beans without even asking.


    "Are you sure you should be saying these controversial things out loud?"


    Jui crossed her hands and said in a proud tone,


    "I am a proud knight; I don''t lie or work in shady business; thus, I am telling you the whole truth as it is, and I don''t fear the government either¡­"


    "When I became a knight, I took the oath that I would never betray myself and those whom I cared for¡­ So, I am telling you about the truth because I don''t want to be a part of this lie¡­"


    "The government doesn''t give a single Sh*t about the citizens; they want to turn those islands into military bases¡­"


    "Thus they said that the dungeon in the central island can cause problems for people, despite knowing that this dungeon has never caused harm to the people of Keim in the past hundreds of years¡­"


    "If it was really harmful, the people here wouldn''t have been living in peace and happiness for so long¡­ I hate to work with them despite how much of a hypocrite those politicians are¡­"


    Jui gritted her teeth''s and kept cursing on the politicians endlessly.


    "You seem to have some really deep resentment with the politicians?"


    At Jareth''s questioning tone, Jui directly admitted her reason without even hesitating.


    "It''s because they were the reason why my master had to go and marry that rude guy¡­ tch!"


    Mark''s mother was an excellent sword user, but she was also the adopted child of a politician.


    They made her marry Reynald so as to include a grade 1 mage in their own plans and get his favor.


    Too bad for them that Reynald and Mark''s mother both fell for each other quite soon and ended up separating themselves from the government''s clutches altogether.


    But Jui doesn''t like Reynald, as she thinks of him as a rude guy, and thus she doesn''t like the politicians who threw her friend into that rude guy''s arms.


    In her opinion, her friend and master were treated as a sacrifice and suffered a lot of injustice.


    ...


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    ''It has nothing to do with me, lady. Why are you telling me about your boring ideas and everything... sigh, If only Shiina was here... She would have glared at her and made her shut up...''


    ''Dealing with women is not really something I am good at...''


    Ignoring Jui speech on righteousness, Jareth glanced towards the north, where the mountain range was located, and asked in a calm voice.


    "By the way, do you have any skills that can help you fly?"


    Jui shook her head and replied in a stern voice.


    "No, as a knight, I prefer traveling on foot; I don''t trust the shady techniques of the mages-"


    Jareth didn''t even bother listening anymore; he just cast his telekinesis and grabbed her with it, then he used float magic to fly in the direction of the islands.


    Jui was shocked when she found herself floating all of a sudden.


    "C-chantless magic!?"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words,


    "Yeah... is this your first time seeing it?"


    Jui''s face turned pale when she saw herself floating so high above in the sky.


    It turns out she has a fear of heights; she clenched her sword tightly and kept trying her best to not look down.


    ''How did she become a grade-2 knight if she has fear for height? Don''t they say that a knight fears nothing?''


    In Jareth''s opinion, a grade-2 knight won''t die even if you throw them down from several kilometers up in the sky.


    They can use their mana to disperse the impact of the landing. Moreover, all knights have quite high physical damage resistance, so she would likely be fine even if she fell down from here.


    ''I guess it must have something to do with her backstory, then...''


    Each character who shows a unique trait in the game definitely has some kind of intriguing backstory behind it.


    If Jareth was still a player, he would have liked to ask her more details about how she ended up having the fear of heights.


    That might have triggered some unexpected hidden quests, but right now, he''s not interested at all.

 Chapter 180 Impossible? Theres no such thing...

    "Hmm, it looks kind of different than I expected¡­"''These floating islands are much bigger than I remember¡­''


    That is to be expected, though.


    The game map was much smaller, as the developers couldn''t have added too many empty places.


    Even the cities were much smaller, as there was no need to add random houses, and only a few were enough to showcase that it''s a city.


    But now that things have turned into reality, the capital city alone is hundreds of times bigger than how big it was shown in the game map.


    It has millions of people living in it, and the population is massive; there are so many new places that Jareth has never seen before in the game.


    Every person has a unique backstory, and things are in insanely high detail.


    The floating islands are obviously much bigger than Jareth remembers them to be.


    ''Sigh, if there were such detailed graphics like this in the game, it would have been a masterpiece of the highest quality with no equals¡­''


    ''It would have been a world-famous game at that point¡­''


    While Jareth was contemplating in his mind, Jui also regained her wits and spoke in her usual stern voice.


    "These islands are collectively named as ''Floating Gems'' as there are tons of mana crystals stored in them¡­"


    "The government has already emptied all of the islands of their gems and has set up temporary military facilities on all of them except for the central island..."


    In the game, there was no sign of human activity on the floating islands, but now that things have turned into reality, it''s obvious that the military won''t let go of such amazing resources.


    In the first place, this area is quite close to the border, and no one can stop the military from seizing all resources here.


    Eventually all the money earned from selling these seized crystals ends up filling the pockets of the politicians in the end.


    "The only reason why the central island still hasn''t been seized is because the central island has insanely strong defenses, and even if you get inside somehow, the crystals are hidden in a treasury¡­"


    "That Treasury is located right beneath the deepest part of a then floor-deep dungeon¡­ Even the most ordinary enemies in this dungeon are peak grade-2 golems¡­"


    "Legend has it that not a single person has come back alive from this dungeon¡­ There was once a party of four grade 1 mages who went inside to explore this dungeon, but they never came back.


    "If you believe me, it''s pointless to try to conquer this dungeon yourself, even though you are strong¡­ I advise you to be more careful¡­"


    "They likely gave you this task to complete it because they don''t want you to go to the abyss alter and think that you will be stuck in conquering this dungeon and will waste a lot of time and then go home¡­"


    It''s not that Jui is particularly concerned about Jareth''s wellbeing; she simply doesn''t want to see the politicians'' plans succeed and instead wants Jareth to make a better decision that foils all of their schemes.


    "Hmm, so you are saying that it''s quite a tedious task to get inside and conquer this dungeon, right?"


    Jui nodded her head at Jareth''s question and tilted her head in confusion.


    "Yeah, that''s what I am trying to say... do you have any other ideas?"


    A smirk appeared over Jareth''s face after hearing those words.


    "Well, if it''s really that tedious to go inside¡­ how about we lure out the ones who are already inside¡­"


    Jareth raised his finger towards the sky, and his grimoire appeared beside him, amplifying his magic.


    [Mana Command: Absolute Mana Output!]


    [Blessing of the True Flames: Condensed Core!]


    [Mana Singularity: Spell overlap: Fifty-one steps!]


    With mana command, Jareth commanded the mana in the area to increase his mana output to the maximum levels possible according to his mortal body.


    Then he used the blessing of the true flames to condense the power of the flames into the core of the magic circle.


    Lastly, he used mana singularity to create fifty-one layers to that spell and overlapped them over each other to further amplify the damage.


    Then the grimoire amplified the effects of all this with its own passive magic amplification ability.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Transcendent Flames of Absolute Destruction!]


    Finally, a grade-2 spell with the power even stronger than a grade-1 spell was created in the sky.


    The magic circle was so huge that it covered the whole sky in three kilometers of radius.


    Even the snow melted away and the clouds in the sky disappeared, revealing a bright blue sky.


    With the rays of sun shining on his face, Jareth smirked a bit and fired the spell at the central island without hesitation.


    *Boom!**Crack!**BOOM!!*


    A massive pillar made up of the flames of destruction descended upon the central island and directly destroyed the protective barrier instantly, as if it were made up of paper.


    Then the beam hit the island and blasted its way right through the island, coming out from below directly, puncturing a hole in the island.


    And this was just the start.


    A massive shockwave swept through the space-time fabric itself and directly shattered the whole island into pieces from inside-out.


    All peak grade-2 guardian golems broke apart and turned into debris on the spot without even getting the chance to even respond to that attack.


    The attack was so fast that even the grade 1 golems got heavily injured, and most of them became unable to even move properly anymore.


    Along with the whole island, the treasury also broke apart, and the debris rained down on the snowy mountain range from the sky like it was raining, except this rain was of mana crystals and broken debris.


    The shockwave was so strong that even the nearby islands got swept away and got dislocated from their original position.


    Thankfully Jareth had condensed the magic to the extreme, thus it didn''t affect any other islands, or all the other islands would have also suffered massive damage too.


    Looking at that masterpiece that he had created with his own hands, Jareth smirked a bit and nodded his head in appreciation.


    ''As expected, after getting the true flames, I have become much stronger than before¡­ Although I am still nothing but a mere ant in front of the sea of miasma, now I have some basic offensive capabilities, I guess¡­''


    ''At least I will be able to deal with all the challenges that might come my way soon¡­ Also, there''s still two more endgame boss-type beings left after defeating Konda¡­''


    Jareth has a lot of strong enemies; compared to the demon god whose mere incarnation was already at semi-grade 0, Jareth thinks that he''s still too weak.


    ''If I find out where the false dome cult''s headquarters are located, I will use this exact attack as a sign of greeting¡­''


    ''That way I will at least be able to land some minor injuries on the other party when they are still off-guard¡­''


    ¡­


    While Jareth was busy thinking about his powers, Jui was trembling all over, and she even forgot that she had already put the camera on her helmet''s head on live stream.


    Yeah! Jui was worried that Jareth would cause trouble for her, and as she''s weaker, she might not be able to defend herself, so it''s a better idea to hide a small hidden camera on the helmet of her armor and turn everything into a live stream.


    The camera didn''t have a mic, so she didn''t have to worry about the things she talked to Jareth leaking; thus, she didn''t hesitate to criticize the government and their policies.


    She was already ready to record the scene where Jareth will return in haggard clothes from the dungeon and will give up on this mission. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    This would have surely caused massive trouble for him, as his fans would have finally gotten to see his weak side.


    But who could have thought that Jareth would not only not lose, he would end up showing such power that was so overwhelming that it was unfathomable.


    Jui was in the close vicinity and saw it all happen with her own eyes, thus she was the most shocked.


    But the people on the internet were going even crazier.


    "No one has ever conquered this dungeon before? Everyone who went there died? Those are mere newbies! Watch this young master do it!"


    "The Flame god glanced at the floating gems and found them lacking, so he said, ''Get going, buddy, it''s time to leave¡­'' The mortals were stunned by this insane arrogance¡­"


    "Oh my god! We got the goat smashing islands to bits before G*A 6!"


    "Flame god: Floating islands? Ah, that random piece of stone I flicked off to the ground randomly¡­"


    "An impossible task? Only children say that¡­"


    "I showed this video to my dead uncle; he''s kneeling in front of the flame god''s statue with me now¡­"


    "I grew a beard from seeing the massive amount of testosterone in this video¡­"


    ¡­ S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Back at the president''s residence.


    A wry smile appeared on the president''s and minister''s faces while looking at that video.


    "Er¡­ do we still need to hire construction workers to build an air base or not?"


    Hearing the words of that dumb minister, the rest of them glared at him fiercely, and he shut up on the spot and didn''t even dare to speak anymore.


    The whole island has been smashed to bits; there''s no way they can make anything on that now.


    All they can do is send people to the snowy mountains to collect all the mana crystals that fell down along with the debris.

 Chapter 181 There is no escape in an unfair game...

    A few centuries ago.Floating Pearls, Central Island.


    A young boy found himself in an unknown lab.


    Before he could even figure out who and what had brought him here from his poor village, an intimidating-looking person appeared and forcefully did many questionable tests on him.


    Time went by, and the kid found out that he had been kidnapped as a test subject by the members of the cult of Therath.


    His body was slowly getting altered to and turned into an unrecognizable blob of muscle.


    The experiments they ran on him had massive side effects.


    But those people didn''t seem to know the word called ''Mercy''. They put him in a golem''s body and connected his body to the mechanical piece of junk.


    The magic of a demon god was no joke; it influenced the power of the laws of the world, and the young boy''s soul and body were fused with golem.


    That was how this world''s first semi-biological android was created.


    There was no one to stop the atrocities of the cult, and they did human experimentation without any problems.


    It was the time when the cult of Therath was in its prime; the young kid had no hope of escape from the very start.


    Decades passed and seasons changed; the young kid experienced a lot of turmoil in that undying body over the years, and he grew up mentally, if not physically.


    There was an extremely strong spell placed on his body; he couldn''t betray the orders of the cult even if he wanted to.


    His body, his soul, everything was already a slave to the cult, and he had no free will of his own.


    He suffered so much pain in his years of being experimented on that the pain receptors of his body stopped working and he couldn''t even feel pain anymore.


    At that point, he had already accepted his fate of being an eternal puppet of the demon cult.


    But as they say, nothing is eternal.


    The cult declined and eventually ended up fading into the long annals of history as their demon god had abandoned them.


    The floating islands stopped receiving funding from the outside, and the followers either died of starvation or left this place altogether.


    Without any masters left to control him, the semi-biological golem, the first to be created, took command over the others who were created later and tried to escape.


    But the spell of ''slavery'' cast with the dark magic of the demon god was still just as strong as ever.


    It never let them go.


    The final orders that the golems had to follow were to protect the facilities of the demon cult; that''s the reason why the golems were never able to leave this place.


    All of them had to follow this order till their master asked them to stop.


    It was a lonely and dark time.


    All the other people who were fused with golems had already lost their minds by this time; only the young kid was still sane.


    Without anyone to talk to, the sane golem went and started studying the research papers left by the members of the cult.


    It turns out that miasma had taken hold of their biological parts from the beginning, explaining why they are still alive despite centuries having passed.


    It was miasma that was making them suffer continuously.


    Miasma is a dark and very sinister power; it can even be considered to be partially conscious; once it gets a hold of someone, it tries it''s best to never let them go out of its control.


    It tries to torture the affected person for extended periods of time on purpose.


    It likely sensed that the golems were waiting to be liberated via death, but the miasma that was affecting them didn''t let this happen.


    It was forcefully making them live in the most horrible and twisted manner.


    The golems were forced to see their bodies in a constant state of rotting and decaying but never dying.


    It was a torturous process that just kept going and going for centuries, and there was no end to it in sight.


    But, as the saying goes,


    {Nothing is eternal in this world; if there is light, there will be dark, and if there is evil, there will be kindness too¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    When the golem was already on the verge of losing his sanity like the others, a ray of hope finally appeared.


    A massive pillar of fire descended from the sky and obliterated the whole research facility that they were ordered to protect.


    The facility that was suffocating him and choking him to death was destroyed completely, and after hundreds of years, the golem got to see the clear blue sky.


    Lying down on the snow on the ground with a broken and half-destroyed body, the golem could see a man standing in the sky.


    The rays of sun were shining from behind him, and the bright blue sky made him look like an incarnation of a god in the eyes of the dying golem.


    He raised his hand toward the sky, and a long-lost ray of light appeared in his eyes as he looked at that person in the sky.


    "Tha¡­nk¡­ y¡­ou¡­."


    The golem bid farewell to the world and died under the bright and warm sunlight, as if Mother Nature was bidding him farewell while lending him its warm embrace.


    This world is covered with the sea of miasma; this means his soul will never escape, but at least he got to see a sight of mercy at least once in his life.


    Such was the tragic tale of a victim who never escaped the grasp of miasma.


    Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire


    ¡­


    Standing in the sky, Jareth felt someone''s eyes on him, so he glanced down and noticed the dying golem.


    ''Ah, yes¡­ There was this guy too¡­'' S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth had nearly forgotten that the main boss of this dungeon was actually a more sentient enemy.


    He was also the main reason why even the hardcore speed runner type gamers weren''t able to clear this dungeon fast enough.


    This golem is one of the most tanky bosses present in this game.


    Although not as tanky as Konda, it was definitely a menace. Moreover, the absence of a save point increased the difficulty even further.


    At least the save point was located directly outside the boss area in the abyss altar, and thus you can fight Konda without much trouble.


    But in this case, reaching the boss itself is a big problem, let alone fighting him.


    Barely one or two percent ever made it to the last floor of this dungeon, as the path to it was just too difficult, and after doing all that, you had to fight the boss, which was a very difficult thing.


    To reach the end floor, players used many ''HP'' increasing artifacts and other items that would boost movement speed.


    But after reaching the boss, this equipment becomes useless, as you need a completely different type of artifacts and items if you want to deal tons of damage at once.


    And this boss was so tanky that you can''t defeat him without dealing a ridiculous amount of damage at once.


    If the abyss altar is a creepy and dangerous area, then this dungeon is basically a total unfair battleground where only insane people dare to wander.


    No sane person would farm all over the game map to finally put up two completely different types of equipment sets and artifacts to complete this dungeon.


    [Ding! You have influenced a minor plotline!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 Credit points!]


    Looking at that small amount of credit points, dark lines appeared all over Jareth''s face.


    ''What the!? I only got 1000 for all this!?''


    ''Sigh, I guess this dungeon wasn''t really much relevant to the main story in the end...''


    The backstories and lore of this dungeon are all related mostly to the side quests that are completely optional and won''t affect the main story much.


    Perhaps this is the reason why Jareth got so few credit points, even though he had literally just smashed an entire peak grade-1 dungeon to the bits along with all the enemies inside it.


    What Jareth didn''t know was that if not for the camera recording taken by Jui, he would have gotten even fewer credit points than this.


    Jareth shook his head and flew towards the direction of the city and stopped thinking about it further.


    His main motive right now is the Abyss Altar; this dungeon was just a random mission that he had to complete before going towards his goal.


    ''Also, I am not interested in cleaning up the ground and getting rid of the debris; I will leave the cleaning work to the others¡­''


    Jareth was already planning on making the president cough up at least half the money earned from selling the crystals.


    And he won''t even bother collecting them and cleaning up the ground of the few remaining golems that survived the fall.


    Now he just has to wait, and the money will come to his door on its own without even doing anything more than this.


    This is the benefit brought by power; if it were someone weaker, the government wouldn''t even agree to give a small portion of the money earned, and everything would go in the pockets of the politicians.


    As for the common people¡­ Who even cares about them, Not a single person in power gives a d*mn about them.


    The government will just come up with an excuse that, due to Jareth''s attack, most of the assets got destroyed and whatever they earned will be used to provide subsidies for the poor.


    But these are just empty promises; everyone knows that not a single poor person will receive these subsidies.


    This is just how things happen in this world.


    As they say,


    {Life is always unfair; those who claim that everyone is equal are just fools who have never seen the cruel reality of the world¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)

 Chapter 182 The Gap in Ambitions...

    President''s Residence, Garden.The teleportation circle on the altar lit up, and Jareth and Jui appeared on it together.


    The president and the rest of the group were already standing there in wait.


    He stretched out his hand for a handshake, and Jareth also didn''t deny it.


    "Good work, Mr. Jareth; it seems I underestimated your capabilities vastly. If I had known that you were this strong, I wouldn''t have needed to worry about your well-being¡­"


    "Haha, here, have this token; it''s yours to use now¡­"


    The president didn''t delay at all; he directly handed over the token to Jareth the very moment Jareth came back from the north.


    He needs to go and assign a lot of people to collect those mana stones that fell from the island; there''s not much time, or they will be buried beneath snow if too much time passes.


    The president is also in a hurry due to this exact reason.


    "By the way, Mr. Jareth, can you tell us more if you know anything about that bone dragon? Is it perhaps related to your trip to the abyss altar?"


    By asking those questions, the president wanted to find out the reason why Jareth was so adamant on going to such a dangerous area.


    Unless there''s a solid reason for it, no sane person would like to go to that horrible place.


    The central island of the floating pearls was definitely a difficult to conquer dungeon, but that dungeon never harmed anyone outside, and it never created any dungeon waves either.


    Thus, it won''t harm you unless you manage to get too close to it.


    But the Abyss Altar Area is completely different. It''s a literal hell-hole with weird and twisted creatures inhabiting the land.


    Just looking at it once is enough to make ordinary people lose their sanity.


    "Well, my trip there is indeed related to the bone dragon and the ''False Dome'' cult too¡­ I will reveal more about it at a press conference after I come back¡­"


    After hearing that reply, the president bid farewell to Jareth and went back to his meeting room to work with the ministers to sort out who will get how much share of the money earned from the mana crystals.


    Of course Jareth will get the most of it.


    Seeing that the president had left, Jareth nodded his head towards Jui as a farewell greeting and then flew away into the sky and headed towards the university without even waiting for her response.


    After everyone left, only Jui was left alone, and seeing that no one seemed to have cared about her presence, she gritted her teeth and went back home with a sore look on her face.


    It turns out she didn''t do any work, so she will barely earn anything from this trip, which made her feel annoyed.


    She glared at the sky and shouted in her mind,


    ''Curse you, world!! I hereby vow, you will suffer one day!!''


    ¡­


    Evening, Ivan''s higher arcane university.


    Principal''s office.


    Thomas sighed, and a solemn look appeared on his face.


    "So, you are heading to the abyss altar to figure out what the False Dome cult is conspiring?"


    "But isn''t this too risky?"


    In the first place, Jareth and the others had gone to the desert of chaotic thunder just to figure out what the False Dome Cult was planning in that place.


    Although all that was Jareth''s lie, the appearance of Konda turned it into a truth automatically.


    "It''s not that difficult as you think¡­"


    Now the False Dome cult is definitely responsible for all the mess that Konda created in the desert of chaotic thunder.


    Thankfully, Jareth defeated it; otherwise, the cult would have succeeded in destroying the nodes of the false dome seal much faster.


    In the book, there was a mention of a key that could be used to open the seal from inside.


    But no one knows where that so-called key is or what it looks like; it could even be a random piece of stone; finding it is near impossible.


    ''The False Dome Cult likely couldn''t find that key either; that''s why they are likely using the power of that demon god and trying to slowly break nodes that are already very weak¡­'' sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Once they break four of them, the whole seal will fall apart on its own without even needing to deal with the rest three of them¡­''


    In truth, there are eight nodes to this seal, but that eighth one was broken long ago by the cult of Therath members.


    And now that one has been broken by the false dome cult in the Abyss Altar Area, that means there''s only six more left.


    If any three of the six are broken successfully, then the sea of miasma will get inside and destroy the rest on its own.


    Aside from going to the Abyss Altar for finding rare materials, Jareth also has another goal in his mind.


    He has to try and find out if he can recreate that broken node of the seal himself; if it''s possible to repair it, then it would be even better.


    ''I need to at least give it a try; I will think about the results later¡­''


    "I am planning on making it a quick trip; not only do I have amazing resistance to miasma, I can definitely keep myself safe in any situations¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Thomas had no other words left to say.


    He wanted to stop Jareth from going to such a different place not only as the principal of the university but also as a friend.


    Thomas has already considered Jareth as a close friend who is reliable in times of need.


    Now that Jareth has saved Bastille, Thomas thinks that Jareth is a genuinely decent person with a kind heart.


    But this is just a misunderstanding on Thomas''s part.


    He doesn''t know that not only Jareth doesn''t consider any of them as his friends, he didn''t even do anything for the sake of being a hero.


    People are misunderstanding him as a kind person, but the truth is far from that.


    "By the way, I leave training Mark and Risa in your hands in the meantime¡­ Also, there''s an extra student now, but he will need a lot of work¡­"


    Thomas nodded his head and replied,


    "No worries, I will personally ask the professors to give him some extra classes to make up for his lack of knowledge¡­"


    "If it''s someone you have chosen, I am sure that kid will definitely have a bright future and amazing talent¡­"


    Thomas has a lot of trust in Jareth''s abilities; he has never seen Jareth fail in any task ever before.


    Even when the odds are against him, you can always bet that Jareth would come out as a winner in the end. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    After Jareth was done telling Thomas his general plans, he got up from the seat and decided to leave.


    The reason he came over to tell Thomas about this is because he wants Thomas to take on the responsibility of teaching and protecting his three talented assets when he''s gone.


    If not for them, Jareth would have already left for the Abyss Altar without even telling anyone about it.


    Thomas suddenly handed over a talisman-like thing to Jareth and said with a smile,


    "It''s a family heirloom of mine¡­ Although it''s just an ordinary thing, it can function as a lucky charm; you can have it¡­ Make sure you come back safe; you have to come back and hand it back to me with your own hands, okay?"


    Jareth nodded his head and left after putting the lucky charm in his space ring.


    Although he doesn''t care much about these small details, it''s always good to know that someone is waiting for you to return safely.


    Although Shiina is not present in this life to accompany him, he has at least found a few people who can be considered somewhat trustworthy, even as mere acquaintances.


    Jareth maybe doesn''t consider them friends, but they sure do consider him a friend after going through so many battles with him.


    ''Sigh, he''s become stronger again¡­''


    Staring at the ceiling of the office, Thomas sighed to himself after Jareth left.


    Originally, he used to think that he was the strongest among the thirteen grade-2 professors in the whole university.


    Jareth dispelled his misunderstanding when he demonstrated his power and killed a wyvern in a single attack.


    Less than a year has passed since then, and Jareth has become even stronger than that time, and he himself is still stuck in the same place.


    Just yesterday he saw Jareth smash that floating island to bits easily with one attack, and Thomas also noticed that video online.


    At that moment, he realized that the gap between them has become much bigger than ever before.


    Jareth has become someone who belongs to a completely different world compared to him and the rest of the professors.


    ''Ugh, if only I was a bit more talented, I could have ascended to grade 1 fast too¡­ Sigh, maybe this is the difference between an average person like me and a genius like him¡­''


    Jareth''s amazing feats can only be considered something that only a genius could achieve; ordinary talents like Thomas and Shin can''t compare to him in this matter.


    ''Well, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of becoming the principal of the university¡­ I am already very satisfied with it¡­ Maybe that''s the reason why I have lost that ''Spark'' of genius¡­''


    Shin is also the same; his lifelong goal was to have a happy and peaceful life with his family, and he has already achieved it; that''s why he''s also not making any progress.


    They are not putting in much effort for improvement as they have already achieved what they want to.


    As they say,


    {Only those with great ambitions can progress farther than others¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)

 Chapter 183 The Abyss Altar... Part-1.

    Capital City, National Hero Memorial.Jareth got out of the car and walked inside without hesitation.


    Looking at the familiar place Jareth felt a bit of nostalgia.


    Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire


    ''It''s been less than a year and I am already back here again...''


    Last time Jareth came here to steal the chance of the protagonist it hasn''t even been a full year since then.


    ''So much has changed in such a small time...''


    Last time he came here, he was barely a grade 5 mage and had no power to properly defend himself in situation of immediate danger.


    But now he has the confidence to fight even grade-1 opponents head on, the progress was just too fast.


    ''If not for mana singularity and the help of the lottery from time to time, i couldn''t have achieved all this...''


    Learning mana singularity alone was already a great thing and it alone gave him confidence to deal with most difficulties.


    And his constant thirst for power has brought him to this level today.


    ''Now that I think about it... If there was no mana singularity i couldn''t have controlled my mana of it was too pure..''


    ''And i couldn''t have controlled the flames of destruction either without it...''


    ''Instead of using them on others they would have gone out of control and would injured myself instead...''


    Although Jareth is quite suspicious about why this system is giving him the exact things that he needs the most at the moment, he has no time to worry about that right now.


    Granting mana singularity to others is a near impossible task as you would need to force the law of mana to acknowledge a person.


    ''I don''t think even that demon god can pull off such a feature...''


    If the demon god was capable of such a feature, then the other party would have used it to cleanse himself of miasma and give itself a pure and un-corrupted body.


    Moreover he wouldn''t have needed the help of any minions, he could have just manipulated the mana to kill someone for him.


    The demon god hasn''t done something like this and is stuck outside the false some barrier, that means he isn''t omnipotent.


    And as the gamer''s from his past life said, ''if it has a health bar, you can kill it...''


    ...


    Looking at the scenery around him, Jareth could notice the changes that have had been made since he last came.


    When the False Done Cult revealed Nathan''s dark history, the angry mob surrounded this place and destroyed Nathan''s statue from here.


    The angry mob not only destroyed that one statue but also damaged a lot of property in the place and the government had to spend money to repair all this.


    ''Well the government gets its money from the tax payers anyway...''


    ''It just means that the people who damaged this place ended up paying for it''s repairs indirectly...''


    This is the reason why getting swept by anger is often very harmful to yourself, in the end it causes troubles for yourself not for others.


    The memorial damaging incident caused loss for the common people as they had to pay for it indirectly...


    But the politicians and officers who were in charge of repairing the memorial profited from it.


    They get money for expensive repair materials and then use cheaper material instead then they use the rest of the money for themselves.


    In the end, due to corruption, it was the people who suffered the most not anymore else.


    ''hmm, they are making a new platform for a statue there?''


    Just when Jareth was passing by, he noticed a new platform likely built not too long ago.


    ''ugh... Don''t tell me...''


    With a complex look on his face Jareth made his way today the newly built platform.


    And the moment he saw the words written on it, he knew that his ominous feeling was true.


    [A statue in the memory of the legendary battle between ''The Divine Flame'' Jareth Ayad and the Abysmal bone dragon from the depths of hell...]


    Seeing those words Jareth rubbed his temples and sighed.


    ''Just a few months ago I was feeling amused while looking at Nathan''s statue thinking that he must have felt weird while seeing his own statue...''


    ''And now it is happening to me too...''


    Although they haven''t put the statue here yet, they have already built the platform for it so it won''t be long before they inauguratea it.


    In this world, statues are usually made in remembrance of people who are already dead, but Jareth is very much alive.


    So, if Jareth went to the inauguration of this statue, it will be like attending your own funeral while also smiling at all the guests.


    ''Forget it, I will think about that matter later...''


    Jareth shook his head and decided to focus on what he came here for.


    He headed towards the ''Help Centre'' office that was located just few hundred metres away.


    There was a young woman sitting on the chair behind the large table, she immediately recognised Jareth after seeing his face just once.


    "Uh... He-hello.. Sir... M-mr... What can I help you with?.."


    Jareth completely ignored the woman''s nervous stuttering voice and spoke in his usual cold tone.


    "Call the person in charge of the memorial, tell them that Jareth Ayad wants to talk to them for a bit..."


    The woman was completely frightened by those words, she misunderstood that something might have offended Jareth and he wants to scold the person in charge for it.


    She didn''t dare to delay and tried to stop her legs from trembling.


    The pressure created by Jareth''s cold stare is indeed a bit too strong for a frail woman like her.


    She hurriedly grabbed the telephone on the table and dialed a landline number on it.


    When she stated that Jareth wants to meet him, the person in charge hurriedly threw away the phone and dashed down from his office to personally attend to Jareth.


    After a few minutes a bald middle aged man came running down from the stairs nearby and wiped the sweat on his face with a handkerchief.


    "N-nice to meet you Sir, I welcome you to this humble place... Uh, please come this way, I will prepare some tea for you-"


    Jareth shook his head and denied the offer.


    "Forget about tea and stuff, I will come over to have that some other day, but there''s something more important things to do right now..."


    Jareth put a silencing spell in the area so that no one else other than the two could hear their words.


    "I am here for the Abyss Alter... Here I have brought the token with me... Lead the way."


    Hearing the name of the Abyss Alter, the flattering smile on the bald man''s face immediately solidified.


    "T-this!?"


    The bald man hurriedly took the token and examined it properly, only after he was sure that it was the real thing did he return it back to Jareth.


    Although Bald man likes to flatter strong people, he isn''t the type of person who will neglect his job.


    He made it sure that Jareth wasn''t lying to him, afterall Abyss Alter is not something to joke about.


    Barely anyone has ever made it back alive from that place, and due to this reason no one has entered that place for past hundreds of years.


    Even the bald man was taken a black for a moment when Jareth suddenly mentioned the Abyss Alter out of nowhere.


    A solemn look appeared on his face and he glanced at Jareth before saying in a calm voice.


    "Please follow me..."


    With that waved his hand to say bye to the woman and then led Jareth towards the basement.


    Only a few people in the whole world knows that the entrance to the Abyss Alter, the most vile place on this planet is actually located right in the capital city.


    The national hero memorial has always declared to the word that the statues here protect the nation.


    This sentence has a hidden meaning behind it.


    The statues in this memorial are a part of a sealing barrier created by the first kind himself.


    They are used to seal the entrance to the Abyss Alter Area.


    In the game, the main protagonist has to smash all these statues if he wants to break the protective seal to enter the Abyss Alter.


    But most players end up missing this area as this place is completely optional and there''s no quests inside the Abyss Alter either.


    The only thing you gain from going there is that you can farm tons of ''exp'' by hunting the monsters in that place.


    And you can fight Konda near the deepest area.


    That''s all there is to this place, but of course there are rarely materials there that you can use to craft powerful weapons and artifacts.


    So, most players only go to the Abyss Alter solely for the purpose of gathering rare material.


    Jareth''s aim is the same, he wants those rare materials for his plans and he can''t miss them just because they are located in a dangerous place.


    ''Abyss Alter... Here I come...'' S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 184 The Abyss Altar... Part-2

    The protagonist needed to break the statues of the memorial to enter the Abyss Alter Area illegally in the game.But Jareth doesn''t need to do that.


    In the first place, the only reason why the protagonist didn''t trigger the self destruction ability of the entrance was because of his plot Armor in the game.


    Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire


    There were no explanation given why it didn''t trigger when the protagonist tried it, but Jareth is sure that if he tried it then he will definitely trigger it.


    Jareth could have still entered illegally but he already knew that he could just take the token from the president so there was no need to be illegal about it.


    He can just access the entrance in a proper legal way so there was no need to destroy the protective barrier that might help in blocking demons in the future.


    The bald man lead Jareth towards the basement and then placed his hand on a certain part of the wall causing a hidden staircase to appear.


    The two of them then went downstairs and arrived at a hidden control room where many computers were placed and many cctv camera recordings were playing on the monitors.


    Nearly a dozen officers were keeping constant eyes on everything that was happening in the hero memorial via the cctv cameras.


    Even Jareth was surprised to see this as there was no such hidden monitoring room in the memorial of the game. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This one was likely made after the angry mob did massive damage to the place.


    In other words, things have changed in the memorial due to Jareth''s butterfly effect.


    When the officers saw Jareth they nooded their head to give a polite salute and then kept doing their own work diligently.


    ''hoh... The officers here seem more skilled then any random one''s out there...''


    Each officer here is atleast a grade 3 warrior and the bald man himself is a grade 2 warrior.


    Although they were all trying their best to hide this but nothing can hide from Jareth''s mana singularity so there was no point in hiding from him.


    He easily saw through them but didn''t reveal it.


    "Everyone! Today, we have a very difficult job... We have been guarding the entrance to the Abyss Alter for so long..."


    "But today, we have to open it with our own hands... Mr. Jareth here has obtained the token from the president himself..."


    "He will be entering the Abyss Alter today and we have to co-operate fully with him in this mission!"


    All the officers in the room were taken aback for a moment after hearing those words.


    Most of them always used to think that the Abyss Alter entrance that they were supposed to guard was merely just a myth made up by the higher ups.


    As the entrance has not opened for centuries, most people has never seen it with their own eyes.


    They just know that the entrance is located right below the hero memorial but has never actually been there themselves.


    "I know your concerns, but! Mr. Jareth here is someone acknowledged by the president so we don''t need to worry about anything..."


    "Also he''s the current strongest human on Earth so we have nothing to fear about!..."


    Jareth has already been considered stronger than Nathan and Reynald as he has destroyed the high grade dungeon easily.


    So, now he''s being considered the strongest human on Earth.


    ''How do i tell them that I am not even a peak grade 2 mage yet...sigh~''


    Without waiting for Jareth to even say anything, the officers gave Jareth. Salute and then all of them used their computers to get to work.


    Each of thir computer is connected to the hidden mechanisms of the statues in the memorial.


    They pressed a few commands in the computer and the eyes of the statues moved from left to right once.


    *Clank*


    The sound of an ancient mechanism moving sounded in the monitoring room.


    And one of the walls in the monitoring room moved revealing a dark Cave behind it.


    The bald man glanced at Jareth and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "This dark cave will lead us to the final lock... Please follow me..."


    Only after the wall moved did Jareth noticed that it was enhanced with semi-grade-0 magic seal and even with his mana singularity it would have taken quite a bit of effortz to break the wall forcefully.


    ''I see, so the protagonist broke the statues, which caused this wall to move and reveal the cave behind it...''


    ''And as there was no monitoring room here in the game, he entered without getting noticed...''


    But what Jareth couldn''t understand was hey the alarm wasn''t triggered when someone was breaking the precious statues in the memorial.


    If it was done by someone in this real world, several alarms would go off and dozens of powerful officerz will come rushing at you from all directions.


    Even the mage guild will get alerted and several mages will be dispatched immediately.


    ''Or perhaps these precautions must have been adopted after the angry mob caused trouble...''


    Jareth earns his credit points by changing the plot, so he can''t complain now that he has caused such massive changes in the plot.


    Jareth shook his head and followed the bald man to enter the dark cave.


    ''No wonder even grade 1 mages haven''t noticed the presence of this place in the past... The walls of this cave are enchanted with mana suppression magic...''


    Even the mana suppression magic casted here is of semi-grade-0 rank, which means that all this was made by the first King himself.


    As no one else is capable of such feats.


    For so many years, no one noticed this hidden cave underground the memorial even when the grade 1 individuals personally came to this place several times.


    Just from this, you can already consider how amazing the magical capabilities of the First King were.


    His magic has lasted for several millennia without weakning too much.


    ''The more I get to know about this first King, the more impressed i become...''


    Even Jareth has to acknowledge the other party''s capabilities, the first King was indeed a genius mage.


    ''I wonder how long it will take for Mark and Azul to reach that level...''


    If the two of his best assets can reach this level they will prove to be very useful in many circumstances.


    While walking through the cave, Jareth properly observed the mana suppression magic along the way and committed it to his own memory.


    ''I will need a few days to copy this... Then I can use it more myself later...''


    With his mana singularity, Jareth can copy various types of magic, he just needs enough time for it.


    After walking through the dark cave for half an hour the two of them arrived at a wall with strange markings on it.


    Several words in ancient language were written on it.


    Even Jareth was quite surprised to see this wall.


    ''This is the strongest protective barrier I have ever seen in my life...''


    ''Ah, i remember this wall was already open for the protagonist when he got here... But right now it''s shut tight...''


    The barrier on this wall is hundreds of times stronger than the barrier that took several days for Jareth to break in the principal''s office.


    The bald man glanced at Jareth and spoke,


    "You need to put the token in the central part... There''s an indentation there for it to fit properly..."


    Jareth did exactly as he was told, he put the token given to him by the president into the indentation and the wall slowly moved and dust fell from around it.


    A massive hall appeared in Jareth''s view and a familiar sense of miasma and corruption assaulted his senses just like the time when he was fighting Kinda.


    The bald man hurriedly used a powerful artifact to block the corruption from causing harm to him.


    Jareth on the other hand casted his mana shield to block the miasma from affecting him.


    The two of them walked inside and Jareth noticed a massive teleportation Alter inside that was so huge that it was covering the whole floor of the hall.


    The bald man stood at the edge of the altar whole Jareth walked to its centre.


    "Seems like the miasma has taken hold of the other end of this altar and is teleporting itself here using it..."


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the bald man was extremely shocked.


    "T-this!? Is this even possible!?"


    Jareth nodded his head at that question and replied in his usual cold tone,


    "Yes, miasma is a semi-conscious entity, it can purposely teleport itself too... Once it completely takes hold of this part of the teleportation Alter then..."


    The bald man gulped his saliva in nervousness and asked,


    "And then?"


    Jareth sighed and spoke in a solemn tone,


    "Then the monsters and demons on the other side of this teleportation Alter will be able to use it to teleport here..."


    "The best solution would be to either cleanse the miasma here or directly destroy this teleportation Alter..."


    "Cleansing the miasma is just a temporary solution and you will need to keep doing it again and again from time to time..."


    "But if you destroyed the Alter then our only known and safe entrance path into the Abyss Alter Area will be lost..."


    "It''s a hard choice... Tell the president and the others about this when you go back..."


    "Maybe they will be able to come up with a better solution..."


    Even if the government doesn''t take action, Jareth will take action himself.


    Right now he doesn''t want any chaos in the nation as that will cause problem for his plans.


    ''Let''s focus on our current goal though... I will think about the rest later...''

 Chapter 185 The Abyss Altar... Part-3.

    Jareth told the bald man to go and report the matter of the teleporting miasmic corruption because he already knew what the ministers would choose. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They will follow Jareth''s words and won''t agree to destroying the only entrance they have for the Abyss Altar.


    Instead they will choose to hire mages and warriors that will be responsible for purifying the teleportation Altar from time to time.


    This is one of the missions you can get in the game too.


    If you don''t go to the Abyss Altar Area illegally and choose to stay away from this completely optional area.


    Then you can do this mission of helping the government cleanse and purify the miasmic corruption in the teleportation Altar from time to time.


    This is a repeatedly occurring quick event type mission and you can do it every once in a while to earn generous awards.


    Also Jareth gave this advice so that the ministers choose to hold on to their plans on the teleportation Altar till he comes back.


    Humans are selfish people after all, the ministers might end up making the decision of destroying the altar and end up doing it before Jareth even returns back to the surface.


    Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire


    That way Jareth will lose his only reliable exit from the Abyss Altar Area and he would then need to find another one that might not be as reliable as this.


    ''The members of the False Dome Cult likely used some other unreliable entrance to the Abyss Altar too, they likely didn''t go from this entrance for sure¡­''


    If the False Dome Cult members had come to the capital city, Jareth would have noticed them easily as his mana detection usually scans the city for them from time to time.


    Jareth is always ready for them to come nowadays and he will not hesitate to counterattack in times of need.


    ''If the False Dome Cult members had come here then they would have needed the token to open the final protective wall¡­''


    That protective wall is enhanced with a magic barrier casted by the First King himself. And the protection warrior extends in all directions and protects the hall from all directions so that none can enter it without the token


    Even Jareth would have needed several days to crack this barrier even with his mana singularity let alone those people from the False Dome Cult.


    If they had come here there would have traces of modification on the barrier but it''s still okay that means they never came here.


    "Here, this is the contact information¡­ just give me a message when you return and I will come back to escort you¡­"


    The Bald man gave Jareth his contact information and Jareth added it to his own smartphone, then he handed over the token to the bald man and the man left the hall and closed the door from outside.


    Seeing that the other party was gone, Jareth shook his head.


    ''Good thing I didn''t bring anyone else with me¡­ they would have just held me back¡­''


    Miasmic corruption is a very powerful thing and it can turn even the most strong willed person into its own slave.


    Even the bald man who''s a strong warrior can''t withstand its side effects for long and had to use strong artifacts to keep himself safe.


    Jareth glanced at the corrupted Altar and thought to himself.


    ''My this life would be so much better if not for miasma¡­ it''s really a hateful thing¡­sigh~''


    [Mana command: Mana Purification!]


    Jareth forced the mana in the surroundings to directly cleanse the miasma in the teleportation Altar so that he can use it without it malfunctioning.


    Then he embedded his mana in the teleportation Altar and the magic circle lit up brightly, teleporting him away to his destination.


    ¡­


    Forgotten City, Upper Grounds.


    The Vast Barren Lands.


    ''Its been a while¡­ ''The land of Banes and terror''...''


    When Jareth opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside the broken ruins of a building and even the teleportation Altar he was standing on was charred black in color.


    The familiar dark fog was lingering around everywhere in the distance and the environment was dark, dim and depressive.


    Jareth was using his mana shield to block the miasmic fog from harming him so he couldn''t feel it, but the air was completely dry and had no moisture in it.


    It was completely devoid of oxygen and everywhere you looked there was no source of brightness.


    Jareth glanced at the sky and found that there was no sky above, only a massive rocky ceiling held in place by semi-grade-0 magic.


    ''No wonder stones and debris fall from the sky when you travel in this area in the game.''


    ''The semi-grade-0 magic holding the ceiling of this place is getting corrupted by miasma and its grasp over the ceiling is loosening¡­''


    ''Eventually the whole Abyss Altar Area will collapse onto itself once the spell completely loses its effect and then this area will be forever buried underground¡­''


    Although it''s never explained properly in the game, Jareth can already assume that this Abyss Altar Area is located deep underground right below the capital city Delta.


    In other words, once this place collapses, the city above ground will also collapse and get destroyed along with it.


    In the game, the player couldn''t notice all this but right now Jareth can see the existence of the semi-grade-0 magic on the ceiling and that''s why he''s speculating all this.


    ''Still, with the way things are¡­ the spell can still hold on for another few decades¡­ the sea of miasma is still the most pressing cause of concern¡­''


    Even Jareth can''t repair this magic on the ceiling right now as it will take a lot of time and he doesn''t have the time to be playing hero right now.


    Jareth is not a selfless protagonist, he isn''t going to waste his precious time trying to save people from this eventual doom, as a selfish person, he''s going to focus on his own plans first.


    Even the First King must have needed several decades to create the whole Abyss Altar Area.


    So, it will take Jareth several months or even years to repair all the magic circles on the ceiling.


    Thinking about this one might question why the First King even created a dangerous place like this in the first place.


    ''No¡­ what he created wasn''t the Abyss Altar we see today¡­ what he had created was a magnificent underground city filled with dreams and hope¡­''


    ''Miasma has turned it into what it is today causing people to change its name to Abyss Altar Area and add it in the lists of Forbidden Areas¡­''


    There aren''t many forbidden areas on this planet but each one is as unique as it is deadly.


    Even this barren land corrupted and charred black with miasma once used to be a vast grassland filled with hope and expectation for the future.


    When you defeat Konda in the game, what you get as a reward is a broken memory of the long gone time when this Forgotten City was a prosperous place.


    The fall of the First King destroyed all hopes of this city and it turned into what we know today as the corrupted land.


    Only a few thousand people managed to escape to the surface, most died and got turned hideous monsters that roam this barren land endlessly.


    Miasma has a force evolution effect on living creatures and it molds them into twisted mindless beats according to its own liking.


    Not only is the process immensely painful, but the result is also horrible.


    Once turned into that kind of monster, you are destined to roam around endlessly with no one to share your suffering and no way to elevate yourself from it.


    ''Their situation is similar to the people from that book back in my previous life on incomprehensible horrors¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and sighed to himself.


    He didn''t dwell on this matter for too long and cast float magic to head in the east direction first.


    Although he has no maps to guide him right now, he roughly remembers the directions he needs to head towards to find his way.


    After all even in the game he had to try dozens of times to finally find the next save point and that caused him to remember the general direction properly.


    He flew into the sky and noticed that the dark fog on the ground immediately obstructed his view.


    ''Ugh¡­ I forgot you can''t find your way here by flying high above¡­ the dark fog will block your vision¡­''


    Also Jareth has to save his mana, the whole Abyss Altar is completely void of mana.


    Only miasma exists in the surroundings here, there''s no way to replenish mana from the air.


    This is one of the main reasons why people have declared this place as a forbidden area.


    A normal mage would need to keep his mana shield up constantly when they are here, which means they will keep using their own mana bit by bit and will eventually run out of it with no way to recover it.


    That''s why you can''t travel in this place for longer time periods and staying for a small time is already a big challenge for weak people.


    If you don''t defend yourself with mana then the miasma will corrupt you and turn you into a horribly twisted beast too.

 Chapter 186 The Nest... Part-1.

    As flying in the sky was completely useless and was even wasting mana, Jareth decided to walk towards the East direction with his own two feet.


    ''As expected, this place is more dangerous in reality than it was in the game¡­''


    Even the ground is corrupted with miasma, whenever his feet touch the ground, black mud tainted with miasma tries to corrupt him.


    Not only the visibility is bad due to the brownish and dark fog lingering in the air, just walking normally is quite the ordeal.


    If not for the fact that Jareth''s mana shield is quite strong and efficient, the miasma in the ground and in the dark fog would have already started to destroy and corrupt his mana shield.


    Shin and the other grade-2 mages won''t even be able to make it past this vast barren land as they will run out of mana trying to constantly repair their mana shield again and again.


    As for Mark and the others who aren''t even at grade-3 yet, it''s impossible to survive here for more than ten minutes. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *Krukrukrarar*


    While Jareth was walking towards his goal, a familiar yet creepy voice rang out in his ears.


    ''This voice¡­''


    Jareth glanced towards his left and a hideous and creepy monster crawled out of the fog.


    The monster had a rotting and decaying body like a fish, its innards and organs were hanging out of its horribly mutilated body and it had a humanoid face with an eerily wide grin on its face.


    Its eyes seemed to show that the creature was in immense pain but the wide grin on its face showed that it was laughing and mocking everything around it.


    Actually this is a sick joke of miasma that is toying with innocent lives.


    Jareth knew exactly what this thing was, that''s why he didn''t hesitate for even a second and his grimoire shone with mana as a magic circle appeared in the air.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Flame Jet!]


    An intense flame was fired by the magic circle which turned the monster into ashes instantly and didn''t give it time to even react.


    But this wasn''t the end of it.


    *Krkrrrarrarara*


    Same creepy voices started to sound from all directions and most of them were hidden in the dark fog.


    But Jareth has exceptionally strong hearing capabilities so he easily pinpointed the location and numbers of the enemies.


    Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    He immediately summoned multiple magic circles to fire more spells at once, but as he was delayed for a second in reacting, the huge group of monsters also got their chance to attack.


    Two demon-like hands ripped apart the stomach of a crawling monster and a lesser demon made its way out of it''s body.


    As its body was literally ripped apart from inside out while still alive, tears of blood flowed from the eyes of the monster as it had to endure immense pain.


    Yet the grin on its face refused to fade away as if it was permanently fixed on its face.


    Even in immense pain, the monster couldn''t even let out a shriek of pain and could only laugh eerily like a maniac while being ripped apart from inside out.


    Jareth didn''t hesitate and immediately burned the lesser demon and the mutilated monster both to ashes with his true flames.


    He didn''t even allow the lesser demon to open its wings and fly into the sky as he knew that if he let the demon fly then it would cause a massive headache.


    Even lesser demons are capable of using miasma and are able to use miasma related demon magic since birth, if Jareth let them fly in the sky they will rain down miasmic spells on him like crazy.


    Moreover lesser demons are very nimble and fast creatures, dealing with them will waste a lot of his mana, thus it''s better to burn them all when they are still inside the body of the mutilated monster.


    These mutilated monsters are ''humans'' turned into walking birth eggs for lesser demons.


    There''s only one monster in the Abyss Altar Area who can turn humans into walking incubators for Demons.


    ''It seems I am on the right path, ''Its'' nest must be in this direction if these monsters are present here¡­''


    These walking incubators have their limbs shortened to the point that they can''t even commit suicide and their faces have that permanent grin because their jaw bone structure has been forcefully mutated by miasmic corruption.


    No matter if they are sad or are crying, all they can do is just grin and laugh and can''t even show sadness or pain.


    This is the cruel reality of those afflicted by the curse of corruption, you suffer endlessly till you die and then the sea of miasma swallows your soul to further torture you endlessly.


    This is an endless cycle of pain and suffering, it never ends.


    The name ''Abyss Altar'' is no joke, it literally is an Abyss like place where pain and suffering are the only things you will find.


    *KHeheheheheh*


    Some of the monsters even started to laugh and grin more humanely at Jareth when they saw him slaughter their kin.


    They were actually feeling fear of death and a long lost hope for salvation, but all they could do at the moment was laugh like creeps and try to endure the pain of being ripped apart from inside.


    These monsters are not harmful by themselves and are just creepy and tragic, but the lesser demons that breaks out of their body are definitely not weak.


    Even the lesser demons, that are just newborns, are already equal to grade 4 mages, with a body as strong as a grade 3 warrior.


    Demon race is literally overpowered and is very cruel at the same time.


    There''s no need to talk about negotiating, they are like literal cancer of this world whose only purpose in life is to destroy anything and everything in sight.


    They don''t even tolerate their own kin let alone other living creatures.


    Moreover they are basically the blessed children of miasma, they can use miasma even more efficiently then mages use mana.


    Just to take down one high rank demon, you will need one grade-1 mage along with atleast a full squadron of grade-2 warriors.


    Grade-1 warriors are nearly non-existent in this world so you can''t have them even if you want to, otherwise just one of them is enough and there will be no need for a whole squadron.


    In other words, being at grade 1 is the minimum condition to even have a chance to fight a high rank demon.


    As for the demon gods that are directly above the high rank demons, it''s pointless to even try to fight if you are not someone as powerful as the First King or the Golden King.


    ''Let''s not drag this farce any longer¡­''


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Flaming Meteor!]


    Jareth raised his finger towards the sky and a massive magic circle appeared in the sky.


    A gigantic meteor covered in molten lava fell towards the ground with an immense momentum.


    *BOOM!*


    A massive shockwave spread in all directions as the ground was hit my that gigantic meteor.


    A massive crater was formed on the ground as the land cracked and debris flew into the air.


    Most of the monsters were killed on the spot by the meteor and the molten lava, the rest were blasted to bits by the shockwave that followed right after.


    The air pressure momentarily blowed away all the dark fog and the molten lava made the environment brighter then before.


    *Step* *Step*


    Ignoring the massive destruction he caused, Jareth started to walk towards his destination without changing his expression in the slightest.


    He has known about the tragic lore of the monsters here and he was sad for their fate before too, but right now he doesn''t have the time to mourn their life.


    All he can do is go and deal with the monster who did all this to them, afterall his destination is also on the same path.


    ''Walking the path of darkness, I have become used to the ways of Abyss¡­ if the Abyss wants to block my path¡­ then there''s no need for it to exist anymore¡­''


    Jareth knew the reality of this world so he didn''t think that he had become a hero just because he liberated these people from their pain.


    Their souls will still suffer regardless, so he knew very well that he''s not pretending to be a hero.


    ''Pretending to be a hero will get you nowhere in this world, use all assets you can¡­ and survive till the end¡­''


    As they say,


    {History is written by victors¡­ no one will question the authenticity of your past of no one has any evidence left to deny your words¡­}


    Falsifying the truth and depicting heroes as villains, all this is extremely easy if you have the initiative in your hands.


    While Jareth was walking, another group of similar monsters appeared to block his path again, but this time Jareth didn''t hesitate, he dealt with them all at once with a wide area magic.


    For the next few hours, Jareth slaughtered thousands of monsters along the way in the same manner.


    It wasn''t even a battle, it was just a one sided massacre.

 Chapter 187 The Nest... Part-2.

    Forgotten City, Upper Grounds.


    The Vast Barren Lands, Eastern Area.


    Wind doesn''t blow in the Abyss Altar, the place seems devoid of air at all times and the atmosphere is heavy and intimidating.


    The ''Law'' of ''Gravity'' in this place has also been corrupted by the Miasma and thus Gravity itself becomes stronger in the Abyss Altar Area.


    You will need to expend extra energy to just walk in this place normally as you are constantly under the burden of increased gravity.


    But for Jareth, it wasn''t much of a problem.


    With his strong physique, he didn''t need to even pruposely spend mana on reinforcing himself to withstand the burden of increased gravity.


    Although he''s a mage, he has a body as strong as a peak grade-2 warrior.


    *Step**Step*


    After walking for quite some time Jareth arrived at a massive lake.


    No, it won''t be fair to call it just an ordinary lake, it was a polluted lake filled with miasma so dense that you might mistake it for an illusion. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Hmm, it seems my memmory is still indeed quite good, I am still on the right path¡­''


    Although there''s no map to guide him and there''s dense dark fog blocking his path, Jareth was still able to find where he needed to go easily.


    The reason for this is that the teleportation Altar that you get teleported to when you first come here is right in the centre of this vast Barren land.


    There''s literally an in-built compass on the teleportation altar and you just need to go straight in the East Direction to reach the broken ''Cloud Step Lift''.


    Cloud Step Lift used to be one of the main paths that used to connect the upper lands to the lower parts of the Forgotten City.


    This Vast Barren Land actually used to the be a Farming Area that was once being used to feed the population of the underground city.


    The actual city was located below this farmland.


    As for how they grew crops without sunlight in this underground place?


    They obviously had an artificial sun of their own that would give sunlight to the crops for half a day and then will move to the lower city to give sunlight to the city.


    This way, both the crops and the city folk with get a proper day cycle with both morning and night.


    Although, Jareht isn''t not sure how this worked out, If it''s someone as intelligent as the first king, it''s entirely possible that the other party must have found some unique method for it.


    The First King managed to create this underground city all by himself and make it livable for millions of people, so it won''t be wrong to call him a genius who was in his own league.


    His reign was the time when human race was in it''s prime, that time period is referred to as the Golden Era when even the sun and moon followed the commands of humanity.


    ''It would have been amazing if i could have met the First King myself in person¡­ he must have been an amazing person¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about the lore of the Abyss Altar.


    The Abyss Altar is a place that is filled with immense lore and has many stories hidden inside.


    Back then, this place was a goldmine for the lore enthusiasts and those people who liked to make game lore analysis videos to earn money.


    This place has so much hidden lore and content that you won''t run out of topic to make videos on, for several years!


    Jareth himself never really researched lore too deeply, he just liked to watch those videos from time to time to get a better idea of what was going on in the cannonic story.


    This is also the reason why he knows about so many things in this world.


    Although he was a casual gamer, he had a lot of time in those days, and to pass time he watched a lot of videos that explained a lot of hidden details about the game.


    For example, this lake of miasma, it''s not actually even a lake.


    It''s actually a monster lying in wait for it''s prey to come before it will reveal it''s fangs.


    Jareth raised his hand towards the lake and activated his magic.


    ''I already know about you¡­ don''t try to play hide-an-seek with me, I am bored of seeing these trick too many times¡­''


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Concentrated Liquid Flame!]


    Unlike other grade-2 spells, the magic circle for this grade-2 spell was weirdly, much smaller.


    Most grade-2 magic have magic circles that are equal to the size of two to five story buildings.


    But the magic circle for ''Concentrated Liquid Flame'' was not even the size of a basketball.


    Yet, this magic circle was in no way lacking in complexity.


    Despite being so small in size this magic circle has very complex magic patterns and learning it is no child''s play.


    Even genius minded people need atleast a few weeks to barely learn it.


    But that''s not the case for Jareth.


    He has ''Mana Singularity'' that can speed up his understanding of various magics.


    Mana circle are basically just condensed mana materialized in the air in various patterns and forms to enhance and change the specifications of any particular type of elemental power.


    You can literally use the same magic circle for two completely different elements and the effects will be different with each one.


    Learning spells and advancing further on the path of a stronger mage is no mere child''s play, it takes time and a lot of proficiency to master a single spell.


    Afterall, not everyone is like Jareth who not only has the benefits of mana singularity but also have a super intelligent mind.


    When Jareth used the liquid flame spell, the lake trembled for a second as if it could sense that something was wrong.


    The whole lake started to move and the miasma inside it started to condense.


    All the water and miasma in the lake shrinked and started to take the shape of a massive slime type monster.


    But Jareth didn''t give the other party enough time to complete it''s defensive preparations.


    His grimoire shined brightly and amplified the power of the spell, finally a small drop of a blue liquid came out of the magic circle and dropped on the body of the giant pitch black slime.


    The drop seemed harmless and very calm at the first glance but the very moment it touched the shrinking body of the slime.


    It burst apart, and a massive explosion occured that blasted out an insane amount of lava in the surrounding.


    The slime''s body was completely evaporated in a matter of seconds and even it''s solid core was turned into powder before being submerged under the lava. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    ''As I said, don''t try to play tricks in front of me, I am bored of them¡­''


    This type of slimes are made out of corpses that fell into water and then got corrupted by miasma for a very long time.


    Eventually, they fused together and created this slime type monster.


    Usually this slime lies in wait for unsuspecting prey to come and then it chokes them to death by surrounding them with miasma inside it''s body.


    Although it looks weak, once it swallows you, getting out of it is very difficult and your body gets affected by severe debuffs and even moving becomes a problem.


    Jareth has died to this cheap tactic in the game quite a few times as there are a bit too many of these slimes in the Abyss Altar Area.


    Moreover, killing these slimes is really a very difficult task, physcial attacks are nearly useless on them and magic attacks don''t do much damage to them as they are enhanced by miasma.


    It''s just that Jareth has Fire magic that is a direct counter of these liquid type monsters, that''s why it was so easy to beat it.


    ''The most annoying thing about these are that they can mimic human behaviours¡­''


    When the slime senses that it''s in some kind of mortal danger, it takes on the form of a human and tries to decieve others by trying to gain sympathy.


    Even now, the slime was trying to turn into a human child to gain sympathy from Jareth, but Jareth is just too acquanited to these cheap tricks of theirs.


    That''s why he didn''t even let the slime transform as he was too bored of these tricks.


    Moreover, even if it does transforms, Jareth is not a saint, it''s not like he hasn''t done illegal things before.


    Getting his sympathy is not so easy.


    Jareth shook his head and jumped forward to directly bypass the whole lava filled area that was created as a result of his own magic.


    Then he kept moving forward in the eastern direction in a straight line.


    Most players get lost in the abyss altar area because they don''t stick to one path.


    You only need to go towards the east from the teleportation altar in a complete straight line and you will find yourself standing near the area that has the cloud step lift.


    If you get distracted along the way and don''t follow the straight line, then you will obviously get lost in this dark fog and then it would become hundred times more difficult to find the correct.


    At that point, not only will you not know where the telportation altar is, you won''t even be able to find where you are on the map exactly.


    Forget about smartphones and compasses, not even high grade path determining artifacts work properly in this place.


    Losing your path is one of most fatal mistakes you can make in this place.

 Chapter 188 The Nest... Part-3.

    ''There it is¡­ took a while to find it, afterall the map is bigger now¡­''


    A massive, dark and seemingly bottomless pit was right in front of Jareth at this moment.


    If it was still in the game, it would have barely taken about ten minutes to reach this place but now it took Jareth several hours to get here despite having enhanced speed along with his strong body.


    He could have reached here faster, but there were several hordes of those lesser demon creating mutants blocking his path.


    He had no choice but to deal with them as he couldn''t take a detour to avoid them.


    If he lost his path just to avoid those weak enemies, then all his efforts would have been in vain.


    ''Ah, there''s the ''fake'' lift calling pillar¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the giant stone pillar located nearby which had a round indentation in it and several mysterious carvings were visible on it.


    It was shining with a greenish glow brightly from time to time as it was made from a very rare type of glowing stone that shines in darker areas.


    Looking at the pillar, Jareth couldn''t help but remember the prank that the develpers played on all the players who came to this place.


    In the game, when you first arrive at this place you are bound to notice this pillar.


    It gives you hint that you would need to find a circular medallion to make it functional and then summon the Cloud Step Lift using it.


    Your player character will not jump in the pit and an invisible barrier will keep you at a hair''s distance from jumping down.


    (It''s that barrier that blocks your path when you reach the edge of the game map or try to access places that are still locked¡­)


    Once you get the clues, you will have to search through the entire vast barren land to find that medallion.


    And as it turns out, the medallion is divided into three different pieces and each piece is located behind a mini-boss fight.


    You need to go and conquer the three mini-bosses located in the west, south and north edge of the vast barren lands.


    Then after collecting all three pieces of the medallion you will need to make your way back to the eastern edge where this massive pit is located.


    Not only finding the locations of these three bosses is a very tedious task, it''s very difficult to beat them too.


    The whole barren land is shrouded in dark fog and it''s difficult to determine the directions which makes it very difficult to navigate and makes it easier to lose your way for a long time.


    There''s no minimap function in this game to guide your path so don''t even bother thinking about relying on it.


    And even if you make it to the boss monsters, each of them is strong and has unique abilities.


    It will take several deaths and retries to even get used to their various movement patterns.


    After you collect all the parts of the medallions and put them in the pillar, you would expect your efforts to have paid off right?


    But that''s where the prank of the game developers comes into play.


    The medallion turns out to be completely useless as the lift never comes up because it''s already been broken since long ago!


    There was chance of you boarding the lift from the very begining! So there was literally no point in collecting those medallions!


    They are literal useless garbage taken extra space in your inventory!


    And the most infuriating part is that the ''Barrier'' that was blocking your character to jump inside the pit before collecting the medallions, now gets deactivated. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire


    You can now just jump inside without any problems and your character will sustain literally ''Zero'' damage as the place underneath is flooded with water!


    In other words, you could have entirely skipped those infuriatingly hard boss fights and that time that was wasted on finding the location of the bosses could have been saved too.


    But no! The developers had to make it this way so that the player''s efforts would go to complete waste just because of that impenetrable barrier!


    If there was no boundary barrier locking the pit before collecting the medallions, the player could have just directly jumped in the pit and all those grueling hours of wandering in hell could have been skipped directly.


    This prank from the developers was so brutal that the players were raging all over the internet and countless abusive words were thrown at the Developers.


    And the developers never fixed this prank at all even after all this.


    Even after getting so much hate they never fixed this so as to make more players suffer from this.


    ''Sometimes I wonder if the people who made this game were hardcore ''Sadists'' or something like that¡­''


    This event made the game popular over the internet as the ''Game of Masoch*sts''.


    Only those who had no jobs, no life and liked to torture themselves with completely unfair game conditions liked to fully complete this game.


    This bad reputation of the game was one of the reasons why Jareth also quit this game later on as he didn''t want to be caught playing it by his friends from school.


    Afterall, he didn''t want to get called a ''Masoch*st'' by his own friends.


    ''Thankfully I know about this place beforehand, otherwise even I would have been deceived by this fake pillar¡­''


    Jareth directly punched the pillar and broke it into pieces.


    That did relieve a lot of frustrations from the past.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth cast his float magic and flew down into the pit, there was no barriers stopping him as this is reality and not a game so he could go ''out of bounds'' easily without any problems.


    Jareth was pressed on time, so he didn''t bother going to collect those medallion fragments as they were completely useless.


    And as for those three mini-bosses... they are completely irrelevant to the main plot, Jareth didn''t even bother fighting them as they won''t give him any good loot or even Credit points.


    [Basic Magic: Gloating Mana Orb!]


    Although it couldn''t provide much brightness in this place where dark fog shrouds everything, it surely could help Jareth reflect the water below once he reaches it.


    After flying down for a few minutes in the pit, Jareth finally reached the bottom where the water had floodded everything.


    As the water was quite clear, Jareth could even see the massive broken lift at the bottom submerged by the water.


    ''To think developers tricked people into thinking that collecting those medallions will help bring this broken lift back to work again¡­ truly laughable¡­'' sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth shook his head and glanced around to look and sure enough, there was a small crack in one of the walls.


    *Boom!*


    Jareth floated towards the crack and punched it lightly, directly breaking a hole in the wall which revealed a hidden corridor behind.


    He floated inside and landed on the floor made out of the same rare glowing stone that was used to make that lift calling pillar above.


    Even though the place was located so deep underground, it was still dimly lit due to the brightness of the glowing stone floor.


    And it was just enough that Jareth could see the amazing ancient desings and inscription on the walls and the floor.


    He poured more mana in the glowing orb and used it to illuminate the area even more, which helped him see the inspcriptions more easily.


    There were pictures of the once glorious underground city inscribed on the walls of the corridor.


    Jareth walked further and saw even more inscription on the walls.


    ''These must have been one of the greatest arts of their time¡­''


    Even Jareth was a bit mesmerized by the beauty of those masterpieces.


    The only thing that quelled the angers of the players from this huge prank was these amazing peices of pure art.


    Now that Jareth could see them in reality, these colourful inscriptions looked even more beautiful and detailed.


    Jareth was quite sure that these must have been created by someone who was extremely skilled in his craft.


    ''The Abyss Altar Area is filled with hidden treasures¡­ for an artist these inscriptions would have been nothing less than priceless treasures as they have literally involved the ''Law'' of ''Art'' into them.


    Whoever created these, poured so much effort in them that it impressed even the ''Laws'' of the ''World'' itself.


    This is likely the reason why these peices of art are still intact even after so many centuries, they are protected by the ''Laws'' of the ''World''.


    Jareth didn''t look for too long and decided to leave.


    He doesn''t have much knowledge in this aspect so he can''t actually figure out the finer details in the picture, all he can do is look at them once and appreciate their beauty.


    As Jareth reached the end of the corridor the last inscription on the wall showed a massive meteor falling on the ground.


    The impact of the falling meteor was so strong that it directly shattered the crust of the Earth and got buried deep into the ground after causing a massive shift in the tectonic plates of the planet.


    Then a giant pitch black dragon burst out of the meteor and reigned terror on the world.


    The final artwork seemed more ordinary and it seemed like the creator was suffering from some physical problems as there were many mistakes in the inscriptions.


    ''This inscirption is what helped the lore enthusiasts find the hidden lore behind Konda ''The Empty Shell''...''


    By the time the creator made this inscription, he was likely also affected by miasma and was losing his sanity along with the skills that he had mastered over the years.


    Likely the creator of all these masterpieces met a sad end too.


    Miasma doesn''t spare anyone, it''s a horrible and twisted power that likes to torment the weak.

 Chapter 189 The Nest... Part-4.

    This inscription on the wall is the first clue and one of the biggest foreshadowing done by the Developers of the game.


    This inscription literally screams, ''Leave'' if you put your ear on it and try to listen to it carefully.


    The reason being that the creator of the inscription wanted whoever came later to not go deeper into the forgotten city as it has that monstrosity sealed inside it.


    If not for the fact that Jareth took the help of the ''Laws'' of the world and killed Konda in one-shot, that beast would have proved to be a very troublesome foe. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Its rampage would have never ended and it would have become the cause of death for millions of people.


    ''And after this corridor is the path...'' Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth stepped forward and arrived on an open balcony like place located two stories high in a massive empty hall.


    The hall was made up of the same glowing stones and there was miasmic mud filled in the hall.


    ''Here comes the most annoying part of this journey¡­''


    In the game, entering the hidden inscription corridor adds a new save point where you will respawn if you die afterwards.


    Right outside the corridor is the ''Pathway of Fools''.


    Although this is not an official name given to this area by the game developers, it was very popular in the player''s community.


    The reason was simple, although this path that leads to the inner areas of the ''Nest'' has no enemies guarding it, it''s filled with traps and platforming challenges.


    You need insane platforming skills to be able to complete this place.


    Only simple minded ''Fools'' who have dedicated their weeks and weeks of time on learning and adaptating to this path can finally complete it.


    But that would mean you have completely given up on your ''life''.


    Thay where the name ''The Path of Fools'' comes from.


    There aren''t any casual gamers who have crossed this path, including Jareth, the only reason he has seen it all is because he watched the gameplay videos online that were made by speedrunners.


    Even speedrunners needed days of hardwork to master it all though.


    ''Here goes nothing¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Maximum output: Mana Shield!]


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Float!]


    Jareth put a lot of mana to boost his flying speed, he bent his knees and used his physical strength to give himself an extra explosive boost.


    *BOOM*


    As if a bullet had launched, a massive sonic boom was created and a strong shockwave spread everywhere which created cracks in the ground and the walls of the hall.


    Jareth jumped in the air and flew forward like a bullet with an insane speed.


    The miasmic mud also reacted at the very moment when Jareth entered the space above it.


    *Boom*


    Massive spears made up of condensed miamsa flew into the air to attack Jareth.


    The whole miasmic mud in the giant hall became restless and thousands of spears flew in the air much faster than sound to attack Jareth.


    But Jareth knew this was going to happen, that''s the reason why he had deployed his mana shield with maximum output and was using a lot of mana to boost his flying speed.


    The speed of these spears is as fast an attack from a peak grade-1 mage and as there''s thousands of them, jumping above this miasmic mud would mean instant death unless you are in peak grade-1 realm or above.


    Even Jareth was barely avoiding getting hit by those spears and a few dozens of them still hit his mana shield regardless of his insane speed.


    Thankfully his mana shield is too strong and it wasn''t even scratched by those few attacks.


    After a few milliseconds of flying at insanely fast speed, Jareth dived down towards the exit door below.


    Although half of it was already submerged in the miasmic mud, Jareth didn''t care, that upper half of it was enough for him to pass through.


    He flew towards it and the thousands of spears turned in the air and chased him as if they could see him try to dodge.


    Jareth passed through the upper half of the broken exit door and then flew upwards, making a perfect ''U'' motion to avoid the spears.


    But he didn''t stop there, outside the hall were several pathways that were leading to the outside.


    But Jareth didn''t take them, instead he kept flying toward the ceiling and entered a giant crack in the ceiling without hesitation.


    The few miasmic spears that followed him till now finally stopped as Jareth had gone out of their tracking range.


    If he had gone for those more obvious looking exits he would have actually found out that the exits were all blocked and this crack in the ceiling was the only way out.


    Then those miasmic spears would have kept hitting him.


    These exits are deliberately placed here to confuse the player and bait them into rushing inside.


    Jareth knew about this and thus he didn''t even bother exploring, he directly went for the only safe exit, which was the crack in the ceiling.


    He could have smashed his way out of those blocked exits but that would have wasted too much time and time is something that he is short of right now, so he can''t waste it here.


    After flying up for a while Jareth got out of the massive crack in the ceiling and then found himself standing in another hidden corridor filled with ancient inscriptions.


    Jareth walked forward without hesitation and the inscriptions blew up on him along with the walls of the corridor.


    *Crack!* *Boom!*


    The broken debris flew at high speeds and hit Jareth''s mana shield before bouncing off of it.


    The expression over Jareth''s face remained cold as usual as he kept walking forward without caring about the explosion at all.


    The same phenomena kept repeating itself, the inscriptions kept exploding at his face as he walked past them without caring about the world.


    The ground cracked and the walls fell apart, miasmic mud started to leak from the cracks and thus, Jareth hastened his steps to avoid it.


    The reason why Jareth didn''t bother wasting mana or using enhanced float ability to avoid the explosions is because you can''t avoid them.


    They are all unavoidable attacks enhanced with the residual powers of peak grade-1 mages.


    In this small corridor it''s completely impossible to avoid them.


    Unless you can pass right through the walls, it''s pointless to even waste mana to boost speed and dodge them.


    That''s why Jareth focused more mana on his shield to tank the attacks instead of dodging.


    This is also one of the many infuriating traps made by the game developers.


    Avoiding those miasmic spears and making a perfect ''U'' then flying towards the only safe exit are just the starting.


    When you enter this hall, you must have enough mana left after flying at fast speed all the previous difficulties, so that you can withstand these explosions.


    If you don''t have that much mana left, then you are basically as good as dead.


    This is one of the reasons why most players who try to clear this ''Path of Fools'' do so after they max the character level and add a lot of ''HP'' increasing artifacts to the build.


    The more health and mana you have the better.


    Of course you can also use artifacts that increase your resistance to fire and thus you can minimize the damage even further.


    ''Finding those damage minimizing artifacts is a pain in the A*s in of itself, my own mana shield is a hundred times more reliable and cost effective than them¡­''


    Talismans, enchantments, artifacts, armor sets, etc. all are support items that can improve your survival chances by a lot.


    But finding things of grade-1 level is not an easy task.


    Each grade-1 level item or equipment has its own unique questline and you have to complete it to get your hands on it.


    It''s just that Jareth is in the real world now and he don''t need to complete the quests to access the hidden areas as he can go and find them himself.


    ''The Grimoire of Amplification I got from the National memorial also had a questline of its own¡­ but I totally ignored it¡­''


    Jareth doesn''t care about those questline anymore, all he needs are the rewards that they give, he has no need to make friends with various NPC''s as most of them are just useless people who always shout for the help of the Protagonist.


    Thinking about the quests, Jareth also remembered that there was a quest where one NPC who was a soldier guarding the city walls requested Allen to give the flower bouquet to his wife on his stead as he wasn''t able to get off duty.


    And the obvious happened after that, the wife''s favorability for Allen increased instead as she misunderstood that he was the one who was giving her flowers.


    ''Although nothing happened between Allen and that lady in the game¡­ I am not sure if things will still be the same now that things have turned into reality¡­''


    The current Allen is not controlled by the restrictions of the questlines.


    He can proceed further and cross boundaries if he wants to, after receiving these weird quests.


    ''I firmly believe that the developers of this game definitely weren''t good people¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about Allen and as that would just pollute his head with pointless thoughts.


    He kept walking through the corridor and finally reached the exit, where a similar miasmic mud filled hall was located.


    ''Yeah, I have to repeat the whole process three times before I can get to the next part¡­''

 Chapter 190 The Nest... Part-5.

    After going through those similar looking traps for three whole times Jareth finally arrived at a more deeper area.


    He brought out a mana potion from his space ring and drank it to replenish his mana to full capacity again.


    It''s already been nearly a day since Jareth entered the Abyss Altar Area, and he''s been using mana constantly ever since.


    Not only defeating thousands of monsters but avoiding the traps also cost him a lot of mana as he had to use it at maximum output.


    ''To think even someone with ''Mana Singularity'' will need mana potions¡­ it''s quite hilarious¡­''


    Using mana singularity, you can literally command the mana in the atmosphere to enter your body and replenish your mana supply endlessly.


    But right now, Jareth is in a place that is filled with miasma and corruption.


    Miasma and Mana are both completely opposite forces, they repel each other like crazy and can''t stand each other''s existence in the slightest.


    Thus, all the mana in this place was likely repelled away by miasma and now there''s only miasma and corruption in the atmosphere.


    Thus, Jareth can''t replenish his mana from the air as it''s all polluted with miasma, he has to use mana potions that he brought with himself to replenish his own mana.


    Moreover, Jareth''s mana is insandely dense and pure, it takes quite a few high grade potoins for him to fully replenish his mana, while ordinary grade-2 mages only need to drink half the bottle of a high grade mana replenishment potion to replenish all of their mana.


    ''I guess everything has it''s advantages and disadvantages, there''s nothing in the world that is completely perfect¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped worrying about this matter.


    He already knew that he would be needing a lot of mana potions in the Abyss Alter Area, so he brought a lot of them with him.


    Aside from a few important things, his whole space ring is nearly filled with mana replenishment potions to the brim.


    ''Here it is¡­''


    After crossing those three similar trap filled pathways, Jareth reached a corridor whose floor was slightely tilted downwards and it''s end was completely dark.


    There was no glowing stones here, this corridor seemed completely dark and everything was pitch black because even the walls here were tainted with miasma.


    Instead of increasng the intensity of his Glowing mana orb, Jareth stopped using it entirely and made the area even darker.


    Then he took his step and tried his best to be as quiet as possible.


    He even used his mana singularity to completely suppress the mana fluctuations produced by himself.


    As Jareth has a strong physquie, his eyesight is also very good, he can still vaguely see the path ahead even when everything was pitch black.


    By putting himself in complete stealth mode and suppressing his presence to near the level of completely erasing it, Jareth entered the dark corridor.


    If it was bright enough, it would have been much easier to tell that the walls here in this dark corridor are not similar to the other corridors that Jareth has been to before.


    The walls here have snake like scales all over them and the walls are constantly trembling from time to time as if they are alive and can move on their own.


    ''Created from the corpses of thousands of humans who were turned into serpent like mutants, these walls are partially allive¡­''


    There are many souls trapped in these walls which are being constantly tormented and used as fuelt to power up the trembling sensation that the wall gives when you try to touch he wall and sense the vibration.


    ''This is where the real inner area of the nest starts¡­''


    The first King obviously didn''t make this hedious place that has used corpses as construction material, he was not that kind of person.


    It''s not that Jareth doesn''t want to help these stuck souls, it''s just that he doesn''t have any time or motivation to do so.


    Moving in a stealth way is the only fastest way out of this corridor.


    If he stopped using stealth and made any unneccasrry noise here, then the ceiling above him will start to leak miasmic mud in large quantities.


    Before long, the whole corridor will be submerged in miasmic mud and Jareth will have to literally swim inside that miasmic mud to cross this place.


    That will cause him to use his mana shield at ''Overload'' state where he will lose a lot of mana just to defend against such dense amount of miasma.


    The biggest problem with the ''Pathway of Fools'' is that there''s no ''save point'' in between.


    In the game, whenever your character dies, you will have to start the whole ''Path of Fools'' from the very start.


    In other words, unless you make it past all traps and problems in one go, all your efforts will go down the drain in an instant and you will lose your progress.


    Still, in the game the character can revive and give it a second try, but Jareth has only one life afterall, he can''t risk it.


    He needs to do everything perfectly in the very first try, otherwise his mission will fail.


    In the game, you could just do everything all over again and the traps and areas will be reset again.


    But''s that''s not possible in reality, It will take several hours for the miasmic mud to clear away from this dark corridor naturally if Jareth made a mistake here even once.


    He will need to wait for several hours before he can go for the second try after the miasmic mud in the corridor settles down.


    Jareth doesn''t have that much time to waste, so he was being as cautions as possible.


    He completely ignored everything else and made his way down.


    The dark corridor alone was about two kilometers long and it took Jareth about ten minutes to pass through it as he was being extremely cautious and steady all along.


    After bypassing the dark corridor, Jareth finally heaved a sigh of relief and calmed down his tensed nerves.


    Walking out of the dark corridor, Jareth arrived at a wide room where seven stairscases were located.


    Three of them were going upwards, while the rest of the four were going downwards.


    ''This one is unavoidable¡­''


    All seven of these staircases are random, any of them could be the right one or any of them could be the wrong one.


    If it''s a wrong one, it will lead to a dead end and will waste your efforts, worst case scenario it will directly teleport you to the starting place of the ''Path of Fools''.


    Which means if you didn''t enter the right one and got teleported wrongly, you will have to start all over again from the begining.


    The name ''Pathway of Fools'' is no mere joke, it''s an actual fact, unless you have brain damage and have nothing better to do in life, you won''t try to complete this unfair and highly punishing quest.


    [Mana Command: Mana flow visibility enhancement!]


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Mana Detection!] sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Active Healing!]


    Jareth commanded the mana to make the flow of mana of various things in a radius of five kilometers more easily visible to him.


    Then he used his mana detection at maximum output to read that easier mana flow and finally he used Active Healing to provide healing support to his brain.


    Processing so much knowledge and so may flow patterns of mana is no simple task.


    It puts a massive burden on your brain, if Jareth didn''t have ''Active Heal'' he would have needed a few days to recover from the brain damage sustained from analysing so much information in such insane details.


    At this moment, Jareth was literally spreading his own mana in the area and then seeing how the mana will react with the miasma inside different things and places.


    This way he can create a rough mental map of the area.


    Although this will cost a lot of mana, atleast it can eliminite the un-predictibility of the staircases.


    With this method, Jareth can figure out which staircase is the right one.


    Although this method wouldn''t have been feasible in the game, it is very much feasible in the real world as the ''Laws'' and mechanisms in this world are very complete and thorough.


    Jareth opened his mana detection for only a few minutes and then stopped using it.


    He calmed down his brain and let it heal for a few seconds before finally smiling a bit.


    He glanced at the leftmost staircase that was heading deeper and walked towards it without hesitation.


    Only this staircase doesn''t lead to a dead end.


    Rest of the staircase all lead to dead ends located three to five kilometers from here.


    ''Good thing I preapared for everything beforehand¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and headed downstairs with the same usual cold look on his face.


    He needed to descend about three thousand stairs before he could finally cross it.


    After half an hour, Jareth found himself standing in a massive hall.


    A gigantic flower plant was growing inside that massive hall.


    The flower on the stem of the plant alone was so big that it was five times the size of Jareth''s whole body.


    ''And here''s the mini-boss of the area¡­''


    As stated before, everytime you die, you have to start all over from the begining, in other words, if you died to this boss, all your efforts to reach this place will be lost.


    Although the whole ''Pathway of Fools'' has no enemies in it, there''s still a final mini-boss that you must defeat if you want to access the next area. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire


    ''The Developers of this game can never beat the allegations that they are all sadistic piece of sh*ts who take enjoyment in other''s suffering¡­''


    Putting a boss mosnter right after a horrendous path and no save points in between, if this isn''t something meant for Fools with no life then who else is it for?

 Chapter 191 You werent made in the image of God!!

    *Mukakakakrrraaararara!*


    *It''s been so long since I last saw a real human, ahahahahaha it''s a good day today!!*


    A massive human like face appeared on the flower and started to laugh like a maniac, it''s voice was hoarse and rough, almost like that of a beast.


    Jareth wasn''t much surprised when that giant flower suddenly started to talk in human language, he saw that coming from kilometres away.


    The giant flower trembled and a few of it''s roots dug themselves out from the ground, several of those mutated walking demon incubators were stuck to those roots.


    *BOOM*


    The roots slammed those mutated beasts on the ground and killed them to get it''s roots rid of their excessive weight.


    Blood and innards splattered everywhere and painted the ground dark red.


    The roots were surprisingly very fast and nimble, if not for mana singularity, even Jareth would have had hard time detecting their fast movements.


    Even the most weakest mini-bosses in the Abyss Altar Area are all peak grade-1 monsters that are strong enough to go toe to toe with the strongest mages and warriors easily.


    It was no surprise that this boss monster is also strong.


    ''The Flower of Pain and Mutation¡­ this thing is the one who caused the forced mutation and turned innocent human into walking demon incubators that nurture demon children with their own flesh and blood.


    ''It''s a messed up creature indeed¡­''


    This gaint flower is said to have blossomed from the body of a person who was consumed by so much pain while in his mutation due to miasma, that it influced the ''Law'' of ''Pain'' and ''Suffering'' into it''s body and became what it is today.


    If you can study this flower in detail, you can get a lot of knowledge about the ''Laws'' of the world just like how Jareth analyzed the ''Law'' of ''Thunder'' in the Desert of Chaotic Thunder.


    *Shhhiiiiirrrrr*


    A massive amount of miasma started to gather in front of the humanoid face of the flower and a wide grin appeared on it''s hideous face as it stared at Jareth.


    *PLAYING WITH HUMANS IS MY FAVORITE! KAKAHAHAHAH!*


    The miasma that condensed into a form of a ball in front of the flower, fired a massive beam of miasma towards Jareth.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Flame Sword of Counter Force!]


    But Jareth was not going to step back either, he directly used his fire magic to counter the beam of condensed miasma.


    A massive sword made up of condensed true flame elementals manifested in front of him and swung in a downward motion directly severing the beam of miasma into two.


    The beam of miasma split into two and was deflected into two diferent direction, the floor was shattered and the walls of the hall collapsed after getting hit by those two beams of miasma, debris flew everywhere and even the miasma in the air became chaotic. Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire


    Only the spot where Jareth was standing remained unscathed together with the floor below his feet.


    He had perfectly blocked the attack without sustaining any injuries.


    Moreover, the fire sword launched an arc made of condesed flames towards the flower and completely destroyed the round orb made up of condensed miasma located right in front of the flower.


    *Ho! You are stronger than those pathetic weak humans¡­ ekekhekehe toying with you will be MORE FUN!!*


    Jareth shook his head and at those words and didn''t even bother refuting the words of that mutated plant.


    ''As they say, when death is close, people lose their wits and turn into mindless idiots¡­''


    The mutated flower that had never faced a true strong human was in an impression that all humans are weak creatures who can be killed and toyed with according to it''s own will.


    ''Let me remind you that you were not the one who was made in god''s image, you overgrown plant!''


    [Mana Command: Mana condension enhancement!]


    Using ''Mana Singularity'' to command mana, Jareth could ask his own mana to enhance it''s condension limit when he uses his attack magic.


    This is something only those blessed with a legendary skill could accoplish.


    [Basic Magic: Smoothen Mana Flow!]


    Although Basic Magic doesn''t have many combat type spells, it does have many spells that boost a mages basic capabilities.


    As ordinary mages have very weak ''Basic Magic'' they don''t really bother using these basic spell as they waste more mana and don''t provide much usable of a boost.


    But that''s not the case with Jareth, his basic magic''s capabilities are off the charts and even the most useless boost spell can give him a massive boost.


    It''s just that he only recently learned them otherwise he would have used them in earlier fights too.


    [Basic Magic: Enhance Maximum Spell overlap restriction!]


    Every spell has an overlapp restriction on it, you can''t overlap too many magic nodes and magic circle layers one after another or the spell will collapse and won''t work as expected.


    But this Basic magic can increase that restriction by a ''slight'' amount if used, and for Jareth whose basic magic is boosted by Mana Singularity, that ''Slight'' amount becomes a very big boost, and provides him with very big room for enhancement.


    As Jareth has learned grade-2 spells only recently, his proficiency over them isn''t high, but with the various boosts and supports provided thanks to ''Mana Singularity'', ''Purest Mana'', ''True Flames'' and the ''Grimoire of Amplification'', his combat spell''s output is nowadays always 100 times more than an ordinary grade-2 mage.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Fifty overlaps: Ten circles: Flowing Lava Tsunami!]


    A massive magic circle, the size of a three story building appeared in front of Jareth, it was so big that it was touching the cieling of this massive hall.


    Next, ten magic circle layers appeared behind the giant magic circle and an insanely condensed flood of fire elementals burst out of the magic circle like beam of fire.


    The lava directly overwhelmed the flower and it''s body started to burn like crazy as it got submerged in extremely condensed lava!


    Although this move used up a lot of mana, Jareth didn''t hesitate, he directly burned the whole flower and submerged it''s ashes under the molten lava.


    *AAAHHHHHHHHHGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!*


    While it was burning, the hedious humanoid face on the flower started to shed tears of blood and let out a horrible cry.


    It''s wails were so loud that Jareth had to use his mana shield to block the shouts of the other party from destroying his ear drums.


    *AHHHH IT BURRRRNNNSSSS!!!!*


    The plant decided to choose deception, it took the voice of child to scream and make Jareth stop, but that didn''t work on Jareth at all, in the end, it was burned to ashes without any mercy.


    ''Quite a good tactic though, it would have worked on the hero''s party if they were here¡­''


    Allen''s childhood friend Airin, that is the sister of Aria, has nature and wood affinity just like her sister.


    She would have been the most affected by this wailing plant if she was here with the hero''s party.


    ''Actually¡­ I don''t think that those dumb kids can even make it here¡­''


    The journey to reach this place alone was already quite a tough one, even if Allen could make it here with his plot armor, the other party members couldn''t.


    Jareth has no idea how the hero party would have made it here in the lore¡­ or perhaps they entirely skipped this area as it was completely optional.


    Jareth waved his hand the magic circle disappeared and the fire elementals also evaporated away, thus the lava on the ground also disappeared.


    The floor was charred black and molten into lava, but Jareth bothern with it, he just casted his ''Float'' magic and flew towards the ashes of the mini-boss.


    He squatted down and searched through them and found a small gem.


    ¡­ sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Item Name: A Fragment of a Suffering Heart]


    [Item Grade: Grade-1+]


    [Item Description: A residual fragment of the heart of a flower that bloomed on pain and suffering and got blessed by the very ''Laws'' of the world.


    The Flower wanted to inflict intense pain and misery on others for its whole life.


    Perhaps the residual will of the person whom the flower bloomed from slipped into this flower and all that it had for everything was immense hatred.


    If you observe it closely, you can see the howling and wailing face of a broken soul that has suffered immense pain.]


    [Item Uses:


    - Can be used to create high grade artifacts, weapons etc¡­


    - Grants Debuff causing abilities if used to create weapons or artifacts¡­


    - Can be used to create high grade poisons¡­


    - Can be used to cast powerful curses or use forbidden magic¡­]


    ¡­


    Looking at the fragment, Jareth just kept it in his inventory and shook his head.


    ''Well if I can''t find the item which I came for, then I guess I can use this thing in its place¡­ that would cause the wormhole to get a bit unstable though¡­''


    This heart fragment is a rare loot, you won''t get it anywhere else in the whole game except for this one boss monster in the Abyss Altar Area.


    It is a one time use item and must be used carefully.


    ''If I didn''t need to create a wormhole, I would have liked to use it to create a powerful poison and then I would have used that poison on the other two endgame bosses that are still alive¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about this matter and decided to keep moving forward.


    ''Finally I am about to reach the real Forgotten City after all this time¡­sigh¡­''


    Traveling in the Abyss Altar Area is no easy task after all, If Jareth hadn''t stolen various cheat items from the main character, his journey wouldn''t have been so easy.

 Chapter 192 Inside the City of Horrors... Part-1.

    Forgotten City, Burning Garden of Death.


    Walking out of the giant hall, Jareth found a huge corridor leading to the surface, and after walking through it for a while, he finally arrived at the real forgotten city''s outskirts.


    The Forgotten City used to have a massive garden surrounding it in its haydey.


    There were various fruit trees in the garden; any random citizen was allowed to just come out of the city and grab fruits for themselves.


    They were free for everyone as the common people were the ones who were growing them in the first place; the First King ruled with benevolence; there were rarely any people who ever got serious punishments, and only the most heinous type of people got the death penalty.


    Records describe him as a ruler with great insight into human nature; he could see through the thoughts of people just by seeing their expression, and he could solve great catastrophes with just a mere flick of his finger.


    He was such a person, powerful enough to dominate the world alone yet benevolent enough to treat everyone with respect and kindness.


    ''Kind of sounds more like an actual protagonist than that pathetic sh*t of a protagonist, Allen, who is just a big shame on the existence of all heroes¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the trees in the vast garden and noticed that a pitch-black flame was burning on all of the trees.


    Although the flame was burning with great intensity, the trees themselves weren''t getting burned at all and were still intact, only that they had no leaves and were more like dead tree trunks by now.


    The whole massive garden was filled with similar dead trees that had a pitch black fire burning on them.


    ''The Black Flames of Miasmic Curse¡­''


    In the game, touching these flames will lead to instant death as they can directly affect your soul and can kill you easily.


    ''Well, unless someone has ''True Immunity'' or some other kind of related resitance ability, of course¡­''


    True Immunity is a passive resistance-type skill; it grants the person the ability to completely nullify all abnormal conditions and status effects.


    Curse attacks, charm attacks, mental attacks, illusions, soul attacks, and so on. In fact, it can even do counterattacks sometimes if the conditions are fulfilled properly.


    ''The problem is that there are only mentions of this skill in the lore of the game; there is not a single character in the game who actually has it¡­''


    As a matter of fact, not even Allen received that skill ever before in his life, so it''s really impossible to find it with no solid information to work on.


    ''I guess the developers only added it into the lore and forgot about ever actually adding it into the game¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about the matter. The lore of this game is just too vast, and if he kept thinking about it, he would never be able to get his work done.


    [Mana Command: Outward Mana Flow!]


    Jareth used his ''Mana Singularity'' to tilt the mana flow from his body to the outside.


    Although this will increase the mana he will use every second, this will give Jareth two main benefits.


    First of all, increasing the flow of the mana towards outside will enhance the capability of his ''Mana Detection'' skill tremendously.


    And the other benefit is that he can use the mana that is flowing outside to repel the flames of the miasmic curse; although this won''t give me immunity to it, at least I won''t have to worry about the flames touching me accidentally. S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth always likes to take precautions first, whenever the situation is at a disadvantage.


    Right now, although Jareth is quite sure of his physical prowess and can make sure that he won''t touch the flames, it is always good to be cautious about such things before hand.


    ''Just in case I accidentally touch the flames, the mana flow will repel the flames away for a few moments, and that much time is enough for me to recollect myself¡­''


    If something happened to him here, then no one will come to even rescue his dead body, and he won''t even get a proper burial after death.


    His corpse will likely then be used by some hideous monster as a puppet or something like that.


    Jareth doesn''t want to end up in such a pathetic state, so he''s trying his best to be as cautious as possible.


    ''The biggest mystery is¡­ how the f*ck did those people from the False Dome Cult make it here when even I am having so much difficulty¡­''


    ''Don''t tell me they directly teleported to the palace grounds of the forgotten city and didn''t even need to go through the troubles like me¡­''


    Jareth was quite sure that no one has entered from the same path that he used to come here.


    After all, if someone had arrived here just recently from the same path, then they would have had to deal with the ''Flower of Pain'' and that flower should have been dead if they passed through that path.


    But the ''Flower of Pain'' was alive and kicking when Jareth found it, which means the members of the false dome likely used some other path. A path that was much easier than this one.


    ''It would feel so awkward if there was a path that could help skip the entire abyss altar area and directly teleport you to the palace grounds¡­''


    If there was such an easy path in the game, the players would have cried tears of happiness and would have thanked the game developers from the very bottom of their hearts.


    But the players looked through every nook and cranny of the game map and never found an alternate entrance to the Abyss Altar Area.


    This means that the other path exists in reality, but the game developers just didn''t show it in the game as the map was much smaller.


    Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head while thinking about this matter.


    ''I guess this is the restriction of a game¡­ Only reality can depict the world more perfectly¡­''


    Jareth moved forward without hesitation, and the dry leaves on the ground made ''Crunching'' noises as he walked through the Burning Garden.


    The Black Flames of Miasmic Curse don''t produce any smoke or residuals as they literally burn on the power of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma''. Unless you extinguish miasma itself from this whole ''Forgotten City'', these flames will keep burning.


    ''The developers really did a lot of lore-related foreshadowing through the miasmic flames¡­''


    Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    These flames were left behind by none other than Konda, ''The Abysmal Dragon.


    Konda was an Abyss-type dragon; it had control over darkness and curses; it had shiny black scales and a very powerful physical body.


    Abysmal dragons are said to have the strongest physique among all types of dragons.


    Even the Golden Dragons, who are considered the royal dragons, don''t have such strong physiques.


    And the most terrifying thing about Abysmal Dragons is that they are born with the curse of Miasma. As they grow up, Miasma takes away their life force and slowly takes over their body until the dragon goes insane.


    By that point, the dragon can spew breath attacks that spew out these ''Flames of Miasmic Curse''.


    In mana-rich areas, these flames will not last long and stop burning on their own, but if the area has a lot of miasma, then these flames will keep burning till the whole area runs out of miasma.


    ''In a sense, these flames can also be considered a remedy for miasma if used properly¡­''


    If some creature that has the power to manipulate miasma uses these flames for the good of the people, they can use these flames to completely purify the miasma from the surroundings.


    You just need to cast the fire, and the fire will use the miasma as fuel, and eventually the fuel will run out and the miasma will be purified from that area; moreover, the fire will also stop burning on its own, thus it''s even more effective.


    ''Still¡­ I have never heard of anyone in the game''s lore who can control miasma¡­ Miasma is always described as an uncontrollable power that no one can meddle with¡­''


    If Jareth stays here for a long time, he can definitely figure out some basic abilities and qualities of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' from analyzing these Miasmic Flames.


    But right now he doesn''t have that much of a free time; the ''False Dome Cult'' is fast on the move; if he doesn''t hurry up, maybe they will break another node of the seal soon and his problems will increase further.


    ''I will definitely come back to this place one day¡­ By using these flames as my practice target, I can prepare myself for the calamity that might come one day¡­''


    These flames are the closest things to the ''perfect'' manifestation of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma''; they can give Jareth a lot of insights.


    *Step* *Step*


    ''Here it is¡­''


    After walking through the Burning Garden for nearly half an hour, Jareth finally arrived at the massive city gate.


    The insanely huge city wall was still standing tall even after such a long time; although the city gate was already destroyed, just looking at its size would be enough to amaze anyone.


    The Burning Garden was completely devoid of enemies, as most beings fear those flames and don''t go close to them at all costs.


    Not even undead-type creatures want to go in the close vicinity of those trees, as those flames can target even them.


    Abysmal Dragons are just that kind of existence; they are accepted by none in the world; not even their own kind likes to go anywhere near them, as just standing near them can harm you a lot.

 Chapter 193 Inside the City of Horrors... Part-2.

    The moment Jareth took his first step inside the city, the atmosphere became ominous all of a sudden.


    The surroundings became darker, and it seemed as if several ''things'' were staring at him from the dark the moment he came inside.


    ''Grade-1 illusion magic¡­ Moreover, it''s corrupted with miasma, so its effects will be more lethal if you don''t have proper defensive measures¡­''


    Illusion-type magic usually has a lot of restrictions.


    First of all, if you have a legendary skill, then the illusion magic will not work on you at all.


    On the other hand, the higher your grade, the fewer chances there are of the illusion magic working on you, as your soul, will, and consciousness will all be more and more strong the stronger you are.


    Only those with weak hearts, like Professor Aria, are most susceptible to the effects of illusion magic.


    If she were here, she would have fallen for the illusion magic almost instantly, not only because it is of a higher grade than hers, but also because she is less resistant to illusion magic.


    If it were normal, then Jareth would have been completely immune to this illusion magic, but not only is the magic of peak grade-1, it also has miasma boosting it.


    Right now, Jareth is in a place where mana is nonexistent, thus his mana singularity is more or less in a suppressed state.


    It can''t show its full power here as there''s nearly no mana in the surroundings; if it were above-ground, where mana is abundant, Jareth wouldn''t have been affected by the illusion in the slightest.


    ''Anyway, the illusion is only working partially on me; it can''t keep me restrained at all. I just need to keep my calm, and I can easily walk through this¡­''


    Find more chapters on My Virtual Library Empire


    Among all the areas of the Abyss Altar, this place is much easier as the path is more or less linear; all you need to do to pass this area is to not fall for the tricks of the illusion and reach the ''Golden Path of Hope'' in three hours of time.


    The city''s main road is massively wide, and there are five lanes on both sides of the road.


    You just need to keep walking on this road till the end; this road will directly lead you to the ''Golden Path of Hope,'' and there''s no need to take any detours along the way.


    In this whole journey, the main thing that you must make sure of is that you mustn''t fall for the illusion; otherwise, you are dead.


    ''Originally, you would need to find the ''Talisman of Intersecting Paths'' for this area first, but I don''t need it¡­''


    There are many types of illusion magic in this world, but one of the most common and lethal types is the illusion magic where you get trapped in an unending path.


    No matter which direction you walk into and how long you walk, you end up reaching the same spot from where you started.


    These types of illusion magic focus on slowly building up mental stress on the victim, and eventually the victim collapses from a mental breakdown.


    Although these illusions are strong, there''s no such thing in this world that is completely without any weaknesses.


    Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. The ''Talisman of Intersecting Paths'' is a loot dropped by one of the three mini-boss monsters in the upper grounds of the forgotten city.


    Jareth didn''t go to defeat those three bosses, as he had no need for their loot and those three medallion fragments.


    The main function of this talisman is that it can help a person ''partially'' awaken from these ''unending path'' types of illusions.


    In the game, if you don''t equip this talisman, you can''t pass through the ''City of Horrors'' area, as the character will instantly fall for the illusion and then get corrupted by Miasma until it dies.


    Equipping the talisman will help the player character to gain partial consciousness from the illusion, and the unending path will become finite.


    This way, all you need to do is cross the city and pass that infinite path while ignoring all the tricks that the partially working illusion may throw at you.


    The reason why that ''Talisman'' was completely useless for Jareth was because he has ''Mana Singularity'', which is already helping him to be partially conscious of the illusion anyway.


    Even if he equips that talisman now, it won''t increase the effects; the effects will just overlap and won''t work together to enhance the illusion resistance power.


    Jareth will still be only partially immune to the illusion, even if he had it equipped.


    Thus, he didn''t bother to go and get his hands on it; it would have only been a waste of his time.


    ''I kind of miss the background music of the game¡­''


    When you walk into the City of Horrors, the background music that plays has a creepy and horror-related theme.


    The music makes the area creepier and scarier and adds a taste of horror to the city.


    Without that music, Jareth kind of feels that the area is ''Lacking'' in some aspects now. (Imagine standing several kilometers deep underground in a hellhole with no one to rescue you and saying that the place seems ''Lacking''¡­)


    While shaking his head, Jareth walked forward without hesitation.


    *HEHEHE* *WAAAAAhhhh!!* *KEKEKEKEKE*


    The moment Jareth started walking, various creepy sounds started ringing out in his ears from all directions.


    Jareth glanced at the top of a nearby broken wall and noticed a strange flock of birds that had humanoid faces, and they were laughing creepily while staring at Jareth.


    Maggots and worms were crawling on their bodies, and their eyes were bloodshot as if they had gone insane.


    Even when Jareth''s overbearing presence pressured them, they still didn''t flinch and kept laughing at Jareth mockingly.


    Then, on the other hand, there was a wormlike creature peeking its humanoid face out from under the rubble of the broken houses and was making weirdly creepy sounds while staring at Jareth.


    Jareth could feel several dozens of different creepy mutated beings staring at him from various places.


    Some were laughing like maniacs, some were crying and wailing in sheer pain, and some didn''t even have mouths to make any noises.


    Although Jareth had seen this scene in the game, he was still a bit taken aback after seeing it in reality, as the atmosphere seemed very ominous and creepy.


    Just standing there, Jareth was having a feeling that those beasts were laughing at his courage and his thoughts of coming to this place.


    ''Imagine if you came to the city looking for refuge from these burning trees and saw this scene instead¡­ and then you ended up getting trapped in this illusion forever with no way out¡­''


    ''That would be such a miserable end¡­''


    Most of the mutated creatures in the city met this very exact fate; those who came from the upper grounds and the garden to take refuge here ended up encountering this scene and were driven insane by the illusion and tension.


    Eventually they mutated, became monsters themselves, and joined the various monsters to laugh and welcome the newer victims into the city.


    These beasts are laughing at Jareth''s decision to come to the city, as they think that Jareth has also fallen into the trap and will also end up like them sooner or later.


    The voices and mocking laughs of these monsters are so overbearing and hard to ignore that even Jareth felt a bit irritated by them.


    But he didn''t kill the beasts, even when he was irritated by them.


    The reason is that all these beasts are just pawns of the illusion magic; even if you kill them, nothing will change; there will be more beasts to replace their place.


    Killing them will just waste your magic and waste your time; the most optimal thing is to just ignore them and keep moving forward towards your destination.


    *You are pathetic! Hekehekehe!*


    *You will never make it out of here!*


    *You are unworthy!*


    The mutated beast started to twist their bodies like maniacs and then started to hurl insults at Jareth to annoy him further and make him use his magic to get rid of them.


    ''Good thing that I came to this place only after taking full control of this body¡­''


    If Jareth hadn''t eliminated the assassination organization''s remnants and still didn''t have full control over the body, the original Jareth''s remnant will inside him would have definitely reacted at this moment.


    The original Jareth was an arrogant person; he would have definitely gotten angry once these beasts insulted him like this.


    But now that he has full control over his body, he can easily ignore these insults, as they are completely ineffective on him.


    His body will only move if he wants to; no one else can convince him otherwise. This is the benefit of getting full control over the body.


    *You are a failure of a human being!*


    *You were not able to live with her because you are undecisive!*


    *You are unworthy!!*


    ''Tch, whatever you may say, I won''t react to it. I left behind my regrets of my past life behind already; there''s no point in trying to use that against me now¡­''


    This illusion has miasma backing it, so it can use the memories of a person against them.


    Every person will perceive the illusion differently because it affects their own brain.


    The illusion doesn''t know Jareth''s memories itself; it''s just using his own brain against him.


    Jareth didn''t care much about it, though; he just kept moving forward, and the more insults thrown his way, the faster his movement speed became.


    Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 194 Inside the City of Horrors... Part-3.

    *Don''t leave, help me!*


    While Jareth was trying his best to ignore those mocking voices and insults, a very familiar voice rang out in his ears that almost made him stunned.


    It was the voice of none other than Shiina herself!


    Jareth glanced to his right and noticed a woman whose whole lower half was buried under rubble, and her head was bleeding heavily.


    Her beautiful face bore a look of pleading that seemed out of place in this horrible place.


    Jareth was momentarily stunned to see that familiar face appear out of nowhere, but he quickly composed himself.


    ''Now you are resorting to using her face against me?... It''s pointless; you can''t imitate her no matter how hard you try¡­''


    In Jareth''s opinion, Shiina was someone unique to herself; she was someone no one else can imitate or become; she had immense courage, and she was like a shining torch in endless darkness.


    This pathetic illusion can''t imitate her existence at all, no matter how hard it tries; her uniqueness can''t be imitated at all.


    ''Forget it; wasting my magic here will not yield anything.''


    Jareth shook his head and kept moving forward while ignoring those pitiful cries of help.


    Although it was hard, he had to do it.


    And sure enough, once Jareth left the vicinity, the illusion stopped working, and Shiina''s face disappeared, revealing a massive worm-like creature in its place.


    The creature had hundreds of sharp teeth in its mouth, and it looked very hideous and ugly. Although it''s not a strong creature, it could have definitely been enough to surprise anyone who had fallen for this illusion trap.


    The further Jareth walked, the more similar scenes he started to see.


    He saw Mark and other people that he knows from this life appear in the illusions and try to make him stop or try to ask for help.


    But Jareth didn''t flinch even a little bit.


    *How dare you lay your filthy eyes on my daughter!*


    Jareth even saw his boss from the previous life who was angry at him for messing around with his daughter.


    ''I don''t fear him anymore¡­''


    *You ungrateful, son! How dare you keep living after seeing me die! Why didn''t you save me!*


    The original Jareth''s mother also appeared in the illusion to curse at him for not saving her that day.


    She was cursing her luck for having given birth to someone as unworthy as him, who was completely unappreciative of her.


    ''I have already avenged the past hatred; those words hold no meaning anymore¡­''


    Suddenly a familiar hand was placed on his shoulder, and the sweet voice rang out in his ears again.


    *Come back to me; let''s live a happy life now that we are both here!*


    Once again, a monster impersonated Shiina and attempted to thwart his progress by luring him with a false promise of a joyful life.


    But Jareth easily saw through that fa?ade.


    ''I have left that happy life behind; there''s nothing left of that forgotten love¡­ You don''t affect me anymore¡­''


    Jareth shrugged the hand off his shoulder and kept moving while ignoring everything that came to stop him in his tracks.


    Behind every illusion there''s a hideous mutated monster hidden; the very moment you fall for their trap, you will get attacked by them when your guard is down.


    This whole city is filled with these horrors that torture you mentally and even physically. If you don''t want to be stuck in this illusion forever, then it''s better to not waste time and get out of this place in three hours'' time.


    The longer you stay, the more powerful the influence of miasma gets in this place, and even ''Talisman'' starts to get weaker and weaker until it breaks apart.


    Although Jareth''s mana singularity will not stop working like that ''talisman'', staying here will keep increasing his mana consumption.


    With every minute, the mana consumption increases by a set amount to resist the influence of the miasma.


    Eventually the consumption will become so huge that he will run out of mana and won''t even have any mana potions left to replenish his mana on time.


    *Where are you going? You have a family!*


    Jareth then saw Shiina with a child in her arms. The newborn child had a cute face, and it looked like an exact miniature copy of Shiina, except that it had similar eyes as his own.


    Seeing the cute smile over that child''s face, Jareth was really shaken from the core for a moment, but then he sighed and kept moving.


    ''Don''t try to lure me with a future that never came true¡­ That was but a mere dream that I saw; I have already acknowledged my past¡­''


    He always dreamt of marrying Shiina and having a happy life with her; he even had already decided the name of his kids by that time.


    It was his greatest wish to make Shiina his wife; he devoted his life to that cause, but dreams are only dreams after all; reality is not always what you hope for.


    His dream was shattered by those metal bats that rained down on his chest heavily and brutally beat him to death by shattering his ribs and organs one by one.


    Having a happy married life and having kids of his own¡ªthat was just a forgotten dream that never came true; there''s no need to dwell on it any longer.


    ''I have moved on to another path; I will keep respect for you always¡­ But leave me be now, Shiina¡­''


    A whole year''s worth of time has passed; he has gone through countless moments and emotions by now, and he has more or less accepted his reality by now.


    Thus, these illusions can''t affect him anymore.


    As if sensing that the illusion was useless on Jareth, the image of Shiina and the child was distorted to that of a zombie-like creature that was carrying the rotten body of a child in its arms. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Perhaps that was a helpless mother who ended up in this state with her child due to the influence of miasma.


    ''As they say, not all stories have a happy ending; sometimes you have to accept the cruel reality and move on in life¡­''


    Jareth cleared his mind and stopped thinking about his past and his future; what mattered now was his present.


    He needs to keep working hard in the present so that the future him can be proud of the current him; this way, he will be able to live this life without regrets, unlike the previous one.


    {Weaknesses, emotions, ambitions, and hate.


    Beyond the grasp of reality,


    And away from the strings of destiny,


    Only I shall decide my own fate.}


    The very moment when Jareth''s thoughts became clear, he felt like he had passed a wall that was previously unsurpassable for him.


    He felt as if he had seen through the world and his existence for a brief moment in that small instant.


    [Ding! Congratulations! You saw through the ''Law'' of ''Existence'' and ''Null'' for a brief instant!]


    [Ding! The ''Law'' of ''Existence'' and ''Null'' will moderately help you from now on!]


    [Ding! You have gained great insights! Your progress will be much smoother from now on!]


    As if he had gained mental clarity for a brief instant, the illusion around him instantly broke apart.


    That strong illusion now seemed as weak as a thin piece of paper; Jareth''s consciousness itself became so strong that it directly broke the illusion with the help of ''Mana Singularity''.


    The illusion simply couldn''t restrain his overbearing consciousness in its grasp anymore and was shattered into pieces; all the mutated creatures also broke out of its control in that moment and started to flee in various directions instantly.


    As if all of them were afraid of Jareth''s immense strength, they refused to even stay near him for a single second.


    All the mocking voices and creepy laughs disappeared, and the City of Horrors finally revealed its true colors to him.


    Once the illusion was shattered, Jareth was able to see the true situation of the city.


    All that was left of the city was a broken ruin; there were no buildings that were still intact; even those gigantic city walls were broken from various places, and the ground was completely pitch black due to corruption.


    The density of miasma in this area is so high that it can cause uncontrollable mutations if someone gets stuck in this place.


    But instead of getting concerned, a faint smile appeared over Jareth''s face.


    ''That was a bit unexpected¡­ In the end, I completed the mission of making it through the city of horrors much easier than I was expecting¡­''


    Jareth was ready for another hour or two of being overwhelmed by those illusions, but the sudden interference of a very powerful ''Law'' of the world directly helped him get rid of the illusion from inside out.


    Such a thing never happened in the game, and maybe it was only unique to Jareth as he was able to resolve all the knots in his hearts.


    But it was a good thing regardless.


    [Mana Command: Outward Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Mana Detection!]


    Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth spread out his mana detection to the whole city to see if there''s any useful hidden artifacts or items in the area that can come in handy later.


    But just like he had expected, there was nothing of much value left in the whole city.


    After centuries of corruption, not a single precious weapon or artifact survived the erosion of time.


    Jareth was a bit disappointed by that, but he didn''t dwell on it for too long and decided to move on to the next trail immediately.

 Chapter 195 Crossing the Golden Path...

    The ''Golden Path of Hope'' is a massive road that leads to the palace grounds located high above the half-mountain, right after the city''s broken ruins.


    Why ''Half'' you ask?


    This mountain used to be the tallest one in the whole abyss altar area, but the first king sliced it in half and leveled the ground so that he could create his palace in a very high place.


    He wanted to glance at his magnificent empire every day from his room''s balcony.


    The path that leads to the main gate of the palace walls is called the ''Golden Path of Hope'' as this path was the sole path that the people of the empire could use to meet their benevolent king.


    It was once created using real gold floor tiles, and it shined brightly all day long.


    Those who went to the palace for the king''s audience returned smiling, their despair and regrets swept away.


    That''s why they called it the path of hope; the King was a symbol of hope for them, and those who saw him could feel his benevolent aura caring for them.


    Jareth stepped on the broken path, which was littered with rotting bodies of monsters and several small potholes filled with miasmic mud, ready to shoot spears made of condensed miasma at you, and a look of nostalgia appeared on his face.


    When he watched the videos of the people who made it to this place, he laughed at them whenever they tried to cross this path and died.


    The main reason is that in the game, the whole path of hope is filled with these rotten corpses that explode at your face when you get close to them, and the explosion will directly make your player character lose their balance.


    The player character will fly into the sky, and a glitch will happen that will directly make the player character fall towards the side, and as this path is located quite high above the ground, falling down means instant ''Death'' for the player.


    If you carelessly allow those miasmic spears to strike you, they will propel you skyward, causing the glitch to recur.


    In other words, any trap you encounter in this location will result in instant death for your player character, as the glitch will cause you to fall down.


    This was so funny that many streamers made videos and reels about this glitch to show how miserable it was.


    ''The fact that this game is riddled with glitches everywhere is not a joke; there''s so many glitches that you can''t even count them¡­''


    ''Every time you think that you have seen them all, another new one gets discovered by some random player¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and decided to try it for himself.


    ''I wonder if something like this will happen here or not¡­''


    Jareth walked over to the side of a rotting corpse to satisfy his curiosity.


    *BOOOM!!*


    And sure enough, the corpse exploded, and a massive shockwave spread out in all directions; even the ''Path of Hope'' trembled crazily from that massive explosion, and a loud voice rang out in Jareth''s ears.


    ''Quite the big explosion that is¡­ I wonder if Miasma has turned these rotting corpses into exploding traps on purpose?...''


    As Jareth''s Mana Shield is a bit too strong, it''s literally impossible for such a weak explosion to forcefully make him fly in the sky.


    Even though he was standing right in the center of the explosion, not even a scratch appeared on his mana shield.


    He just shook his head and started to head towards the palace grounds directly.


    ''If not for the dark fog that blocks vision when you fly in the sky, I wouldn''t have even bothered to walk on the ground; it would have been ten times easier to just fly and skip this place altogether¡­''


    Crossing the illusion in the city of horrors was important, as that was a set condition to make the palace grounds and the golden path of hope appear in front of you. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If you don''t cross the illusion and try to walk around the city to go to the palace grounds directly, you will not be able to find them as they won''t appear at all.


    The situation with the palace grounds and the golden path is something similar to that of the ''Death Cage'' in which Nathan is stuck.


    The space-time fabric itself is being manipulated here; the palace grounds do exist in that location; it''s just that they are hidden behind the folds of the space-time fabric.


    Unless you fulfill the condition set by the miasma in this place, you won''t be able to access them at all. And the condition is to cross the illusion barrier.


    This is basically a trap from the start to finish; crossing the illusion barrier itself is a very difficult task, as only the most strong-willed people can make it out of there.


    Even Jareth had to face his own inner demons to finally get rid of the influence of the illusion on him.


    In other words, the miasma is purposely luring you inside the illusion if you want to meet your first king, and once you enter the illusion, its over for you.


    That''s likely how the last few surviving people ended up dying in the days of calamity.


    ''I guess Konda was the one who brought this calamity upon the city?... But maybe the First King had long died before Konda even came to this world¡­''


    The first king was a strong person who was beyond the realm of grade 1 mages; either he had already died before Konda came, or he was just too old by that time and wasn''t able to defend his empire from Konda''s rampage.


    In the first place, Konda had an insane amount of resistance for both magical and physical attacks, even in its weakened state that Jareth fought.


    ''It is possible that the First King sacrificed himself along with his subordinates to seal the Abysmal Dragon near the node of the seal of the False Dome¡­''


    Konda spreads miasma just by existing in a place; the law of miasma is firmly embedded in the body of every Abysmal Dragon from birth.


    After getting sealed, Konda likely still kept spreading miasma and polluted the whole forgotten city to the current state.


    It was a slow death that the people of the forgotten city couldn''t contend against.


    ''In the game, you have to undo the seal to fight Konda, and then you have to reinforce the seal after defeating him¡­ Only then will the fight end¡­''


    ''I wonder if this will still work though¡­ In the game, you use Konda''s soul to reinforce the seal, but now I have already erased that guy from his very existence¡­ Not even it''s soul is left behind¡­''


    ''Moreover, I have no idea how long it''s been since the False Dome Cult members have destroyed the seal¡­''


    Walking on the path of hope that was covered in miasma and rotten corpses, Jareth had a lot of questions in his mind, but there was no one to answer them.


    He has to find the answers to these questions on his own, it seems.


    ''If only that guy Konda could have left me with some boss loot or something¡­''


    Despite the fact that Konda is such a difficult endgame boss monster, the only thing you get from defeating is just a lot of ''EXP'' to level up your character and a useless skill that makes you immune to miasma for a few seconds at most.


    The players were so angry at that sh*tty loot that they cried tears of agony after they found out that all their efforts in defeating Konda were in vain.


    Konda played a largely irrelevant role in the game''s main plot; in fact, Jareth questions whether the protagonist ever visited the abyss altar area in the game''s actual story.


    ''Maybe that''s why I only got so few credit points after beating that planet destroying level calamity¡­ that sh*t was irrelevant to the plot of the game¡­''


    Konda has little to do with the False Dome seal, and it was likely added by the game developers just to Sh*t on the players and torture them with it on purpose.


    By now Jareth is absolutely sure that the developers of this game were sadist people who were doing literally any kind of random sh*t to just annoy and torture the players on purpose.


    ''In the first place, even if Konda did give any important loot, I still wouldn''t have been able to get it¡­''


    Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth literally erased the guy from his very existence by throwing a ''Heavenly Punishment'' on him, and even the space-time fabric was reduced to ''Nothingness'' in that moment, let alone Konda.


    If Konda had any loot, that would have been ''erased'' along with him in that instant.


    ''Imagine killing a boss monster so thoroughly that the guy doesn''t even leave behind it''s loot¡­ sigh¡­''


    Sometimes Jareth wonders if he''s a bit too efficient in his work; maybe having a bit less efficiency will help him solve a few problems too.


    Shaking his head at these thoughts, Jareth finally crossed the whole golden path and arrived at the main entrance gate of the Palace Grounds.


    Looking at that closed palace gate, Jareth had an urge to kick it open, but he stopped and didn''t try to do that.


    After all, this gate is not an ordinary one; it''s made out of Adamantine and Mithril; even if a semi-grade-0 attack was thrown at it, the gate wouldn''t even budge.


    ''Using such rare items to create a door for your house... only someone as wealthy as the First King can do so, I guess...''

 Chapter 196 The Palace of Twisted Curses... Part-1.

    Adamantine and Mithril are such rare items that there are only three places in the game where you can get them.


    One is the main gate of the First King''s palace, the second is the First King''s throne, and the third is the First King''s very own magic wand.


    Yeah! All three pieces of the adamantine and mithril mixed up together can all be found in this palace alone!


    You literally have to travel all the way from the surface to this palace located deep in the Abyss Altar Area just to get your hands on these legendary rank items.


    In the history of this world, it is said that this world has always lacked in terms of legendary metals, and they are extremely rare.


    Even the First King only found these three pieces from his three-decade-long journey of wandering in the whole solar system.


    There might be more of them, but it would take decades or even centuries just to search through the whole solar system if you want to find more of them.


    It is said that these rare items formed when ''Mana'' first descended in this world and the ''law'' of the world collided violently with the ''law'' of ''Mana''.


    In other words, the amount of these legendary metals is finite in the world as the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' has long been fully integrated in the world, and there will be no more collision between the laws of the world on that scale.


    Even these three pieces here are not pure adamantine and mithril; they are mixed up together heavily and can''t be separated; this metal is more like an alloy made out of adamantine and mithril.


    ''Doesn''t matter if it''s an alloy or a pure metal; these legendary metals are definitely what I need¡­''


    Creating a stable wormhole is not a child''s play; you need powerful and strong metals that can hold its main frame in place without getting torn apart by the power of the wormhole.


    Nothing can do it better than this alloy made out of two legendary metals.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Interruption!]


    First Jareth used mana singularity to boost his magic, then he used mana interruption to break the powerful protective barrier on the walls. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Concentrated Fire Beam!]


    Then he used a fire beam to destroy the ''Joints'' in the wall that were keeping the giant door firm in place.


    Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire


    The wall is not made out of Adamantine and Mithril after all; it can be destroyed easily.


    The reason why this wall and door stood unharmed up until now was because it was being protected by powerful magic barriers; if not for that, the monsters would have broken the wall and the door would have fallen easily.


    ''Tch, the irony¡­ Even if you cross the illusion barrier successfully, you won''t get entry inside the palace grounds¡­''


    The walls themselves were being protected by the same barriers that are keeping this massive underground cave intact.


    So, obviously, the barrier was so strong that even grade 1 mages will not be able to get inside unless they have a legendary skill''s support like him, and you can''t even put a scratch on this door unless you have the power of a ''Law'' helping you out.


    In other words, even if you make it to the palace grounds after all that effort, unless you are already as strong as the First King himself, you won''t be able to get inside without permission.


    The rotting corpses on the ''Golden Path'' that explode on your face likely belong to the people who died in despair when they didn''t get entry into the palace even after going through all the trouble of coming here.


    Even Jareth, himself would have needed a lot of time to destroy the barrier if he only had the support of ''Mana Singularity''.


    The reason why he was able to burn right through the magic barrier is because his flames are blessed by the ''Law'' of ''True Flames''; in theory, his flames can burn anything and everything if he can master them to the utmost peak level.


    *Bamm!*


    The door fell down with a loud noise as Jareth broke their supporting walls.


    Without wasting any time, Jareth stuffed those two giant doors into his own system space so that he doesn''t have to carry them on his back.


    ''Another goal accomplished¡­''


    Although Jareth was still quite confused about how the people from ''False Dome Cult'' got inside the palace grounds without breaking this door, he was also happy that they didn''t actually do so.


    After all, if they really had the capability to break through by force like him, they would have definitely taken this door with them; no one will let go of such a precious item like this after all.


    ''Alas, the staff of the first kind and that throne might have been taken away by them though¡­''


    Only this main door is protected by such a strong barrier; the throne and the staff are both defenseless; if the False Dome Members did come here, they likely already took them both away.


    Although Jareth hopes they haven''t done so yet, he won''t be too disappointed if he doesn''t find them.


    ''Forget it; at least I have this part with me; they can''t create ''that'' weapon as long as I have the last piece of the adamantine and mithril alloy in my hands¡­''


    Unlike Jareth, who wants to use this alloy to create a stable wormhole, this alloy can be used to create powerful weapons too.


    In the game, if you use all three pieces, you can create the ''Prototype God-Slaying armament'' with them.


    That weapon can be of any shape and size after forging; it could be a sword or even a bow and arrow. This type of weapon was added to the especially so that the player can have at least a little bit of chance to slay ''Konda'' The Terror.


    Although these can''t be called true ''God-Slaying'' weapons, they can indeed hold their own against weaker opponents like Konda, for example, but not against an entity beyond that level.


    Even with these world-class weapons, you can barely do decent damage to endgame bosses like Konda.


    So, it''s no surprise that the few final bosses were a bit too high in difficulty.


    ¡­


    Walking inside the palace grounds, all Jareth saw were corpses littered everywhere, not a single soul alive.


    ''These are likely the corpses of the maids or servants and the people who used to work in the palace¡­''


    People outside hoped that they would find a safe haven if they somehow got inside the palace.


    But the reality was completely different.


    The palace actually has ten times denser miasma inside it, and the environment inside the palace is even more polluted and deadly than its outside.


    The palace ground is only lower than the core area of the forgotten city in terms of miasma density; otherwise, it has such insane miasma density that not even those hideous monsters can survive in here.


    The primary issue with entering the palace grounds is that merely standing here begins to diminish your health.


    Yes! The miasma here is so dense that it can ignore all defenses, including the mana barrier, to directly affect the player character and slowly chip away at the health of the player character.


    Fortunately, Jareth''s mana barrier is enhanced with ''Mana Singularity; otherwise, the miasma would have totally ignored his mana shield and had started to corrupt him too.


    ''Tch, the mana consumption increased by ten times in an instant¡­''


    Although the miasma was not able to affect him, the mana shield''s consumption increased tremendously when Jareth came in contact with such dense miasma.


    ''Sigh, this is going to be a very tedious task¡­''


    Right now Jareth is feeling quite fortunate that he fought Konda above ground where Miasma wasn''t present.


    If Jareth had to fight Konda in such a dense, miasma-filled environment, even he would have run out of mana and would have died a horrible death.


    After all, there''s no mana in the air; he wouldn''t have been able to keep fighting Konda for three days like he did above ground without a constant supply of mana.


    In those three days, Jareth consumed so much mana that if counted in terms of mana potions, he would have emptied out the whole inventory of ten battalions of the army easily.


    *Step* *Step*


    Sensing that the situation was at a disadvantage, Jareth hurried up his pace. He jumped to avoid those rotting corpses and avoided all the miasma-filled puddles along the way.


    Walking on the main path and ignoring the weird-looking mutated flowers and trees that were rampaging in the gardens nearby, Jareth headed straight for the door to the main hallway.


    The main hallway is the one that leads to the ''Grand Hall of Heroes'', where the throne of the First King and the seats of all the heroes and subordinates of the King are located in one place.


    Every extra second spent here inside the palace wastes a lot of mana out of him, so he picked up his pace, ignored all unnecessary details, and headed straight for the throne.


    Along the way, he noticed that the golden walls of the palace have all lost their shine and luster.


    Now pitch-black miasma has taken hold of all the walls and floors in the hall.


    Instead of a palace of hope, this place now looks more like a haunted palace where demons and evil spirits may hide.


    *WWWAAAHHHH* *waaahhhhh*


    As Jareth kept going deeper, the loud wails of the cursed evil spirits started to ring out in the palace loudly.


    Those voices were filled with several mixed emotions, like suffering, pain, hatred, and anger.


    If someone below grade 2 hears these wails, they will immediately go insane and lose their ''will'' to these spirits.

 Chapter 197 The Palace of Twisted Curses... Part-2.

    ''Tch, evil spirits¡­ one of the most annoying enemies in the game¡­''


    Evil spirits don''t actually attack you physically; in fact, they don''t even appear in front of you and confront you head-on.


    If you try to get close to them, they will run away and avoid you like crazy, so catching them is very difficult.


    Their preferred method of fighting is to hide and use shockwaves to inflict mental and spiritual damage on the target.


    Aside from the mental attacks, they constantly keep wailing and shouting with an extremely loud voice that is very irritating to hear. Long-term exposure to this voice can drive a person insane.


    The best way to get rid of them is to use ''Light Magic'' to shine bright purifying light everywhere and directly purify them altogether without leaving a single place for them to hide.


    The second-best method is to use a legendary skill and pulverize them with the power of a law of the world.


    There are other methods too, but they are less effective than the two mentioned above.


    ''Mana Singularity is not the complete form of the legendary skill; I don''t have Mana Field, so it will be less effective in this miasma-filled place¡­''


    Mana Field, or Mana Singularity, is one of the few legendary skills that gets tremendously suppressed in the presence of extremely dense miasma.


    If Jareth had some other legendary skill, ''Dao Rhythm'' for example, he wouldn''t have been this suppressed by the miasma; the same goes for ''Sword Intent''.


    ''Forget it, let''s use my newly acquired move¡­''


    [Blessing of the True Flames!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Pheonix of the True Flames!]


    Jareth embedded his mana in the ground. A massive magic circle appeared on the ground. A gigantic phoenix made out of true flames burst out of the magic circle and flew forward.


    The phoenix divided into several smaller versions, and all of them went in various different directions.


    Jareth had already tracked down the locations of the various evil spirits that were bombarding him with mental attacks and were shouting loudly to irritate him; thus, it was easy for the phoenixes to track them.


    *Boom!* *Boom!*


    As if a plane were dropping bombs on the ground, the phoenix accelerated their speed and collided with the semi-transparent bodies of the evil spirits as if they were doing a Kamikaze attack.


    Under explosions made by the true flames, those evil spirits got purified and burned on the spot with no chance to counterattack.


    Moreover, Jareth was protecting his brain with mana singularity, so he was not affected much by the mental damage waves either.


    With the evil spirits dead, finally the palace became quieter, and Jareth heaved a sigh of relief as he didn''t have to hear those irritating voices again and again.


    He brought out a mana recovery potion from his space ring and gulped it down, then used mana singularity to absorb every last bit of it.


    He repeated the process a few times, replenishing all of his mana, and then got ready to move forward once again.


    Although clocks don''t work in the Abyss Altar Area, Jareth could feel that at least two or three days have passed since he entered the Abyss Altar Area.


    Even with the help of so many tricks at his disposal, it still took him this much time to reach the palace; this just shows how massively vast the Abyss Altar Area actually is.


    Even with knowledge about everything beforehand, Jareth still had to go through a lot of troubles along the way. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Finally reached the Hall of Heroes and Champions¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the giant broken door fallen on the ground and noticed that it still had an inscription depicting the Forgotten City and golden Palace of the First King engraved on it.


    Jareth stepped on the fallen door, jumped over the debris blocking the entrance of the hall, and finally entered the grand hall.


    The grand hall was extremely big, and there were beautiful inscriptions engraved on the walls and the ceiling.


    You can even notice a faint bit of gold still shining in those inscriptions here and there, despite most of them being covered with miasma and corruption now.


    ''So these are the seats for the twenty heroes and champions that worked under the First King¡­''


    In the history books, it''s mentioned that the throne room of the First King was very unique; there were twenty seats for the First King''s subordinates, and the throne was located on the highest platform of them all.


    Each seat has its own ranking and hierarchy, as depicted by how much higher the platform was on which they were placed compared to the others.


    Jareth glanced at the highest platform, and sure enough, the throne was missing from its place.


    Then Jareth glanced at the center of the ceiling of the throne room, and sure enough, the staff of the First King was also missing from there.


    ''As expected, the False Dome''s goons already took them both¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and spread out his mana detection throughout the whole palace to see if there was anything that was different from what he remembers from the game.


    And sure enough, Jareth immediately detected a hidden teleportation altar located right behind the wall where the throne was placed.


    Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    Sensing the presence of that altar, a frown appeared over Jareth''s face.


    ''Was that really there in the game? If it really was, some player should have already discovered it by using a simple glitch that could help you see through the walls¡­''


    Jareth racked his brains, but he didn''t remember any player ever mentioning the existence of a hidden altar behind the throne of the first king.


    ''Maybe they never discovered it¡­''


    The number of people who had reached the golden palace was already very few; most of them were speed runners and hardcore gamers who only cared about completing the game in the shortest time possible.


    They didn''t give a sh*T about exploring the place in such great details; their main goal was to walk through the area as fast as possible and reach Konda''s boss fight area in the shortest time possible.


    ''Sigh¡­ Let''s see what''s so special about this Altar¡­''


    Jareth jumped on the empty platform and punched the wall hard.


    *Boom!* *Crack!*


    He shattered the wall, creating enough space for him to easily walk inside.


    Jareth embedded his mana in the altar and examined its magic circle carefully for a while before finally coming to a conclusion.


    "Tch! They already destroyed the main nodes of the magic circle; this magic circle is completely unusable now¡­ They even purposely spread miasma in it''s magic circle to destroy it thoroughly!"


    A disappointed look appeared over Jareth''s face after seeing that the altar was completely useless.


    He was actually thinking of using this altar to directly teleport into the headquarters of the ''False Dome Cult'' and then lay siege to their home; he would have slaughtered every single member of the cult if he was able to go there.


    But alas, the members of the cult took precautions against this; they likely destroyed the node of the seal, and after completing all their work, they destroyed the altar too.


    ''But wait, someone from their group must have stayed behind to destroy the magic circle on the altar after everyone left the place¡­''


    ''And as this altar is of quite high quality¡­ Only a grade-2 or above-level mage would have been able to destroy it so thoroughly¡­''


    ''And as the members of the cult are likely already infected with miasma, surviving here on their own is not a big deal¡­''


    ''Which means¡­ I might still be able to find that last member of their party¡­''


    Jareth got up and stopped observing the altar; true flames appeared on his hand as he immediately strangled and burned an evil spirit that was peeping on him.


    As he was burning that evil spirit and thinking about finding the last member, a villainous smile appeared on his face.


    ''I see¡­ I can sense you, little guy¡­ You stayed behind, but I can sense your unique miasmic fluctuations that you left behind¡­ You won''t be able to run from my grasp¡­ hehe¡­''


    Ignoring the matter of the altar for the time being, Jareth came back to the throne room and grabbed those twenty chairs to align them all in a straight line.


    Once the chairs were aligned in one straight line, the ground suddenly trembled, and a staircase leading downwards appeared in the grand hall.


    ''I never understand why the developers are so obsessed with making these kinds of lame puzzles¡­''


    Jareth sighed to himself while thinking about the game; he took another glance at the grand hall and then went downstairs without hesitation.


    The deeper he went, the denser the miasma became, and the more ominous the environment became.


    No one above ground knows about it, but the sole entrance to the node of the False Dome seal and the place where Konda was imprisoned is located right below the throne room of the First King.


    It''s such an irony that the place that people thought was heaven was itself built atop hell, where immense evil was hiding in the dark.


    As they say,


    {Sometimes the brightest and purest places in the world are the ones that are hiding the darkest and most evil secrets¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth has long known how much the developers of this game liked to make the story as ironic as possible.


    Almost all beautiful locations and places in this world are hiding sinister and dark secrets beneath them, and if the place looks dark and sinister from outside from the start, then the secret it''s hiding is even more darker.

 Chapter 198 The Palace of Twisted Curses... Part-3.

    (Unknown memories)


    "Daamir, follow the instructions faithfully, and the demon god will personally rescue you from here later!"


    Daamir, the pseudo grade-2 mage, nodded his head and followed the instructions just like he was ordered.


    Once all of the members of the expedition team retreated via the hidden teleportation altar, he destroyed it and thoroughly corrupted it with miasma.


    This way, he sealed his own fate, and now he himself has no way of going back home.


    However, his superiors had promised him that the demon god would use his powers to personally rescue him, so there was no need to worry.


    Yet, time passed, and a week went by; nothing changed.


    Daamir slowly started losing his patience, and his mind started to become blurry.


    The False Dome Cult has the power to use forbidden magic to forcefully ascend a member of the false dome cult to a higher realm.


    The method is simple; they use the power of miasma and darkness bestowed by the demon god and then use the souls of the innocent people as fuel for the forbidden magic.


    This is how Abella was forcefully able to ascend to grade 1 from grade 2 without much effort, and the same was true for Rahnan and the other higher-ups of the False Dome Cult.


    The only difference is that some people are more compatible with this method and some aren''t.


    Those who have high compatibility for this method end up gaining immense improvement and powers like Rahnan, who jumped from Grade 5 to Grade 1 directly on the spot.


    Those who have medium compatibility end up reaching ''Pseudo Realms'', like Daamir.


    Pseudo Realms are basically you being stronger than a certain grade but weaker than the higher one.


    Daamir himself has the capabilities to be considered stronger than a grade-3 mage, but he can''t be considered as strong as a real grade-2 mage.


    Daamir only had medium compatibility for that miasmic ritual, and he didn''t have much talent as a mage either, so he only reached this level.


    The False Dome Cult has hundreds of such disposable subordinates like him who can be discarded whenever the need arises; they exist solely to serve the higher-ups of the cult.


    As for the people who have low compatibility with this ritual, they end up becoming demonized mutants that have no brain at all and have hideously mutated bodies that look extremely ugly.


    Most of them end up as cannon fodder for the cult that can be used to tire out the enemies in case of battle. That''s their ultimate purpose in the end.


    For the False Dome Cult, only those in grade 1 are worthy enough to be favored; the rest are all just disposable cards that can be used at will. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After spending a whole week in the palace filled with dense miasma, Daamir figured out all this truth for himself.


    He figured out that there would be no one coming to rescue him, and he had been abandoned; his hopes were shattered, and his mind was filled with immense despair.


    As he has already accepted miasma in his body through the ritual, miasma doesn''t affect him much, and he is very resistant to its mind corrosion effects.


    This is the reason why he was able to survive for so long in this palace without getting corrupted to the point of losing his sanity.


    But the main problem is that even if he''s resistant to miasma, there''s a limit to his capabilities.


    He can''t stay in this palace where Miasma is extremely dense, to the point it is too overwhelming.


    Furthermore, his inability to breach the palace''s main door or magic barrier left him trapped inside with no escape route.


    In that time of despair, Daamir decided to use the puzzle and go deeper; after all, that was his only hope; he wanted to find another path that could help him leave this place.


    But Daamir forgot that he''s not completely immune to miasmic corruption; his despair-filled mind was already weak to begin with, thus his mental defense was lower at the moment.


    As he headed deeper, the denser miasma became, and he slowly lost his mind.


    The memories of his wife and his children flashed through his mind; he remembers how he slaughtered his own family just because he wanted to advance and become stronger.


    He joined the False Dome Cult in search of strength and in search of power that could help him get stronger!


    But to do this, he had to leave all mortal relations behind, so he murdered his own wife, killed his own children, and then used their souls as fuel in his ritual of forbidden magic.


    And sure enough, he went from being stuck on grade-4 to directly semi-grade-2 in a matter of minutes.


    The improvement was immense; he had never expected that he would one day be able to get so strong even in his wildest dreams. At that time, Daamir thought that all the sacrifices he made were worth it.


    But now.


    After being betrayed and abandoned to die, and on his last few breaths, Daamir finally came to his senses; he remembered how happy he was when he was living that peaceful life.


    He had money, he had a loving wife, and he had filial children; he had all the things that most people in the world want to achieve.


    But he destroyed it all with his own hands; only now, when he is at his death''s door, does he remember the beautiful smile on his wife''s face.


    His body became thoroughly corrupted and turned into a twisted, mutated beast with rotten skin falling from its body and its eyes hanging out their sockets.


    At that point, Daamir could only say two words, and nothing else came out of his mouth.


    "F-forgive me¡­ for-forgive m-me¡­"


    He asked for forgiveness from his wife and his children, but it was too late by then; the palace, which was once called the palace of hope, has already become the palace of twisted curses, where miasma runs rampant. Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire


    There is no hope here anymore, only twisted curses.


    ¡­


    *Step**Step*


    ''Those chairs above are really fascinating; once the hidden stairs appear, the chairs go back to their original positions on their own, and the hidden path will close once you enter it¡­''


    From the moment he became Jareth, he has had a great thirst for seeing interesting and mysterious phenomena.


    Maybe this is the unique thinking process of a scientist-minded person like him.


    The original Jareth was a genius scientist after all; now that he is in this guy''s body, the urges of this body affect him too.


    Even though he has made this body completely his own, this body won''t just forget its years of muscle memory so suddenly after all.


    ''Well, let''s hope things are more interesting down here¡­''


    Walking down the stairs, Jareth could feel that he was getting closer to his goal.


    After walking downstairs for a few good minutes, Jareth finally arrived at a gigantic hall.


    The hall had a massive pillar standing in its center, and there were thousands of magic circles engraved upon it. The only problem is that pillar was now in a broken state.


    It has lost its magical shine and is now in a completely dilapidated state.


    ''As expected, the node of the false dome seal has been broken¡­''


    Aside from the broken pillar, there was a hideous mutated monster whose body was stuck to the broken pillar like a parasite or some kind of fungi.


    It had a humanoid face that was constantly murmuring the same thing.


    *Forgive me* *Forgive me*


    ''Er, don''t tell me this guy is that false dome cult member who stayed behind?''


    Looking at that disgusting parasite-like body whose innards were literally hanging out of its body while it was desperately trying to cling to the broken pillar, even Jareth felt pity for the other party.


    ''Sigh, from the looks of it, the other party likely got tricked into staying here¡­ Forget it; there''s no point in feeling pity for the members of the false dome cult; none of these guys are innocent...''


    Jareth knew that nearly all members of the False Dome cult who maintain their sanity perfectly after the transformation are not good people.


    If you are a good person, you will have low compatibility with the miasmic ritual and will become a brain-dead cannon fodder.


    Those who can become stronger via that miasmic ritual are evil from the start.


    As the other party was strong enough to break that high-grade teleportation altar, then this guy must have been an evil person too, so Jareth didn''t feel pity for him for too long.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Flames of Purification!]


    Jareth waved his finger and used a low-grade spell to burn the other party to crisp.


    Daamir had already lost his sanity, and thus he had no method of defending himself at all; his control over his powers was already gone; thus, Jareth was able to easily burn him without any resistance whatsoever.


    The only thing Daamir could do was scream the same words ''Forgive Me'' again and again as he was being burned.


    Jareth completely ignored the dying wails of the other party and shook, increasing the mana output to increase the burning speed.


    Once Jareth got rid of Daamir, he was able to get a full view of the pillar.


    Despite getting hit by Jareth''s flames, it was still completely fine, and there wasn''t a single scratch on it.


    ''I guess they freed Konda so that the other party could break the seal as it''s simply too powerful for them?''


    Jareth didn''t know that the demon god is currently in a state of recovering his powers; thus, he can''t use his own powers to help the followers break the seal.


    And even grade-1 mages aren''t strong enough to break these seals; thus, they had to use the roundabout method of using Konda''s help to break the seal completely.

 Chapter 199 A Very Friendly encounter... Part-1.

    As he recited the secret words, Jareth placed his hand on the broken pillar and embedded his mana into it.


    [Under the Heavens and the above the depths of Hell,


    Only the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'' shall rule the world!]


    In the game, you must decode a very difficult puzzle to find this hidden secret chant.


    The game developers went all out to create this puzzle.


    They literally hired a retired military soldier and asked him to write some kind of encrypted code, then hired a professional sculptor to design a statue of the ''First King Strar U''lbyatre''.


    It was no ordinary statue; the professional sculptor was asked to hide those encrypted codes in it while hand-carved it.


    Then the game designers 3D scanned the statue and finally added it in the game, and then added that statue in the arena of one of the three bosses in the upper grounds that you need to kill to get the medallion fragment.


    In other words, it''s very easy to miss these details, as most players who make it to the Abyss Altar are speed runners anyway.


    They aren''t the type of people who will stare at a random statue from hundred different angles for several hours straight just to find the encrypted code.


    You literally need to find a soldier from the army or someone who has knowledge in decoding military codes just to find the hidden meaning behind these codes.


    And to top it all off, the sculptor hid the encrypted codes on the statues in various small details; thus, you need a knowledgeable person to even find the encrypted codes on the statue.


    And this is not even the end of it.


    The boss monster who you need to defeat might accidently break the statue during the fight as it''s a breakable item and a part of its boss arena, thus rendering it completely impossible for you to even see the encrypted code.


    This increased the difficulty even further.


    In fact, players never even found out about these hidden details till the developers themselves revealed them on their own official websites and channels.


    Actually, the speed runners had found a glitch in the map, which directly teleports you to Konda''s boss area when you touch the pillar, and you won''t even need the secret code for it.


    In other words, the players never actually found the real legitimate way to Konda''s boss arena; they were using glitches and bugs to actually go to his boss arena as there was no proper path.


    Originally, the players thought that the developers had added this boss fight solely as a joke.


    However, seeing that the players had failed to notice the encrypted code, the game developers came forward and told everyone themselves.


    This way the people didn''t need to rely on the glitch anymore, and things became a tiny bit easier for the players.


    This was one of the few rare occasions when the developers actually came forward to help out the players; otherwise, they tortured the players most of the time and enjoyed their whining with delight.


    Later on, many players were fascinated by how much effort the game developers put into making such fine details on the statue of the First King.


    The only problem was that the developers were putting so much effort on completely irrelevant things; they should have placed this much effort on fixing the bugs in the game instead.


    If they had fixed the bugs in the game, then the game wouldn''t have earned its notorious reputation of being called the ''Game of Masoch*sts''.


    These bugs were the ones that led to the game''s downfall eventually, and its popularity faded away eventually.


    Most players quit the game because the developers never bothered to fix those annoying bugs in the game.


    ¡­


    Once Jareth spoke the secret code, the mana circles on the broken pillar lit up a little bit with bright light, and Jareth felt a sensation of weightlessness.


    When he opened his eyes, what came into his view was pitch black darkness everywhere. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    At that moment, floating torches lit up with bluish flames nearby.


    There was one torch on left and one on right, and as Jareth took a step forward, more blue torches lit up to illuminate his path.


    ''This place seems more ominous than it was in the game¡­''


    The place Jareth is in right now exists on the border of reality and null; this place is basically a separate small dimension of its own located inside that pillar.


    That pillar is no ordinary object either; it is called the ''Divine Golden Nail.'' There used to be eight of them, which were used by the Golden King to cast the False Dome Seal.


    One was already broken during the time of the cult of Therath centuries ago; now this one is broken by the False Dome cult members, so only six of these golden nails are left intact.


    This separate dimension can be considered a ''Plane of Consciousness'' of the Golden Nail where the node of the ''False Dome Seal'' is locked inside.


    The First King likely sealed Konda inside it to protect his people from it.


    ''Maybe the First King knew that Konda couldn''t harm the node of the False Dome Seal, so he didn''t really worry about its safety¡­''


    ''Maybe only the False Dome Cult has some way of breaking the node of the seal.''


    ''After all, Konda only broke the golden nail that allowed entry to its hidden dimension; it was likely not the one who broke the node of seal.''


    Jareth had no way to prove his guesses, as there was nothing here that could prove his theories, but he didn''t care much about it either.


    He glanced around and couldn''t discern how far the darkness was spread.


    In the game, the invisible barrier stops you from straying from the path, and you are forced to follow the torches that lead your path.


    But now Jareth is sure he can definitely go in any direction he wants too; the only reason he isn''t going in random directions is because once he lost his path in this place, he will not be able to find it again.


    This place is like an empty void; there is nothing in here at all.


    There is no mana, no miasma, no nothing; it''s completely empty; only these torches that lit up with blue light are bringing some light to this dark place.


    The very reason why the palace pillar was spouting immense miasma outside into the palace and the forbidden city was because Konda existed here in this empty void.


    This empty void doesn''t allow miasma to stay here, and as Konda was confined here, the miasma it was producing by just existing here was immense.


    So the sea of consciousness directly chose to chase away all the miasma outside, and as the golden nail was located right in the palace, the miasma pouring out of it filled the palace with immense miasma.


    Eventually, miasma leaked to the whole forgotten city and spread everywhere; the golden palace is at the core of everything; the whole calamity started from here.


    Even though the First King sealed Konda in the golden nail, the miasma slowly destroyed the whole underground city to the point of complete destruction.


    Only recently has Konda left this place, and thus the constant increase in miasma has finally stopped.


    ''Well, Konda is not the only thing that is sealed inside this place¡­ The thing that I came looking for is also stored here¡­''


    Although the journey to arrive at this location was very long and difficult, Jareth is feeling quite happy and relaxed at the moment as everything is finally coming to an end.


    The item he came looking for is located just right after the boss arena, and then he can finally leave this hellhole behind. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Moreover, as Jareth has already killed Konda, the boss area will be empty, and Jareth can pass right through it without any trouble.


    ''Although I was feeling quite unfortunate that I had to fight Konda that day completely unprepared, it''s a good thing I dealt with that guy early¡­''


    By now, Jareth has used up nearly eighty percent of his mana recovery potions just to reach this place; if he had to fight Konda in this mana-less place, then he would have definitely lost today.


    Jareth is grateful that he didn''t have to face that monstrosity here at all.


    He walked in the straight line and followed the torches for a good few minutes before he finally reached the boss arena.


    *Swish!*


    Hundreds of torches lit up all around the circular boss arena to illuminate the area. The scene looked something straight out of a fantasy movie or something.


    The boss arena alone was several kilometers wide, and Jareth could even feel the trembling spatial fluctuations from the center of the arena.


    The node of the seal was broken, thus the space-time fabric around the center of the arena was extremely chaotic at the moment, and just with one glance, Jareth could tell that he couldn''t repair this at all.


    It was completely out of his capabilities to restore that node, as it included immense knowledge about the ''Laws'' of Space, Time, Reality, Null, Existence, and Virtuality.


    Unless Jareth can manipulate all these laws, he can''t repair that node of the false dome seal.


    But that was not the thing that was the most eye-catching; there was actually a man standing near the rampaging space-time fabric and observing it with a look of contemplation on his face.


    The man looked extremely handsome; his silver hair and pupils were shining from time to time as mana was flowing through them.


    Seeing that man, the happy expression from Jareth''s face disappeared in an instant, and a cold expression appeared on his face instantly.


    ''WHAT THE F*CK IS THIS GUY DOING HERE!? CAN I HAVE SOME EASY TIME FOR AT LEAST ONCE!!!''

 Chapter 200 A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-2.

    The moment Jareth noticed that mysterious man, the other party also noticed Jareth''s presence. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire


    He tilted his head towards him and smiled with a gentle smile on his extremely handsome face.


    "Ah? It''s been a while since I last saw a human¡­ oh! You seem quite strong too; what an amazing day it is today!"


    The silver-haired man waved his hand at Jareth with a sunny smile on his face, as if he had suddenly met a friend trying to get Jareth''s attention.


    The man looked completely detached from the dark world around him.


    His body seemed to be shining with brilliant light and seemed like a very good-natured and gentle person from the outside.


    If Jareth didn''t know the other party''s backstory, even he would have mistaken the other party to be a good person.


    Despite all the frustrations in his head, Jareth walked over to the center of the boss arena without showing his emotions on his face.


    His expression remained as cold as always.


    "You also came here to investigate this place? That means we have the same goal, right, hehe¡­"


    With a bright smile on his face, the man stretched out his hand for a handshake. Jareth didn''t care either and held the other party''s hand without hesitation.


    "I am Zion Reid, a humble archaeologist; it''s my hobby to investigate ancient ruins and find out more about lost histories of the past¡­ Although it''s not a famous profession, that''s what I do¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words,


    "I am Jareth Aadhira Von Ayad, a humble teacher at a slightly famous university in the Human Empire; it''s nice to meet you¡­"


    Both of them stated their names and identities without trying to hide anything.


    Jareth glanced at the white coat the party was wearing and noticed a golden medal attached to his coat around the chest area.


    "That medal, hmm, I seem to have seen it somewhere; wait, is this the medal of honor granted by the royal elves!?"


    Jareth pretended to be surprised when seeing that medal, despite knowing about it all from the start.


    The other party misunderstood Jareth''s true intents and got deceived.


    He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "Ah, this¡­ I got this in my younger days; it''s quite an embarrassing story; I accidently saved their queen when I was passing by; I believe it was perhaps two thousand years ago or something like that¡­"


    Zion gave a dry laugh, as being praised by someone made him feel embarrassed.


    Jareth waved his hand and spoke in a shocked tone.


    "Two thousand years!? Are you not a human?"


    Jareth was playing along with the other party, so he was pretending to show various fake emotions on his face at the moment.


    Anyway, he has already taken full control of this body; he can make any kind of emotion with it now and is not stuck on that default cold face expression all the time.


    And as he has worked for a shady company in the past, he has enough experience in acting, so his expressions seem quite genuine, and it''s nearly impossible to tell that they are fake.


    "Actually, I am a half-elf; my father was a human and my mother was an elf; also, I ended up getting affected by miasma when I was a child¡­"


    "So yeah, I have a very big life span; despite being so old, I am still in my twenties if you consider it from human age perspectives¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head with a look of understanding on his face.


    ''Of course you have a long life span! It would be weirder if you didn''t have a long life span despite being the only son of the First King¡­ You can deceive others, but not me, Zion U''lbyatre¡­''


    Indeed! The man standing in front of Jareth is the only child of the First King, Strar U''lbyatre!


    The first king took an elven princess as his wife, and that''s why Zion is a half-elf; not only has he inherited the long-life span from his mother, he has also inherited his insane magical talents from his father.


    If not for the miasma to destroy everything, Zion would have been the next ruler of the forgotten city, living a life of luxury and peace!


    "I actually came here because I recently sensed that the realm of consciousness inside the golden nail had started to become unstable¡­"


    "And there were powers spatial fluctuations being created here, so I came here to investigate the situation¡­"


    "But it seems I was a bit too late after all; that bone dragon that was sealed here escaped, and the node of the ''False Dome Seal'' has been destroyed¡­"


    "Sigh, if only I had made back a bit early¡­"


    Jareth knew that the other party was wandering on one of the moons of Jupiter and was having the time of his life, so he didn''t ask where this guy was before coming here, as he knew about it already.


    "Well, I also came here just to check on the seal; recently, a cult called ''The False Dome Cult'' has been terrorizing and has been making rapid progress¡­"


    "They have gotten their hands on the location of the golden nails, and they are likely trying to destroy them all to break the ''False Dome'' seal¡­"


    "I am on a mission to stop these guys¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s explanation, Zion nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    "You are a good person, it seems, Jareth. If not for the fact that I am kind of weak, I would have helped you out on your mission too¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and replied,


    "No worries, it''s something I must do on my own anyway¡­"


    ''Weak my foot! You are literally the final boss of this entire game!!! Who the f*ck are you calling weak!?''


    Yes, Zion is one of the three final endgame bosses, and he''s not just any random endgame boss.


    He''s the final boss of this entire game series; he''s the one you need to defeat to finally end this horrible game and achieve your ending.


    You literally need to travel through space and go to the moon of Jupiter to fight this guy, as his boss arena is located on that moon.


    Jareth was immensely shocked when he suddenly saw this guy appear in front of him out of nowhere; after all, seeing the final boss of the game wandering out of its dedicated arena is definitely a nightmare fuel.


    ''Sh*t, the timing is not good; right now I don''t have the artifacts needed to defeat this guy¡­''


    Zion glanced in a certain direction and said in a serious voice,


    "Are you here for the secret chamber too?"


    "You came all the way here in the Abyss Altar Area; of course you must have had some goal, and what else could be more precious than ''that'' thing stored inside the secret chamber, right?"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "Indeed, that thing is very crucial for my fight against the demons and demonic cult members; I must take it away with me today¡­"


    Zion sighed after hearing those words and spoke in a serious tone.


    "The thing is, I need that thing too, as I want to recreate this forgotten city again from scratch now that the evil dragon is gone for good¡­"


    Zion wasn''t on earth when Konda was killed by the heavenly punishment, so he only sensed the presence of the divine thunder from afar but didn''t know that Konda had died.


    Right now, he doesn''t know what happened to Konda; all he knows is that Konda is not on this planet anymore and has disappeared somewhere.


    Which means the continuously leaking miasma has finally stopped and Zion finally has the chance to once again create a new underground city from scratch just like his father did.


    Zion glanced at the broken node of the seal and said in a solemn voice,


    "Jareth, the thing is that I want to create a safe place for all creatures; the sea of endless miasma is an unstoppable force, so I have decided to create an underground city!"


    "I will make an underground city that will be much stronger than this forgotten city, and my creation will protect all the creatures of this planet and help them survive once the sea of miasma swallows this planet¡­"


    "We are but powerless against the ''Laws'' of the ''World'', but at least this method can give us a chance to survive¡­"


    "That''s why this thing is very important for the survival of the world, Jareth Ayad; let me have it, and I promise to make a safe haven for all¡­"


    Zion looked into Jareth''s eyes while saying those words with utmost sincerity. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even Jareth was a bit moved by those words.


    ''Ugh, this is one of the reasons why beating this guy is very difficult; this guy is not a genuinely bad person¡­''


    Although Zion is not a good person either, he''s at least not a maniac who will slaughter people at will.


    In the game, Zion was a depressed guy who had given up on life; even when he died, his last words were,


    [Even if you kill me¡­ it''s all pointless, hero¡­]


    Although Jareth didn''t know what that meant when he was playing the game, now he understands that Zion was referring to the sea of miasma in those words.


    Even if you kill Zion and end the game, everything is pointless after all; dealing with him won''t do anything to the sea of miasma.


    This is also the reason why, despite having three different harem endings, all three of them were considered bad endings for this world; as nothing would change and the world would still get destroyed no matter what.

 Chapter 201 A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-3.

    The item that Jareth and Zion both were looking for was something unique.


    It was created by the First King by imitating the remnant power of the Golden Light.


    It was an item that brought hope to the world of this underground city, where darkness had dug its claws deep.


    It was a symbol of the First King''s amazing, immense wisdom; it was something that all humankind felt proud of while looking at it.


    That item was the ''Artificial Sun'' of the Forgotten City.


    Strar U''lbyatre created the ''Sun'' for his underground city; it had the ability to suppress darkness, miasma, and corruption to a very high degree.


    It used light magic at its core to illuminate the entire forgotten city, and it was a miracle in itself.


    When Konda came, the very first sin it committed was to swallow the artificial sun in its mouth, making everything go completely dark in the forgotten city.


    Konda was the bane of the forgotten city that destroyed everything, and the legacy of the First King was lost to time.


    After Konda''s body rotted away from corruption and only his bones were left intact, he put the broken artificial sun''s remnants into the hidden chamber near the place where he was sealed in the golden nail.


    The node of the False Dome seal was literally located right in the middle of Konda''s boss arena, and the artificial sun was located right beside the arena in a hidden chamber.


    Initially, even if Zion had managed to capture this sun, it would have been of no use, as Konda would have continued to release more miasma into the underground city.


    The three endgame bosses are basically around the same level of power; neither of the three can kill each other, and that''s why Zion was unable to deal with Konda.


    Konda''s resistances were simply too high.


    Even Jareth needed the help of the ''Laws'' of the world to finally kill the other party by putting him in a trap; otherwise, it would have been impossible.


    But now that Konda is gone for good, Zion can definitely purify all the miasma in the underground city and then use the broken remnants of the artificial sun to create a new safe haven for humanity.


    Originally, Zion was very depressed and had given up on life as he couldn''t see any hope for humanity or himself, but now that this final hope has appeared, Zion can''t let it disappear.


    He believes that if he constructs an underground safe place, even if the sea of miasma swallows the planet, only the surface will be affected.


    Jareth knew about the lore of Zion and his thought process; thus, Jareth easily figured out what Zion was planning. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Jareth, my friend, do me a favor; leave these broken pieces of the sun to me; I will create ''hope'' for humanity¡­ No matter how pathetic the people of this world are¡­"


    "No matter how cruel and bad this world is, no one deserves total annihilation; there are innocent children, there are weak people, and there are pure-hearted people in this world¡­"


    "If the sea of miasma swallowed them, everything would be lost and all would suffer horribly for eternity¡­"


    "What I am trying to do is prevent this from happening. I am fighting for the greater cause, and my aim is to resist the sea of miasma¡­"


    "How about it, my friend? Let''s walk on this path together; let''s save the world and all that lives in it together. I can feel it; you definitely have the power to help me¡­"


    Zion stretched out his hand once again, but this time he was extending his friendship to Jareth.


    Zion wanted Jareth to grab his hand and help him save the world together.


    With Zion and Jareth''s strength, the two of them can definitely figure out something for the world.


    Even Jareth was moved by that speech a little, but he still shook his head and replied in a solemn tone,


    "The sea of miasma has the power of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' supporting; the moment it comes into contact with this planet, the whole planet will burst apart and shatter instantly like an egg being hit by rock¡­"


    "Saving this world is impossible¡­ It is hopeless; wake up to reality, Zion Reid; accept the truth; and don''t lie to yourself¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the smile on Zion''s face disappeared, and a cold look appeared on his face.


    "So, in the end, you will still oppose me then? I didn''t want to turn someone as strong as you an enemy¡­ But forgive me; I can''t let you take the ''hope'' of the world away from me¡­"


    "I will definitely take these remnants with me today¡­ I will strengthen the magic power of the artificial sun so much that it will be powerful enough to hold the planet intact!"


    "As long as I work hard on it, there will definitely be some way out of this trouble! I will not give up now that I have a mission in my mind!"


    The Zion in the game had nothing left in life to live for.


    He witnessed his lover die in his arms; he witnessed his hometown getting destroyed in front of him; he witnessed the cruelty of this world for several millennia.


    And he witnessed every dangerous moment the world faced.


    Time passed bit by bit, and that deadline of the seal breaking and finally killing him kept coming closer and closer.


    By the time Allen met this guy in the game, Zion was already too deep in his pit of depression and loneliness; he only had rage and hatred left in his mind by that point.


    People are not afraid of their eventual death, as they don''t know when they will die in life, but if you already know your death date from the start, everything will lose meaning in life.


    Your whole attention will be on that single end date, and you will fall deeper and deeper into the pits of darkness as that date gets closer.


    This is the reason why knowing about your own death is one of the cruelest forms of torture; it keeps you on the edge of your mind constantly and torments you for your whole life.


    It prevents you from living properly, making your life a literal hell!


    Zion could see that that seal''s date of breaking was drawing closer and closer, thus he knew his death was not too far away.


    Furthermore, even after centuries of hard work, he still couldn''t repair the seal and never was able to go beyond the pseudo-grade-0 level... He never truly achieved the new realm, the real Grade-0 realm.


    He came to the conclusion that the law of mana in this place is suppressed severely by the law of miasma.


    Thus, as long as the sea of miasma exists, no one in this place can go beyond the pseudo-grade-0 level, and all of them will remain stuck forever.


    But things changed when Konda disappeared; he can now see a last hope of survival, so he''s definitely going to cling to it.


    And unlike Jareth, Zion is not a selfish person; he won''t think about leaving the people of this world behind and escaping alone.


    Jareth and Zion are completely opposite types of people. Zion is basically the embodiment of a hero that has lost all hope of winning; he''s the protagonist of a story with a bad ending.


    And Jareth, on the other hand, is a villain who is ready to abandon the world for his own sake; he''s ready to use the precious items that can save the world to save his own life.


    They both needed the exact same artifact for their own goals and motives.


    Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire


    Their ideologies are completely different.


    ¡­


    Seeing that Zion wasn''t going to back off, Jareth sighed and spoke in a cold tone.


    "This world is hopeless, so don''t get in my way, Zion Reid. Although the world can''t survive, I can use this item to survive and carry on the memories of this place in my head somewhere else¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Zion shook his head and denied,


    "No, I am not letting you take it no matter what¡­"


    Jareth sighed heavily and felt that it was a pity.


    "Then there''s only one thing that can solve this conflict¡­"


    "Yes indeed¡­"


    Both Jareth and Zion knew what was going to happen next as if they could read each other''s thoughts.


    The two of them jumped back and made a certain distance from each other while staring into each other''s eyes.


    Zion brought out his wand from his space ring and spoke in a cold tone.


    "Zion Reid, ''Conqueror of the Divine Light'', challenges you to a duel!"


    Jareth also drew out his grimoire and replied coldly.


    "Jareth Ayad, ''Inheritor of the True Flame'', accepts your challenge!"


    Both Jareth and Zion followed the proper etiquette and manners of a sacred duel.


    When two mages fight to prove their ideologies, their standing in the world, and their mastery over the path of magic, that event is called a ''Sacred Duel''.


    It is said that the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' itself looks over this sacred duel, and you must not disrespect this sacred ritual.


    Wizards are selfish people, so any types of underhanded tactics or any unfair means are completely legal in this duel; the only rule is that you can''t use others''s help or the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' will not favor you anymore.


    Aside from this sole restriction, you can use anything at your disposal to fight and win.


    The winner will decide which ideology is worth considering true.

 Chapter 202 A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-4.

    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    [Basic Magic: Shield of Deflection!]


    As if the two of them could read each other''s minds, they cast their magic at the exact same time, and both used basic magic as the first move!


    Jareth fired a mana beam, and Zion used his basic magic to deflect that beam. The mana beam hit the shield and flew away in a different direction, as if it were a ray of light that got reflected by a mirror easily.


    Jareth wasn''t much surprised by that though; he has fought this guy before, and he knows how much pain in the A*s this guy''s fighting style is.


    Jareth didn''t use the ''chant less'' skill, as the magic becomes weaker if you don''t use chants to strengthen it, and in a fight between peak powerhouses like them, even the slightest weakness is fatal.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    Jareth cast the float magic and flew into the air, then used a mana shield to protect himself.


    Zion, on the other hand, pointed his hand at himself before casting his magic.


    [Grade-5 Light Magic: Blessing of the Divine Light!]


    Zion''s body started to glow with a silver radiance as he jumped into the sky and started to fly at an extremely high speed.


    He blessed his body with light, and since light can easily travel through the sky, he became capable of doing so. In fact, his speed was so fast that he could reach Mach 10 as easily as breathing!


    Even Jareth was astonished at that speed, as even with mana singularity, his float magic is still not that fast. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''This is the most troublesome part of light magic; this type of magic is extremely fast!''


    Not only the speed of the attacks, but the cast speed of light magic is extremely fast; it''s much faster than any other type of magic.


    You can cast grade-1 light type spells in five times less time as other types of magic spells; this is the horror of a light type mage!


    [Grade-3 Light Magic: Heavenly Divine Light Bombardment!]


    *BOOM!* *BOOM!*


    Zion extended his hand upwards, causing a colossal magic circle to materialize. Its chant swiftly concluded, initiating a barrage of immense light beams.


    Moreover, these beams were all targeting Jareth, and as their speed is quite fast, it''s really difficult to compete with them.


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Flames of Absorption!]


    Jareth''s grimoire shone, and he covered himself in flames. The beams of light hit him directly but were not able to do any damage; his true flames easily absorbed them all, and then Jareth redirected them toward Zion!


    Zion was taken aback by Jareth''s move for a second, but then he gritted his teeth and a focused look appeared on his face.


    *BOOM!*


    Zion waved his hand and slapped away the beams of light, directly parrying them with his own bare hands!


    Only a small scratch appeared on his arm, and the sleeve of his coat was torn apart by that attack, but it didn''t have much effect on him.


    "You dare use my own spells against me, Jareth? That won''t work on me!"


    [Grade-2 Light Magic: Explosion Type: Shockwave of Destructive Light!]


    Zion aimed his wand towards Jareth, who was flying in the sky, and then cast another magic spell.


    A magic circle the size of a skyscraper appeared, and a gigantic ball made of condensed light elements rushed out of the magic circle.


    Looking at that massive ball of light, Jareth immediately cast his own countermeasure.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Wall of True Flames!]


    Jareth quickly covered his eyes and hid behind the wall of condensed true flames.


    However, a millisecond''s delay caused that massive ball of light to burst, making the entire area incredibly bright.


    It was as if a nuke had burst apart nearby.


    An extremely powerful shockwave spread in all directions, and everything became so bright and hot that if Jareth had not covered his eyes, he would have gone blind in an instant.


    However, due to a millisecond delay, the small-scale nuke struck Jareth, causing him to lose his vision for a split second.


    His body is as strong as a peak grade-2 martial artist, so he recovered fast, and it only took him a single second to make a full recovery.


    But in a fight of peak powerhouses, a single second is already a big gap; a mere single second of delay is extremely fatal.


    Zion moved his wand and carved out a dragon with mana in the air.


    [Chant or Chant less, Decay or Decay-less!]


    [Grade-1 Light Magic: Dragon of Light and Emptiness!]


    Extending your magic spell chant on purpose is a technique that is used to enhance the power and damage of your magic.


    This kind of technique is only usable by grade 1 or higher-level people, and it creates a situation of equivalent exchange in the battle.


    You purposely increase the length of the chant, giving you the opportunity to escape and react to your opponent in exchange for extra damage and power for your spell.


    This is basically an exchange made with mana and your enemy without asking for any permission or consent. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire


    This kind of technique has a lethal disadvantage; you can''t use it when your opponent is in a perfect state of mind and has their full control over the mana.


    But Jareth right now had lost his perfect state of mind due to the sudden bombardment of bright light for a single second, and Zion used that time to purposely strengthen his spell.


    A magic circle so big that it seemed to have touched the edge of the realm of consciousness appeared in front of Zion.


    It consumed a massive amount of mana, and just the presence of that spell made the realm of consciousness tremble like crazy.


    The golden nail is already broken, so the realm of consciousness is unstable. Using too much magic here will harm the realm of consciousness and may even cause it to shatter completely.


    But Zion didn''t have any other choice; in his whole life, he has never met someone who was giving such an insane sensation of ''death'' to Zion as Jareth was.


    Zion has an insane perception ability, unlike mindless beasts like Konda and less perception-focused entities like the cyclops that Jareth fought before.


    Zion can sense that Jareth definitely has something on him that can pose a fatal threat to his life, and he doesn''t want to give Jareth the chance to use that item so as to win this battle.


    What Zion''s perception was sensing as a threat was Jareth''s ''Attack Enhancement Card''; he could sense its threat with his intuition, and he was trying to end the battle fast so that Jareth wouldn''t have the chance to use it.


    That''s why he used this highest-level magic so early in the fight.


    A gigantic dragon made out of light elementals came out of the magic circle and opened its massive jaw to swallow Jareth and completely destroy him.


    As if sensing the threat of that spell, Jareth didn''t waste any time either.


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack enhancement card''?]


    [Yes or No!]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! You have used the ''Attack enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    Jareth knew that even with mana singularity and pure mana, Jareth''s mana shield definitely can''t defend against that attack from Zion.


    As he himself doesn''t have a grade-1 magic spell in his arsenal, it was futile to use any other spell to counter it.


    Although Zion had only used a grade-1 spell, not only did he use the powerful technique of enlarging the chant, he even used the power of the ''Law'' of ''Light'' with that spell ''partially''.


    Thus, that spell was at the level of ''Semi-grade-0'' while still having the power of a ''law'' along with it!


    Jareth could still have countered that spell if not for the power of the ''law''.


    Although his own spells are blessed with the ''Law'' of ''True Flames'' now, he has only learned this power just recently, and Zion, on the other hand, has been practicing it for centuries!


    Thus, Jareth made a quick decision; he calculated everything in a matter of mere milliseconds and directly figured out the perfect counter.


    [Mana Command: Extreme Mana Flow!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Flight of the Eternal Phoenix!]


    Mana condensed to the point of becoming rock solid, and a gigantic phoenix came out of the magic circle created by Jareth to counter Zion''s attack.


    Now that it was enhanced 500 times, it was so strong that its mere presence was causing cracks in the realm of consciousness.


    The realm of consciousness couldn''t bear the massive presence of two semi-grade-0 level spells at the same time, and it started to crumble instantly.


    But Jareth and Zion didn''t care; they both increased their mana output and nearly poured all of their mana into their respective attacks.


    The spells hit each other, and a massive collision happened.


    As if two planets had collided with each other, the explosion was so powerful that the realm of consciousness couldn''t withstand it anymore, and the half-broken golden nail broke apart on the spot and turned into complete powder.


    Jareth and Zion were both thrown out of the realm of consciousness along with the hidden item located in the hidden chamber.


    Zion''s right half of the body was completely scorched black, and a look of extreme pain was etched on his face.


    In the last moment, he used the ''law'' of ''Light'' to barely protect himself from dying; otherwise, Jareth''s attack would have killed him on the spot.


    Jareth was not faring well either; his mana shield had broken, and the giant dragon of light had burst apart at the final moment, firing out gigantic rays of light.


    Jareth was struck by several blows, resulting in severe injuries throughout his body, including the loss of his left arm, which is currently gushing blood.

 Chapter 203 A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-5.

    The artificial sun was all but broken and destroyed by Konda; all that was left of it was its broken core, which is only the size of a basketball.


    As the realm of consciousness broke apart after Jareth and Zion''s fight, the broken core also got thrown out; and its two pieces fell on the ground.


    Jareth and Zion were now standing opposite each other in the hidden room of the palace while covered in blood, and the two broken pieces of the core were lying in the middle of the room.


    ''Sh*t that attack didn''t kill him in one go!''


    Jareth can only buy a new attack enhancement card when he doesn''t have one in his inventory, and there''s a three-minute cooldown time before a new attack enhancement card appears in the system shop.


    Thus, right now Jareth can''t buy another one to one-shot this guy, and the situation has turned dire.


    His body is injured, and he''s nearly out of mana now.


    Zion is not doing well; he is barely surviving with half of his body scorched to the bone.


    The two of them stared at each other for a moment and didn''t bother talking at all; they both took steps forward at nearly the same time.


    Although they are out of mana, they are not out of options!


    Now the battle must be settled on who has stronger hands!


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth jumped and used his intact arm to punch; Zion did the same; he used the rest of his leftover mana to enhance his own physique and punched too.


    The two punches collided, creating a massive shockwave that caused the walls and floor of the hidden room to crack from the air pressure generated by their collision.


    Jareth waved his leg and used his toe to kick away one of the two broken core fragments, and as if Zion could read his mind, he did the exact same.


    Then the two of them jumped away and grabbed one piece of the core each.


    "Without the other half, the core is useless¡­"


    While glaring at Zion, Jareth placed the fragment in his space ring.


    "Indeed, I will definitely get it today¡­"


    Zion tossed the fragment in his coat''s inner pocket, which had a similar function to a space ring.


    Now both of them have one fragment each in their possession, and if they want to get the other half, they will have to kill the other party and forcefully get it by them.


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Float!]


    Jareth cast the float magic and launched at Zion at an extremely fast speed. Zion didn''t expect that Jareth still had enough mana to cast magic, so he was not able to react on time.


    That small delay was enough for Jareth to fly towards him and grab his neck with his intact hand.


    Using the immense strength of a grade 2 warrior, Jareth pushed Zion towards the ground and then dragged him all over the ground.


    The ground cracked and broke from the force of Zion''s body being dragged around like that.


    "Urk!"


    Zion coughed up blood and then put a lot of strength in his arm to directly punched Jareth in the chest.


    Zion himself has a body as strong as a semi-grade-1 warrior, as he has trained himself for several centuries!


    Thus, his insanely fast punch hit Jareth instantly, causing him to fly away.


    Jareth''s grip loosened instantly; he hit the wall, and the wall broke apart from the force, making Jareth fly out of the palace wall.


    Zion didn''t wait at all; he kicked the ground and jumped to the other side through the broken wall and was greeted with a punch to his jaw as Jareth had already anticipated he would come.


    The punch was so powerful that it created a sonic boom in the air, and the air pressure caused the debris to fly wildly.


    Zion''s body went through the ceiling, breaking through the upper floor and falling into the throne room located right above.


    *Spit*


    Zion spit out his broken teeth and hurriedly grabbed a nearby stone debris, and just as Jareth tried to come up, he smashed it on Jareth''s head with an extreme force.


    Jareth directly ignored the attack and traded an injury with an injury.


    The stone hit his head and broke apart, leaving a small wound. In exchange, Jareth kicked Zion in the chest, making him fly away toward the wall of the throne room and break out of it.


    Zion''s body flew away like a cannonball and pierced right through the entire palace before falling outside in the back garden.


    The exploding corpses in the back garden were crushed by Zion''s body, which cushioned the impact for him.


    Jareth came flying to hit him with another punch, but Zion had anticipated it. He bent his knees to squat down and dodge the attack, and Jareth kicked Jareth on the side of his waist.


    Jareth collided with the outer wall of the palace, and the wall collapsed instantly!


    Jareth had already deactivated the mana barrier on the wall when he grabbed those main doors for himself, so the walls were now fragile and couldn''t stand being hit by such powerful attacks.


    The golden palace is located on a half-mountain. Jareth''s body flew away like an arrow and started to fall down the mountain, but he used the float magic to fly and stabilize himself in the air.


    Zion stomped on the ground and jumped towards Jareth to kick him, but Jareth caught his leg mid-attack and threw him towards the ground like he was throwing garbage away!


    Zion was already out of mana, so he couldn''t fly; he fell down at an extremely high speed and hit the ground.


    *BOOOM!* *CRACK!*


    A gigantic crater appeared in the ground, and a massive amount of debris flew in all directions, killing all the demonized mutants that were wandering nearby in that area.


    "Cough! Urk!"


    Zion coughed up a lot of blood and knew that a lot of his bones had broken after falling from such height, but he didn''t care about the pain and jumped out of the crater to move away from the spot.


    *BOOM!* sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And sure enough, Jareth came flying down and kicked the spot where Zion was lying down just a few seconds ago; if he hadn''t moved away, Jareth would have smashed his head into bits like a bullet hitting a watermelon.


    Jareth had used gravity to his advantage, thus the power of that kick was immense; thankfully, Zion dodged it on time.


    "Consider me impressed, Jareth Ayad! In my whole life, I have never met someone as strong as you! I really didn''t expect that you would still be so strong even without magic!"


    A crazy smirk appeared on Zion''s face as he stared into Jareth''s dark purple eyes.


    Jareth also smirked back at him and replied accordingly.


    "I am more surprised that you are still alive; no one has survived against my killer moves so easily¡­"


    "You seem like you are barely hanging onto dear life, but you are still good enough to keep your mind calm¡­ You are strong, Zion Reid¡­"


    The reason why Jareth and Zion both aren''t using mana recovery potion and health recovery potion right now is because they can''t afford to use them right now.


    The moment any of them showed even the slightest bit of distraction, it would turn fatal.


    In a battle between peak powerhouses like them, if you get distracted for even a mere millisecond, your chances of losing will go from 0 to 100 percent in a matter of milliseconds.


    This is the reason why they can''t use potions right now; they can''t afford to show distraction at all.


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth and Zion moved at the same time and kicked at each other. Zion bent down to kick Jareth''s leg, and Jareth directly used the float spell that he previously cast to easily dodge that kick.


    He then again used gravity to enhance his attack and punched towards Zion. Zion, on the other hand, twisted his waist to the side to dodge the punch.


    The two of them exchanged nearly a hundred blows with each other in the next one second of time period, but not a single one of them landed.


    The ground in the radius of a kilometer was completely shattered and riddled with craters; debris flew in all directions and killed the mutants that were unlucky enough to be present nearby.


    The two of them even started to use the dark miasmic fog to their advantage, attacking each other with hard-to-predict attacks.


    Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire


    Yet none of them succeeded.


    Jareth himself is extremely resistant to miasma, so he can afford to expose himself to miasma for a long time without getting affected, and Zion, on the other hand, is more in danger.


    Although he also has high resistance to miasma and corruption as a light-type mage, he can''t keep fighting in this field of miasma for too long in this injured state.


    Not only Zion but Jareth, both are pressuring each other to remain tense at every second, so none of them have the time to even try to grab a single potion or focus their attention on the mutants wandering nearby.


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth''s punch hit the pillar, which was the main support pillar for the golden bridge that was keeping the bridge between the city and the top of the half mountain in place.


    The entire pillar cracked and broke apart; the bridge started to fall at extremely high speed.


    Jareth kicked Zion in the stomach and dodged away to the side. The debris from the bridge fell directly on Zion, burying him below it.

 Chapter 204 End of the trip... Part-1.

    ''He''s going to use a potion now¡­''


    Jareth jumped back, retrieved a mana recovery potion from his space ring, and gulped it down in an instant.


    [Active Healing!]


    There wasn''t enough time to use a healing potion, and he needed mana, so Jareth didn''t use the potions; he just used ''Active Healing'' to heal himself quickly.


    His wounds were healed, and his severed arm regenerated back.


    In a matter of seconds, he was back to full HP, and he also recovered nearly half of his mana by gulping down mana recovery potions.


    Jareth halted once his mana had recovered to half because he only had two potions left in his inventory and didn''t want to use them all at once.


    *BOOM!*


    They forcefully flung the broken debris of the bridge away, and Zion emerged from the rubble unharmed.


    While buried, he used health recovery potions to heal himself.


    Unlike Jareth, he doesn''t have ''Active Healing'' but even he has health recovery potions.


    This is the reason why this endgame boss is so difficult; just like the player character, this guy can use all types of potions to recover and even buff himself.


    Beating him is extremely tricky, and you need a one-shot attack to beat him.


    In the game, as Zion was the final boss to be defeated, he was nerfed a lot and he was confined to his boss arena, thus having no advantages a normal mage has.


    Moreover, his attack patterns were fixed; players used various ''cheese builds'' to beat him, but things are completely different in reality.


    Now that Zion is a sentient person with extraordinary intelligence and an insanely high ''battle IQ'', it will be extremely difficult to one-shot him.


    The reason why he survived that attack card was because Zion sensed the ''death'' with his intuition and used lifesaving methods to survive.


    Right now, even if Jareth uses another attack card, Zion can definitely avoid getting hit by it because he''s more prepared for it.


    Zion is no longer just a random boss monster; he can adapt and learn mid-battle, and he can use various different tactics and unpredictable combos to surprise his enemies.


    Fighting Konda was difficult, but the other party was a mindless creature in the end; it can''t strategize, and it fell for Jareth''s trap easily.


    But Zion is different; tricking him is near impossible, as his intuition alone is superior to any being on this planet; he can easily ''predict'' things before they can even happen.


    [Grade-3 Light Magic: Blessing of the Light!]


    Zion didn''t use an attack spell this time; instead, he used the mana that he just recovered to bless his physique and make himself stronger.


    From the earlier fight, he had noticed that Jareth''s physical prowess was slightly weaker than his own, which could undoubtedly work to his advantage given his current lack of mana.


    Zion was worried that Jareth would recover too much mana, so he only used the health recovery potion to heal and then came out to stop Jareth from recovering too much.


    As a result, he was unable to recover a significant amount of mana and only had a small amount left.


    *BOOM!*


    Zion stomped the ground and launched towards Jareth at an incredible speed.


    [King Style Martial Art: Broken Vessel: Shattered Earth!]


    Zion is the son of the First King after all; he has trained in every aspect in the past few millennia; not only does he know extremely strong magic, he''s a proper pseudo-grade-1 level martial artist.


    In other words, he can indeed use powerful martial arts skills too!


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth used ''chant less'' to skip the chant and used the float magic to dodge to the side.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam: Barrage!]


    Then different magic circles appeared in the air around everywhere and fired gigantic mana beams at Zion, who had just kicked the spot where Jareth was standing.


    Zion, on the other hand, waved his hand to smash the magic circle and the mana beams directly with bare hands!


    *CRACK!*


    The magic circles shattered and crumbled away, while Zion only received small scratches on his fists.


    Jareth took this opening; he used float magic to propel himself forward and then kicked Zion on the side of his waist with all his might.


    *BOOM!*


    Zion flew away like a cannonball and directly broke through the hill nearby.


    The giant hill was leveled down from the impact of his body hitting it with such force.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Meteoric Shower!]


    Hundreds of small magic circles appeared beside Jareth, and small stones burning with condensed purple true flames launched out of them.


    Each of those flaming meteors worked in sync with Jareth''s mana detection ability to track down Zion and chase him to attack him with precision.


    [King Style Martial Art: Wind Manipulator: Wind tornado!]


    Zion waved his hand and took his stance, then punched in the air to create a massive tornado out of the dark miasmic fog!


    The burning meteors were instantly caught in it and countered easily.


    "This isn''t enough to deal with me, Jareth Ayad! Hand over the other half of the core! Or I will keep chasing and pestering you forever!"


    *BOOM!*


    Zion stomped the ground and launched at Jareth with a look of frustration on his face.


    Up until now, none of his opponents have survived for so long in front of him; only Jareth has given him this much trouble.


    In fact, Zion can sense that Jareth can definitely use a more powerful attack again now, like he used before, so Zion has to save some mana in case Jareth uses the powerful attack.


    That''s why he''s only using martial arts and not his magic spells.


    Still, the blessing of light he granted himself is strong enough to defend again the miasma in the surroundings for a long time, and it also boosts his basic stats.


    Thus, Zion can still fight for a long time.


    He crossed the dark fog and reached Jareth''s location to unleash another punch attack, but Jareth was already ready for him.


    Jareth had used his ''mana singularity'' to hide the mana fluctuations of his spells; thus, Zion couldn''t sense what spell Jareth was using.


    When Zion rushed in to punch Jareth, a massive fist made up of condensed flames launched from a magic circle above and punched Zion with massive force.


    [King Style Martial Art: Defense Type: Redirect!]


    Zion twisted his body and waved his hand to hit the flame hand on the side and directly deflected that fist attack to the side.


    The flame fist hit the ground, and its intense heat turned the soil into molten lava in an instant.


    The molten lake flew in all directions, striking Zion and causing his skin to burn in various places.


    ''Tch! It was a decoy!''


    At that moment, Zion figured out that the flame fist was but a mere distraction tactic, but it was too late. Jareth appeared from behind, and he punched Zion in the back of his head with all his strength.


    *CRACK!*


    Zion''s skull cracked from the back, and his face hit the ground with extreme momentum.


    *BOOM!*


    A massive crater was formed on the ground, and debris flew away like bullets in all directions; some of it even hit Jareth, causing small cuts on his body.


    But Jareth didn''t care about it; he immediately raised his leg and attacked Zion''s head with another kick.


    The previous attack barely made a small crack in the skull, but if this kick hits the same place, Zion is done for.


    "I won''t lose!! The hope of the world lies on my shoulders! I will not lose! I will save the world!"


    Zion endured the extreme pain of his brain being injured and punched the ground to make his body get away from the range of that kick.


    He barely dodged the kick on time, and Jareth''s foot hit the ground.


    More debris flew, and a giant and sharp piece of stone hit Zion''s left eye directly, destroying his eyeball!


    *Pant* *pant*


    Jareth was also getting tired now, and he was now out of mana too; he used a lot of mana in that flame fist attack to trick Zion.


    Zion himself is not in a good state either; he was hit in the head, so his brain was injured, and now he can''t even stand properly and can only crawl on the ground.


    Seeing that Jareth was walking towards him despite being exhausted, Zion gritted his teeth and hurriedly brought out a white orb from his space ring.


    Jareth noticed that movement and wanted to stop it, but it was too late.


    Zion put all his remaining strength to crush the orb, and a magic circle appeared below him.


    "Don''t be happy for too long, Jareth Ayad! I will definitely come back one day to take that core fragment from you! I will definitely save the world!"


    Before Jareth could react, the magic circle lit up, and Zion was teleported out of the Abyss Altar in an instant.


    "Sh*t!!"


    Jareth stomped the ground as Zion escaped alive, and the other part of the core was also taken away.


    Now Jareth only has half of it, and that will not be enough for his grand plans.


    ''Tch! Nothing is going right today!''


    Not only the False Dome Cult took the other two pieces of the alloy of the adamantium and mithril with them, now he has lost the second fragment of the core too.


    Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire


    In other words, his trip to the Abyss Altar was basically a complete failure.


    Not only was he not able to do anything about the node of the false dome seal, he didn''t even get the items he wanted.


    This trip only yielded half of the expected results. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 205 End of the trip... Part-2.

    After all those efforts, at the end of it all, Jareth only received half-baked results.


    This was not something he was expecting.


    Although he can still accept that the false dome cult members took away the rest two pieces of the adamantium and mithril alloy as they came earlier than him.


    He can''t accept that the other piece of the core of the artificial sun was stolen right in front of his eyes.


    ''Ugh, all the time it''s me who steals the chances of the protagonist; this time someone else stole it right in front of me¡­ It feels like sh*t¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and drank the last two remaining mana potions with great difficulty.


    Drinking too many mana potions at once is really a difficult task; the body starts to build up temporary resistance, and it starts to reject more overdoses of mana in such a hurried fashion.


    Although this temporary resistance disappears in a day or two, it''s quite an annoying debuff.


    You can use this temporarily enhanced resistance to magic in combat, but that would mean you can''t use potions in battle either.


    It has advantages and disadvantages both; most mages don''t use this trick in normal scenarios.


    Jareth has mana singularity; that''s why his body is able to withstand the load of drinking so many mana recovery potions.


    If it was someone else, they would have exploded like a balloon if they drank so many mana recovery potions at once.


    Jareth can digest and control the mana added by the mana recovery potions easily with his mana singularity, but others can''t do such a reckless thing.


    Even Zion only used a few potions and didn''t dare to exploit them as much as Jareth.


    ''Forget it... There''s no point in staying here any longer; I should leave¡­''


    The only reason Jareth even came here was to get the core of the artificial sun, as he wanted to extract its mana circuits and use them in his wormhole stabilizing device.


    He can''t imitate or recreate those mana circuits because they are unique and one of a kind. Jareth will need to research for several years and make his own core of the sun if he wants to create a similar item like this.


    He wants to skip this long process by using the mana circuits already present in this core; after all, he''s pressed on time.


    ''For now, I will work on this half piece of the core¡­ Later, when Zion comes back looking for it one day, I will kill him and get the other part too¡­''


    Jareth is quite sure that Zion will definitely come back to pester him again. And this time, Jareth will be more prepared for the other party.


    Thinking about all this, Jareth brought out a teleportation magic scroll from his space ring and embedded a lot of mana in it.


    *Whoosh!*


    The magic scroll lit up brightly, and Jareth felt a sense of weightlessness; in a matter of seconds, he found himself standing near the same teleportation altar that he had used to enter the Abyss Altar Area at the beginning.


    ''This is what I like about teleportation magic scrolls¡­''


    The teleportation magic scrolls are extremely rare items, but they are worth the effort and were the biggest lifesaving grace for the entire player base.


    The main function of these teleportation scrolls is to teleport you to the places where you have been before at least once in your life.


    As Jareth had already been to this altar when he came in the Forgotten City, he was easily able to teleport back to it.


    ''Now that I have already visited the golden palace of twisted curses once, I can go back there whenever I wish to do so¡­''


    The only restriction is that to go aboveground or come back underground, you need to use this same teleportation altar.


    After all, a massive spell is placed on the entire Abyss Altar Area to keep it''s ceilings and walls in place.


    The teleportation magic scrolls are not strong enough to bypass the spell cast by the First King with decades of efforts.


    Only the dedicated teleportation altar can bypass it.


    In simple words, you need four teleportation scrolls for a single back and forth trip to the Abyss Altar after you have visited it once.


    One to bypass the security above ground and go to the teleportation altar aboveground, then after using it to enter the Forgotten City, you will need the second scroll to teleport to the palace, skipping all the difficult paths.


    Same is true for the way back.


    ''I will return to this place if I need something else later¡­ For now I should go back; I am out of mana potions, and there''s no way to replenish them¡­''


    Jareth was simply too exhausted from this trip; if he doesn''t go back now, he will never be able to return.


    Resting in the Abyss Altar Area is not an option; the moment you lose consciousness, your mana shield will weaken and the miasma will corrupt you easily.


    *Step*


    Jareth stepped on the abyss altar and activated it with his mana.


    Although the altar looks flawed, corrupted, and unusable, it''s still barely usable as it''s barely holding on.


    ''The next time I come here, I hope I am good enough to repair the teleportation altar too¡­''


    The teleportation altar is also the handiwork of the First King and involves the ''laws'' so Jareth can''t repair it as of now.


    With a big sigh, Jareth finally teleported away and returned back to the hidden chamber located below the National Hero Memorial.


    He brought out his smartphone, which has finally started to work properly again, and then he sent a message to the bald old man to open the door for him.


    The other party took a few minutes to reply, perhaps because he was too shocked to see Jareth''s message.


    In the meantime, Jareth sat down and used meditation to recover some mana from the surroundings.


    ''Sigh, it feels so nice to be out of that horrible place¡­ Finally, I can feel the embrace of Mana again¡­'' Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire


    The Abyss Altar Area was filled with miasma to the brim, so there was no mana in the surrounding area, and Jareth had to constantly keep his mana shield at maximum output.


    But now he can finally relax, as he doesn''t have to do all that.


    ''Although the results of this trip were not really up to my expectations, I still confirmed a few things that I wanted to, and now I have a deeper understanding of this world.''


    ''I guess this trip was still a partial success, maybe?...''


    While Jareth was contemplating in his mind, the giant door opened slowly, and the bald man came in.


    He was quite shocked when he saw Jareth in such bad shape.


    Not only were Jareth''s clothes torn up in many places, he was covered in blood, and he looked extremely exhausted.


    A thought came into his mind,


    ''What could have been so powerful that even a grade-1 mage like him was reduced to such a state!?'' Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The bald man hurriedly escorted Jareth out of the area; the officers working in the monitoring room were also shocked to see his haggard state.


    But the most shocking thing was that he made it out of the Abyss Altar alive in one piece!


    In the long annals of history, Jareth is the first one to accomplish such a feat; the bald old man has already sent a message to the president and the ministers.


    They are likely already on their way now and will come over to visit Jareth soon.


    After all, nobody in the current human empire knows what''s inside the Abyss Altar and how dangerous that place is.


    Jareth is the first one to come out alive, so he will have a lot of information about this matter.


    The rest of the people can use this information for themselves, so they will not let this opportunity slip by.


    Jareth himself knew that his coming back alive would cause a sensation, and several guilds like the Mage Guild and others, and even Reynald, would come over to question him.


    Thus, he asked the bald old man to guide him to a VIP private resting room.


    The Bald Old Man dared not to be rude and immediately guided Jareth with a flattering smile on his face.


    Although Jareth looks like he''s in a weakened state right now, a lean camel is still taller than a horse after all, and Jareth can still deal with him with a single hand even in this weakened state.


    Entering the room, Jareth closed the door and took a relaxing shower first and cleansed off all the dirt.


    He changed into another set of clothes and directly laid down on the bed to have a long sleep to get rid of the piled-up stress and exhaustion.


    That day Jareth slept extremely peacefully after a very long time; he even dreamt of living a happy, peaceful life with Shiina in his dreams and enjoyed the rest he earned with a lot of efforts.


    Unknown to him, there''s literal chaos going on outside.


    Hundreds of thousands of powerful mages got news about this matter overnight and hurried over to the capital city just to hear about Jareth''s bizarre adventure into the Abyss.


    Jareth''s trip to the Abyss will soon be recorded in the pages of the history books, and people will make folk songs and folk stories about his brave adventures in the darkness of the Abyss and the things he saw.


    His adventure''s stories will spread so far and wide that even the False Dome Cult members will hear about it and will thank their demon god that they were lucky enough that they didn''t encounter Jareth while they were there.

 Chapter 206 When an adventure ends, a new one starts! (End of Vol.2)

    After resting for a while, Jareth decided to hold a press conference to tell his findings.


    There were hundreds of mages gathering and trying to contact him constantly, and talking with each of them one by one would have been a great pain in the A*s.


    Although Jareth can sell the information about the Abyss Altar Area for quite some money, he isn''t poor; he has so much money that he can''t spend it in his whole life.


    Moreover, this world''s going to be destroyed anyway, so having more money is pointless as it will lose its value once he leaves this planet.


    Using this information to gather the items he wants to find would be much more effective.


    Jareth held the press conference and put up a list of rare items on display.


    He provided everyone with basic details about his journey through the endless horrors of the Abyss Altar, but he did not divulge too much detail.


    He declared that whoever wants to ask for more information and talk to him personally about it in more detail needs to bring at least one of the items shown in the list by him. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth is quite sure that others can''t figure out that he''s gathering these items to create a wormhole stabilizing device; after all, it''s very common for a mage to gather rare items.


    All mages do this kind of thing.


    Although Jareth knows the general location of most of the items he wants, it will take a lot of time to gather them, as some of them are also in the personal collections of various powerful and influential people.


    Negotiating with them will waste a lot of time, but now that Jareth has put up the list all over the internet, people will flock over to bring the things he wants to his door by themselves!


    Not only will this save a lot of time for him, it will help Jareth skip those tedious negotiation deals that he originally would have needed to make with various influential people to get his hands on those rare items.


    After Jareth declared all this in his press conference, all the mages and groups who were going to flock over to question Jareth fell silent and started to look for the items that he asked for.


    Now there are thousands of people working for Jareth''s selfish goals without them knowing about it themselves.


    He manipulated the entire country with his words and used everything to his own advantage.


    Abyss Altar is a completely unexplored area for the current empire, so even the government is very interested in it.


    Jareth smiled happily when the government asked for information; he directly stated that they needed to give him a professional research team made up of hundreds of genius scientists in exchange for the information.


    The information on the Abyss Altar was extremely precious; the government had to bide by his demands, and they assembled a massive team of scientists for him from all over the empire.


    Jareth even forced the president to sign a document stating that the government would cover all material costs and salaries!


    The thing is; Jareth isn''t worried that these people will copy his wormhole-making technology and betray him.


    This entire planet only has a limited number of resources that can be used to create a wormhole, and that''s the reason why Jareth is having such difficulty collecting them.


    They can''t leak the information on the research as long as he''s present.


    Even if there are spies in the scientific team who leak the technology later on, it won''t matter; by that time, Jareth would have already left this planet far behind.


    Jareth has planned everything out by now.


    He alone is not enough to carry out this massive experiment; he''s now planning to act as the lead researcher, and the rest of the people will aid him and help him out in doing auxiliary things.


    Moreover, when he''s gone to investigate the remaining nodes of the false dome seals, these researchers will be in charge of keeping the research progressing continuously.


    Although Jareth wasn''t able to achieve great results from his trip to the Abyss Altar, he has turned this matter to his own advantage.


    ¡­


    Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire


    University, principal''s office.


    One week after coming back from Abyss Altar, Jareth finally came back to the university.


    He took out the family talisman and handed it back to Thomas.


    "Thanks; it worked wonders; I am glad you gave it to me¡­"


    Although Jareth''s mission ended in a partial failure, he''s thankful that he still was able to get partial success at the least.


    So, the lucky charm perhaps still worked in his favor in the end.


    If Jareth was not strong enough and was even a little bit weaker than he is now, Zion would have killed him there, and Jareth wouldn''t have gotten his hands on the other part of the core at all.


    "Well, I am just glad you returned back safely; I was really worried that something bad might happen."


    Thomas smiled at Jareth''s words and took the talisman back.


    Mark and Risa also came over to the principal office at this moment to meet Jareth in person.


    They were worried that something might have happened to him, or he might have been corrupted by the miasma, so they came in a hurry to look for him.


    Jareth was a bit happy to see that there''s at least people who are concerned about him.


    He patted both of their heads and asked in an amused tone,


    "By the way, it took me nearly a week to make it back from the Abyss Altar; has something changed in the time¡­ Don''t tell me you two already got married in my absence¡­"


    Mark blushed at those words and replied in a stuttering voice,


    "N-no that h-how can that be¡­"


    Risa, on the other hand, smirked and said,


    "No! We will only marry after we have passed the university! At that time, we will obviously invite you to our marriage, Vice-principal!"


    "We definitely won''t leave you out of such a big occasion! Hehe¡­"


    Jareth was just messing with them on purpose. Mark is a tsundere type of character, so he gets overwhelmed when asked about such matters.


    Risa, on the other hand, is more straight-forward; she doesn''t hesitate at all in this kind of matter.


    "Hoh¡­ Is that so? Well, I will wait for that day then¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    ''Sigh, if only what you said could be true, Risa¡­ If only this game had such a good hidden ending¡­''


    ''Well, if possible, I will bring these two with me at the least¡­''


    Mark carries the possibility and hope of this world; if Jareth can bring these two with him, it might not be such a bad idea.


    ''But that will depend on circumstances, I guess¡­''


    There are no perfect plans with perfect outcomes in this world; everything has endless possibilities; even the smallest disturbance, even the smallest ''Anomaly'', can change everything in the end.


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about this matter for now.


    "By the way, after hearing your words from the press conference, I have been meaning to ask, is it possible that¡­ that bone dragon in Bastille actually came from that Abyss Altar?"


    Mark, being extremely perceptional as always, immediately figured out some missing details on his own.


    Even Jareth was a bit surprised by that sudden question.


    "Yeah, it was actually a being from outer space; it fell on our planet, then pierced through tectonic plates and directly fell in the Abyss Altar Area located right below¡­"


    "The Abyss Altar was created because of that bone dragon in the first place; in my trip to the abyss, I figured out a lot of information¡­"


    "Apparently, that bone dragon was called Konda, ''The Empty Shell''¡­ It was a being whose power was equal to the First King from the legends and myths when it was in its prime¡­"


    Mark and the other two were quite surprised to hear that.


    Although they knew that Konda was strong, they had no idea it was that strong!


    "W-wait, doesn''t that mean you are also much stronger than a grade-1 mage-"


    Jareth shook his head at Mark''s words.


    "No, no, matter of fact, I am not even a grade 1 mage yet¡­"


    Thomas laughed out loud hearing those words.


    "HAHAHA, that was the most unbelievable joke, Jareth! The man who came back alive from the Abyss Altar Area is completely fine, and you are saying he is not even a Grade 1 mage!? Bahaha¡­"


    Even Risa pouted her cheeks at that,


    "Don''t try to fool us; we already know that you are strong! We won''t misunderstand about your abilities!"


    Seeing that no one believed his words, Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head in defeat.


    ''Sigh, in the end, I can never clear this misunderstanding after all¡­ You guys really trust me a bit too much¡­ ugh¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand and opened the door of the principal office to leave, but before leaving, he said in a calm voice,


    "Mark, Risa¡­ Get ready, the time for a long journey is close... Don''t forget your training; I have great expectations for you two¡­"


    The two kids nodded their heads at Jareth''s words as he left the office.


    ''I have been going on a lot of sidequests these days; it''s time to go for the real main mission now¡­ The time for going to the elven capital is coming closer¡­''


    Although Jareth was not able to save the node of the seal in the Abyss Altar Area, he must try his best this time.


    He needs to protect the seal node located in the elven capital at all costs! If he kept being defeated by the False Dome Cult like this, he would never be able to leave this planet safely.


    ''It''s time I get serious about it all too¡­''


    {Just like every adventure has an end to it, this adventure arc has ended today, but new adventures always wait for those who have the courage to explore!} (Source: Trust me bro)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    And here ends the second volume!


    All throughout this volume, we explored various places and concepts as they were important for what''s to come.


    Next we go for real missions!


    Thank you all for reading this novel and motivating me to keep writing. I appreciate all of your efforts.


    Originally, this story started just as a random idea that I had one day, but it has turned into such a great journey. I enjoyed writing this volume, a lot, and I hope you liked reading it too.


    Thanks for all your support.

 Chapter 207 A New Journey Begins... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, A month after Jareth''s return.


    Royal Palace, Dining Hall.


    "I see, so he''s taking you with him to the elven city? Well, if Jareth''s the one protecting you, I don''t really think there''s any need to worry¡­"


    Reynald waved his hand without caring much about the matter.


    He glanced at his wife and said in a nonchalant tone,


    "No need to be worried; he''s all grown up and is strong enough to be on his own now¡­ Moreover, all young birds need to leave the nest of their parents if they want to grow up¡­"


    "I am sure by the time Mark returns home from this trip he will have grown up a lot¡­"


    Mark''s mother Alice had a look of worry on her face upon hearing that her son was embarking on such a long journey.


    She glanced at Risa, who was nibbling on the sweets without a care in the world, and said,


    "Risa, make sure you keep him safe, okay? If you both return alive, I will buy you your favorite tea!"


    Risa''s eyes shined instantly, and she immediately became motivated.


    "Yeah! Leave it to me!"


    Mark sighed upon hearing those words and pondered in his mind.


    ''Perhaps you should be more worried that this happy-go-lucky looking girl will eat me alive instead!''


    Mark has no idea why his mother favors Risa so much or how Risa managed to gain his mother''s trust to such an extent, but his mother has already accepted Risa even though Mark hasn''t yet married her!


    Risa literally is allowed to come and wander in the royal palace at any time, any day!


    The guards don''t even inform the butlers and the maids about it before opening the doors for her; she''s free to enter and leave whenever she feels like it. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Not even powerful grade-2 mages are allowed such freedom in the palace! She''s the exception!


    ''I sometimes feel that they kind of consider her more like their daughter than me being their son¡­ The favoritism is so blatant!''


    Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire


    Mark is usually away from home due to university and barely ever comes back, and even when he comes back, he keeps studying magic and stays in his room all day long.


    He''s simply too dedicated to his magic research, and ever since he met Jareth, he''s been working even harder to become stronger!


    It''s only been a while since he broke through grade-4, and now he''s already a peak grade-4 mage after this short period of time.


    On the other hand, Risa has also broken through to the grade-4 early stage recently. It''s not that she''s slow; it''s just that Mark is too fast!


    They are both the same age, yet Mark can easily defeat ten Risa''s with a single hand if he gets serious.


    "Hmm? What? You want some too?"


    As Mark was glaring at Risa, she misunderstood that he was going to snatch her sweets, so she hurriedly stuffed them all in her mouth.


    "Not happening! Hehe¡­"


    Seeing her giggle like that to herself, Mark stopped glaring at her as she looked too d*mn cute, and staring for long was quite bad for his ''heart''s mental health''.


    "By the way, what is he even going there for?"


    Hearing Reynald''s question, Mark shook his head,


    "I have no idea; when I asked, he said he was invited there, and he''s taking us there with him to experience the world and learn more¡­"


    Reynald leaned his back on the chair and spoke with a lot of complicated emotions.


    "Er¡­ If he keeps wandering around all over the world with you in tow¡­ People will really misunderstand that you are indeed his illegitimate child¡­ Sigh, he really likes to create massive chaos wherever he goes¡­"


    Currently, Jareth has become extremely famous on the entire internet.


    Every month he does something new and more ridiculous than before; first he killed a wyvern, then killed a cyclops, then he went ahead and literally killed a world-destroying level calamity beast all alone!


    His reputation has now soared through the skies, and even Reynald has been overshadowed by him.


    Nathan, on the other hand, has been completely forgotten by the people, as if he doesn''t even exist anymore.


    "Times sure do change fast though¡­ Who could have thought that I would get to see such a strong person rise after all this time¡­"


    Reynald sipped the wine from the glass and glanced at Mark before speaking in a solemn tone,


    "His presence may be good for you till you grow up, but after that, he will become an obstacle for your growth, Mark¡­"


    A confused look appeared on Mark''s face after hearing those words, as he couldn''t understand what Reynald was trying to say.


    Seeing that look, Reynald smiled a bit and replied in a calm voice,


    "The thing is, when the teacher is less talented than their student, the teacher is bound to be left behind eventually by the disciples¡­ That''s how the world works¡­"


    "You are the most talented person on this planet, so you will surpass Jareth eventually, but then you won''t be his disciple anymore; you will become his competitor¡­"


    "The world of mages is cruel, and only those who are selfish enough can preserve it till the end; that means you will be pressed on resources and opportunities¡­"


    "You will have to be careful of his stance at every turn and will have to always be on edge in case he suddenly decides to attack¡­ That kind of life is too stressful¡­"


    "In the end, he will become a great obstacle for you, Mark¡­"


    Mark was shocked at those words; he was left completely speechless.


    He''s still young after all; he hasn''t faced the cruelty of the world much, so he couldn''t accept Reynald''s words at all.


    Reynald has lived his life governing over hundreds of subordinates; he had to face all kinds of situations along the way as he reached the peak of the world.


    He has enough wisdom to sense that Jareth isn''t a selfless person; he also has his own goals and ambitions, and if Mark stays too close to Jareth, Mark will be the one who will get used up like a pawn.


    That''s something he wouldn''t want to see; in fact, he wants his son to use the entire world as a pawn.


    It''s survival of the fittest type of world after all; those who know how to take advantage of others and manipulate them to work for them are the ones who enjoy everything.


    Right now, Reynald has control over more than half the entire economy of the empire; he has immense power in this matter, and his words rule the fate of millions of people.


    Even though he''s only the king by name, he has enough wealth to keep to subtly manipulate the entire nation without anyone even noticing it.


    This is the reason why the royal family has so many resources for training and improving; this is the reason why they have no shortage of all types of weapons, artifacts, potions, etc.


    If Mark doesn''t learn this method, he will not be able to control others and rule over them in peace.


    "Physical power has its limits, but intellectual strength has none! If you have the ability to control hundreds of allies and subordinates, only then can you consider yourself truly powerful and invincible!"

 Chapter 208 A New Journey Begins... Part-2.

    Reynald''s words may hold some truth, but Mark couldn''t obediently agree with them.


    "Father, your worldview is completely different than mine, it seems¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Reynald laughed out loudly.


    "Hahaha, well¡­ Time is the best teacher, Mark; you will understand everything as you grow up; you have a long way to go¡­"


    "Well, I am not in a hurry either; I have enough time to wait for you; once you become good enough, I will hand over the throne to you right then and there¡­"


    Saying that, Reynald got up from his seat with a smile over his face and started to leave.


    Before leaving, he turned around and spoke in a vague tone.


    "Oh, I nearly forgot. Tell Jareth to look out for the ''Purple Earth Area'' while on the journey¡­ I once got reports mentioning that there''s a powerful serpent lord or something like that living there¡­"


    "But I guess even if it''s there, it shouldn''t be much of a problem for someone like Jareth; after all, as a grade-1 mage, he will have enough resistance to be completely immune to its poison anyway¡­"


    Reynald had no idea that Jareth, in fact, doesn''t have much poison resistance at all! He uses Mana Singularity for solving these kinds of matters! Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire


    "Oh okay¡­ By the way, father, who''s stronger, you or him?"


    Reynald turned his back and smiled at those words.


    "Well, if he advances any further, he may cause me a little trouble¡­"


    "But would you lose?"


    Reynald sneered at that question.


    "Nah, I''d Win!"


    With that said, Reynald left the dining hall.


    ¡­


    While Mark and Reynald were having their discussion, Alice waved her hand at a maid and asked her to bring a sword from her collection.


    She then personally handed that sword to Risa, who was quite confused at that sudden gift.


    "You are going on a long journey; take this with you. I know that you have learned swordsmanship, and given the fact that you are able to use shadow magic, this sword will fit you the most¡­"


    The handle of the sword and its sheath were both pitch black in color. Risa unsheathed it, and the blade itself was completely pitch black in color, as if it were made out of coal.


    But there were a few words engraved in dark red color on the blade.


    [Slaughter! Murder! Massacre! Blood Carnage!]


    If Jareth was here, he would have been able to see the sword''s stats.


    [Item Name: Cursed Shadow!]


    [Item Rank: Grade-1+]


    [Item Title: ''Evil Terror'', ''Maniac''s hand'', ''Demon''s Creation''.]


    [Item Description: Forged from the corpses of the members of Demon Cult of Therath, this weapon carries the power of the curse of ten thousand swords!


    The legend says that once the cult of Therath was abandoned by it''s demon god, the followers were slaughtered mercilessly by a blind man who swore revenge for his murdered children and wife.


    That blind man alone killed more than ten thousand members of the cult and was considered the biggest source of fear for the fleeing cult members.


    He fed the blood of those corpses to his sword, which was originally just a rusty and old iron sword.


    But after consuming so much blood, sacrifices and souls, it evolved into a cursed weapon with barely any equals.]


    [Warning: This weapon carries one of the most lethal curses in the entire world upon it. The ''Law'' of ''Hatred'' has taken a liking to it¡­ Using it will cause the holder to lose their mind¡­]


    [Warning: Only those who are blessed with extremely high shadow magic affinity can tame this bizarre weapon¡­]


    [Effects: Inflict the curse of rot, pain, suffering, hallucination, misery, and bad luck on the user; once hit by this weapon, the victim will die a miserable death unless the user of the weapon forgives them¡­]


    [The curse can pass any barriers and will work on anyone, except those with ''Legendary Skill''s or with resistance skills like ''True Immunity'' etc¡­]


    ¡­


    "I found this sword in my younger days when I was wandering around in some ruins filled with undead; I remember taking a casual stroll in that dark and spooky place¡­"


    "That dungeon was quite beautiful actually; it had thousands of skeletons littered around everywhere; wherever you walk, that ''Crunch crunch'' sound of bones cracking below your feet kept ringing¡­" sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "It was like a melody to your ears¡­"


    Risa''s eyes shined as if she were eager to hear the location of that supposed ''wonderful and beautiful'' dungeon.


    "Alas that dungeon collapsed on itself after I took the sword away¡­"


    "By the way, this weapon curses anyone except those who have affinity for ''Darkness-related elements''. For example, your Shadow magic¡­"


    Although if someone had affinity for miasma, they could also use this weapon, but there''s no human in the entire empire who can use miasma.


    Shadow magic itself is extremely rare to begin with; mainly the members of the ''Shadow Fallen'' family are the ones who have affinity for shadow magic.


    Thus, in Alice''s opinion, no one''s more suitable for this cursed weapon than Risa.


    After all, in the entire Shadow Fallen family, only she has the highest affinity for shadow magic.


    If not for Mark, she would have been the most talented person of the entire younger generation.


    "Oh, make sure you never use it on Mark though; that''s a big no!"


    Risa nodded her head at Alice''s warning, but she herself knows that even if she uses it, Mark can easily avoid it anyway.


    He''s not that weak that she would need to hold back.


    Later, Alice dragged Risa away with her to her room and gave her tons of her own artifacts.


    Alice has also trained Risa for some time in swordsmanship, so she''s partially her student too; thus, there''s no need for her to hold back herself when giving gifts to Risa.


    That day, Mark had to face a lot of trouble as Risa kept showing off all the items; she got in front of him and kept asking him which one seemed more cooler on her.


    Mark was not able to get any magic research that day at all and had to entertain that energetic girl all day long.


    Once morning came up, the two of them took the car together and went back to the university to meet up with Jareth.


    They have made enough preparations, and in the past month they have done a lot of training along with their new junior.


    Now the four of them are ready to go on a new adventure.


    The car stopped at the main gate of the university; Jareth''s car was already waiting for them both there.


    Seeing that luxurious car, the two of them boarded it with a look of excitement on their faces.


    Jareth and Azul were already sitting inside.


    Only the atmosphere seemed a bit awkward though, but that''s normal when Jareth is around; he causes anxiety attacks in people''s minds, so it''s no surprise that people get awkward when he''s sitting silently beside them.


    Once Azul saw Mark and Risa, a happy smile appeared on his face as if he had seen his saviors! He was dying from anxiety sitting alone with Jareth.


    Risa and Mark''s presence has finally blown away that anxiety, and he can stay calm.

 Chapter 209 The Hidden Train Station... Part-1.

    Jareth nodded his head at Mark and Risa, who entered the car to return their greeting, and then spoke in a calm voice.


    "In the past months or two, you three have made a lot of progress, which is indeed quite impressive, but keep in mind that there is no end to the path of strength¡­"


    "Don''t lose sight of your ambitions just because of a momentary gain¡­"


    The three nodded their heads at Jareth''s words.


    After coming back from the Abyss Altar, Jareth has been busy with that research team that the government officials provided him.


    He''s already started his preliminary research, and there are already some positive results this early, as Jareth himself dedicated a lot of his own time to help out in the matter.


    In his free time, he has been instructing the trio and training them every once in a while.


    Jareth has already talked things out with Thomas, and there will be no need to worry even if the four of them don''t stay at the university and are absent.


    ''While I am absent, the progress on the research will slow down, but that''s to be expected¡­''


    Just when Jareth was busy thinking about various matters in his mind, Risa suddenly asked,


    "Vice-principal, can you tell me more about your adventure in the Abyss Altar Area?"


    Although Mark and Azul hesitate to talk much with Jareth and dare not bother him with a lot of questions, Risa has no such thoughts in her mind.


    From her point of view, Jareth is that cool uncle type of person who brings a lot of cool stories and stuff whenever he drops by every once in a while.


    Upon hearing that question, Jareth waved his hand and cast a silencing spell around the four, ensuring the driver couldn''t hear what they were discussing.


    After all, the driver is but an ordinary man; information about the Abyss Altar will do him more harm than good if he knew about it.


    "Your three, refer to me as ''Teacher'' from here on¡­ As for the Abyss Altar, make sure you don''t tell anyone else what I am telling you¡­"


    Three nodded their heads at Jareth''s words, and he continued speaking.


    "I only told vague details on the press conference that day, but there are a lot of things that I omitted¡­"


    "We have enough time right now, so I shall tell you more about it¡­"


    The group is traveling via car today to a particular underground train station; it will take a while to reach that place, so Jareth has enough free time right now anyway.


    So he decided to satisfy their curiosity.


    "The Abyss Altar is an area filled with miasma to the brim; the moment you step there, you will need to deploy your mana shield almost instantly¡­"


    "If you don''t do so, the miasma in the surroundings will corrupt you and turn you into hideous mutated monsters that have no mind and no free will¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the three and said in a solemn tone,


    "Contrary to popular belief, Miasma is actually a semi-conscious existence¡­ It has an ''incomplete'' consciousness of its own¡­"


    "It can change and adapt according to the situations easily, and whoever it affects, it tries its best to torment them in the worst possible ways¡­"


    "In my journey to the core of that Abyss¡­ I saw hundreds of different kinds of mutated creatures¡­"


    "There were those who could only laugh like maniacs even in immense pain, and there were those who could only talk like puppets and had no free will of their own¡­"


    "There were powerful illusions, and there were twisted spirits and curses everywhere¡­"


    "A dark miasmic fog covered everything, and it was impossible to see farther than a few meters with the naked eyes¡­"


    The trio listened to Jareth''s story with a look of great interest and curiosity, so Jareth continued,


    "This story of mine can bring you inspirations too¡­ In case you encounter dense miasma-filled places one day in your journey¡­"


    "You just need to follow along and do exactly the same thing I did: deploy your mana shield at full capacity and constantly keep recreating it all over again so that corruption doesn''t get the hold of it¡­"


    "And you must carry a lot of mana recovery potions with you in case you run out of mana¡­"


    "There was no mana in the Abyss Altar Area, so I had to use nearly a hundred mana recovery potions in my journey¡­ If not for them, even I would have run out of mana long ago¡­" S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark and the others misunderstand that Jareth has massive mana capacity, and his maximum mana is extremely high.


    So if even his mana was about to run out and even he had to use nearly a hundred potions to recover, that means that the mana consumption to travel in the abyss altar area must have been extremely high.


    Listening to his words, the three of them were shocked.


    Jareth is the same person who fought Konda for three days and three nights without taking a moment''s rest and then came out victorious without suffering a single injury.


    His mana capacity is said to be so high that it is considered equal to five grade-1 mages altogether.


    What they don''t know is that his mana capacity is actually barely equal to an early-stage grade-2 mage!


    The only reason he''s able to display such great feats of having tons of mana is because he can replenish it extremely fast due to mana singularity.


    If he''s stuck in a miasma-filled place, he can''t replenish his mana, and he won''t have more mana than any other early-stage grade-2 mage either.


    Still, with mana singularity, his control over his mana is extremely high, so he wastes almost no amount of mana when using magic, and he''s extremely efficient.


    Thus, even with low mana, he can contend with others with higher mana capacity much easier.


    Moreover, his mana is extremely pure, so that''s also a plus point for him.


    For the next hour or so, Jareth kept telling the three about the various monsters he saw and what methods he used to beat them all.


    Mark and the three had an awkward look on their faces when they heard his methods of dealing with monsters.


    Jareth literally used basic-grade magic to create massive explosions and fired basic mana beams like they were grade-1 magic, thus wiping out hordes of monsters with minimal amounts of magic.


    This kind of strategy can only be used by someone like him who has a legendary skill in his arsenal. Mark and the others can''t even fathom how his basic magic is so god d*mn overpowered.


    Any casual attack from Jareth is enough to be considered a city-destroying attack, so the three of them can''t fathom his strategies and can''t replicate them.


    All they can do is learn from it and try to adopt these strategies in their own magic capabilities.


    After a while, Jareth finally mentioned the incident with Zion Reid.


    He hasn''t talked about Zion to even those people who bought the information with lots of resources.


    Jareth has kept his presence a secret, but he''s talking about it to these three because he has a premonition that these three will definitely meet Zion one day.


    "At the end of my journey, I reached the core area of the Abyss Altar, where the golden palace was located¡­ There I found a man named Zion Reid¡­"


    "His goal was the same as mine; he likely used a teleportation scroll to reach that place¡­ And he was there for the same item that I wanted for myself¡­"


    "For particular reasons, I can''t tell you about that ''item'' in detail, but in short, it was the core of a certain ancient artifact¡­"


    "I had a massive conflict with that man¡­ And our battle ended in a draw¡­"


    Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the three of them were so shocked that they nearly jumped up from their seats.


    In their opinion, Jareth is an unbeatable person who can go toe to toe with world-destroying threats like Konda easily without getting a single injury.


    And to think that someone was able to keep up with Jareth and force him into a ''draw''-like situation, that''s simply too shocking to hear.


    "That man was very strong; he had the body of a semi-grade-1 warrior and the mind of a peak level wizard¡­ He was the strongest enemy I had faced in my whole life¡­"


    "He was an intelligent and crafty foe; we fought each other for several hours, and our battle laid waste to the area¡­"


    "The realm of consciousness that we were in was shattered to bits, then even the golden palace was half destroyed along with the golden bridge that got decimated entirely¡­"


    "In the end, he succeeded in escaping using a teleportation method that I was completely unaware of, and he took the other piece of the core fragment along with him¡­"


    "Now I only have half of the core fragment, and the other half is in his hands¡­ He also swore that he would come back someday to look for me¡­"


    Talking about that matter, Jareth sighed to himself. If he were a bit stronger and that attack card had landed on Zion, the other fragment of the core of the artificial sun would have been his by now.


    Then his research would have progressed even faster than it is doing now.


    ''I am still too weak after all; relying on attack enhancement cards can only get me so far; I need more trump cards in my arsenal¡­''


    Zion could already sense the presence of those attack enhancement cards in Jareth''s possession with his intuition, so Jareth needs something else now that even Zion can''t perceive.

 Chapter 210 The Hidden Train Station... Part-2.

    An hour later.


    The car finally stopped, and the four got out of it.


    They had arrived at a small building located on the outskirts of the capital city.


    Jareth walked inside, and it turned out that the building is actually a small public library.


    He walked over to the counter with the trio, pulled out a particular golden card, and showed it to the person sitting behind the counter.


    Upon seeing that card, the individual glanced once at Jareth, then at the remaining three, before nodding his head.


    He got up from his seat and led the way for the group. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire


    That card was something that Jareth got from the president himself while he was getting that research team; it gives him access to various hidden locations in the capital.


    Normally, only military officials can possess it, but Jareth obtained one for himself in return for the valuable information he traded.


    As they say,


    {Information and experience are more valuable than gold; they can prove their worth in a life-and-death situation¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth himself has such a vast amount of information on this world that it alone is enough to compile an entire book out of it.


    The person who was leading the group is actually an undercover military officer who''s stationed here to guide those with special permissions and help them enter the hidden station.


    Yes! A literal hidden train station is located right below this small library.


    The officer led the group to a secluded hidden area, then took out a book from his space ring and placed it in an empty spot in the book cabinet.


    The floor moved, and a hidden staircase appeared in everyone''s view.


    The officer signaled with his hand and asked the group to enter, clearly showing that this is the way to the underground train station.


    Jareth didn''t hesitate much, as he already knew all about this as he had seen all this in a game cutscene in great detail, so he wasn''t much surprised.


    Mark and the others, on the other hand, were quite shocked, though.


    For them, this whole situation is quite new and mysterious. They have never been on covert missions like this before, so all this is new for them.


    Still, they didn''t shout or make noises that would attract attention and were able to remain calm even in this situation, which shows that they are all well trained.


    The three followed behind Jareth like chicks following the mother hen.


    Once the group entered, the hidden mechanism in the floor activated again, and the entrance closed on its own. The officer took the book back and went back to his seat to pretend to be an ordinary person once again.


    ¡­


    "How did you know that there was such a hidden station here?"


    Once they passed through the stairs, the group arrived at an underground train station, and Risa was the first to raise the question.


    Jareth just shrugged his shoulders at that question and replied in a calm tone,


    "When your mana detection is as powerful as a grade-1 mage, there''s nothing in the entire capital city that''s hidden from you anymore¡­ You can detect everything¡­"


    "My mana detection range alone is as wide as ten kilometers in diameter¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the trio was shocked to the core, and all three of them were left speechless.


    The three of them already possess a few hundred meters of mana detection, yet they pale in comparison to Jareth, like an ant comparing itself to a dragon!


    "This hidden train station is only open to a few people who hold this golden card in their hands¡­ Usually it''s the military that uses for weapon and resource supply¡­"


    "This is just one of the few¡­ There are nearly a dozen such hidden train stations in the capital city, each leading to a different city in a different direction¡­"


    "And then those cities redirect the trains further outwards¡­"


    "In simple words, the entire nation is connected with these spider-web-like train tracks that run deep underground, hidden from everyone''s sight¡­"


    "Also, there are anti-mana detection devices fixed everywhere, so unless you are in grade 2 or above, you can''t notice them at all¡­"


    Jareth found a bench nearby and sat down to wait for the train and continued to explain,


    "These train tracks were laid down a long time ago; their main purpose is to transport troops faster to the frontlines and spread freedom more efficiently¡­"


    "These train tracks are basically the reason why our human armies were able to march in all directions and slaughter hundreds of thousands of enemies without having to worry about running out of ammo¡­"


    "And in case our aircraft run out of ammo, the aircraft itself becomes the ammo!"


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel a bit nostalgic when he remembered how he used to drive fighter planes and do massive-scale attacks on demon cult hideouts in the game.


    "But¡­ is it not a bad thing to kill innocent people and trample over them with armies like that?"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, Azul was momentarily confused.


    "The thing is, in war, no one is good and no one is bad; when two sides are at war, everything becomes a war tactic¡­ Deception, illegal weaponry, and using innocent people as decoys or cannon fodder¡­"


    "These are some morally questionable tactics of war, but they become completely legal once a real war starts¡­"


    "War is cruel, and it spares no one¡­ Children, weak, old, sick, young or adult, all are equal in the face of a nuclear missile¡­"


    Jareth sighed at his own words and spoke in a solemn voice.


    "Ironic isn''t it that only in the face of death are all considered truly equal no matter the race or the culture¡­"


    "The world lies about equality and all; no one''s truly equal; it''s all but a big lie crafted to soothe those who are too na?ve to realize the truth¡­"


    Mark frowned a bit at those words and asked,


    "Is there no way to make everyone equal? Is there no way to make everyone happy and prosperous?"


    Jareth smiled in amusement at those questions.


    "The answer to that is actually quite complicated¡­ The goals and ambitions to achieve greatness, wealth, fame, and other worldly things are what drive humans to work hard and progress¡­"


    "Ambitions and dreams seem to hold no major sway, but in reality, they are the ones who drive everyone to achieve more and more for themselves, are they not?"


    "If you make everyone truly equal, then will people stop wanting to be richer than others? If you make everyone equally powerful, then will people stop aiming to become more powerful than others?"


    "Love that is isolated from the influence of others is considered strong, but will a love confined in a cage still be considered free?"


    Jareth crossed his arms and leaned his back on the bench.


    "Stop thinking too deeply about these matters, you three; these are something you will slowly figure out as you grow up and experience the world¡­ You have all the time in the world¡­ There''s no hurry¡­"


    ''That is if there''s a world for the time to exist¡­ but who knows what will happen tomorrow¡­''


    Jareth is no philosopher; it''s just that he''s lived through two lives of difficulties and thus has a bit more knowledge of reality than these inexperienced children.


    ''In my opinion, I might be just as much of a fool as any other person¡­''


    ''After all, if someone truly ''understood'' everything about the world, wouldn''t they already be considered ''God''?...''


    Even Jareth is bound by his emotions just like any other person; there''s no such existence who isn''t bound by these mortal thoughts.


    And there is such a person who isn''t bound by the constraints of their emotions that existence would have transcended the realm of mortals long ago.


    "The train is here... Let''s go..."


    Jareth glanced towards the right side of the track and sensed that the train was already about to arrive.


    "This train will lead us to the border area of the human empire; we have to travel from there on by ourselves¡­ So make sure you get plenty of rest when on the train¡­"


    "After all, sleeping in the wild will be more troublesome for newbies like you¡­"


    Jareth himself has slept in the wild plenty of times in his previous life as he was working on shady missions all the time.


    And most of them were related to smuggling drugs through forests in the darkness of night while making sure not to get caught by the police. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although this body has never slept in the forests, it has slept in worse places like the sewers and the slums before.


    Moreover, now Jareth has a physique that is equal to peak grade-2 warrior, so he will be fine even if he doesn''t sleep for a month or so.


    Only Mark and the other two will have to face difficulty on this journey; that''s why he warned them about it.


    ''Well, I would have brought Aria or Shin with me to become emotional supports, but I can''t bring them to the elven capital with me, so the three of them have to do it without them¡­''


    The train finally arrived at the platform, and the four boarded it without hesitation.


    They all have their necessary items in their space rings, so they have no need to carry bags or suitcases, thus they can move more freely.


    The group sat down on their seats, and as it''s a luxury train, there were staff serving drinks.


    Jareth got himself tea as always; and the rest of them took some juice; thus the journey; through the hidden train station began!

 Chapter 211 The Military Camp... Part-1.

    The train traveled through the underground tunnels, and after a while it came to surface in a mountainous region.


    Jareth glanced outside the window and noticed that the train passed through the middle of a military base.


    "This is the outermost military base located in the eastern direction, right at the edge¡­ After this mountain range is the great forest of illusionary flowers¡­"


    "Let''s go; this is the last train station¡­ We have to travel by ourselves after this¡­"


    The train passed by several hidden underground stations along the way in the past four hours, and Jareth told the three a few points about each and every one of those locations whenever they passed by.


    Moreover, Jareth answered their questions on magic and various other phenomena along the way from time to time.


    Thus, the group never got bored during the whole journey.


    Although Jareth seems like a cold and strict teacher from the outside, he shows remarkable patience when teaching others.


    His voice is deep and calm, which makes it difficult to ignore his words and adds the charm of being knowledgeable and believable to them.


    The exceptional teaching abilities of the original Jareth allowed him to survive for three years despite his weakness and teach others about magic theories and other topics without anyone noticing.


    He speaks with great confidence, and his voice carries a deep sense of authority in itself, as if he really were a powerful mage who was guiding weak people faithfully.


    Now, Jareth is taking advantage of this deep voice too and is able to keep up with the questioning speed of these curious students without too much delay.


    Although Jareth had never worked as a teacher in his previous life, the memories from the original Jareth alone were enough for him.


    After all, when it comes to adapting to various new situations, he''s quite good at it by now.


    As he had worked in shady situations and had to adapt accordingly, his mentality has been trained by those difficult times.


    "Will they let us enter the military base though?"


    Looking at the military camp through the window and noticing that the train was about to stop, Azul felt a bit intimidated.


    He has lived his whole life hiding in an underground village from the police and the military personnel.


    Seeing that he''s about to enter a camp filled with thousands of military personnel, he was quite intimidated and had serious doubts in his mind.


    Jareth got up from his seat and headed towards the exit along with the three,


    "There''s no need to get intimidated by these small matters¡­ Although those military people have power weapons, guns, artillery, and stuff¡­"


    "Don''t forget, you have a literal walking nuclear missile standing right beside you¡­"


    Jareth placed his hand on the kiddo''s head, and Azul calmed down after hearing those words, which declared he was safe.


    Even Mark and Risa felt a bit envious when they saw Jareth petting Azul''s head like that.


    Jareth shook his head and moved forward while the three followed behind him.


    He seemed like a confident father guiding his children and supporting them, making them learn about the ways of the world and helping them when they are panicked and intimidated.


    (At this rate, he can never beat those allegations of being considered the illegitimate father it seems¡­)


    ¡­


    Seeing Jareth get down from the train, a group of military officers came forward to greet him personally.


    They saluted him respectfully showing their proper military etiquette and welcomed Jareth with smiles.


    An old man standing in the forefront stretched out his arm to greet. Jareth shook the other party''s hand and nodded his head.


    "It''s nice to meet you, Mr. Jareth. I am General Edwin. I am the one in charge of this place. It''s the blessing of the soldiers in our camp that we were fortunate enough to one day meet you in person¡­" Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth smiled at those words,


    "Haha, General Edwin is flattering me; I am but a humble teacher at the academy; there''s no need to be so reserved, haha¡­"


    Although Jareth said that, the general and even the other officers dared not to be rude in front of him.


    They all knew that the person standing in front of them is a Grade 1 mage who''s one of the few people strongest people in the entire world.


    Getting on the bad side of this person is not a good thing at all.


    Moreover, Jareth is the person who went toe to toe against a world-destroying level calamity like Konda and eventually succeeded in defeating it without facing a single injury!


    People literally worship Jareth as the ''God of Divine Flames'' as he commanded the skies and made the dark clouds and thunder surrounding the city of Bastille disappear by just waving his hands.


    Although Jareth is introducing himself as a mere humble professor at the university, he is the farthest person from the word ''humble''.


    Millions of people look up to him in awe nowadays, after all.


    "Please, Mr. Jareth, this way, I have already asked the staff to make arrangements; if you would like to, you can take a rest here in the camp for tonight¡­"


    "I heard that Mr. Jareth likes exotic and unique tea flavors; I have made sure to arrange some unique ones just for you. I am sure you will not be disappointed by our hospitality¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "Hoh, it seems you have made great efforts in preparing for our welcome; I will trouble the general then; after all, while I am here, I will give a few tips to the soldiers if I have time¡­"


    The general personally led Jareth with him towards the central bunker.


    Mark and the three were left completely speechless when they saw that the general and the person in charge of such a massive military camp were being so respectful of Jareth.


    In fact, it seemed like the other party was trying his best to flatter Jareth as much as possible!


    Jareth also followed along the lines and went with the flow so as not to seem rude.


    He wasn''t swayed by those unique tea flavors, for sure; he''s just being mindful¡­ perhaps.


    Mark and the other two were led by the other officer to another bunker for rest, and after seeing so many sweets and unique desserts, they also forgot about their worries.


    ¡­


    Inside the central bunker.


    "You have put a lot of efforts into this map¡­ I feel bad taking your efforts for free¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the general waved his hands immediately,


    "No problem at all! The moment you had informed us that you were planning on going towards the east through our camp, I had prepared a copy of the military grade map of the easter area for you¡­"


    "This map has all the details and important locations we have discovered over the years in a three-hundred-kilometer radius around the camp¡­"


    "Most of the area around here is just mountain ranges and untouched natural forests that are far away from human activities¡­ And after the 290-kilometer mark is the where the forest of illusory flowers start¡­"


    "We don''t venture into that dangerous forest, and we have only mapped out only ten kilometers of area of that forest, but I am sure this map will help you in getting a head start at least¡­"


    Aside from tasting the unique flavors of tea, Jareth''s main purpose to come here was that he wanted a copy of the military grade map in the hands of the general who''s in charge of this place. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth was ready to give money or something precious in return for this, but he was surprised that the general offered it all by himself, and he didn''t even have to ask for it personally.


    ''I guess this is the benefit of having a great reputation and strength that''s recognized all over the empire¡­''


    The general sighed and continued speaking.


    "Actually, my son is a businessman; when you cleared the dark clouds and thunders above Bastille, he was one of the few businessmen who profited from that a lot¡­"


    "I just want to thank you for all that you have done for the empire and for my children too¡­"


    "I am glad there is such a great and kind person as you in our empire and is protecting us all from great calamities¡­"


    Jareth patted the old general on the shoulder and spoke in a calm tone.


    "General, you are praising me too much. I just did what seemed right to me; saving the people and helping out according to my capabilities is what I think was the right thing to do¡­"


    "Even if someone was in my shoes, they would have done the same thing¡­"


    Jareth is good at acting when it comes to these kinds of situations; he immediately assumed the role and used words as weapons.


    The old general was easily swayed by his devilish acting and didn''t even notice that Jareth was being a fraud the whole time!


    "Ah, you are such a humble person, Mr. Jareth; if only that bastard Nathan was as kind and good as you¡­ Our nation would have been blessed with three grade 1 mages¡­"


    The common people don''t know the circumstances of Nathan, but they have heard many bad rumors about him, so all of them hate Nathan nowadays.


    Seeing that Jareth is the complete opposite of Nathan despite being so strong and using his powers in the correct ways, the old general was moved beyond words.


    He kept praising Jareth and his benevolent self for a long time that day and even went as far as to give a lot of secret military details to him for free.

 Chapter 212 The Military Camp... Part-2.

    "Uh, so you are actually traveling with Mr. Jareth, and he''s teaching you three personally!?"


    A young soldier who had just recently joined the army and had become a warrior after successfully becoming capable of using mana was shocked when he saw Mark nod his head.


    After the trio was led to the bunker, they were free to roam around anywhere.


    Jareth was still in a meeting with the old general, so the three of them can go and explore the area in the meantime.


    Thus, the trio headed out on an adventure to explore the military camp, and they stumbled upon this training area while wandering around at random.


    The young soldiers immediately noticed them and offered them chairs to sit in.


    Then they all placed chairs nearby and started to ask questions of their own; each of their eyes shone with great curiosity.


    Mark and the others are from the most prestigious university of the empire; after all, only the most talented children from the empire are eligible to enter that university.


    The likes of them who aren''t talented enough to even become the lowest-level wizards aren''t qualified enough to even become doorkeepers of that university.


    Most young people who want to become strong and want to pursue the path of strength despite having no talent for wizardry choose to enter the military and become warriors!


    All humans have some amount of innate mana in their body; although you can''t become a mage without a mana circuit, you can at the very least go and try to become a powerful warrior.


    Although warriors are not as well respected and revered as mages in this world, they aren''t weak people either.


    If a warrior possesses exceptional talent, they can compete with young mage geniuses like Risa and Azul.


    It''s just that there''s no particular academies or universities that focus on teaching powerful warriors, unlike Mages, who have proper institutions for guidance.


    Moreover, there''s been a very small amount of research in the aspects of warriors; there''s barely any complete skills that can be perfectly utilized by the warriors to show the power equivalent of wizards.


    Maybe the warriors lost their legacy at some point in the long annals of history, or maybe there was none to begin with.


    But this lack of powerful skills makes them much weaker to Wizards, who have huge amounts of spells and tricks in their arsenal.


    So, as people from poor origins with no family background and barely any talent, these young soldiers are quite excited for Mark and the others, who are revered all over the empire as having the highest level of talent.


    Mark and the others are accompanying a literal grade-1 mage in his journey, which just shows that their talent has been acknowledged by a grade-1 mage himself.


    This in itself is a big feat that the likes of them can''t achieve in their whole lives.


    Let alone becoming a student of grade 1 mage; even meeting a grade 1 mage once in person is already a big deal for them.


    Grade 1 mages are like high-class celebrities from their point of view, and meeting them in person is like winning a lottery!


    The population of the entire human empire is in billions, and the number of grade-1 mages in the human empire is currently just three, including Nathan, who has been sealed in the Death Cage.


    The ratio is simply too small.


    And a single grade-1 mage is strong enough to level down the entire human empire in a matter of a few days!


    Threats like Konda are something that can''t be dealt with even with the help of powerful nuclear attacks, yet Jareth went toe to toe with it and even defeated it in the end.


    All these feats are just too awe inspiring from the point of view of these people.


    "Well, we were fortunate enough to be chosen by him; even I didn''t expect that I would one day end up accompanying a grade 1 mage and journeying in various places with him¡­"


    Seeing those excited eyes shining with curiosity, Mark couldn''t help but feel a bit embarrassed.


    In the end, he decided to speak in a hesitant tone and tried to appear as humble as possible.


    But as they say,


    {The brilliance of world-class talent can''t be overshadowed by the darkness of the world!} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Mark''s words seemed humble, but in fact they were enough to make everyone envy him to death.


    After all, Mark is living the life that everyone in the world would pay even their ''souls'' for.


    Mark not only has immense wealth, loving parents, a caring family, a loyal lover, and immense talent; he also has a great teacher and the support of the strongest people behind him.


    He literally has everything that a person can dream for.


    (It kind of seems like Mark is the real protagonist instead of Allen¡­ or perhaps Mark is the author''s favorite or something¡­)


    "Were you also there when Mr. Jareth fought that abysmal bone dragon!?"


    Hearing that question, Mark and the other two nodded their heads and described the situation to the young soldiers with great enthusiasm.


    Mark felt that it was his job as a student of Jareth to spread his amazing brilliance to the world with great enthusiasm.


    So, he exaggerated things even further and directly said that Jareth beat that bone dragon so much that Konda was running all over the ground like a bereaved dog.


    Risa and Azul helped him exaggerate things even further and said that Jareth caught Konda jaw with one hand and threw it and rubbed it on the ground like he was dragging around random garbage, which he threw away in disgust.


    Then they said that Jareth felt that the scenery was not to his liking, so he raised his finger and said to the heavens,


    "Make the sky blue or I will burn a hole in the heavens!!"


    The heavens trembled in fear of his words and the dark clouds ran away in fright. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Such immense exaggeration would have never worked on veteran soldiers who have faced danger all their lives and have known the cruelty of the world.


    But these young soldiers are just newbies who have yet to face real dangers and still don''t have the ability to see through lies at one glance.


    Mark and the others'' words easily swayed them, and they instantly believed them.


    What the trio didn''t know was that they unknowingly added several dozens of loyal followers to Jareth''s God of Divine Flame cult in just that one session of bragging and exaggerating!


    Even Jareth was unaware of the fact that behind his back, the cult worshipping him had suddenly grown bigger once again, all because of his own students, who couldn''t help but brag a bit too much about his greatness!


    The trio then showed a few fancy magic tricks to the group of young soldiers and then went on to other areas to take a look.


    Along the way, many soldiers passed by them, but they were all already notified by the general, so they didn''t dare to bother the three and let them pass without checking anything.


    Thankfully, Mark was keeping an eye on the other two along the way, so he made sure that Risa didn''t steal some mana grenades along the way from the bunkers.


    He also had to prevent her from grabbing random potions and herbs from the inventory of the military camp to make poisons and stuff.


    In order to keep her close and stop her from wandering around at random, Mark had to use the old-fashioned method of holding hands and dragging her away from things.


    He saw on TV that many people do something like this when they go shopping with their partners in some expensive places. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When your budget is tight and you can''t afford to deny the requests of your partner, you have to be tricky; drag them away before they can even make the requests or take a look at the shops nearby.


    This is a very economical and life-friendly method.


    Mark stumbled upon this method while searching the internet for various new memes about Jareth and his cult members.


    Azul, on the other hand, is a more well-behaved person, so Mark doesn''t have to take care of him that much.


    His hands are already full with one troublemaker; it''s a relief that Azul didn''t become an addition to his troubles.


    While wandering around the empty helipads, Mark suddenly asked Risa,


    "By the way, I have been meaning to ask, how come you are able to talk to Professor Jareth so easily without any reserves¡­ Even I feel a bit intimidated when talking to him¡­"


    "How are you so carefree with him?"


    Risa tilted her head in confusion at that question,


    "What? You guys feel intimidated by him? That''s so strange and bizarre¡­"


    Mark and Azul gave Risa a strange look after hearing those words, and they thought the exact same thing in their heads at that moment.


    ''You are the one who''s strange and bizarre!!''


    Risa contemplated for a moment and then spoke in a vague tone.


    "Er¡­ How do I explain it¡­ He seems quite the chill type of person to me¡­ You know, he kind of seems to remind me of a father figure¡­"


    "It''s kind of difficult to explain¡­ Don''t you guys feel the same¡­ Er, that feeling when you accidentally mistake the primary school teacher as your parent¡­ It''s kind of that type of feeling¡­"


    Risa was having difficulty explaining it, so Mark and Azul shook their heads in defeat and stopped asking about it as they knew it was useless.


    Risa has always been like this, carefree and vague.

 Chapter 213 The Military Camp... Part-3.

    "Would you like to take a helicopter? As the person in charge, it won''t be much of a problem if I report that one helicopter went missing after crashing¡­ You can take one if you feel like it¡­"


    While passing by the helipads, the general offered Jareth a military-grade helicopter for free.


    But Jareth had no use of it as it''s too slow for his speed, and he doesn''t know how to drive one, so there''s no point in having it.


    Instead, his float magic is several times much faster than it, and sitting in a helicopter feels like traveling on a turtle''s back; it''s too slow for his liking.


    Thus, Jareth shook his head,


    "No, I wouldn''t want to trouble the old general with such unreasonable requests¡­ By the way, have you already prepared what I had ordered?"


    Hearing the question, the general nodded his head immediately and led the way.


    "I was surprised when you suddenly had such a request, but I guess for us warriors, the ways of powerful wizards like you are just too out of the world¡­"


    "I can''t fathom your thoughts at all... I am quite sure that if we were on war and you were the general on the opposite side, I would lose extremely fast even with my years of experience!" Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth smirked at those words of flattery.


    "Haha, you flatter me, general; surely I am still young and don''t have as much experience as you in commanding troops¡­"


    Although Jareth knew that the other party was just doing pointless flattery, he didn''t point it out and just went with the flow.


    The other party is going to such lengths to flatter him; there''s no point in breaking this situation; it''s better to take more benefits out of him instead.


    Jareth not only got the map out of the general, he even took a lot of supplies, magic bombs, etc. for his personal use.


    Although he was tempted to take that helicopter too, he doesn''t have the time to play around with it right now.


    "Here, this is what you asked us to forge for you¡­"


    This military camp is massive, and it has all types of facilities; it even has a small forge that can be used to create various different kinds of items.


    Jareth asked the general to forge a strong and gigantic alloy sword for him.


    The sword was so big that its size was twice that of a helicopter; looking at it, anyone can tell that it''s not something that humans can use to swing; it''s too big to even be called a sword.


    It''s just a thick sheet of metal that an ordinary person can''t even swing once with all their strength!


    [Basic Magic: Telekinesis!]


    Jareth lifted his finger, and the giant sword flew into the sky instantly, as if it had no weight at all.


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth made it fly towards the sky and made it do tricky stunts in the sky similar to how fighter jets perform various complex maneuvers in the air.


    Its speed was so fast that it immediately broke the sound barrier and caused a massive sonic boom as it took off into the sky.


    Just the air pressure created by it was enough to cause the clouds in the sky to disperse in all directions as it cut through them like butter in an instant!


    The old general and the rest of the high-ranking officers are all grade-2 warriors, yet even they couldn''t follow the sword movements in the sky as it was way too fast to follow with the naked eye.


    "T-this!? D-don''t tell me-"


    Jareth nodded his head and spoke before the general could even finish his sentence.


    "Yes, this is going to be our ride in the journey ahead! Helicopters and planes are a bit too slow for my liking, and they make it difficult to launch magic as they restrict movement¡­"


    "They are more suited for soldiers, not for mages; this giant sword suits me more instead¡­"


    A smirk appeared over Jareth''s face as he controlled that sword and made land on the ground.


    Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire


    With Jareth''s telekinesis controlling it and the support of mana singularity, the speed at which he can travel with this sword is immense, and he can even carry the trio with him on this sword without any problems.


    Moreover, in case of emergency, he can use the legendary kamikaze technique to make the sword crash on the ground with massive momentum.


    The explosion it will cause will be much stronger than a massive meteor hitting the land and causing a gigantic crater.


    Just by seeing that speed of the sword, the old general could feel one thing in his bones,


    ''That sword alone is enough to wipe out my entire military camp at once¡­''


    The old general gulped his saliva and finally realized the horror of a grade-1 mage, as this is the first time he has seen a grade-1 mage use his magic at such close range.


    Originally, the general used to think that mages are weak of body, so it will be very easy to deal with them if you manage to get close, and this is indeed an effective strategy.


    But after seeing the speed of that sword, he lost all hope of ever beating a grade-1 mage in combat.


    ''Forget about getting close; that sword is so fast that even if I were standing just a few inches away from him, that sword would hit me first before I could even land a direct punch on him¡­''


    At that moment, the old general gave up the idea of even asking Jareth to help out in dealing with a few monsters nearby in return for the map he had offered.


    After all, it''s better if this massive calamity leaves this place faster; there''s no point in making a walking nuclear missile stay at your home for too long, as you will always be living in fear of it going off at any random moment.


    If for some reason Jareth got offended, the entire military camp will be wiped off the face of earth along with the several mountain ranges nearby in just one attack.


    No one will even be able to tell whether this place even had mountains nearby before, as it will become a complete plain land shattered to bits with a gigantic crater in the middle.


    ¡­


    A few hours went by, and Jareth went over to visit various facilities and took a small tour of the military camp before deciding to leave.


    It''s already noon; if they don''t move now, they will need to sleep here in the camp tonight, which will delay their journey.


    Jareth is not ready to waste so much time on pointless things.


    He just gave a few tips to the newbies who were training in the training area as he passed by them, then he grabbed the three kiddos who were wandering around at random and took them with him.


    The group finally boarded the flying sword and waved their hands to say goodbye to the general and the other newbies.


    Jareth used his telekinesis to create a bubble of protection around them so the three didn''t get blown away by the massive air pressure, and then the flying sword took off at an insanely high speed.


    Within a matter of seconds, Jareth and the group disappeared into the horizon.


    Seeing the fading figure in the distance, the old general heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat on his forehead.


    The nearby officers also did the same, and everyone slumped down on nearby chairs, looking extremely exhausted.


    The newbies who had no idea what was going on had a confused look when they saw their superiors behave so weirdly.


    Seeing their confused looks, the general waved his hand and ordered them to leave for their training grounds.


    Once the newbies left, the officers finally relaxed down completely.


    "Phew, I thought I was going to suffocate to death¡­"


    "Standing in his presence, I dared not even breathe too loudly¡­"


    "His aura was really something else¡­ It felt as if a predator was staring at me when our eyes met for a moment¡­"


    Hearing the words of his subordinates, the old general also sighed and thanked his ancestors that his military camp survived another day and the calamity had left.


    If it was a grade-2 mage, they wouldn''t have been so tense, but grade-1 mages are entirely different cases. They are not bound by any laws or rules; they do whatever they like to do and no one can stop them.


    Although Jareth was behaving in a humble manner, they all knew that he was doing it all just for the sake of being polite.


    "Thankfully he had those three children with him¡­ Perhaps that''s why he was so mild and polite today¡­ I guess even as a grade-1 mage, he''s still human after all¡­"


    "That''s a relief¡­"


    The general misunderstood that Jareth was being so polite because Mark and the others were accompanying him, and he didn''t want to set a bad example in front of them by being rude.


    Thus, the general and the others were saved from him.


    Unknowingly, Jareth created another misunderstanding for himself.


    People misunderstand him when he behaves arrogantly, and they still misunderstand him when he behaves more politely. He really can''t catch a break, it seems.


    "Okay, enough dilly-dallying; go back to your positions; there''s been a lot of monster activity lately!"


    "Make sure you keep your eyes open when patrolling; we don''t want the entire camp to get destroyed by monsters overnight due to a lack of discipline!"


    After the general''s statement, everyone regained their composure and resumed their regular work routine.

 Chapter 214 Uervar Flower Area... Part-1.

    ''Now this is what we call enjoying life to the fullest¡­''


    Jareth brought out a big chair from his space ring and put it on the giant sword laid down on it by tilting the chairs back.


    The luxurious chair even had a leg rest on it so Jareth could lean on it comfortably.


    He gave the work of controlling the giant sword and making it fly to his three disciples and started to enjoy juice as the refreshing wind breeze brushed past his face.


    Although Mark and others telekinesis skills aren''t strong enough to fly as fast as Jareth, they can still make it work somehow.


    Not only will this help the group travel faster than planes, it will also be a training experience for Mark and the other two.


    ''What a genius idea¡­ I might be the best teacher out there, I think¡­''


    Jareth sipped the juice from the glass and enjoyed himself to the fullest while his disciples worked hard for him. (Disclaimer: No child labor was done in the making of this chapter¡­)


    ''In the past month I was so busy with research I had no time to relax at all¡­''


    Jareth came back from the Abyss Altar and got busy with more work right after that.


    He got a massive team of researchers, basically for free, and they started working for him with great enthusiasm.


    The chance to work with a grade 1 mage is not something you get every day after all; it''s like winning a lottery, and the pay is also very good.


    Moreover, what Jareth is trying to research is an Era changing level of technology.


    Although Jareth didn''t tell them everything, they could feel that Jareth is working on a technology that has the potential to change the entire world forever.


    The invention of a working stable wormhole is not something that can be considered a small invention; it has the power to shake the entire world and make everyone acknowledge Jareth''s abilities.


    If it were an ordinary world, Jareth would have opened a company that would specialize in creating wormholes.


    It would have earned him immense wealth, with which he could have spent his whole life spending money like water.


    But now that he knows that this world is already on the verge of destruction, the money doesn''t matter much, thus he doesn''t have the motivation to open a company.


    Instead, he will just create the wormhole and leave this place fast, and the technology will disappear along with this world. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Well, if I survived, I can still carry on this legacy with me¡­''


    Outer space is filled with mystery; the sea of endless miasma is so vast that there''s no end to it in sight, and Jareth can only hope that it doesn''t actually cover the entire universe.


    If there''s someplace out there where he can go and live a normal life, then he will find it extremely lucky.


    ''Or I will just go to some random empty space and will die a slow death while floating in space like an asteroid or something¡­''


    As the game developers never really confirmed it themselves, Jareth has no idea what lies outside the sea of endless miasma.


    It can be an empty void, it can be more miasma, or it can be some bizarre existence like null, nothingness, or chaos.


    ''Well, my main motive is to not let the sea of miasma capture my soul; aside from that, nothing else matters much¡­''


    Just when Jareth was enjoying himself, the mountain range finally ended and a massive grassland appeared.


    Looking at the massive fields of grassland spread over several dozens of kilometers, Jareth spoke in a calm voice.


    "This is the famous ''Purple Earth Area'' known far and wide for the unique purple flowers that bloom here at night every day¡­."


    "These purple flowers here are unique; they are called Uervar Lotus¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the trio and taught them what he knew about the lore of this area.


    "Uervar Seceno was a world-famous hero who hailed from a small village in this area¡­ According to history books, he was born a millennia after the era of the First King ended¡­"


    "And he was one of the most powerful people to ever exist in the long annals of history, but his tale is said to be that of great tragedy¡­"


    "He saved millions of people from disasters and used his magic to help humanity prosper¡­"


    "He''s said to be the one who saved humanity from the attacks of the Orc Necromancer that had slaughtered thousands of people and destroyed massive cities¡­"


    "But even though he saved others, he couldn''t save himself; his friends betrayed him, his lover ran away with someone else, and his own children stabbed him to death in sleep¡­"


    "And then his corpse didn''t even receive a proper funeral; it was hung up by the villagers whom he protected with his life, and they ended up considering him a traitor in the end..."


    "It is said that his corpse rotted away and his bones were later used to create some powerful artifacts..."


    "A tale of tragedy and a tale that had a bad ending¡­ The Uervar flowers represent ''Tragedy'', ''Mourning'', ''Betrayal'' and can also be considered a sign of ''Unwavering Faith''¡­"


    "The hero Uervar''s faith never wavered even till the end, and he thought of saving people till the end¡­"


    "It is said that he had dark purple hair just like these flowers¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the flowers and spoke in a vague tone.


    "You can say that he was a very distant relative of my ancestors, actually¡­"


    As eras pass and centuries go by, family names change, and people forget their ancestry over time.


    But Jareth remembers that the developers once personally confirmed it that Uervar was related to Jareth Blaze, the third-rate villain who appears in the prologue of the game.


    The trio were quite surprised after hearing Jareth''s words.


    They didn''t expect that Jareth was actually related by blood to people from legends and myths.


    "But how do you know all this¡­ I don''t remember the history teacher ever telling us about it in class¡­"


    Jareth just shrugged his shoulders at that question and replied to Mark with a vague tone,


    "I found a dungeon once that was filled with records on history that is lost to time¡­ Unfortunately, that dungeon was burned down when I was fighting¡­"


    Mark rolled his eyes at those words.


    ''He must have used so wide area type magic, and the entire dungeon would have been leveled down along with the records being burned to the crisp¡­''


    Mark knows Jareth quite well; he knows that whenever Jareth uses magic in battle, his magic destroys everything in the vicinity as if nothing existed there in the first place.


    So, in his opinion, Jareth must have forgotten about those records for a second in battle, and he ended up destroying everything only to realize that he had destroyed the records too accidently along with the enemy.


    "Uh, perhaps you should hold back a bit more sometimes¡­"


    Jareth was a bit confused when Mark suddenly gave that weird advice to him out of nowhere, but as he was busy thinking about game lore, he ignored it.


    ''There should be a powerful grade-1 boss monster a few kilometers deep somewhere¡­ Strange; I can''t detect it''s presence; has it left the area?''


    Before their journey started, Reynald had advised Mark to tell Jareth about a powerful beast in this area, but Jareth already knew about all that from the start. Explore more adventures at My Virtual Library Empire


    He already knew what difficulties he would need to face when going to the Elven Empire, so he was already prepared for it.


    In the original game timeline, Allen traverses this area with the help of Nathan and defeats the giant serpent lord here with the power of love and friendship¡­ cough! I mean, he defeats it with magic.


    Nathan was Allen''s biggest supporter in the original timeline, but now that he''s stuck in the death cage, Allen can''t dream of crossing this area so easily.


    He will need to rely on some extra heavy plot armor if he really wants to go to the elven empire in his current weak state.


    ''Well, I don''t think he will be going to the Elven Empire for quite some time right now, though¡­ After all, he''s busy scoring favorability points with various heroines¡­''


    Jareth shook his head at the thought of that guy. The only reason Jareth hasn''t dealt with Allen as of yet is because he doesn''t have the power to face the heavenly punishment right now.


    If you kill Allen, the heavens will definitely get angry and react; at that point, Jareth will end up exactly like Konda.


    Jareth doesn''t have the power to resist the heavenly punishment if it falls upon him, and just like Konda, he will be completely erased from existence along with his soul and will.


    ''The best way to win a game that puts you at a disadvantage from the start is to never play that game in the first place and make your way around it¡­''


    Jareth directly ignored that trouble magnet, Allen, and focused on his goals.


    This way he didn''t get in trouble with the protagonist and didn''t get targeted by the heavenly luck until now.


    "Okay, it''s daytime right now, so you can land on this grassland¡­ Let''s rest here for now; we will travel at night because we can''t stay on the grassland when the Uervar flowers are in full bloom at night..."


    The Uervar flowers are said to be able to carry the hatred of the dead and the evil wrath of tortured souls; thus, it''s not a good idea to stay beside them or touch those flowers with bare hands.


    These kinds of flowers have the power to poison your mana, and they can even do mental attacks when you touch them.


    At Jareth''s order, Mark and the others made the giant sword land on the ground, and they lit a bonfire to rest for a while.

 Chapter 215 Uervar Flower Area... Part-2.

    "Why does it seem like all the good people end up meeting bad endings at the end? All the stories and legends show the same thing in our history books¡­"


    Sitting around the bonfire, Risa suddenly asked a random question out of nowhere. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Upon hearing her question, Jareth smiled slightly and responded in a calm tone.


    "Perhaps because that''s how this world actually is¡­"


    Jareth can''t tell them that it''s basically the influence of the ''Sea of Miasma''.


    The sea of miasma is extremely overpowered in this place, and it corrupts everything, including the very ''Laws'' of this world.


    Miasma hates the honest and kind people the most! Thus, if you try to become a hero and save thousands of lives, the sea of miasma will notice you immediately.


    It will then corrupt the strings of destiny attached to your fate, and after that, it''s all chaos.


    Your life keeps getting worse and worse as time passes and the more your destiny gets corrupted.


    ''Perhaps the reason why wizards are taught to be selfish is because people from the time of the first king realized that being kind would lead to bad luck¡­''


    ''Maybe that''s the reason why everyone subconsciously tries to be selfish in this world; they are subconsciously avoiding the fate of suffering and dying horrible deaths¡­''


    "I guess they added those stories in history books because they want to make you aware that being kind and good doesn''t mean you will always win in life and be able to live happily."


    "Life is strange; sometimes the most vile and evil person ends up living happy and fulfilling lives, and the kindest persons die horrible deaths and never get justice."


    "Life is not a movie or fairy tale from a children''s playbook where the hero always wins in the end and everyone lives happily ever after."


    Jareth shook his head and stopped talking further about the matter.


    What happened with Uervar Seceno is not something new or unique; such things happen in this world on a daily basis.


    In fact, these incidents are so common that the media doesn''t even bother showing them anymore, as people are used to seeing the same thing over and over.


    A world tainted with the touch of miasma can''t tolerate kindness and love; this is a world that survives on selfishness and greed.


    Incidents like children murdering their parents, the parents butchering their children, friends and family members killing each other, and using forbidden magic on their corpses.


    Such things are extremely common in remote areas of the nation.


    In face, the main work of the Mage Guild is to deal with these people who delve into forbidden magic and spread terror.


    If not for these people, the Mage guild will have not much work to do, and the newbie mages will starve to death.


    Most of the commissions and quests there are about dealing with forbidden magic or something related to demon cults.


    The only reason why mages are revered so much in this world despite being known for their selfishness is because they save people by dealing with these harmful people every day.


    Moreover, mages are the ones who protect cities from monster tides and stuff, so they are automatically revered as heroes.


    Then the mages cancel out that grace of kindness by being selfish and treating others like pawns.


    ''These acts balance out things for them, I guess; perhaps that''s why they say that to be a wizard is to be selfish to the core¡­''


    Just when Jareth and the party were having a relaxing time sitting around the comfy and warm bonfire, a certain creature was staring at them from afar.


    ''A grade-1 mage!? Good thing I always hide my presence with this artifact¡­''


    A giant eye that was peeking out of the ground withdrew itself back into the massive hole in the ground before anyone could notice it.


    ''I guess I have to figure out some plan to deal with this; they barged in my territory; I can''t let them leave so easily.''


    ¡­


    "Hmm?"


    Jareth glanced in a certain direction and tilted his head in confusion.


    ''I thought someone was staring at me with killing intent¡­ Was it an illusion?''


    Jareth''s mana singularity makes him extremely sensitive to the mana in the area, and killing intent sometimes creates fluctuations in the mana in the area.


    It would have been impossible for others to sense it, but Jareth can sense them easily.


    ''No, mana singularity can never get stuck in an illusion¡­ There''s definitely something keeping an eye on us¡­''


    ''It must be that serpent lord that''s been missing¡­''


    The serpent lord is a gigantic snake-type monster that is so big you can easily spot it from a kilometer away.


    The moment you enter the Uervar flower area, the serpent lord''s presence becomes clear, and you can go and challenge the boss monster almost instantly.


    In the game, if you want to move the story forward and want to go to the elven capital, defeating this serpent lord is a must. You can invite Nathan to join your party in this battle, so it becomes much easier.


    You just need to dodge a few moves and wander around the arena like you are taking a stroll, while Nathan will beat the boss all by himself and put an end to the boss fight in a few minutes.


    The fight is basically a joke; you rely on an all-powerful mage to ''hard carry'' you through the whole battle.


    ''There are many things that have changed. I wonder what change this boss monster has faced now¡­''


    As a grade-1 monster, the serpent lord obviously would have the intelligence of a normal human, so it won''t sit around in its boss arena all day long.


    And now that it''s real life, the boss is not confined to its arena; it can wander off to other places out of its free will.


    ''Just like how Zion ended up abandoning his own boss area and came to Konda''s boss area instead.''


    Right now, the serpent lord is not present in this gigantic arena where it should have been, which means it has faced some change just like others.


    ''Perhaps the result of the butterfly effect I caused¡­''


    Just like how Jareth made Zion appear in Konda''s boss area by defeating Konda, it is possible his actions might have influenced the serpent lord someway or other.


    ''Thinking about Zion appearing in Konda''s boss area¡­ I wonder if it was possible in the game to create this scenario¡­''


    Jareth never defeated Konda himself in the game, as it was simply too impossible, and only a few speed runners and glitch masters were able to beat him.


    However, the issue lies in the fact that Zion remained in his boss area even after Konda was defeated.


    ''Perhaps in the game they didn''t have this hidden storyline or interaction¡­''


    If the game had this hidden interaction that once you defeat Konda and go back to the arena and find Zion standing there, then maybe there would have been a ''Fourth'' hidden ending to this game.


    ''Then I guess the player character will be given two choices, just like Zion gave me two choices: either join Zion in his quest or fight him to death¡­''


    ''Choosing to join Zion''s faction, the game will end right there, and that can be considered a hidden ''Fourth'' ending¡­''


    In this fourth ending, the player would work together with Zion, and from how this game''s endings work, this one would have been a bad ending too, as likely everything will get destroyed in the end eventually.


    But this time, it would have delayed the death of the planet a bit more due to Zion and the player character''s efforts.


    ''Nonetheless, even this one would have been a tragic ending too; I can expect this much from those sadistic developers¡­''


    ''To think out of all the endings and choices, only this non-existent ending seems barely decent¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the fire in the bonfire and thought of himself.


    Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''And if you look at it from my perspective, I am trying to create the ''Fifth'' ending to this game¡­ That is the ending where you choose to fight Zion, take both fragments of the core, and escape the planet all by yourself¡­''


    ''This can be considered the sole ''Good'' ending, I guess¡­''


    In all senses, this game is all about learning to be more and more selfish; the more you focus on saving yourself and abandoning the world, the higher your chances of achieving greatness get.


    Going the hero route leads to momentary peace and happiness; eventually your soul will fall into the sea of miasma and you will suffer eternally.


    Going the delaying path with Zion will not change things much; it will only delay the time for destruction.


    Only the ''Fifth'' ending is somewhat decent; that''s why Jareth is aiming for it.


    ''There might be more endings out there after all; the world is filled with endless possibilities, but I can''t bet my life on those unknown possibilities as I don''t even know about them¡­''


    While Jareth was having internal debates with himself, the rest of the group laid down in their sleeping bags that they brought with them and slept peacefully.


    The refreshing wind breeze brushed past their faces, and it was extremely easy to fall asleep in this comfy environment.


    Looking at those innocent faces, Jareth could only shake his head and sigh to himself.


    These innocent kids shouldn''t have to end up getting tortured by the sea of miasma, but Jareth is powerless; he can''t save everyone, and he isn''t a hero either.


    ''I seriously hate that sea of miasma¡­ This is the second time something has forced me into such a helpless state¡­''


    The first time was his boss from previous life, and now the exact same thing is happening again: he''s being forced into a corner by the sea of miasma with each passing moment.

 Chapter 216 Uervar Flower Area... Part-3.

    Purple Earth Area, Underground.


    "Hehe, I will make a giant pit underground and bury you all in it, and you will not even be able to react!!"


    A giant serpent used earth elementals to make subtle changes in the ground located right below the boss arena where Jareth and the group were resting.


    Although monsters can''t use magic, some of them are naturally gifted and have a high affinity for certain types of elements.


    The serpent lord has great affinity for the earth element, and as it''s a grade-1 creature, it has enough intelligence to lay out traps and kill his opponents'' using strategies and other abilities.


    "No matter if you are a grade-1 mage or what, all of you are just humans after all!


    "You won''t be able to live once you can''t breathe and are buried under massive amounts of rubble and can''t even cast magic¡­ hehehehe¡­"


    "I will bury you all alive, and then I will eat you as snack-"


    Just when the serpent lord was muttering to himself in happiness, someone cut his off.


    "No, you won''t¡­"


    Grade-1 monsters can in fact use telepathy and can embed mana in the sound waves to talk; that''s what the snake was using to mutter to himself about his plan.


    But it turned out someone heard that plan before it could even be executed.


    The snake tilted its head and glanced around him, but there was no one there. Just when it was getting confused, its body suddenly felt weightless and started to rise up.


    The snake''s body burst out of the ground like a rocket and floated in the air; debris flew everywhere like crazy, and the trio that was sleeping peacefully woke up from the loud noise.


    When they woke up, they saw Jareth standing nearby with his grimoire shining brightly and a gigantic snake floating in the sky covered in telekinesis.


    "Hmm, quite the peculiar monster, aren''t you? You are spilling your plans all over... Were you expecting that I wouldn''t hear them¡­ I can easily interpret those sound waves you were making; you know¡­"


    Even Jareth was surprised after looking at the size of the snake; it was so big that it was twice the size of that bone titan that Abella summoned back then to deal with Nathan.


    ''It wasn''t this big in the game¡­ Perhaps it became this big because it''s real life now; the game version of the boss was a miniature version, I guess¡­''


    Seeing that it was floating in the sky, the snake hissed loudly and emitted even more sound waves.


    "Whhhat!? How did you notice me! I was using earth elementals to cover my mana fluctuations, and I was working in stealth mode!!"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders at those words.


    "Well, if it was someone else, they might not have noticed, but unfortunately it was me whom you were trying to trick... I happen to be quite good at mana detection skill¡­"


    Jareth''s mana singularity is not for show; it boosts his mana detection ability all the time.


    He has honed his mana detection ability even further by traveling in the Abyss Altar Area for quite some time and trying to use mana detection in that miasma filled place.


    Now that his mana detection is several times stronger than it was before, he can easily sense even the slightest disturbance that happens in the mana in the surroundings.


    Mana fluctuations are basically the disturbance an individual causes in the mana present in the air by their body''s movement or by their mana''s movement.


    Although the serpent lord had hidden his mana fluctuations using earth elementals, it didn''t know that Jareth could sense even the slightest movement in even non-living things!


    The moment the serpent moved underground and started to move the ground, Jareth noticed the mana fluctuation caused by the movement of the soil and debris.


    He immediately noticed the serpent lord and locked his target instantly.


    Trying to hide in front of Jareth is the most useless thing someone can do; the serpent lord didn''t know that and got caught instantly.


    "Er¡­ can you let me go? I was just playing a prank, okay¡­ I wasn''t actually trying to harm anyone; moreover, you guys barged in my home first!"


    "Let me go now, or I will report you guys to the people from the animal abuse prevention association!!" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hearing those words from that gigantic snake, Mark and the other were really taken aback for a second.


    Even Jareth was a bit surprised for a second.


    "You are quite the peculiar one¡­ You even know that there''s such an association out there?"


    A look of interest appeared on Jareth''s face; he immediately deactivated his telekinesis and let the other party go. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire


    "This is the first time I have seen a monster behave in such an intelligent manner¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but be fascinated by the intelligence of that serpent lord.


    Hearing Mark''s words, the snake raised its head in pride, and a humanoid expression of smirk appeared on its face.


    "Hmph! Of course I am intelligent! I am the glorious serpent lord ''Tirargandr''! I have lived in this place for more than a millennium!"


    "You humans are less mature and less intelligent than the might and glorious me!"


    Ignoring the other party''s words, Jareth glanced at Risa and asked,


    "Do you know how to make snake soup or something like that? I think we have found our dinner for today¡­"


    Risa glanced at the giant snake and nodded her head with great confidence.


    "Of course I know! We can skin him alive! Then we can use your flames to cook the meat on medium heat for an hour or so; the more he twists and turns in pain, the better the meat will taste!"


    "They actually often use this method on snake-type monsters... I think a few five-star hotels also do this¡­"


    Just thinking about it all, Risa''s eyes were already shining brightly while looking at that giant snake body.


    "With such a big body, he can stay alive for a long time if we are a bit more careful; it''s going to be one heck of a torturing party!!"


    Azul and Mark cast glances of pity at the giant snake while hearing all this.


    Jareth cracked his knuckles and pretended to be fierce.


    "Oho, good, let''s try that method then..."


    The giant serpent backed away in fright after hearing all that.


    "W-what!? No! How can that be!? I, the great serpent lord, will never become human food!! I refuse to believe that!!"


    "Just kill me now!! I will not have my dignity tarnished like that!! I promise you, my soul will definitely curse you to death!!"


    While saying all that, the giant serpent slowly started to retreat and tried to run away in the hole nearby to hide.


    But Jareth used telekinesis to collapse that hole, and the snake''s escape route was closed in an instant!


    "What!? Y-you stay away from me! You fiends! I will report you all to the animal helpline!!"


    In the end, the serpent lord admitted defeat and lay flat on the ground after resisting for a few times.


    Mark and the trio climbed its body and took selfies with it as if they were trying to show off that they had defeated such a giant snake.


    "Such humiliation¡­ I can never show my face in front of my wife and children anymore¡­ Just kill me now¡­"


    Jareth felt quite amused hearing those defeated words from that serpent lord''s mouth.


    This monster is powerful enough to fight people like Reynald and Nathan toe to toe for a long time, but now it''s being taken advantage of by three little children.


    This scene is so funny that even Jareth needed a lot of self-control to stop himself from laughing out loud.


    "Ahem¡­ Let''s stop the pointless talk now. What exactly have you been doing in this place for such a long time? Why stay in a flower field for so long?"


    The giant snake sighed at that question and replied in a calm voice,


    "Sigh¡­ Well, I don''t often tell everyone about it¡­ But now that you have defeated me so thoroughly, I have no other choice¡­"


    "I am not here because of my own free will; I am actually guarding the last heritage that my friend left in this world¡­"


    "Once upon a time, Uervar Seceno planted these purple flowers here with his very own hands¡­ As his friend, I guard this place in his remembrance¡­"


    "Yeah, yeah, go ahead and call me stupid¡­ But no matter what you say, I will not leave this place, and I won''t let you harm these flowers either¡­"


    "You humans always send people to pluck these flowers and try to take them away for the sake of so called ''research'' but you guys are all selfish people¡­"


    "I won''t let you guys destroy this place for your so-called selfish gains¡­ I have long forgotten his face and his voice; these flowers are the only last remaining remembrance of him¡­"


    Even Jareth was shocked after hearing all this from the snake''s mouth.


    ''Ah! No wonder this guy is here! Monsters of his level usually live deep in dungeons to hide from human activities and never show up on surface¡­''


    ''But this guy is here because it has something to protect¡­ I guess the reason why the snake fights the player character in the game is also because they were barging in here without permission¡­''


    Jareth is not a good person himself, but sometimes even he gets moved by individuals with immense dedication.


    "Er¡­ It was our mistake this time; I acknowledge it; we are just a group of travelers, actually; we are just passing by; we will leave soon¡­"


    {True friendship is made through luck, but loyalty is earned through actions.


    In the annals of history, a snake is shown as the symbol of absolute loyalty in this world¡­


    Maybe even an unlucky person like Seceno, also had a loyal friend after all...}

 Chapter 217 The Elven Capital! Part-1.

    Uervar Flower Area, Night.


    "Whoa! It looks so beautiful!!"


    Standing atop the giant sword in the sky, the group glanced down and saw hundreds of thousands of purple flowers bloom in the darkness of night and glow with a unique purple glow.


    The entire grassland lit up with small purple glows as if someone had placed thousands of small bulbs in the entire area!


    The stars shone brightly, and the moonlight added even more charm to this scenery.


    The place looked so beautiful that even Jareth was fascinated by it, and a rare smile appeared on his face.


    ''Although this game''s story was extremely annoying and the boss fights were overly difficult¡­ The whole game was riddled with game-breaking glitches¡­ The scenery was always the best¡­''


    This game was years ahead of its time in terms of scenery, beauty, art, and details!


    This much is something no one can deny; they literally hired world-class artists to create the scenery and turned it all into a masterpiece.


    "I have been protecting this beautiful place for centuries, and due to my care, these flowers have grown to this amazing quantity¡­"


    Uervar flowers are extremely difficult to grow, so many blooming here in this place together just show how much effort has been put into keeping them in good shape.


    "For other creatures, these flowers are poisonous, but for me and my descendants, they are nutritious food actually¡­"


    "Despite my looks, I am pretty much immune to poisons, actually¡­ Also, my own poison is top quality too¡­"


    Risa glanced at the fangs of the big snake and brought out an empty can from her space ring,


    "Can you put some of your poison in this? I wanna taste the poison too!"


    The snake shook his head at those words.


    "No, my poison is capable of harming even grade 1 mages, let alone a little weak girl like you; maybe come back someday when you are stronger¡­"


    Risa was a bit disappointed, but she nodded her head and didn''t pester the big snake further.


    Jareth glanced at the scenery and asked in a calm tone,


    "Still, are you sure you should stay here for long? Maybe some other powerful mage will come one day, and that will prove quite bad for you¡­"


    If not for Jareth, the ones coming here would have been Nathan and Allen; the two of them would have definitely killed this ignorant guy.


    Even his bones and skin would have been sold in the market for money by the hero for staying in this place.


    It''s actually much better to go and hide in some inaccessible place where the hero doesn''t find you.


    "No, it doesn''t matter if someone comes to trouble me¡­ And even if I die, I will die in this field of flowers! That would be a fitting end to my life; I won''t mind dying that way¡­"


    "If I die, that would be my fate, I guess¡­ I will accept it happily¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words, Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire


    "I see¡­ Your determination is impressive¡­"


    The big snake hissed as if he were laughing in amusement at those words.


    "Seceno used to say that all the time, those words suddenly reminded me of him."


    Jareth glanced at the moon and spoke in an amused tone.


    "Seceno really has a very loyal friend; even I feel a bit envious of him¡­"


    ¡­


    Time passed; the group enjoyed the scenery for a little more time and enjoyed the company of the big snake friend that they made today.


    Eventually, the time to leave had come.


    "Are you sure you should be leaving while it''s still night?"


    Jareth nodded his head at that question,


    "Meeting you was a fortunate event, but we are pressed on time; we have rested plenty in the daytime¡­ Now that everyone is full of energy, it''s time to move forward on the journey¡­"


    "We will be using teleportation scroll when we come back, so we might not be able to meet again soon¡­"


    The big snake sighed at Jareth''s words, waved its tail, and threw a small, weirdly shaped artifact at Jareth.


    "Here, take it; it''s a stealth type artifact; although it''s not useful for you, you can keep it as a memory at least¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the artifact and placed it in his system space for identification.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: Seceno''s Shadow!]


    [Item grade: Grade-1]


    [Item Description: One of the artifacts made out of Uervar Seceno''s bones that were loathed and cursed by thousands of people for several decades before being used to create this artifact! S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This artifact carries the immense power of the dark elementals that corrupted Seceno''s rotting bones from the curses of the people he loved.


    It is said that if you can collect all of the artifacts created from Seceno''s rotten bones, you can gain immense power and can evoke forbidden magic that carries immense powers.


    Using the entire set of these types of artifacts will give enhanced bonus!]


    [Effect: Grants immense stealth capabilities to the user by reducing mana fluctuations and other physical disturbances caused by the user¡­]


    ¡­


    Jareth and the group waved their hands to say goodbye to the giant snake and flew away with the giant sword in an instant.


    Jareth brought out the artifact and handed it over to Risa and asked her to keep it for herself.


    Jareth has ''Mana Singularity'', so he has no need for any other additional artifact to hide himself and go stealth mode; that will just hinder the working of his mana singularity.


    Thus, he gave it to Risa, as this stealthy type item is more suitable for her due to her being an assassin.


    Risa was happy to receive a free gift and immediately attached that artifact to the sheath of her sword.


    "Ohh! It works quite amazingly!!"


    With a grade-1 item in her arsenal, Risa became capable of dodging the detection of anyone whose mana detection is below grade-1 level.


    Even Mark and Azul, who are both exceptionally talented in mana control, couldn''t sense her presence properly and could only vaguely sense it through their intuition.


    But this alone made the two of them feel a bit vigilant.


    Both of them are geniuses and have their own pride in their talents; they can''t let Risa surpass them so fast, so both of them became determined that they would work harder to train later.


    Although Mark and Azul couldn''t sense Risa, Jareth could see and sense her as clearly as day!


    In front of his mana singularity, it''s easy to detect past the restrictions of grade-1 artifacts! These small things can''t stop him!


    "Oh, I can deactivate and activate it at will!"


    Risa deactivated the effects of the artifact and became visible again; the artifact proved to be more useful for her, it seems.


    "Next time you meet, thanks that old snake for this artifact¡­"


    Risa nodded her head at Jareth''s words and agreed immediately.


    Flying through the sky, the group traveled at a speed much faster than a fighter jet; thus, they traveled a vast distance in a matter of seconds!


    In just a few seconds, they crossed the entire Uervar Flower Area; they crossed a small river, and the flying sword finally arrived at the entrance of the ''Forest of Illusory Flowers!''


    "We are about to enter a place filled with an immense number of illusions and hallucinations inducing plants and organisms¡­"


    "Make sure you all remain vigilant and don''t fall for these petty tricks¡­"


    Seeing that shiny, colorful forest where each tree was shining with various different vibrant colors, Jareth immediately warned the three about the dangers.


    In this world, the more beautiful something looks, the more dangerous it can actually be.


    These shining and colorful trees may look beautiful from above, but this entire forest is one of the most dangerous areas on this planet.


    Although it wasn''t much of a problem in the game, now that it''s reality, things can turn more dangerous.


    Unexpected things can happen at any turn. Jareth has learned his lesson from the fight with Zion and Konda, so he''s always cautious now.


    ''I have already encountered two of the three endgame bosses already¡­ I surely don''t want to encounter the third one at any cost; it''s better to be more careful¡­''


    ''Talking about that third one¡­ that crazy plant-obsessed freak, I seriously don''t want to see her at all¡­''


    ''Just thinking about that freak gives me the chills; she was already quite the weirdo in the game, and nearly all the players hated her¡­''


    ''I don''t know how much more of a weirdo she would be now¡­''


    Unlike Risa, who can be considered a villain and still has some redeemable qualities, that third endgame boss can''t even be considered a villain; she''s a monster.


    A monster in humanoid shape.


    ''I was already unlucky enough to meet two endgame bosses back to back; there''s no way I am so unlucky that I will meet the third one too¡­ right?''


    Jareth sat down on the chair and let the trio control the sword and started to drink juice to calm his mind. There''s no point in worrying over something that''s uncertain, so he stopped thinking about it.


    ''For once, let this trip be more normal. I just want to go to the Elven Empire, check the golden nail, cast a barrier, and come back¡­ That''s all!''


    What Jareth didn''t know was that the moment he had entered the range of the illusory forest,


    A pair of eyes had already noticed the flying sword in the sky and were looking at him with curiosity through the dense camouflage of the trees.


    ''Humans? That direction¡­ They are heading towards the elven capital? Hoho¡­ now that''s interesting¡­''

 Chapter 218 The Elven Capital! Part-2.

    "Hmm, according to the map, it should be here somewhere¡­ But I can''t see anything here though¡­"


    Mark was having a great headache looking at the map that Jareth handed him over after they entered the forest of illusory flowers.


    The group has traveled for two days and two nights, and they only stopped to take a few breaks in the middle.


    After covering vast distances, they finally reached the location marked on the map.


    The instructions on the back of the map also end here.


    From the start, the instructions were quite simple; they just needed to go to specific locations and embed their mana in four giant glowing pillars made out of some green-colored marble.


    And after completing these four instructions, they had to reach a specific location in the forest in a set amount of time; that''s where the entrance to Elven Capital was supposed to be located.


    But even when we did all this correctly, the entrance didn''t show up, which is quite strange.


    Thus, Mark and the other two were having quite the headache thinking about the reasons behind it.


    Jareth has been personally protecting them all from the mental attack that the forest of illusory flowers launches in all directions all day long.


    There are tons of transparent and shiny flowers in this forest that send powerful mental waves to attack all living creatures nearby.


    Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    If not for the fact that Jareth had used his mana singularity to block those attacks by creating an impenetrable shield around the entire flying sword, the trio would have lost their minds by now.


    "It''s right in front of you guys; it''s just that it''s hidden behind an invisible barrier¡­ Well, it''s not that you can''t see it; it''s just that your mana control is still too low from its level¡­"


    Elves are one of the most ancient races in this world, and although they have not advanced in the field of technology like humans, when it comes to magic barriers and defensive stuff, their capabilities are top notch.


    ''They literally put a semi-grade-0 barrier on their entire capital city¡­ quite the insane work¡­''


    Keep in mind that Nathan, a peak grade-1 mage, needed nearly decades to create a semi-grade-0 barrier for that small hidden library in his office.


    Creating a semi-grade-0 barrier that can cover an entire city is no child''s play; it likely took centuries to create this!


    It would be stranger if newbie wizards like Mark and the other two were able to see through it on their own; this barrier is just too out of their league as of yet.


    ''Hmm, if it was some other place, I would have broke apart the barrier forcefully and entered without hesitation¡­''


    ''But right now I have come here as an ally and a friend¡­ destroying their home''s barrier will make me look bad, so I shouldn''t do it¡­''


    The barrier has many unique capabilities, and it can even sense if someone is standing in its vicinity.


    ''They should have noticed us by now; why aren''t they opening the barrier?...''


    Jareth glanced at the barrier and shook his head.


    "Forget it; if they don''t want to open it, we don''t need to bother them with it¡­ Let''s go inside on our own!"


    [Mana Command: Mana pattern tracing!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana interruption!]


    Destroying the entire semi-grade-0 barrier is extremely difficult even for Jareth, and it would take him quite a few months if he really decides to do it, but he doesn''t have that much time to waste.


    So, he chose a simpler option: create just enough of a hole in the barrier that his team and the giant big sword can enter.


    His grimoire shined brightly and amplified his magic, then he used mana pattern tracing to see through the mana flow of the barrier.


    No matter how strong or how weak a mana barrier might be, each one of them has a mana flow pattern.


    It''s just that the mana flow pattern of a stronger and more advanced barrier is much more complicated than the others.


    Normally it would be near impossible for anyone at grade 2 or below to even see the mana flow pattern of a semi-grade-0 magic barrier.


    But Jareth has mana singularity, so he can not only see it but also can observe the momentarily loopholes and flaws that appear in the barrier from time to time.


    ''Good thing I practiced with that barrier from Nathan; now I can deal with this one more easily¡­''


    Jareth forcefully created a massive hole in the barrier and made his flying sword enter inside along with the whole group.


    He only needed to open that hole for a mere millisecond, and that was enough time for him to sneak inside; he accomplished it in such an effective way that the barriers intruder warning alarms didn''t go off either!


    *Clap!* *Clap!*


    "Impressive! No wonder they invited you to help out; this is the first time I have seen someone bypass the barrier with such ease¡­"


    Just as Jareth and the crew entered inside, a childish voice sounded in their ears.


    Hearing that voice, Jareth''s facial expressions solidified in an instant.


    ''Such pure mana fluctuation¡­ such condensed vitality! T-this is!?''


    A small girl appeared in the group''s view; she seemed as if she were floating in the air, and her entire body was partially transparent, as if she''s some kind of spirit. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The royal elven robe on her body and the unique green crown on her made up of colorful flowers stood out the most.


    Looking at that creature, looking at that existence, a villainous grin appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''So there actually was one alive after all!!''


    The little fairy got intimidated by Jareth''s villainous grin and hurriedly flew away to hide behind a certain knight. Still, she kept glancing and peeking at the humans out of sheer curiosity.


    Sylvia, who saw this scene, could only give a dry laugh.


    She knows what humans did to the fairies, and that''s why she didn''t want this little fairy to show up in front of Jareth and the others, but fairies are a mischievous type.


    The little fairy came over with Sylvia to see humans, as she had never seen humans in her entire life.


    Sylvia only noticed her presence when Jareth and the group were already at the door. She started to argue with the fairy and asked her to leave, but she refused. That''s the reason why Sylvia got late in opening the barrier for Jareth.


    If not for the delay caused by the little fairy, Sylvia would have opened the barrier for Jareth, and they wouldn''t have needed to bypass it like they did.


    Jareth landed the giant sword on the ground, and he then greeted Sylvia with a handshake.


    Looking at that little fairy, Jareth asked in curiosity,


    "How come there''s a fairy here? Haven''t they all gone extinct?"


    Sylvia wanted to hide the truth from Jareth, but now that the beans have already been spilled, there''s no hiding it.


    Moreover, she already took a big risk by inviting a human into the elf capital; she has no other choice right now.


    "Actually, those fairies from stories indeed went extinct¡­ It''s just that fairies are a kind of race that can kind of re-flourish on their own¡­"


    "Fairies are basically an amalgamation of dense pure mana and immense vitality, in other words, as long as there''s a place in nature that has high density of mana and vitality nearby¡­"


    "It can give birth to a fairy¡­ The exact process I don''t know, but fairies are like the essence of heaven and earth; they can reappear as long as the conditions are right.


    "Unlike humans, we elves don''t destroy nature, so the conditions inside the elf capital are quite suitable for them to be born naturally¡­"


    "This one was born just a few months ago¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "I see¡­ So that''s the reason¡­ No wonder they can''t reappear in the outside world; humans have nearly polluted and destroyed the entire planet by now¡­"


    Sylvia felt quite awkward at those words.


    She knows what Jareth is saying is the truth, but she dares not acknowledge it as that might anger him.


    Jareth, on the other hand, glanced at Sylvia''s stern expression and misunderstood that she was truly fearless.


    ''This woman¡­ She''s really as amazing as in the lore; she knows what horrible things humans have done to fairies, and she still dares to show her in front of me¡­''


    ''Moreover, she likely kept the barrier close on purpose; she knew that I could enter the barrier, so she used it to her advantage!''


    ''She must have planned that if I had brought an army, only I would have been able to enter, as only I can deal with such a strong barrier, and the rest of the army wouldn''t have been able to enter¡­.''


    ''Quite the clever one you are, Sylvia¡­''


    ''With just subtle actions, you have tested my ability two times in just one go! As expected of the character I acknowledge from this game the most!!''


    Sylvia had no idea that Jareth misunderstood her intentions.


    In fact, she, on the other hand, has misunderstood Jareth''s intentions!


    ''Why is he asking so many details about the fairy¡­ ugh, don''t tell me he''s going to kidnap her!? T-this!? What do I do now!?''


    Just when the atmosphere was getting awkward.


    The little fairy suddenly flew towards Mark and sat on his shoulder.


    "Wow! The Earth elementals are so closely intertwined with you! You have immense affinity with earth elementals!! It''s quite comfortable to sit on your shoulder!"


    Seeing that little fairy act so friendly towards Mark, Sylvia was extremely shocked.


    ''You crazy girl! Get away from him! He will turn you into power and spray you on his food!! Comfortable my foot!! You idiot!''


    At the same time, Risa also pouted that the little fairy got so close to Mark so suddenly.


    ''She sat on his shoulder! That should have been me! Not her!''

 Chapter 219 The Elven Capital! Part-3.

    "Hoh, now this is quite surprising¡­ Be proud, Mark; only one in a million people is worthy enough to be chosen and trusted by fairies so easily like you¡­"


    "She didn''t even hesitate to come close to you; this just shows how immense your affinity is with the pure elements of this world¡­"


    Hearing that high praise from Jareth, Mark felt quite happy.


    Jareth is the type of person who rarely praises anyone, and Mark was extremely happy that his idol gave him such high praise.


    Seeing that Mark was acknowledged by a fairy, Risa and Azul also wanted one for themselves.


    Looking at the eager looks on their faces, Jareth could only shrug his shoulders.


    ''They are such a spoiled bunch¡­''


    "Actually, fairies also have elemental types; this little one is an earth type fairy. Mark has a high affinity for earth elementals; that''s why she got attracted to him¡­"


    "You will need to find a Shadow type fairy if you want one Risa, and for Azul, you can find either a Fire type one or a Space type one¡­ But in these times when fairies are nearly extinct, finding them is impossible¡­"


    Sylvia also nodded her head at Jareth.


    "Yeah, in the past hundred years, this one is the only fairy we have encountered up until now¡­ Sigh, perhaps the miasma has made the environment in our elven capital unsuitable too¡­"


    Ignoring the concerned look of Sylvia, the little fairy flew higher and sat on Mark''s head as if it were her new home now.


    She even brought out her lounge to tease Risa on purpose when she glared at her.


    "I am Lily, a great fairy!"


    The little fairy giggled with a childish voice, even the voice seemed so gentle and cute that it could melt the heart of anyone.


    Seeing her giggle so happily, Sylvia couldn''t help but shook her head helplessly.


    ''Big sis was right; fairies have no sense of danger at all; they are all too innocent for this cruel world¡­''


    ''Jareth has already seen her; what do I do now¡­ Should I increase his payment so he forgets about the fairy? Ugh, this is a great tragedy¡­''


    Despite Sylvia''s worries, Jareth wasn''t thinking too much about this matter. He just wanted a small favor from the fairy.


    ''If I can get a few of her hairs and a broken piece of her wing, I can research it to create a better, improved version of that ''Fairy Powder.'' That way, there would be no need for tormenting fairies for that in the future.''


    ''Just use some other chemical formulas and you can get the same results¡­''


    Don''t forget that Jareth is literally the once-in-a millennium research genius. He can create inventions that can change the course of an entire civilization.


    If Jareth was born a hundred years ago and had appropriate tools, he could have researched and created an alternate process to create the fairy powder, and the ''Fairy'' race would have never gone extinct.


    People would have stopped hunting fairies and torturing them for small gains.


    Jareth''s method would have been a hundred times more effective and easier for mass production as it would have involved science, not some unreliable blood ritual!


    Fairies are living creatures too; they shed hair and wings from time to time, and they regrow on their own, so those are things that Jareth can get without causing much harm to the other party.


    And he just needs to study the chemical compositions and how mana affects them with his mana singularity.


    He can make a new method in just a week!


    (This situation is so ironic; so many thousands of innocent lives could have been saved if only grade 1 mages in the past had put even a little bit of effort into researching some other alternate method to produce the powder¡­)


    ¡­


    Seeing that Lily refused to let go of Mark''s hair, Sylvia gave up and led the group herself.


    Unlike how an elven capital is usually described in those fantasy novels and games, the elven capital of this world is completely different.


    The sand, stones, and even the trees¡ªeverything looks depressed and dying in this place.


    The ground is pitch black in color, and instead of lush greenery, there''s rotting trees everywhere that seem to be in a dying state.


    There are small huts made out of wood and big dried leaves of some kind of tree.


    They look unreliable to live, but Jareth can sense that all of these weak-looking huts are actually blessed with grade-3 magic barriers.


    ''The situation here is more serious than it was in the game¡­''


    In the game, the elves were still living on trees, and their houses looked quite cozy and beautiful, but now everyone''s house is on the ground, perhaps because there are not enough trees to make houses now.


    Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire


    ''This feeling of ominousness and decay¡­ It''s Miasma, tch¡­''


    Unlike in the game, where Miasma was confined to only the areas that were related to the quest, things are different now.


    This world is real now, so the miasma keeps on spreading, and it has already started to corrupt the ground, the trees, and everything.


    The situation is so bad now that the elves don''t even have trees to make their homes anymore, and they are starving for food.


    "Uh, I am ashamed to show you this situation, but¡­ I still welcome you to the Elven Capital, ''Junay U''Islasera''¡­ We usually call it ''Islasera'' for short most of the time¡­"


    Although Sylvia did say that it''s the elven capital, it didn''t look like that at all; there was just depression and decay everywhere.


    There was no towering world tree in the middle¡ªjust a broken and decaying peace of dead wood standing in the middle of the city.


    ''City? This place looks more like a slum, actually¡­ The living conditions are too bad; they don''t even have food!''


    Although Jareth knew all this, he didn''t say it out loud, as insulting someone''s home in their face is not a good thing; that''s very rude.


    Mark and the other two, who were eager to see the elven capital for the first time in their lives, were, in fact, the most disappointed.


    All along the way, they were fantasizing in their heads that the elven capital would be beautiful, and there would be lush trees there; there would be beautiful and happy elves everywhere.


    But the reality slapped them in the face.


    Islasera is a decaying and dying place, corrupted with miasma, and it''s becoming increasingly unfit for anyone to live.


    Some weak elves have even started to lose their sanity nowadays to miasma.


    Following Sylvia, the group passed by the non-existent entrance gate of the city and met an even more depressing environment. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There were elves sitting outside their houses with looks of despair on their faces.


    Some were staring at their empty baskets that once used to be full of fruits with empty eyes.


    Some were clutching their children tightly in their arms with looks of helplessness; they were trying to hold back their tears and not show weakness to the children.


    While walking on that main path to the palace, Sylvia lowered her head and hid her eyes under the shade of that large hat of hers.


    She gritted her teeth, and it took her entire might to ignore the state of her fellow comrades.


    Elves are inherently kind; Sylvia had a hard time passing through the place as she wanted to help but she was also helpless.


    This is the reason why she doesn''t come out of the palace nowadays; she''s afraid that she will not be able to see the dying state of her kin and will end up losing her sanity.


    She only came out now to bring Jareth over.


    Mark tightly held Risa''s hand and kept her from straying away.


    He has seen a similar sad scene in Bastille; now he isn''t as immature as before, and right now they can''t help these people by giving them empty words of consoling.


    The state of Islasera was so shocking that the group remained silent for the entire journey till they reached the palace.


    No one talked anything, and they just watched the depressed atmosphere silently.


    If it were normal, the elves would have come forward to greet these new visitors and would have given gifts and stuff to show kindness, but right now they themselves have nothing to eat, let alone give gifts.


    "300¡­ T-this year alone¡­ 300 children died from starvation¡­ and I couldn''t do anything¡­"


    Walking at the forefront, Sylvia murmured to herself and sighed at her own uselessness.


    All this power, all this strength, everything was for naught against the horror of Miasma.


    Elves have a long lifespan, so very few children are born every year, and nearly 98% of them all died this year due to starvation.


    And this is just the casualties of the newborns; the casualties are just increasing over time.


    The biggest problem is that elves live in this capital that is located in the middle of the forest of illusory flowers; there''s no edible plant or fruit in the entire illusory forest.


    Everything is either an illusion or has a dangerous poison in it thus making it inedible.


    Miasma has caused all of their fruit trees and crops to die; they have no food to eat now, and they are only surviving on the emergency rations that the palace had saved up as supplies for troops in case of war.


    Looking at the situation, Jareth concluded in his mind,


    ''No wonder their entire nation got destroyed by a single demon and monster tide in the game lore¡­ They are already on the end of their wits; a small push and they are as good as dead¡­''

 Chapter 220 The Forbidden Magic called Mutation... Part-1.

    The group reached the palace in no time, even though they had no carriages or horses.


    The more time they spent on the road, the more they would have had to see the people literally dying and struggling at the end of their wits; thus, they all moved fast.


    For someone like Sylvia, who''s a knight who takes pride in protecting her people, seeing the very same people suffer like this is the greatest form of torture she can suffer.


    She would rather prefer dying in a completely outnumbered battle than keep living and see her people get tormented by miasma like this.


    This is the reason why she dared to take such a big risk of inviting humans to the empire.


    If she doesn''t take this risk, the nation will get destroyed anyway. After taking the risk, if things go wrong, she can at least be sure that she tried her best.


    "Uh, the Elf Queen is missing, so we can''t organize a proper royal welcome, but we have prepared rooms for you¡­"


    "You have traveled a vast distance to come here, so please rest here for today; there''s still a week left before the mission can begin¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    Just when the group was about to head inside, Risa noticed a little elf girl peeking out from behind a pillar of the Gazebo in the garden nearby.


    The young girl noticed Risa''s gaze and panicked a bit, but then she waved her hand innocently at Risa and smiled with a child''s innocent gaze. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The garden had no grass or flowers left, and it was just pitch-black earth everywhere, yet that smile on that little girl''s face seemed so cute and innocent that it could melt even the coldest hearts.


    While Jareth and Sylvia were talking about the plans and stuff, Risa and the other two had nothing to do, so Risa also waved her hand back at the girl and smiled in return.


    The little girl smiled happily after seeing new people.


    Although the adults know the troubles and are depressed, a young innocent child like her has nothing to do with the cruelty of the world, and thus she can still remain happy even in dire times.


    The girl glanced around perhaps to see if her parents were looking at her from somewhere, and seeing that the area was clear, she tip-toed towards Risa and the two.


    "You are?"


    Risa and the other two''s attention was drawn by her immediately, so they asked her questions in curiosity.


    "I am Emu; my papa is the one who tends to this garden; I come here to play often!"


    "You give off such a different feeling from all the other grown ups¡­ Who are you? Also, your ears are different and quite beautiful too¡­"


    The little girl surprisingly had a great perception; she noticed that humans give a different kind of aura than elves.


    Risa and the two''s aura attracted her curiosity; she has never seen humans in her life after all. For a child, meeting new people and getting to talk to them is a kind of great adventure in itself.


    Emu seemed quite happy to talk.


    Sylvia also noticed her at this moment and scolded in a calm voice.


    "Emu, didn''t your father say that you were feeling quite sick yesterday? How come you are wandering here and jumping around with such energy now?"


    "Shouldn''t you be resting? Did you run away from home again?"


    The little girl pouted her cheeks after hearing those questions. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire


    "Hmph, the grumpy knight showed up again to nag me¡­"


    Sylvia couldn''t help but shake her head in helplessness.


    Emu is the daughter of the gardener, but as there''s no garden left to tend to, the other party can''t earn money and has no food to feed his family.


    Emu was always quite sickly from the start to begin with; lack of food and nutrition has caused her health to deteriorate even further.


    If they don''t solve this problem of miasma soon, things will worsen for Emu and her family too.


    This is the norm of today''s elven capital; Emu''s family is just one out of them all; nearly everyone has lost their jobs, and money has lost meaning as people don''t even have any goods to sell or buy.


    There''s no food in the market, and people are starving to death. The economy of the nation is in shambles right now.


    In fact, this place can''t even be called a nation anymore; it''s basically just a ruin of a former nation that is slowly dying and deteriorating even further.


    "Here, take this¡­ hehe¡­"


    Emu smiled happily and brought out a flower from her pocket and offered it to Risa.


    "There used to be a lot of them before, but now there''s only a few left; this one is a rare one; I am giving it to you to become friends!"


    Risa nodded her head at those words and took the flower with a happy smile on her face.


    Just when Risa was about to go ahead and pat the little girl on her head.


    Jareth''s eyes suddenly widened for a moment, and he realized something.


    "Risa, get away from her-"


    *BOOOM!!!*


    A massive explosion occurred; before Jareth could finish his words, the little girl''s body burst apart like a balloon, and an extremely powerful explosion happened.


    The explosion had enough power to wipe out nearly half of the entire Elven capital from the face of Earth in a mere matter of milliseconds.


    But Jareth reacted fast.


    [Mana Command: Restricted Field Cage!]


    He immediately confined that explosion in a cage made out of concentrated mana.


    Still, he was a bit late to react, so the explosion still leaked out some energy before Jareth took care of it.


    Everyone who was standing nearby flew away like a cannonball and hit the walls of the palace; even the ground cracked, and nearly half of the palace collapsed on the spot.


    A literal small-scale earthquake was created by that explosion, and even Sylvia was blown away.


    The voice of that explosion was so loud that it rang out in the entire elven capital and startled all the residents!


    Thankfully Jareth took care of that explosion on time, or nearly half of the elven population would have died right then and there at that moment!


    When the dirt and smoke finally thinned, Jareth saw blood splattered all over the ground.


    The little Elven girl was turned into powder in an instant, and only that blood painted on the ground was the sole thing left of her body.


    Just a few seconds ago, she was smiling happily and innocently, and now she''s gone without any traces.


    Jareth clenched his fist after seeing this scene.


    "False dome cult... They have already infiltrated the place¡­"


    Sylvia, who barely stabilized herself and got up with difficulty, heard those words and grated her teeth.


    Her head was spinning, but thankfully she didn''t suffer any fatal injuries from that explosion.


    Risa and the other fainted on the spot, but they were also fine because Jareth was able to reduce the explosions effect for them to an extremely low level.


    "Mr. Jareth¡­ d-do you know what just happened?"


    Hearing Sylvia''s question and seeing that frustrated look on her face, Jareth sighed and nodded his head.


    "Yeah¡­ I know this all too well¡­ This is the signature move of one of the members of the False Dome Cult; he uses forbidden magic to do experiments on living beings¡­"


    "This little girl likely got hit by his forbidden magic, and he turned her into a living, walking, self-destructive bomb¡­"


    "This kind of bomb activates when the victim is ''feeling'' happy¡­ Emu¡­ that little herself didn''t know about it; she was happy when she gave that flower to Risa¡­"


    "That happiness triggered the bomb¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia gnashed her teeth and punched the wall nearby in anger.


    "Turning a little innocent kid into a living bomb¡­ such inhumanity, such cruelty¡­."


    The memories of her nagging at Emu in the past and playing around with her in the garden flashed past Sylvia''s eyes, and her eyes became moist.


    "Emu¡­ w-what¡­ will I say to your parents now¡­ h-how will I look in their eyes¡­"


    Sylvia knew that Jareth did them a great favor by confining that bombs power; otherwise, there would have been more casualties, but this one loss of that innocent kid was already too great.


    Although Emu was a naughty kid and liked to mess around, she didn''t deserve such a cruel fate; she had a better future ahead.


    Several knights and guards came running at that moment and were stunned when they saw such a massive crater in the ground.


    Sylvia, as the person in charge, had to hold back her tears now.


    She forcefully calmed herself down and gave orders to tighten the security in the capital and take care of the mess.


    Sylvia gave Jareth a salute and said,


    "The people must be restless from the explosion; I must go and calm the panic from spreading in people and take care of this mess myself¡­ For now, please stay in the palace¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and went with the healing mages to the infirmary to get his disciples treated.


    "You can take your time¡­ we are not in a hurry right now..."


    While on his way to the infirmary, Jareth also felt a bit frustrated in his mind.


    ''Forbidden magic of this type tempers the vitality of a person¡­ Without prior experience and knowledge, even I can''t detect this kind of thing, even if I have a mana singularity¡­''


    Jareth realized the presence of the forbidden magic when it finally activated when the little elf girl smiled happily. Jareth felt the fluctuation of the magic activating in that moment.


    But by that time, it was too late. It''s already great that he was able to prevent any other casualties; the death of Emu was already set in stone the moment she smiled.


    ''Even after all these powerups... I still couldn''t save a little kid right in front of me, tch¡­''


    ''False dome cult, I have never hated anyone more than you guys, not even the boss from my previous life¡­ You guys really do like to mess up my plans all the time!''


    ''Such a big pain in the a*s!''

 Chapter 221 The Forbidden Magic called Mutation... Part-2.

    Royal Palace, Infirmary.


    "You feeling okay now?"


    Jareth noticed the three wake up after the healing mages healed them and put down the book he was reading.


    He leaned his back against the chair and spoke in a calm voice.


    "You guys passed out for quite a few hours; your reaction time is still slow; you were able to deploy your mana shields on time¡­"


    "Well, I don''t blame you for that¡­ Even a peak grade-3 mage wouldn''t have been able to react to that sudden explosion¡­"


    Although Jareth said those words of consoling, the trio still felt complicated in their hearts.


    This is the first time they have seen an acquaintance die in front of them like that.


    Although Emu was not a friend or anything and they had just gotten acquainted with her, her death still caused the three of them to feel various complex emotions.


    At that moment, the three of them figured out the truth of this world.


    Life is completely worthless in the eyes of the strong in this world; death can come at any moment, and you might not even notice it.


    There''s no hope for the weak.


    Risa was the closest to Emu; if she was strong enough, she could have sensed the presence of that ''mutation'' in Emu, and she could have helped the little girl as there was still time.


    But she was weak; she was powerless; that''s her biggest mistake. Being weak is the original sin in this world.


    "You don''t need to blame yourself for it, Risa; even I was there and wasn''t able to notice it on time¡­"


    "Forbidden magic is just that kind of existence; no matter how prepared you are, it can hide itself and can cause trouble when you expect the least¡­"


    "This kind of forbidden magic is called ''Mutation''¡­ It uses the victims own body parts to generate the ''mutation'' in the body¡­"


    "The user of this forbidden magic likely turned her innards and organs to function in a way that they would turn her into a ''biological bomb'' that got triggered at a specific moment."


    "There is only one person in the entire world who''s this skilled at body mutation-related forbidden magic¡­"


    "He''s a high-ranking member of the False Dome Cult, the ''Mad Parasite'', Fisur Jolmoh¡­ He used to be a scientist at one of the most prestigious institutes¡­"


    "It is very likely that he has reached grade 1 after joining the False Dome cult¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Mark and thought to himself.


    ''Mark was the one who suffered the most from this guy''s eccentric hobbies of turning humans into weird nightmarish objects¡­''


    Not only Mark''s younger sister was turned into a human chimera by Fisur, even his lackeys were turned into biological computers with their brains working as internet servers.


    It was pure horror¡ªsomething right out of a horror movie.


    One of the main reasons why this game was banned completely in nearly 100 countries of the world was because of how horrific it gets as the end of the game draws near.


    People were retching and puking at the sight of the underground base of Fisur, where hundreds of monstrosities were on display.


    ''Originally I wasn''t planning on going after that guy for a while, but he came over to mess with me on his own; then who''s am I to stop him¡­''


    ''I will greet him with open arms and then crush him to powder.''


    Jareth doesn''t have any personal beef with Fisur Jolmoh; it''s just that guy is too dangerous to be left alive out there.


    He''s the last survivor of the descendants of the member of the cult of Therath.


    If by some chance he ended up inviting that demon god Therath to partner with the demon god of the False Dome cult, then Jareth''s difficulties will increase even more!


    Jareth is not sure whether the other party has any method to contact that long-gone demon god Therath, but it''s better to be cautious.


    Destroying Fisur will eliminate this hidden problem of a second demon god''s threat lurking in the dark.


    Right now, just one demon cult is causing enough trouble; if that demon god Therath also returned and a new power demon cult came into being, Jareth''s entire plan will go haywire.


    The golden nails will definitely be shattered into pieces much sooner, and the false dome seal will not be able to hold on any longer. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Putting that threat of demon god aside, Fisur himself is provoking me on purpose¡­''


    ''It is likely that the False Dome cult has figured out that there''s a golden nail in this place, and they dispatched their strongest people to destroy it and cause chaos¡­''


    Thinking about all this, Jareth suddenly realized something.


    ''Wait¡­ The golden nail in the abyss altar area had its own sea of consciousness that was sealing Konda inside¡­''


    ''Could it be possible that other seals also have the sea of consciousness that''s sealing something inside of them?'' Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''Then what could possibly be sealed inside this seal in the golden nail located below the elven capital¡­''


    Jareth crossed his arms and started to think hard about this matter.


    ''There can''t be another Konda inside or any other powerful monsters; that''s simply not a possibility; there''s likely something that can summon demons and monsters.''


    In the game, the kingdom of elves gets destroyed by an endless siege of monsters and lower-ranking demons, but it was never specified where so many demons and monsters actually came from.


    In the entire game, you only get to go inside one golden nail that is the one where Konda was; you don''t go to deal with the rest.


    You directly fight an all-out war with the False Dome cult after the Elven capital gets destroyed.


    This same monster tide keeps coming back and forth to various places; Mark also dies in the endless siege of monsters, and things get worse.


    Then the hero beats all monsters, wins glory for his nation, goes on to hunt powerful creatures that were raining terror, kills Zion on Mars, and returns home victorious.


    This marks the end of the story.


    ''We never explore the rest of the golden nails¡­ and we are never told where those monsters and demons are coming out from till the end¡­''


    ''Wait¡­ is it possible that the golden nail located in the elven capital is actually sealing a massive ''Rift'' inside¡­''


    A rift in the fabric of space and time can be used by a demon god and the sea of miasma to enter the world.


    ''The presence of the rift will make all the pieces of the puzzle set in place!''


    If there really is a rift inside the golden nail''s sea of consciousness, then if the golden nail''s barrier and magic circle weaken, the rift will start leaking miasma in massive quantities.


    Then the sea of consciousness will pour all the miasma out of the golden nail like it was doing in the abyss altar area.


    All the surrounding areas will start getting corrupted and miasma will become denser, and things will keep going worse with each passing moment.


    The more miasma that leaks out, the more the barrier will weaken, and the cycle will keep on going until the golden nail breaks apart on its own.


    When the golden nail breaks apart.


    The spatial rift will show up in the outside world and become a perfect pathway for low-rank demons and monsters that are roaming in the sea of miasma outside to bypass the seal of False Dome and enter in large quantities!


    ''Yes, now everything kind of makes sense¡­ This is likely the source of all the demons and monsters that appeared in the end game and laid siege everywhere¡­''


    Jareth knows that the golden nail is located right below the capital city of the elves, which means if it breaks, millions of monsters will pour out right in the middle of the city.


    You can never protect a kingdom whose capital itself gets completely wiped off the face of earth!


    With an infinite army against it that has no end to its increasing numbers, it''s impossible to save a nation.


    ''I see, those false dome cult members somehow know that I am here to deal with the golden nail; that''s why they sent their powerful people to hurry up and break the nail and deal with me along with it¡­''


    ''Killing that little girl Emu in front of me was just a sign of declaring war against me¡­ It was a way of telling me that you are already in our trap¡­''


    ''I guess there''s likely more than one Grade-1 member of the False Dome cult lying in wait for me¡­''


    ''They will definitely ambush me when the opportunity comes¡­ quite the cunning plan¡­''


    Thinking everything through, Jareth figured out all the ins and outs of the entire situation.


    His insanely intelligent brain is not for show; it gives him the ability to figure out plans and remain calm in extreme situations.


    ''Hmm¡­ this trip will be a bit more eventful than I had originally thought it seems¡­''


    ''I can safely assume that those members of the False Dome Cult have already sneaked into the so-called ''Forbidden Area located below the capital'' with some other means¡­''


    ''They likely have some other method to travel, just like they had done in the Abyss Altar area¡­ I am the one who''s behind this time again¡­''


    While Jareth was busy thinking, the door of the infirmary opened, and Sylvia returned.


    Seeing that exhausted look on her face, Jareth knew that the other party had a hard time dealing with the parents of the little elf girl.


    "Ms. Sylvia, you came just on time¡­ I have something to talk about with you¡­"

 Chapter 222 The Forbidden Magic called Mutation... Part-3.

    Although Sylvia seemed quite exhausted from all the work, Jareth needed to discuss these matters early.


    The faster they can go inside the forbidden area, the better, or the False Dome Cult will win once again, and by that time, it would be too late.


    "Okay, I will set up a meeting with the princess early¡­ We can discuss the situation¡­"


    Sylvia barely made it back after seeing the parents of that little girl cry till they fainted; she isn''t in the right mind right now, so she decided to delay it.


    "I will ask the princess, and we will organize a meeting in the evening; your disciples shall also attend the meeting¡­"


    Jareth agreed to those words.


    "Good¡­"


    Risa and the other two still need some time to adjust; after all, it''s good to have some rest first.


    Sylvia nodded her head as a greeting to the three and then left.


    The knights behind her came forward and led the group to their own respective rooms.


    All four of them got a room for them each in the palace to rest and calm down.


    Risa sneaked into Mark''s room once again, but this time she was not smiling but feeling sad, so Mark didn''t scold her.


    Although she''s an assassin, she hasn''t ever killed innocent people, and she hasn''t seen anyone die because of her mistakes; this is the first time.


    Emu''s death wasn''t her mistake, but it left a very big impression on her mind.


    The trio learned a valuable lesson that day: Death can strike at any time, and it''s always when your guard is down that you suffer the most.


    ¡­


    Standing near the window in his room, Jareth glanced at the clear blue sky and the strangely depressed city below it with a calm look on his face.


    ''As I thought¡­ I have expanded my mana detection in all directions, and I can sense the entire capital city and the area inside, but I can''t bypass the barrier of the forbidden area located below¡­''


    Jareth''s mana detection is an extremely powerful ability; if something can block it, then it must be in part with the barriers created by the First King in the Abyss Altar Area.


    ''The barrier place is likely the work of the First King too¡­''


    From the game lore, Jareth knows that the First King had close relationships with the elven royal family; his wife was a member of the royal elves.


    It won''t be strange if he knew about the existence of the nail placed here underground, so he must have created a powerful barrier to protect the golden seal.


    But as they say, nothing is eternal. S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even such a powerful barrier couldn''t withstand the erosion of time, slowly lost power, and started to show defects.


    Unlike the barrier on the city that gets repaired and maintained every few years by the royal family, the barrier located underground is too strong and complicated and thus can''t be repaired.


    ''In it''s weakened state, there must have opened a hole in the barrier somewhere; that''s the place the False Dome cult members used to get inside¡­''


    The problem originates from the fact that he himself is one step behind despite having the accurate coordinates of the golden nails.


    ''How in the hell are these people from the False Dome able to figure out shortcuts to places that are supposed to have no shortcuts at all!''


    Jareth has information from the game, so he should be the fastest one to reach the goals, yet the members of the False Dome Cult are always one step ahead of him for some reason.


    ''Hmm, it all went haywire from that moment when that incarnation of the demon god was summoned for a brief moment¡­''


    Reflecting deeply on that moment, Jareth began to pace back and forth in his room.


    ''Something definitely happened at that time that I completely overlooked, and it worked in the favor of the False Dome cult.''


    At that time, Jareth had nearly exhausted his mana, and he had even deactivated his mana detection to conserve mana.


    It was a time when his mana quality was still very low and he only had ''Basic Magic'' in his arsenal.


    ''Wait! At that time I deactivated my mana detection¡­ so I didn''t sense any minute-level mana fluctuations... But is it possible that in its final moments, that incarnation figured out the locations of the golden nails?''


    Jareth doesn''t know about the full abilities of a demon god; in the game, the demon gods were just meant to be some high-level beings who didn''t interfere with the world of the mortals much.


    In the game, the endgame boss was Zion, and even though he was only semi-grade-0, he hadn''t reached the true new realm.


    Thus, till the end of the game, the player never actually fights the demon god''s incarnation or the demon god.


    Due to this, Jareth has no idea what kind of weird power the Demon god can bring out.


    ''I think he likely expanded his mana detection to ''Scan'' the entire planet in that brief moment¡­''


    Even Grade-1 mages or semi-grade-0 mages like Zion aren''t capable of expanding and scanning a whole continent, let alone the entire planet.


    ''If I assume that the other party scanned the entire planet, then everything will start making sense¡­''


    The powers of a demon god are still a mystery, so Jareth is overestimating it as much as he can.


    If the other party really has the power to scan the entire planet in a brief moment, then it can explain why the false dome members are able to come and go in dangerous places as they please.


    With such a thorough map and guidance, even Jareth''s knowledge about this game can be beaten.


    Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire


    If you scan the entire planet, you will instantly figure out where all the golden nails are and what the shortest methods are to reach those places with the least number of efforts.


    ''I guess that''s how they found that hidden teleportation altar that wasn''t mentioned in the game, and that''s also how they found the gap in the forbidden area''s barrier...''


    ''This is simply a difference between raw power¡­''


    Just scanning the entire capital city of the human empire took Jareth nearly weeks'' worth of effort. Only then was he able to find the members of the organization that had long disbanded.


    Even with mana singularity and the pure mana to help him out, it was still a big task.


    ''To scan the entire planet in just a matter of seconds¡­''


    Although Jareth doesn''t want to believe it, this seems the most plausible explanation of why the False Dome Cult is in an advantageous position despite having so much information on his side.


    ''I guess this is the reason why they call them ''Demon Gods.'' They are indeed very powerful¡­''


    The capabilities of that so-called demon god are really too strong; even Zion seems like a weak ant in front of that mysterious existence.


    ''It''s already a big miracle that this world is still even intact after facing all this¡­''


    Sea of Endless Miasma, millions and millions of monsters and demons, an immense amount of corruption, tons of corrupt and powerful evil souls, and Demon Gods on top of it all.


    All of these things are constantly being held at bay by the Seal of the False Dome alone.


    ''Thinking about it¡­ that Golden King was really something else; he created a masterpiece; it''s still capable of protecting an entire solar system even after several millennia¡­''


    ''The more I think about it, the more exaggerated and insane these feats seem like¡­''


    ''Compared to the real powerhouses, I am still too weak¡­''


    While Jareth was busy thinking about things in his mind, the sun started to set, and evening came as the sky became red.


    Jareth sighed and stopped thinking too far; he came back to reality and drank a few glasses of water to cool his head.


    Then he headed towards the dinner hall with a knight guiding his path forward.


    The earlier explosion destroyed a good part of the palace too and affected a lot of people.


    It took a lot of effort to calm down the agitated population, and as most of the knights were now on patrol duty to calm the populace, there were only a few knights stationed in the palace.


    Aside from Sylvia, they don''t even have any other peak grade-2 knight here right now.


    If instead of Jareth, it was some other grade-1 mage like Nathan, they would have taken advantage of this momentary weakness and definitely would have done questionable things.


    Like stealing the treasures from the treasury or kidnapping a few elves to experiment on later someday.


    Power corrupts you when there''s nobody to stop you from doing things that can harm others.


    Being above the law can lead to corruption, often without your awareness.


    Jareth didn''t have to face such difficulties, though, to him, his own goals are the only things that matter the most. He doesn''t care about stealing money and doing experiments on random people.


    His goal is to create a possibility of survival for himself; having a clear goal and path to follow is also one of the best methods to keep your own power in check so as it doesn''t end up turning into corruption.


    "You are here. Welcome, Mr. Jareth; it''s nice to meet you again¡­"


    Reaching the dinner hall, Jareth sat down on his designated chair and was greeted by princess Ava, who was sitting on the chair with a smile on her face.


    Sylvia was sitting directly opposite Jareth, along with the other knights on her side.


    Mark, along with the other two, took a seat by Jareth''s side.

 Chapter 223 Plans for the upcoming challenge... Part-1.

    Seeing that everyone was already present, Ava declared that the meeting had officially begun at that moment.


    In the past months she has been working as the acting ruler of her nation, so she has also learned a thing or two by now.


    "Originally I was thinking of helping you out in getting the world tree sapling back and then minding my own business¡­"


    "But with the little elf girl Emu''s death, the possibility of the False Dome Cult being involved here has become a fact!"


    "So I have decided, I will personally deal with the False Dome Cult and help you in resolving anything they might be planning¡­"


    Sylvia and the other elves don''t know about the False dome cult, so Sylvia hesitated a bit and asked,


    "Uh, are you and the members of this demon cult on very bad terms perhaps?"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "Not just me; the entire human empire is on bad terms with this demon cult; they have slaughtered and killed thousands upon thousands of innocent people." Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire


    "Just a few months ago, they nearly succeeded in summoning an ''Incarnation of a demon god''!..."


    "You know what an ''Incarnation of Demon god'' means? It''s a harbinger of total destruction; it could have been a massive catastrophe for the entire world¡­"


    A demon god''s incarnation can deal with dozens of grade 1 mages at once! Such an existence is too dangerous to be allowed to roam freely in the world.


    In that brief moment of life and death, the incarnation scanned the entire planet and accomplished its goal of locating all the golden nails! Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If such a being was left free to roam, it could destroy civilizations without a moment''s hesitation!


    "I see, if they are capable of doing such a thing, they are indeed a powerful group¡­"


    Sylvia couldn''t help but feel even more worried about her older sister now.


    If such powerful people have made it inside the forbidden area, they can definitely harm her too, or maybe they are the reason why she''s gone missing.


    "That person who''s capable of using extremely dangerous forbidden magic to turn living beings into walking bombs is called Fisur Jolmoh; he''s a grade 1 mage¡­"


    "I have heard a lot of rumors about his evil feats¡­ If we want our plan of saving the world tree sapling, then we might have to be ready to clash not only with him but more members of the False Dome cult¡­"


    "Also, we need to hurry up; they are already inside; we don''t have much time; we shouldn''t dilly-dally¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia sighed.


    "It''s not that we don''t want to enter fast; it''s that the entrance can only be opened once every six months; there''s still a week''s worth of time left for that¡­"


    "By the way, is there any way to defend against this forbidden magic? How does it actually work? Can it turn anyone the other party touches into a bomb?"


    Jareth shook his head at those questions.


    "No, no matter how skilled he might be, there''s no way he can turn living creatures into bombs just by a simple touch; he likely has to prepare complex magic circles¡­"


    "There must be rare materials used."


    At Jareth''s words, one of the knights sitting beside Sylvia asked in a confused tone,


    "But Emu''s father said that the little girl hadn''t gone missing more than 1 hour in the last week or so¡­ Could it have caused the mutation in just one hour!?"


    "And when did this Fisur guy even come inside the capital city? We never noticed it! There were no fluctuations of a person entering the outer barrier of the city!"


    Keep in mind that even Jareth created a gap and created a few small mana fluctuations when he forcefully entered the barrier even with his mana singularity.


    Which means if Fisur had entered the barrier, the knights in charge of guarding the barrier and keeping an eye on the mana fluctuations shown by the barrier would have definitely noticed him.


    There''s no way he could be better than Jareth at mana control, despite the fact he doesn''t even have mana singularity.


    "I think the answer to it is actually quite simple¡­ Ms. Sylvia, has there been any Elf or any knight that has just recently died from some sudden organ failure or something like that?"


    At Jareth''s question, Sylvia contemplated for a bit and then spoke in a calm tone.


    "Ah, come to think of it, old man Boyan recently died of heart failure¡­ ah! Could it be!?"


    Jareth nodded his head at Sylvia''s shocked look.


    "Yes, that old man likely opened a small gap in the barrier for him to enter¡­"


    Another knight immediately refused to believe it.


    "No way! That''s impossible! Old man Boyan will never betray us! He''s the one who trained most of the current strongest knights for the palace!"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and explained properly.


    "Well, I never said he betrayed you¡­ I only said that he opened the entrance for a small time for Fisur¡­"


    "The answer is simple¡­ Old Man Boyan must have gone outside the capital, and the barriers ranged on one of your so-called training missions for the newbies recently¡­"


    "That''s where he ended up getting caught by Fisur; if it''s a grade-3 or higher level, it will usually take an entire day for the mutation magic to take effect on the person¡­"


    "And it takes even as much as a week for grade 2 mages¡­ Grade-1 mages are partially immune to this kind of mutation¡­"


    "But children, weak-minded people, and old people are the most vulnerable to this¡­ Fisur barely would have needed half an hour to turn the old man into his puppet¡­"


    Jareth sipped the tea served to him by the maid and continued in a calm voice.


    "Don''t assume that Fisur is only capable of using one type of forbidden magic; he likely has a ''lot'' of forbidden magic in his arsenal; it won''t be wrong to assume that¡­"


    "Either he tempered with the mind of the old man in a physical way or he perhaps straight up hypnotized the poor old man into doing his bidding¡­"


    Then Sylvia interjected and asked a question that was bugging her for a while,


    "But how does that relate to his death?"


    Jareth glanced into her eyes and spoke in a calm voice.


    "What will happen to you if someone forcefully messes up with your brain and internal organs using forbidden magic when you are already old and weak?"


    "The answer is obvious¡­ The old man Boyan died not because he was old but because Fisur used him and then got rid of him; this way, people thought that the old man died of old age..."


    "Then he went ahead and used the mutation magic on the little girl¡­ One hour is plenty of time for the mutation magic to take effect on a weak little girl who couldn''t even use mana yet¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the frustrated looks on the faces of the knights and shook his head.


    "No need to blame yourself; the other party is grade 1 mage; he hid his mana fluctuation; that''s why you couldn''t detect him¡­"


    "In fact, it''s actually a good thing that he ignored you guys and you didn''t find him¡­ A maniac like him could have already destroyed your entire capital city by now if he wanted¡­"


    "By the time I would have come here, there would have only been a destroyed ruin left filled with rotten corpses, nothing else¡­"


    Jareth was just saying the truth; Fisur likely was pressed on time and didn''t want to waste too much time staying in the city; that''s why he left after only messing with Emu.


    If he had time, he wouldn''t have just killed one little girl and left; he would have slaughtered the entire population of the elven capital.


    ''Or perhaps he lost interest in killing these guys because they are already on their death''s door, and it won''t be much interesting to torment already depressed people who are losing hope in life¡­''


    The elven population is slowly dying out anyway; people who are already on death''s door and are depressed to the point of falling apart won''t likely interest maniacs like Fisur, who wants happy people to die.


    ''Yeah, come to think of it, most maniacs usually only target people who are minding their own business and living a happy life¡­''


    ''I guess living like a crazy maniac will increase your chances of survival in this world as the villains will mistook you to be their own type of person¡­''


    (Imagine being so chaotic and messy in life that the miasma just ignores you and goes away, saying, ''Nah, no way, bruh, I ain''t made out for this sh*t¡­'')


    "But how do we make sure he didn''t do the same thing to other residents of the capital¡­"


    Hearing that question from the knight, Jareth shook his head and spoke in a calm voice.


    "You don''t need to worry about that; I have already scanned the entire capital city of yours; there''s no one else who has the matching mana fluctuations inside them like Emu had¡­"


    "That guy Fisur was able to deceive me once, but the same trick won''t work on me again¡­ I have already figured out the mana fluctuation patterns from that one encounter¡­"


    "If another similar person walks up to me, I can in fact already undo the forbidden magic used on them¡­"


    Jareth wasn''t bluffing; his mana singularity isn''t just for show; you show him a mana pattern once, and he distinguishes it again easily from tens of thousands of mana patterns without any problem!

 Chapter 224 Plans for the upcoming challenge... Part-2.

    "The main thing that we need to worry about right now is that how to enter the forbidden area faster¡­"


    After hearing Jareth''s words, the group finally started to talk about the forbidden area.


    "If even Fisur Jolmoh was able to enter, there must really be a big gap in the barrier, if we can track it somehow-"


    Just when Sylvia and the other knights were thinking hard, Mark interjected and proposed and idea.


    "The reason why your crops and people are dying is because of miasma right? What if we track where this miasma is leaking from?"


    "The place that''s leaking miasma is likely where the barrier is broken, if we go from there, we can just directly skip the one week wait¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at those words, he patted Mark''s shoulder in acknowledgement.


    "That''s a good idea¡­ it seems you are also getting the gist of making good plans now, good work¡­"


    The group of knights and even Sylvia, all were quite surprised when they saw Jareth being so supportive of Mark, to them he seemed like a proud father who was happy that his son had made some progress!


    "B-but, tracking miasma is nothing to joke about¡­ those people from the demon cult might be doing it because they are already corrupted with miasma, but for others that kind of thing isn''t possible¡­"


    One of the knight''s had a worried look thinking about this matter,


    Sylvia also nodded her head at that,


    "Yes, mana detection is basically a person embedding their own ''will'' in the mana and spreading it out everywhere, then comprehending the mana fluctuations in the mana of the surroundings¡­"


    "If the person''s ''will'' be not strong enough and their mana detection ends up coming in close contact with dense miasma, they will get corrupted and die of mental breakdown!"


    "Some people even go insane from that!"


    Jareth waved his hand at those words,


    "No worries, leave that task to me and my three little disciples¡­ hmm, Mark and you two, this can be considered a training for you to temper your ''mind'' and ''will''¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the trio nodded their heads immediately without doubting a single thing.


    For them, Jareth''s words are absolute, whatever he says must be true.


    They have never seen or met a person who''s more knowledgeable than Jareth, not even Reynald knows so much about various things, Jareth was theory genius, he has a lot of knowledge stored up in his head.


    From the trio''s point of view, Jareth is basically a walking library, ask him about anything and he can answer it easy and even if he doesn''t know about it, he can easily solve and find the answer to it.


    "Well, let''s not waste much time on chit-chat now that we have figured out most of the things¡­"


    "I will leave preparing rations and other stuff to you Ms. Sylvia¡­"


    With that said, the meeting ended, all the knight hurriedly left and Ava took the trio with her to the garden to have a walk so that they can relax and cool their mind from what happened with Emu.


    Jareth walked over to the window and glanced at the group of four having a talk and enjoying themselves with crossed arms.


    "They are finally smiling again¡­"


    Hearing Sylvia''s words, Jareth sighed,


    "Yeah¡­ seeing an innocent person die right in front of you is not something everyone can bear to watch¡­ these three have excellent mental adaptation capabilities¡­"


    "Well, I guess that''s to be expected from the most talented people of the entire human empire¡­ their talent is nothing to joke about¡­"


    Sylvia glanced at Ava who was finally smiling while talking about various things with Mark and the two after so many months. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Princess Ava has been buried under work as her mother''s been missing¡­ she had it rough at such a young age, I would much prefer her to smile more like this¡­"


    "I guess, fate really likes to laugh at people with kind hearts¡­"


    Jareth himself had a rough childhood and he basically never laughs in happiness, in fact, this body might have already forgotten what it means to laugh out loud to heart''s content.


    Even in previous life, ever since he joined the shady company, he couldn''t feel proud of himself because of all the shady stuff he did, thus the smile from his face faded away.


    His and Jareth''s story is all about tragedy.


    "Well, they can be quite the troublesome bunch, but I am quite sure they will become responsible and strong pillars of support for the next generation¡­" S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "If things remain normal, there''s not much to worry about the future of the Nation¡­"


    Hearing Sylvia''s words, Jareth only sighed.


    She doesn''t know the future of this world, but Jareth knows it all too well, this world basically doesn''t really have a future, it''s just darkness and more darkness.


    "By the way, you seem to favour these kids a lot, are they related to you in some way?"


    Jareth shook his head at that question,


    "I am not related to them by blood or anything, but we are bound with the bond of Student and teacher, I am just doing my job as a professor to teach my students that''s all¡­"


    ''My story might have been but a tragedy from start to finish, at the least, these three kids should live a happy youth, no one knows what will happen in the future after all¡­''


    Although Jareth knows about the haunting presence of the sea of miasma, there''s several possibilities to it.


    Even he himself is not sure what might happen and which possibility will turn out to be true in the end.


    That''s why, the more assets you have on your side the better it is.


    Jareth''s training these three assets to become strong, live a live that they won''t regret, that way they will be more willing to help him out in the end.


    He''s read enough novels to know that the villain who uses force and fear as a method to make do his bidding, always ends up getting beaten at the end.


    He''s not that kind of a fool, he''s a villain that knows how to use his head in a much smarter way.


    ''To win as a villain is actually extremely simple¡­ raise ridiculously strong enemies for the hero and let them take care of the hero¡­''


    ''While you yourself use the time to achieve your own goals by completely cutting off contact with the hero¡­''


    ''The key to winning as a villain is avoiding the ''plot armour'' as much as possible so that you don''t become a victim of the so called ''power of friendship and love''¡­''


    ''Er¡­ just talking about that makes me feel cringe¡­''


    Jareth glanced at Sylvia and spoke in a calm tone,


    "Tomorrow morning, lead me to the entrance of that barrier of the forbidden area, I will scan the entire barrier and the miasma flow patter around it¡­"


    "If I am working on this task, it''s already as good as done¡­"


    Sylvia nodded her head and gave a knightly salute to thank him for his efforts.


    "Uh, originally I though you were a dangerous and a very difficult to talk to type of person, but it seems you aren''t that bad after all, Mr. Jareth¡­"


    Jareth just shrugged his shoulders at those words,


    "You flatter me¡­ I am just a humble professor, no need to think too much of it¡­"


    ''I am not a bad person!? Woman, It seems your eyes are for decoration only perhaps! I am literally a heartless guy, if not for those sh*tty false dome cult members! I wouldn''t have come here!''


    The elven country is suffering from starvation and is on death''s door, thousands of people are dying but that has nothing to do with him at all, elves are not the only people who are on the verge of death!


    This entire planet is on the verge of death!


    If those golden nails are not protected on time and the False dome cult isn''t taken care of, it will destroy the entire planet along with the billions of organisms that live on it.


    ''Still, I don''t really care about the people from this planet, all I want is that my soul escapes the sea of miasma, everything else can go to sh*t!''


    Wealth? Fame? Possessions? Relations?


    All these are just mere decorations when you can''t even save your own life! What matters here is saving yourself from an eternal torture!


    These things can be earned back again if your life is still there!


    Jareth waved his hand and decided to go back to his room.


    "I shall go back to my room now, you should get some rest too Ms. Sylvia, we have a long battle ahead, when we encounter the False Dome Cult it won''t be just a one-on-one battle¡­"


    "There might be thousands of them waiting in ambush¡­ that Fisur guy, he can create teleportation alters using forbidden magic¡­"


    Sylvia nodded her head at Jareth words and gave a salute in return for the advice.


    ''He''s quite a kind person it seems¡­''


    Jareth''s actions are all in line with a benevolent person, so it wasn''t strange that Sylvia misunderstood him for a good person.


    ''Well, he shows himself as a cold-hearted person from the outside, but he does have a warm heart, he''s quite like you big sis¡­ I wonder what face you will make when you meet him?''


    Sylvia glanced at the horizon and thought to herself.


    ''Well¡­ if he was an elf¡­ I wouldn''t have minded it if I had to marry him¡­ any girl will be happy to marry such a strong and kind hearted person¡­''


    Sylvia sighed to herself and went back to her work thinking about her life if she was married to Jareth.


    (It''s impossible for you Sylvia, he''s married to Shiina...)

 Chapter 225 Troubles of being a Princess...

    "I see¡­ That means you are actually a descendant of powerful elven heroes who fought in the war of abysmal purification!?"


    Ava nodded her head at Risa''s question.


    "Yup, the first elven royals were the leaders of the elven population that won in the war of Abysmal Purification and were able to establish this country!"


    Sitting in a gazebo in the half-destroyed garden of the palace, the group enjoyed tea to cool off their nervousness and stress while talking about various random things.


    The war of Abysmal Purification happened in a time even before the birth of the First King, Strar U''lbyatre.


    During those times, quite a few races came together in an alliance with the elves to fight against powerful Beast Overlords who were mutated by miasma and were strong enough to destroy civilizations!


    "There were many heroes in our lineage; it is said that there was a hero named Zion Reid who once saved the entire country by himself!"


    "A gigantic moon-turtle-type monster attacked the country; it was so big that mountains seemed short in front of it!"


    "It is said that it''s shell was so strong that its toughness could compete with power metals from myths and legends like Mithril and Adamantine!"


    Ava glanced at the three curious new friends of her and spoke in a serious tone for a more dramatic effect. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire


    "And such a powerful monster was split in two by Hero Zion Reid in one sword attack!"


    "Zion Reid was not only a powerful grade-1 mage! He was also an extremely strong swordsman! Armed combat, unarmed combat, military tactics, and troop management¡ªhe was a master of them all!"


    "It is said that despite having a small frame, he had enough strength in his hand that he was capable of defeating an ogre in arm wrestling!!"


    Ogre are believed to have nearly the strength of five elephants! They are ridiculously strong.


    To be able to defeat an ogre in arm wrestling is an insane feat that can put even the strongest warriors to shame!


    "I wonder how he had so much strength despite having the build of a normal elf, or perhaps the history is a bit exaggerated; he must have been extremely tall and muscular!"


    "Even bigger than an Ogre!"


    An ogre is about five meters tall, and they are naturally very muscular; their bodies are built in such a way that they grow up with well-built muscles without even doing any training at all!


    They are naturally gifted from the very start.


    To be able to compete with them in physical capabilities is something only an abnormally talented person can do. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Er¡­ you mean to say that he was good in martial arts too!?"


    A look of pure shock appeared on the trio''s face when Ava started to mention Zion Reid''s ridiculous feats of strength.


    Just when they had started this journey, Jareth had told them that he met a man named Zion Reid in the depths of the Abyss Altar Area and fought with him on equal terms!


    The two of them fought till the point they had a draw! They even ran out of mana and fought with fist afterwards!


    Originally, the three of them didn''t know that Zion was ridiculously strong even without mana and was even stronger than the most powerful warriors!


    Jareth was able to fight him in hand-to-hand combat and push the battle to a draw; he even forced Zion to retreat and was only an inch away from victory!


    This just proves how ridiculously strong Jareth is in terms of physical capabilities!


    ''T-this is insanity!''


    Up until now, Mark used to think that he could catch up to Jareth by just working hard as a mage and improving his magic capabilities, but who could have thought that aside from being a mage, Jareth was a powerful warrior too!


    ''A-at this rate, I will never be able to catch up to him!''


    The trio has never seen Jareth use physical strength to deal with enemies; that''s why they weren''t sure about it before.


    But now that they have found out about this, they can be sure that Jareth is at least a peak grade-2 warrior in disguise!!


    ''Ah, I see now! He never uses his physical strength because he simply doesn''t need to!!''


    ''He kills his enemies before they can even make him run out of mana, and thus he doesn''t really need to resort to using¡­''


    Mark and the other two had the exact same idea in their minds at that moment; they all thought the same thing at that moment.


    ''His mana capacity is extremely high!''


    The three of them saw Jareth fight Konda with their own eyes. Jareth launched extremely powerful attacks as if they were just random spells, which he was tossing around casually.


    Yet, even after using so many powerful spells and fighting for three days and three nights straight with such a powerful foe, Jareth still didn''t run out of mana at all!!


    This just proves that Jareth''s mana capacity is extremely high!


    The three of them don''t have ''mana singularity,'' so they misunderstood that Jareth had an insanely high mana capacity that was as vast as an ocean.


    What they didn''t know was that the mana capacity is the sole reason why he''s still only a grade-2 mage; he doesn''t have high mana capacity!


    The only reason he never runs out of mana is because he can replenish it extremely fast, to the point that his mana usage speed is lower than his mana replenishment speed!


    In the Abyss Altar Area, there was no mana in the surroundings, thus Jareth ran out of mana quickly during the fight with Zion, but if they were fighting above ground and not in that place, Jareth would have had a complete upper hand.


    Not only does he have an attack enhancement card that can settle the match in critical moments, he even would have an infinite mana supply, so he would never run out of it.


    Zion, on the other hand, will get tired and will run out of mana easily!


    But of course, Zion is not an idiot; he would have noticed all this from the last battle; he won''t come to deal with Jareth until he has found a clue to beating Jareth despite all these advantages!


    ¡­


    "Er¡­ By the way, what about your father, princess Ava? What happened to the Elf King? It seems no one talks about him much¡­ They only refer to the queen, not the king¡­"


    Hearing Azul''s random question, Ava sighed a bit before replying.


    "My father was a very sickly person from the start; he had a fragile and weak body¡­ Despite his physical weakness and lack of magical abilities, he was an exceptionally intelligent individual."


    "He was one of the greatest minds of the empire; his strategies and plans were flawless and extremely effective!"


    "Even my mother, who''s a powerful grade 1 mage, couldn''t hold a candle in front of his amazing capabilities of dealing with various problems¡­"


    Ava clenched her fists at thinking about the matter.


    "If he was still alive, I am sure he could have easily dealt with the problems of this country; he could have easily made plans that would have saved the entire country with minimum casualties!"


    "And look at me on the other hand¡­ Both of my parents are great people; one was a great ruler with an extremely smart mind, and the other is a powerful mage of no equals in the entire Elven empire¡­"


    "Yet¡­ I am nothing in front of them¡­ Despite being their daughter, neither am I smart as my father, nor am I as strong as my mother¡­ I loathe myself for being so pathetic and so weak¡­"


    Everyone has their own circumstances in life; Mark and the other two have never lived a life similar to Ava, so they can''t understand her problems.


    Thus, they didn''t know what to say to her at that moment.


    Ava was supposed to be a heroine after all; her backstory was supposed to make the players sympathize with her. Here, Mark and the other two are villains; they aren''t supposed to play the role of consoling her.


    Seeing the sad look on her face, Mark sighed and spoke in a calm tone.


    "Well, at the least, you know that you are weak; knowing yourself is the first step to becoming strong¡­ That''s what my mother always says¡­"


    "She''s a powerful knight; she once told me that if you want to become strong, there''s no shortcut to it; you have to work hard every day and reach the top in a slow and steady method¡­"


    "She said that you mustn''t compare yourself to others; you are you, and others are others¡­ The only person you should compare yourself to is a better version of yourself¡­"


    Mark shrugged his shoulders at that moment, sipped the tea, and spoke in a vague tone.


    "Well, even I don''t get the whole of it¡­ But yeah, that''s how it is for us who are born in influential families; we are born with a golden spoon in our mouth, but that has a cost of its own too¡­"


    "The more power, money, fame, etc. you have, the more sacrifices and responsibilities you have on your shoulders¡­ If you don''t fulfill the responsibilities even after all that, then you are never going to progress¡­"


    Risa smiled at that moment and spoke in a carefree tone.


    "I am the youngest in my family, so I don''t usually care about all that; maybe you should also try to be carefree? Being carefree of the problems can solve most troubles in the world¡­"


    Ava felt a bit awkward about Risa''s advice, but she didn''t deny.


    ''Wait¡­ isn''t that just being ignorant!? Why are you telling me to become ignorant!? What!?''

 Chapter 226 Entering the Forbidden Area... Part-1.

    Next morning, Palace, hidden basement.


    "Hmm, so the actual path to the forbidden area is from directly under the throne room¡­ A clever tactic indeed; intruders will have a hard time finding it, and if there''s people to guard, then it will be even more difficult¡­"


    Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Moreover, the person sitting on the throne would be the grade-1 mage, the elven queen; thus, even if a powerful person sneaks inside, they will be spotted easily¡­"


    "The elves who made this structure put a lot of thought into this matter¡­"


    Sylvia, who was walking beside Jareth downstairs into the hidden basement, nodded her head at those words.


    "Well¡­ even with all these, we can''t stop the intruders if the main barrier itself has flaws and new openings have been created somewhere¡­"


    "In case the barrier has become flawed, this path is one of the most useless ones if we look at it this way¡­"


    Jareth felt quite amused after hearing those words.


    "Quite the daring one aren''t you, Ms. Sylvia, to think you will belittle the work of your own ancestors¡­ I didn''t expect that from an elf¡­"


    Sylvia shrugged her shoulders at those words.


    "Times change¡­ Although I am an elf, I am more on the less kinder side¡­ I am not like the other elf''s who only know kindness¡­ I have killed enough people in my work of line to say that I am not kind at all¡­"


    "I have started to stop thinking of myself as an elf nowadays; we need to adapt if we need to deal with humans; being kind and benevolent will make us end in the same way the fairy race ended¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at those words.


    "Well, I can''t deny that¡­ You guys really need to adapt to the cruel world if you want to survive while maintaining trade with humans¡­"


    "You are planning to become trade partners with humans, but right now you have nothing of value; moreover, your military might is not that impressive either¡­"


    "Even if you don''t count me and Reynald from the human empire, the military of our empire alone is enough to wipe your entire nation off the surface of earth a thousand times over and over¡­"


    "I don''t mean to insult you, but Elves are weak right now, so weak that you guys aren''t even as strong as the least armed town of the human empire¡­"


    "Even ordinary humans can use guns and defend themselves against stray animals and low-level monsters¡­ but look at elves¡­ sigh¡­"


    Elves are all born gifted with immense mana affinity.


    If they work hard to become strong, they can all become strong mages and warriors in just a few years!


    If all elves train and work hard to learn combat skills, they can overpower the humans without even the need of technology and weapons!


    That just shows how talented the elf race is!


    Even the least talented elf has many times more talent than people like original Jareth, who had very little talent for magic.


    But the biggest problem is that elves don''t like violence; they don''t train combat skills, and no matter how talented one is, if they don''t use that talent, it all goes to waste!


    No matter how talented you are, if you don''t work hard to improve, all that talent is nothing but decoration!


    Most elves don''t even learn a single spell or martial skill their entire life; all that combat talent goes to waste most of the time.


    "Talking about the army, the number of knights stationed in this capital city is extremely low¡­ I couldn''t find more than five hundred of them with my mana detection¡­"


    "Don''t tell me that this entire capital where tens of thousands of elves are living is being protected by just a mere handful of knights and mages¡­"


    Sylvia gritted her teeth, clenched her fist at those words, and nodded her head, her head lowered in shame at that moment.


    "Yes¡­ It''s just as you have sensed there''s barely five hundred people who even know basic combat skills¡­"


    "Out of them all, only a few are even grade-3; only I am the only peak grade-2 warrior here¡­."


    "We don''t even have enough soldiers to organize a proper army¡­ It''s all just as bad as you are thinking¡­"


    Sylvia clenched her fists tightly while walking and spoke in a quiet voice.


    "In fact, being a warrior or a mage is seen as bad thing in our race¡­ Violence, war, bloodshed¡ªall these things are like taboo among the elven race; just talking about them will get you strange stares, and everyone will start avoiding you¡­"


    "If you choose to become a soldier, if you choose to learn combat skills and magic, you become a total outcast from society; not a single elf will talk to you; no one will care about you¡­"


    "Everyone will avoid you like a plauge¡­"


    Jareth got a bit curious about this matter, so he asked,


    "What if they are in danger and you save them with your strength? They will still not appreciate your kindness?"


    Sylvia sighed and nodded her head without hesitation.


    "Yes, they still won''t appreciate it¡­ Elves believe that ''Nature is the supreme existence'', Animals, plants, monsters, and everything is a part of this supreme existence¡­"


    "If you pray firmly in your mind and keep your faith alive, monsters will not attack you and everything will be kind to you; no harm will come your way if you have enough faith in ''Nature'' in your heart¡­"


    Jareth could help but shake his head in disappointment after hearing those words.


    Even he didn''t know about this part of the lore as this likely wasn''t added in the game, but finding it out from Sylvia has made him even more disappointed in the elves now.


    Jareth is the type of person who only believes in himself; he doesn''t keep empty faith in things that seem completely nonexistent; that seems more like random bullsh*t to him.


    "I guess you can say that everything is indeed part of ''Nature''; that bit is true¡­ But monsters and animals attacking others for food is also ''Nature''¡­"


    "What makes you guys think that they will go against ''nature'' and won''t attack you if you pray in your heart?"


    "You guys are just contradicting yourself at this point; this is the highest level of bullsh*t I have ever seen in my life¡­"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders and spoke in a calm tone.


    "The fairy race was at least genuinely kind and benevolent; you guys, on the other hand, are straight up weirdos¡­"


    "You aren''t genuinely kind; you are trying to act kind because of a false sense of non-existent faith that everything will be kind to you if you are kind¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia didn''t get angry at all; instead, she sighed in helplessness.


    "You saw through all this and figured out the truth so easily¡­ I wonder why the other elves can''t see this truth like you¡­"


    "Perhaps, they all want to run away from the truth that what they are doing is just delusional thinking; it won''t do them any good¡­"


    "This is the reason why I am so worried about them coming into contact with humans; they will definitely mess up¡­"


    Unlike Elves, most humans live without delusions of being overly kind to others.


    Although humans have a moral sense too, it isn''t as flawed as the elves; they will definitely take advantage of the na?ve nature of the elves, and the trade will become completely pointless at that point. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yeah, if human merchants came here, the elves would end up losing all their money, and most of them would go into serious debt and fall victim to scams and various bad people¡­"


    "Their life will turn into hell..."


    Jareth also nodded his head and gave an honest answer.


    But he also gave advice at that moment:


    "Well, you still have hope at the least; you have your princess Ava, unlike you older elves; she''s young; her beliefs and goals haven''t solidified yet like you guys¡­"


    "She still has room to adapt to the new way of life; maybe if the conditions are right, she can learn to get rid of this delusional and empty faith of yours and will teach how to achieve this to the entire younger generation¡­"


    "Change will slowly come that way; it will be slow and might take a long time, but¡­ elves are not short on time anyway, so it doesn''t matter¡­"


    Elves have long lifespans; if they try to bring about change, they will definitely succeed in a few decades or centuries; they have enough time to work hard.


    ''Well, that is if this world can allow it¡­''


    Although Jareth knew about the hopelessness of this world, he didn''t say it out loud as it didn''t matter much in this circumstance.


    "We are here¡­"


    Just when Jareth was busy thinking various things in his mind, the two of them finally reached the hidden basement, and a gigantic door appeared in Jareth''s view.


    "So this is the entrance to the forbidden area? It''s quite magnificent¡­ Moreover, it''s made up of material that is a mana detection repellent¡­"


    "No wonder even my mana detection was feeling such powerful suppression while scanning this area¡­"


    Jareth couldn''t help but smirk a bit while looking at that gigantic door and that massive magic barrier protecting the entirety of it.


    ''It''s very impressive; even in it''s worn-out state, I can still sense the ''laws'' of the ''world'' blessing the barrier¡­''


    ''The person who made this put some serious effort into it, I guess¡­''


    Jareth placed his hand, at the door and used his mana singularity to sense the mana and miasma flow inside and near the entire barrier.

 Chapter 227 Entering the Forbidden Area... Part-2.

    Jareth took a deep breath and put his hand at the entrance door of the forbidden area.


    [Mana Command: Scattered Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana Detection!]


    Jareth spread out his mana detection to the entire barrier.


    ''D*mn this sh*t is gigantic!''


    Measuring the barrier can also show how big the forbidden area is. Jareth spread out his mana detection far and wide into the barrier''s mana circle, but even he was surprised at its size.


    ''It''s like an entire underground city spread across dozens of kilometers of area!''


    The forgotten city in the Abyss Altar Area stretched over hundreds of kilometers of subterranean space.


    Although this forbidden area below the elven capital is also big, it isn''t as vast as the Abyss Altar Area, so Jareth can still deal with it.


    ''The structure and defense mechanism of this magic barrier are extremely complex¡­ If it were any other grade-1 mage, it would have been impossible to detect the holes and flaws of this barrier in this way¡­''


    Jareth has mana singularity, and thus he can use the mana in the surroundings as backup; that''s why he can afford to expend so much mana.


    Others couldn''t do it, so they can''t completely measure the barrier as its defense mechanism interrupts your mana detection and increases the mana consumption by several times!


    Time passed, and about half an hour flew by.


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed, and he finally found the broken area of the magic barrier.


    "How many times do you open the national weapon armory in a year?..."


    Hearing that sudden question from Jareth, Sylvia was taken aback for a second but then contemplated in her mind and replied in an awkward tone. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Er¡­ w-we don''t open it at all¡­ It''s been nearly a hundred years since we last opened it, I think¡­ Last time they opened it was when a giant monster attacked the nation¡­"


    "It was opened by the knight captain of that time, who then used a powerful weapon to slay the monster¡­ Later, the knight captain was exiled from the nation for using such violent means¡­"


    As Sylvia stated beforehand, learning combat skills and becoming a knight or a mage is basically asking to be outcast from society in the elven empire.


    If you go ahead and use destructive weapons to kill monsters and taint yourself with blood and killing intent, then you are not accepted by the elves at all.


    At that point, people will forcefully exile you from the nation.


    That''s also the reason why no one goes to the national armory, and the powerful weapons inside it have been collecting dust for centuries!


    "Why do you guys even have national armor when you don''t even use it in the first place? That''s such a waste of precious metals¡­ They are just going to rust away and decay¡­"


    Sylvia sighed at Jareth''s words and replied in a calm tone,


    "The weapons stored inside it were created several millennia ago in the time of the first elf king, when the royal family first established the empire by defeating monsters and powerful enemies¡­"


    "They stored the weapons they used in those times into the armory so that the next generations can use them later on¡­ Most of the weapons have already decayed to the point that they are barely even usable¡­"


    "Only a few grade-1 weapons are still in usable condition¡­"


    Sylvia tilted her head in confusion and asked,


    "But what does the magic barrier of the forbidden area have to do with the national armory?"


    Jareth sighed at Sylvia''s question and replied in a calm tone,


    "You guys haven''t been going to the armory, which is why you haven''t noticed anything amiss up until now¡­"


    "In the first place, your armory is located in the uninhabited outskirts of the capital city; no one even goes there¡­ That''s the reason no one noticed it earlier¡­"


    "That armory is the place where the ''flaw'' is located; Fisur Jolmoh likely entered the forbidden area from that place!"


    "And worst-case scenario, he might have already stolen all of your powerful ancient weapons too!"


    Sylvia was shocked after hearing those words.


    "T-this is bad¡­ There are several powerful artifacts stored there¡­ If they are also stolen, then things will turn for the worse!" Find more chapters on My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel even more disappointed at the elves.


    Powerful artifacts and weapons are something that you should guard and keep safe at all times, as they are like a double-edged sword.


    If you don''t guard them properly, they will fall in someone else''s hand and will be used against you instead!


    A weapon doesn''t care about friend and foe; it can be equally harmful to its owner if it falls into the hands of an enemy.


    To think that the elves will neglect the safety of a place that is literally a storehouse for dozens of powerful weapons and artifacts is unbelievable.


    "Sigh¡­ Well, even if you had placed guards there, it wouldn''t have mattered much; Fisur is a grade-1 mage after all; random weak guards won''t even be enough to serve as cannon fodder¡­"


    Jareth has noticed how weak those knights of the elven race actually are.


    Although they do train, they likely only do it once in a very long time, and they don''t train properly.


    The combat skills of the warriors and mages of the elven race seem very lacking in Jareth''s eyes.


    ''I am more surprised at the fact that there is someone as strong as Sylvia in this weak a*s country¡­ She''s clearly in a league of her own¡­''


    Sylvia is an extremely talented knight; she can very likely go toe to toe with Mark''s mother when she was in her prime.


    In the game, Sylvia alone was able to keep an entire siege of the monster army at bay for a good while.


    This demonstrates that her combat capabilities are truly impressive.


    As long as it''s someone at grade 2 or below level, they can never win against her unless they have several powerful abilities like Jareth.


    But compared to Sylvia, every other wizard and knight is pathetically weak.


    ''Sylvia is the odd one out of them, I guess; elves generally are peace-loving creatures; for her to be strong just shows she isn''t elf like¡­''


    Becoming strong as an elf is like giving up your identity as an elf. Sylvia has sacrificed her peaceful life to become strong; not a single elf in the entire nation wants to talk to her except for the innocent kids.


    She''s basically an outcast because she''s so strong and regularly goes out of the barrier to hunt monsters and beat human poachers who make it to the depths of the forest.


    ¡­


    "Sigh, forget it¡­ I guess that''s just how careless elves are¡­ No wonder you guys are in such a dire state and your nation is dying¡­ Even without the influence of Miasma, you guys are too weak for this cruel world¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and started to head outside.


    "Only take the most elite people with you and complete the preparation; we are heading to the armory; we will enter the forbidden area from there¡­"


    "The place inside is likely affected by immense amounts of miasma, so if you bring weak people with you, they will just get in the way¡­"


    "Make sure you bring enough mana and health recovery potions, by the way; they are crucial when traveling in miasma affected areas¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia nodded her head, and the two of them rushed back to the surface together.


    "By the way, what about princess Ava? Do we need to bring her with us?"


    Jareth shook his head immediately at Sylvia''s question.


    "No, we aren''t going there to have a picnic; there''s no point in bringing her there; in fact, it would be better if she stays here¡­ At least she will be able to keep your empire barely alive in your absence¡­"


    The queen who used to rule over the empire is missing, and now Sylvia is also going to head inside the forbidden area with Jareth; in her absence, only Ava will be the only person left with power to rule the empire.


    If even she leaves, who will deal with all the official work and trouble in the empire?


    "Okay, I will prepare the things; let''s meet up at the palace entrance in half an hour¡­"


    With that said, Sylvia rushed away in a hurry; Jareth, on the other hand, headed outside the palace and informed Mark and the other two about the situation.


    "You three should accompany me to the forbidden area¡­ The effects of miasma are definitely very dangerous, but they aren''t as fatal as the Abyss Altar Area¡­"


    "There''s likely still mana inside the forbidden area, so you don''t need to constantly put up the mana shield¡­"


    "This will be a great training experience; just make sure you don''t take on enemies that are too out of your league."


    The trio nodded their heads at Jareth''s words and agreed immediately.


    Jareth is training these three to combat the sea of miasma in the future; if they can''t even handle this level of miasmic corruption, then they aren''t worth the effort of raising them.


    Not only is this training, but it''s a test for them three; if they can make it out of this place alive, only then can they be considered worthy assets that will help him deal with the miasma in the future.


    Running away and always staying away from trouble won''t solve anything; sometimes you need to take things head on and deal with them before they can become more troublesome!

 Chapter 228 Entering the Forbidden Area... Part-3.

    Elven Capital, Outskirts.


    On a barren hill.


    "Oh! So, this is the national armory of the Elven Empire! It looks quite magnificent!"


    Looking at the giant fortress standing on the hill, giving off a sense of power and mystery, the group was quite surprised.


    Ignoring the surprised shouts of the group, Jareth glanced at the main door of the fortress, and sure enough, the protective barrier was broken and the door was completely wide open.


    "To think someone walked into your national armory from the front door and you guys didn''t even notice it up until now¡­ This is the most ridiculous situation I have ever seen before¡­"


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel that elves are real weirdos; they know that extremely powerful weapons of mass destruction are stored in this place, yet there''s no one standing here to even keep watch or guard this place.


    This is like they are literally asking others to come and steal the weapons and use them in their own capital city to destroy their homes.


    Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire


    "They say that the mana barrier here is extremely strong, so we don''t need to guard the place, but it seems at some point a flaw appeared in the barriers here and the place became defenceless¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head and walked inside without hesitation; there was no point in arguing with the elves; they wouldn''t change their thought process from his words anyway.


    Mark and the other two followed right behind Jareth and Sylvia along with the three-peak grade-3 mages that Sylvia brought with herself.


    These are the only strongest people she has under her command right now; she could have brought others too, but they were all too weak, and Jareth had specifically asked her to only bring strong people.


    There''s no point in having weak people in the team, as they will only become a burden on them and will drag the team altogether.


    "As I thought¡­ everything''s stolen¡­"


    Jareth walked inside and found that everything was broken inside the fortress; there was a gigantic hall inside the enhanced door protecting the giant armory, and everything inside was completely in a mess.


    Broken and decayed old weapons were scattered all over the ground like garbage; thousands of broken artifacts and hundreds of former high-grade weapons lay broke and in disrepair.


    "The metal has rusted to the point that all these weapons are nothing but garbage at this point; even Fisur didn''t bother stealing them¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the several broken and rotten cabinets around and used mana detection to sense the mana traces, and sure enough, there was not a single usable weapon left.


    "The grade-1 weapons and artifacts have all been stolen; there''s not a single thing of value in this place anymore¡­"


    "Well, I guess you guys didn''t use them before anyway, so it might not affect you much anyway¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and stopped worrying about the weapons and artifacts.


    Elves are a peace-loving race; they avoid battles and violence like a plague. For them, these weapons and artifacts hold no meaning at all.


    ''If it were in the human empire¡­ people would cherish even these broken weapons as family heirlooms¡­''


    The human race has many flaws, and there are indeed many bad people there, but there are also good people mixed up in the crowd.


    Even if these weapons have all but rusted away and are now unusable, they hold several thousand years'' worth of history!


    These were the very same weapons the heroes of the past used to carve out this nation from nothing.


    These weapons were once held by proud warriors and were the symbol of great pride; if they were in the human empire, people would have cherished them as heirlooms and told folk tales about them.


    ''I guess treasure only holds meaning if there''s someone to appreciate it¡­ Otherwise, it''s just some random glowing metal that''s of no use by itself¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth cast the basic magic float to float a bit higher and avoid stepping on the broken weapons fallen on the ground. He spread out his mana detection to detect the path underground and moved deeper into the armory.


    Sylvia and the others also followed behind him.


    "I-is that the famous sword ''Jamaina''!? It''s been reduced to such state¡­"


    Sylvia''s surprised voice attracted everyone''s attention; everyone glanced at a broken and rusted sword plunged in the wall at her words of exclamation.


    Seeing the confused look on everyone''s face, Sylvia explained,


    "Jamaina of the molten depths¡ªthat is the full name of this sword! There''s no doubt about it! This is the sword of great hero Zion Reid!"


    "It is said that this sword was capable of slicing even the toughest things in the world like a knife slicing through butter!"


    "But to think that it''s fallen into such a state¡­"


    Sylvia is a sword user herself; she grew up admiring Zion Reid''s stories since childhood, and she knew that Zion''s famous sword was stored inside the national armory.


    From the very first day she officially became a knight, Sylvia always wanted to have ''Jamaina'' in her possession.


    She wanted that sword for herself, but going into the national armory for no apparent reason was equal to committing a great sin!


    Thus she never came here and never knew that the famous peak grade-1 sword Jamaina was reduced to such a state by now.


    "Hmm, this one''s not the work of erosion¡­ I can sense a faint amount of miasma from it''s blade even now¡­ This sword was only recently damaged¡­"


    Just when Sylvia was feeling depressed, Jareth''s voice rang out in her ears.


    At some point he came over to have a look at the sword.


    "Hoh, such fine usage of miasma¡­ I guess this must have been Fisur''s handiwork¡­ No wonder this place is so messed up right now¡­ It''s almost as if someone fought here and messed up the place in battle¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the cracks on the sword and spoke in an amused tone,


    "This sword¡­ It awakened a sense of ''Self''¡­ how interesting¡­"


    Weapons of peak grade-1 and above level have a chance of awakening a sense of ''Self'' under rare circumstances.


    "Well, the user of the sword wasn''t an ordinary person after all; it''s only fitting for the weapon to be unique too¡­"


    Jamaina awakened as a conscious weapon; it was a weapon that was only a step away from going beyond the shackles of grade 1 at that point.


    But for some reason this weapon likely got separated from Zion and thus lost its power source; the consciousness faded, and the sword slept in this armory for several centuries!


    "When Fisur infiltrated this place by pure chance, he caused the consciousness of the sword to awaken¡­"


    "It is said that the weapons with a sense of self chose their masters according to their own will; if others try to take them, they fight back fiercely¡­"


    "Fisur likely tried to steal the sword and ended up fighting it¡­ still a weapon without a master is nothing after all; it got destroyed by Fisur in the end¡­"


    Sylvia glanced at all the weapons scattered everywhere on the ground and spoke in an angry tone.


    "I see¡­ So by destroying the sword of our hero and throwing all these weapons on the ground, that man is basically insulting our ancestors and their sacrifices¡­ This is unforgivable¡­"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders at those words of determination.


    "Hoh¡­ finally feeling motivated to fight? That''s a good thing, I guess¡­ It will be less troublesome if you put your emotions aside when in battle. When fighting against miasma, your emotions are your greatest vulnerabilities¡­"


    Sylvia nodded her head at Jareth''s words, and the rest of the group also got motivated.


    "Let''s go; even a sword fought for its dignity¡­ Don''t let a mere weapon outdone you; it''s a matter of dignity and pride now for you too¡­"


    Jareth gave the elves another push with his words; now they will be able to fight properly and won''t get in his way.


    As they say,


    {Words spoken by mouth are sometimes one of the strongest weapons; they can be used to manipulate entire nations and civilizations alike!} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth led the group deeper through the corridors, and the group went downstairs into the basement, where they finally saw a massive, gigantic hole in the ground.


    "The ground below here must have collapsed, thus creating a hidden path directly to the forbidden area below the capital¡­"


    "This is the flaw in the barrier we were looking for; Fisur and all the other members of the False Dome Cult also likely used this hole too¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Mark and the other two and asked in a calm voice,


    "This is the only moment to turn back; if you want to, you can turn back now¡­ There''s no telling what will happen once we go to the forbidden area¡­"


    "Places that are affected with miasma are bizarre, and anything can happen at any moment¡­ If you are not careless, you will lose your life in an instant¡­" S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The trio immediately shook their heads and refused to turn back.


    "We have made it so far; we can''t just turn back now; only by going through hardships can you improve faster and become stronger!"


    Mark and Azul both have the same goal of surpassing Jareth one day; if they don''t work hard and go through hardships, they will never be able to reach Jareth''s level.


    As for Risa, she''s just tagging along because Mark is doing it.


    For her, only Mark''s choice matters; she will follow him even if it is to the depths of hell or the pits of darkness.

 Chapter 229 Miasmic Instability... Part-1.

    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Basic Magic: Telekinesis!]


    First Jareth cast the float spell on himself and then used telekinesis to cover everyone else in a bubble so that they could follow behind him closely.


    "Let''s go¡­"


    Jareth flew into the giant hole in the ground, and the rest of the group followed right behind him inside the bubble made of telekinesis.


    *Boom!*


    The flying speed of them all was so fast that they caused a sonic boom in the air and flew straight down at an insanely high speed!


    ''3 kilometers¡­ The forbidden area is located three kilometers deep¡­ There''s no way this deep hole isn''t man-made, but who could have created such a deep hole here despite this place having the mana barrier¡­''


    The biggest question right now is how this hole in the ground came to be, and there are only two possibilities.


    ''Either a huge amount of miasma was fired from below to blast a hole in the ground or someone from the false dome cult dug it after the barrier lost its power in this particular place¡­''


    ''Both scenarios are equally dangerous¡­''


    If the hole has been created by a beam of miasma fired from below, that means there was something powerful in the forbidden area that was capable of firing such a power beam of miasma.


    And it likely used this hole to escape outside.


    ''But considering that even after spreading out my mana detection, I didn''t sense anyone in the capital city tainted with miasma, this possibility is likely not true¡­''


    ''That means there is someone else with Fisur Jolmoh¡­ That means aside from the weaker member and Fisur, there is likely another grade-1 mage who has earth magic-related powers¡­''


    ''But I can''t remember anyone from the False Dome cult having earth-related powers, though¡­''


    Jareth has fought the false dome cult in the game, but there wasn''t any boss enemy from False Dome Cult with Earth Magic-related powers; the only prominent user of Earth Magic was Allen''s rival, Mark.


    ''I guess there are more members in the False Dome cult than it meets the eyes¡­''


    In the game, you never get to go to the main headquarters of the False Dome cult; that''s why Jareth doesn''t know where their headquarters are actually located.


    If he knew about it, he would have already stormed in to destroy them all.


    ''It would be safe to assume they have quite a few grade-1 mages in their ranks¡­''


    The game was all about the protagonist showing off his powers and beating up bosses here and there.


    The protagonist alone beat up everyone in his journey to become the strongest, and finally the game ended with Zion''s death.


    Most of the bosses of the False Dome cult are just optional bosses, as they don''t hold much relevance to the main plot; only the leader of the cult, Rahnan, is of most importance.


    ''Hmm¡­ if not for the fact that there was no route of collaborating with the enemies, I am quite sure that this game would have had more bad endings¡­''


    Allen''s whole journey is all about beating up the only guy who''s still working hard to save the world at the end.


    Indirectly, he''s helping the False Dome Cult by dealing with Zion.


    After all, Zion is trying to save the world, and the False Dome Cult is trying to destroy it.


    From this point of view, Zion is the biggest obstacle in the path of the False Dome Cult; if he''s dealt with, the world is basically done, as the last hope of the world will go out.


    ''Well, I am not surprised by this twisted storyline at all¡­ That''s the type of game it is¡­ and this much is expected from a world completely surrounded by miasma¡­''


    ''Heroes fight and kill each other for no apparent reason, while villains keep laughing at their pathetic selves from far away and enjoy the show happily¡­ a truly hopeless world¡­''


    By now Jareth has heard so many stories and has met so many victims of miasma that he''s not even surprised anymore that the entire main storyline of this game is also corrupted.


    ''Well, whatever doesn''t matter to me anyway; I have nothing to do with Zion and Allen in the first place¡­''


    *Boom!*


    Jareth increased the speed of flight, and another sonic boom resounded in the area.


    Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire


    ''There it is¡­''


    After flying down for a few seconds at such high speed, the ground became visible, and Jareth took a sharp turn in the air just as he was about to collide with the ground.


    He used telekinesis to dissipate the impact of the sudden deacceleration.


    "This is?"


    Looking around, the group was now standing in a dark corridor; there was a red carpet laid out on the ground.


    ''It''s torn apart and tainted with miasma, but this is definitely something that you would find in a royal palace or something¡­ This carpet looks quite expensive just from a single glance¡­''


    ''It was likely blessed with a powerful mana circle¡­''


    Seeing the confused look on everyone''s face, Sylvia explained in a calm voice,


    "This place is called a forbidden area, but it''s not actually a barren land with no structures and man-made objects¡­"


    "This place is actually a ruin of an underground military hideout¡­"


    The forbidden area is basically a ruin left behind of what used to be a massive military hideout in long-gone times.


    The elves of those times hadn''t yet established a proper empire; people lived in fear of wild beasts and monsters.


    Thus they created an underground military hideout to hide and protect themselves from the monsters above.


    Clearing out monsters and establishing a nation was a very difficult task, and it needed weaponry and a giant army.


    Elves were peaceloving creatures from the very start.


    Thus this hideout was created, hidden from the sight of the general populace.


    A city came to exist aboveground in this same place, and it later became the capital city of the Elven Empire.


    This place was originally supposed to be a place where the Elven royal family would train their soldiers and forge their weapons and artifacts.


    The military hideout was created hidden from people''s sight because the military itself isn''t acceptable by the elven people.


    Every year, only a few elven people will agree to join the secret army to help out and keep the forest safe for the rest of the population.


    "Er¡­ So you are telling me that instead of making your people understand the importance of military and weaponry, you guys did the exact opposite¡­"


    "You made the lives of your soldiers completely pointless¡­ Not only did they become complete outcasts from society and were tasked with sacrificing their lives for the same people who hated them¡­"


    "They even had to live in a place like this where even sunlight doesn''t come?"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Sylvia''s head lowered.


    She knew from the start that the philosophies of the elven people are flawed; that''s why she''s so worried about this nation.


    "Actually, I am more surprised that your nation has survived up until now¡­ With the way things have been, the elves would have gone extinct thousands of years ago¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and stopped talking about this matter.


    He''s become too disappointed in the Elven people by now; there''s no point in repeating the same thing over and over.


    It is common sense that food, land, armies, weaponry, and technology are some of the few key things for a nation to flourish. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    No matter if you are a peace-loving nation or not, you still need armies and weapons for various purposes.


    An army''s work is not only about wars and border safety.


    In most cases, it''s the army that is responsible for taking care of powerful disasters.


    Monster attacks, demon cults, internal strife, terrorist attacks, and maintaining the peace are just the few basic things that the soldiers do every single day.


    Aside from that, in cases of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunami, the army is the one who goes to risk their own lives to rescue people and give disaster relief.


    They are the ones who supply food and resources in case of disasters.


    Insulting them and treating them in such a bad way is basically making fun of heroes and their good deeds.


    ''Peace loving? gentle natured? Bullsh*t! By tarnishing the honor of your own soldiers, you guys have already proved that you aren''t benevolent and gentle natured¡­''


    ''Sigh¡­ Just thinking about all this causes a headache¡­ I seriously hate such two-faced nonsense the most¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Glowing mana orb!]


    Using a glowing mana orb, Jareth lit up the surroundings and started to head deeper into the ruins through the corridor.


    ''The inscriptions on the walls here are also quite good; they aren''t at the level of those from the Abyss Altar Area, but they are great nonetheless¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the massive inscription on the wall and asked Sylvia in a curious tone,


    "What is this inscription depicting? It has that sword ''Jamaina'' engraved here, which we saw back there in the armory¡­"


    Sylvia glanced at the inscription and contemplated for a while before saying,


    "Ah! This one''s depicting the hero Zion Reid fighting a three-headed serpent with his sword Jamina in his right hand and ''Light Magic'' in his left¡­"


    "This inscription is to show that the great hero Zion Reid was a genius who could use swordsmanship and magic both at the same time without any problems¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    ''Swordsmanship and magic both at the same time?... I see, in other words, in my fight with Zion, he was not using his full powers¡­ The next time he comes looking for me, he will definitely prove to be a more difficult foe¡­''

 Chapter 230 Miasmic Instability... Part-2.

    "This place¡­ it''s affected with ''Miasmic instability''¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, a serious look appeared on everyone''s face.


    Miasmic instability is a phenomenon that happens when Mana and Miasma are fighting with each other in some closed area.


    Mana and Miasma are completely incompatible, so placing them in an enclosed space will undoubtedly lead to chaos.


    The flow of mana will start interrupting the flow of Miasma, and the opposite will also happen.


    This strange situation caused immense instability in the void and the space-time fabric of the world in that particular place.


    If the concentration of mana and miasma becomes too high and each of them keeps interrupting each other for a long time, that place is declared to have been affected with ''Miasmic instability''.


    "Hmm, it''s still in it''s early stages though¡­ The density of miasma is still lower than the density of mana; things are still more calm right now¡­ But as time passes, this place will become a dead zone where no living beings could enter¡­"


    Jareth has mana singularity, so he won''t get affected by any chaotic mana and miasma currents in the area, but the rest of the group doesn''t have it.


    "What type of phenomena appear when there''s miasmic instability in the area?"


    Just when Jareth was about to answer Mark''s question.


    A powerful fluctuation in the space-time fabric appeared and teleported Mark away on the spot in an instant.


    No one, including Jareth, was able to react on time.


    "Er¡­ yeah, something like this happens¡­"


    It seems the chaotic mana currents in the area heard Mark''s question and decided to give him a practical instead of a theoretical answer.


    "Uh, what do we do now? Should we go look for him?"


    At Sylvia''s question, Jareth shook his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "The spatial shockwave only teleported him somewhere nearby in the forbidden area; no need to worry much about it; he can take care of himself¡­"


    "No one becomes powerful and strong without facing hardships; let him be for now; keep moving forward¡­"


    Mark is the rival of the main protagonist; he won''t die so easily; he survived a more dangerous situation in the original timeline; this isn''t much of a problem for him.


    As the group kept moving forward, Jareth suddenly had a thought, and he spoke.


    "By the way, the intensity of these weird magical phenomena isn''t always stable; they can become weak and strong at a moment''s notice¡­"


    Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire


    Jareth glanced behind him and found that everyone had disappeared.


    ''What the f*ck!?''


    A frown appeared on Jareth''s face as all the members of the group went missing in an instant.


    Jareth has been using his mana detection at full capacity the entire time, and he didn''t even notice them disappear, which is simply too weird!


    His mana detection didn''t even notice when they got teleported away.


    "No need to frown so much, Jareth Ayad¡­ It''s beyond any human''s capabilities to sense something like that¡­"


    *Step**Step*


    Just when Jareth was a bit taken aback at the disappearance of the group, a person wearing a pitch-black robe appeared from the darkness in the corridor.


    The person''s face was hidden behind a strange-looking white-colored mask that didn''t even have a single hole in it for eyes to see.


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the person wearing that pitch black robe.


    His presence was tainted with miasma, and he was giving off a very dangerous aura, which seemed so familiar that Jareth couldn''t make a mistake in any case.


    "Nathan¡­ sigh, In the end, you really end up joining the False Dome Cult after all¡­"


    The moment he had appeared in front of Jareth, his presence became visible, and it was easy to identify him.


    Jareth saw through his identity in an instant and also figured out that the other party has likely joined the False Dome cult and has gotten tainted with miasma.


    "Well, I had no other choice; I wasn''t ready to stay in that sh*tty death cage for my entire life, of course¡­"


    "Anyway, I was already old, and at the end of my lifespan, years of hard work and injuries from past battles had reduced my lifespan a lot, so I didn''t have much time anyway¡­"


    At that moment, Nathan took off his mask, and a face of a young man in his early twenties appeared.


    "Miasma is such a fascinating power¡­ By accepting it, I have regained my youth! I am at my peak once again now! I can research for a much longer time, and I can live for even after Miasma invades this world¡­" Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Isn''t this fascinating!"


    Although Nathan''s face looked young and handsome, his eyes were clearly showing that this guy has definitely lost a part of his mind, and he''s losing his sanity bit by bit.


    His eyes were filled with madness.


    ''I see¡­ It''s miasmic decay, a horrible way of torture¡­''


    Jareth has seen it in the game lore, so he can easily figure out what has happened to Nathan.


    Miasmic decay is a type of phenomenon that happens to people who get corrupted by miasma to the point that their soul gets tainted while they are still alive.


    The miasma slowly starts to steal away your life, your memories, your will, and your sanity from you.


    As time passes, the person inflicted with this condition starts to feel immense pain that directly comes from their soul being slowly ripped apart while they are still alive.


    This pain is beyond any other level of torture; it''s enough to drive even the strongest-minded person insane in a matter of a few minutes!


    Getting inflicted by this situation is basically a death sentence where you get horribly tortured for decades to come before your soul finally shatters and gets reduced to nothingness.


    ''He must be only in the starting stages right now; that''s why he''s still a bit sane and capable of thought¡­''


    As Jareth had anticipated, the False Dome Cult will undoubtedly use Nathan.


    ''Well, they already know the location of all the golden nails, so it doesn''t matter if they have Nathan with them now or not¡­ They already have all the information he can give¡­''


    ''They are likely planning on using him as a puppet from now on¡­''


    Despite the fact that Nathan has a bad personality and causes trouble, his strength is not to be questioned.


    Even without miasmic corruption, he was already a peak grade-1 mage stronger than even Reynald, and now that he''s affected by miasmic corruption and has gained more powers, he''s definitely gotten much stronger.


    ''Not only has he been strengthened by miasma, we are currently in a place where mana and miasma are causing disturbances in each other''s flow¡­''


    That means this place is disadvantageous for both mana and miasma users, but as Nathan is a space-type magic user, he will be at an advantage.


    He can tell where the miasma flow is stronger in the void and can use it to enhance his own magic''s effectiveness.


    This is also the reason why Jareth wasn''t able to notice the group being teleported away on time, as Nathan was using miasma and the void to cover his tracks.


    "I know everything, Jareth! After I disappeared for a while, you piece of sh*t actually put all the blame on me in the conference and declared Thomas to be the next principal!!"


    "You did all that without my permission!! I am the principal of the university! I created it all with my own efforts!!"


    "You have no rights to change the principal without my permission, you garbage!!"


    "You were only a mere grade-2 mage up until now; you only became a grade-1 mage recently! You are nothing compared to me!!"


    "I can kill the likes of you as easily as swatting a fly!" HAHAHAHAH¡­"


    Hearing all those words from Nathan, Jareth came to a conclusion,


    ''Yeah, he''s definitely losing his sanity¡­ They must have stationed him here to suppress my movements and cause delay¡­''


    The False Dome cult is filled with people that have several screws loose in their minds, but their leader, Rahnan, is a very cunning man; he knows how to create intricate plans and deal with situations with the least effort.


    ''He''s basically just another ''Jareth Blaze''¡­ a genius who wasn''t blessed with mana and talent despite having amazing mental capabilities¡­.''


    ''Fighting mindless fools with immense power is much easier than fighting a cunning enemy that is weak but can make extremely complicated plans¡­''


    Moreover, Rahnan isn''t even weak anymore; he''s blessed with miasma and has become powerful.


    In other words, he has an extremely intelligent mind and powers beyond ordinary people''s comprehension capabilities.


    ''I wonder if he''s also here though¡­ It''s likely that he only sent this ''puppet'' and Fisur¡­ but there might be others too¡­''


    Jareth has spread out his mana detection, but the place is affected by miasmic instability, so his mana detection isn''t working properly in this place.


    He has to follow the map that Sylvia gave him before coming here to reach the core area where the Golden Nail might be located.


    "You are dead meat, Jareth!! You are dead meat!!! I will kill you and turn you into meat paste!!!"


    "I will feed your corpse to my pet Yoma at dinner!! HAHAHAHA!!"


    Nathan himself doesn''t know what he''s even talking about anymore; he''s in a state of trance where he''s slowly losing his sanity, and right now the only thing on his mind is the order given by Rahnan.


    Which is to eliminate Jareth at any cost.


    As he''s affected by Miasma and is being mind-controlled, he can''t even disobey the orders anymore; he''s basically just a mindless puppet at this point.

 Chapter 231 The Battle Starts! Part-1.

    [Grade-1 Space Magic: Stable Teleportation Field!]


    Nathan stomped the ground, and a massive amount of miasma spread around to create a gigantic field of free teleportation.


    In this field, Nathan has the ability to teleport freely to any location he can see with his eyes, providing him with immense mobility and making it nearly impossible to land a solid attack on him.


    This is Nathan''s iconic move that he always uses in combat; Jareth''s very familiar with this tactic of his.


    Using this tactic of teleporting from one place to another, Nathan attacks the opponent from blind spots and slowly injures and tires them out before finally dealing a decisive blow.


    Nathan''s fighting style is like that of ''Hyena'', slowly torturing the opponent to death while putting the least amount of effort into it during the entire process.


    The biggest problem is that Jareth can''t outright interrupt this field right now.


    Had it been made of mana, Jareth could have used mana singularity to destroy it using the mana flow around.


    But now that Nathan''s been corrupted with miasma, this strategy won''t work, and Jareth can''t shatter the field with mana singularity.


    ''The biggest problem of them all is that he can cast it extremely quickly¡­''


    Nathan''s been a grade-1 mage for a very long time; he''s trained his grade-1 spells for a very long time, and thus his proficiency over them is extremely high.


    This teleportation field is Nathan''s specialty, and this is the spell that he''s practiced the most.


    Just like Jareth''s mana singularity is his bread and butter, Nathan''s main ability is this spell.


    He''s practiced it to the point that he can cast it without a single-second delay while consuming an extremely small amount of mana.


    "This isn''t the end, Jareth! See this!"


    With a maniac-like smile on his face, Nathan brought out a wand from his space ring and used it to enhance his magic even further.


    Looking at that weapon, even Jareth frowned a bit.


    ''A peak grade-1 ancient elven wand¡­ This is likely one of the weapons they stole from the armory¡­''


    Nathan embedded the wand with his mana and laughed like a maniac.


    "HAHAHA, This is ''Enoron'', an ancient weapon of mass destruction once used by the general of the elven armies from ancient times!"


    "This weapon is a perfect fit for me!! It increases the destructive power of my space magic by several times over!! And reduced the mana cost to the extreme!!"


    "Jareth! You are nothing in front of the power of this ancient weapon!! I will kill you here today!!"


    Jareth raised his fist and punched the ground with immense force at that moment!


    *BOOOM!* *CRACK!*


    The entire floor was cracked and broke apart; cracks appeared in the teleportation field, and it got shattered in an instant as if it were as fragile as paper in front of Jareth''s punch!


    "You talk a lot¡­ in the first place¡­ Who asked?"


    When your magic isn''t working against something, what should you do?


    Jareth''s answer to that question is simple: you might be out of magical abilities, but you are not out of options!


    Make the opponent catch those d*mn hands!


    Although Jareth can''t destroy the teleportation field with mana singularity, he can still use it to figure out the weakness of the ability.


    Jareth had already concentrated his mana detection in the area covered by the teleportation field the very moment it was cast to figure out its weaknesses.


    He used the time that Nathan wasted to spout nonsense and figured out a very fatal weakness of the teleportation field in that small time.


    The teleportation field, when cast, attaches itself to the surface of a fixed area; it can''t be moved anymore.


    Thus, Jareth directly smashed the entire floor, and thus the teleportation field attached to it also broke apart along with the floor.


    If it was some other mage, they couldn''t have noticed this weakness so easily, as the mana control needed to detect this weakness is very high.


    Jareth has mana singularity, so he can do such things more easily.


    "You barbarian¡­ You are a shame in the name of magic! Despite being a wizard, you are using physical power to do your bidding!? You piece of sh*t!!"


    The more Nathan talked, the weirder his talking method became, which made Jareth even more confused.


    ''Hmm? He''s losing his sanity much faster than I anticipated; he''s even started to spout insults for no apparent reason now¡­''


    ''Well, getting corrupted by miasma does put a lot of burden on your mind after all¡­ This guy''s losing his edge¡­''


    For a magician, being in a calm state during combat is extremely important; only when your mind is calm can the magic circles created by you be stable and strong!


    Alternatively, the instability of the magic circle significantly diminishes their destructive power.


    ''Still, he''s an experienced wizard. At the end of the day, I should remain cautious. In a battle between peak powerhouses, even a single mistake can cost you your life¡­''


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Pursuing Flame Tornado!]


    Jareth''s grimoire shined brightly, and a gigantic magic circle appeared on the ground, which unleashed a massive tornado made of true flames!


    Nathan was also not going to sit back and watch it all happen; he also cast his magic to counterattack on the spot.


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Spatial Pitfall!]


    He used miasma once again and opened a giant portal like a pitfall in the space below the fire tornado.


    "AHAHAH, I told you! You can''t defeat me, Jareth! I will now teleport this attack of yours upon you!"


    Just when the portal was about to swallow the tornado, the ''True Flames'' got triggered.


    Jareth is blessed with the ''Law'' of the ''True Flames'', and all of his fire magic is made up of true flames.


    This kind of flame can burn anything and everything that''s under the power of the ''Laws'' of the world.


    Contrary to popular belief, all types of magic are actually ''equal'' from the start.


    People believe that ''Space'' or ''Time'' magic is stronger than other types of magic, but that''s not true at all.


    All types of magic are actually, in fact, ''equal''; it just depends on the user how they use it.


    Jareth''s true flames directly burned the portal itself and shattered the space magic used by Nathan on the spot!


    Nathan''s space-type magic is indeed strong, but it''s not blessed with the power of a ''law'' of the ''world'' after all; it can''t contend with Jareth''s true flames at all.


    This is also the reason Jareth was able to challenge Zion Reid head-to-head.


    Zion''s light magic is in fact blessed with the power of the ''Law'' of the ''Radiant Light''.


    Jareth''s and Zion''s magic cancelled out each other as they were equally powerful and harmed them both in similarly fatal manner.


    [Grade-1 Space Magic: Stable Teleportation Field!]


    Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire


    Seeing that his portal was shattered and the flame tornado was still moving towards him at an insanely high speed, Nathan immediately cast another teleportation field to escape.


    "Again? Is there nothing else in your arsenal?"


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth stomped the ground with all his strength and shattered, breaking the floor even more to shatter the teleportation field once again!


    Although Jareth was able to break the teleportation field, Nathan was still able to dodge the tornado at least.


    The flame tornado hit the walls behind, and everything got melted to the point that only molten lava was left behind!


    "You b*stard! How dare you shatter my teleportation field again!!"


    *COUGH!* *URK!* *COUGH*


    All of a sudden Nathan started to cough up a mouthful of blood and glared at Jareth with extreme hatred.


    ''It worked?''


    Nathan''s body isn''t that of a warrior after all; he''s a powerful wizard, but his body is weak.


    Jareth hit the floor with such insane strength two times! The shockwaves and vibrations produced by his attack were equivalent to an extremely powerful earthquake.


    And as the teleportation field was in close contact with Nathan via his feet, the vibrations and shockwaves also hit him and injured his body from the inside out.


    Tanking one of those shockwaves was already an amazing feat, but two was a bit too much for even Nathan.


    All of his internal organs were hit and lightly damaged, thus resulting in internal bleeding.


    Jareth doesn''t have that ''99'' Int stat just for show; he planned it all out the very moment he figured out the weakness of the teleportation field.


    A magic spell that Nathan trained in for his whole life was rendered completely useless by Jareth in a matter of seconds.


    Right now, if Nathan uses it again for the third time and Jareth shatters it, the shockwaves that will hit Nathan will destroy all of his internal organs beyond recovery.


    He will die on the spot.


    This is the horror of an intelligent mind paired with a powerful body; defeating powerful opponents becomes as easy as a walk in the park!


    "Already on your knees, Nathan? I guess all those words of insult were nothing but empty talk after all¡­"


    Jareth shook his head while looking at Nathan with a look of disgust. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''If it was Zion Reid, he wouldn''t have fallen for such an obvious trick¡­ sigh, I kind of miss fighting him now¡­''


    It''s very rare that you meet someone who has a battle IQ as high as him; thus, it makes Jareth miss the moments when he was fighting Zion with all his might.


    Zion could go toe to toe with him; that just proved how amazing that guy is.


    ''If the circumstances were different¡­ I would have liked to become your friend, Zion U''lbyatre¡­''

 Chapter 232 The Battle Starts! Part-2.

    ''Wha-what!? Where am I all of a sudden!?''


    Mark glanced around and found himself standing in some kind of pitch-dark place with no light sources nearby.


    Nathan''s teleportation magic had teleported him away from the group when he used the miasmic instability of the area to his advantage.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    Using the glowing mana orb, Mark lit up the surroundings, but as his mana orb wasn''t as powerful as Jareth''s, it was only the size of a basketball, and it could only light up a few dozen meters of area.


    Once the area lit up, Mark noticed that the place he was standing was littered with hundreds of gigantic skeletons!


    ''Monster bones? What is this place? Why are there so many gigantic skeletons here!?''


    He glanced down and found that he was standing on a gigantic skull that seemed like an elephant-type monster skull!


    Just when Mark was getting more and more confused, the rest of the group also appeared beside him all of a sudden as they also got teleported.


    "Wh-what the!? What is this place!?"


    "Ahh! There''re so many skeletons!"


    Everyone was taken aback by the sudden teleportation. Risa glanced at Mark and heaved a sigh of relief.


    "I thought I wouldn''t be able to find you; good thing we didn''t get separated by the teleportation¡­ The miasmic instability here is indeed very dangerous¡­"


    Just when the entire group was getting more and more confused, Sylvia glanced at Mark and spoke in an anxious tone.


    "Mark, can you make that light source fly towards the ceiling? I want to conform something¡­"


    "I hope my guess isn''t true¡­"


    At Sylvia''s words, the entire group calmed down, and Mark made his mana orb fly higher while Risa and the other mages also cast their own mana orbs to keep the area bright.


    Mark''s mana orb flew higher for a few seconds at high speed and finally reached the ceiling.


    The ceiling of the place was quite high; it was hundreds of meters high.


    "What I feared has come true¡­ this place is the ''Trophy Hall!''¡­"


    Everyone felt confused at Sylvia''s words and couldn''t understand why she was feeling so anxious.


    "Trophy hall? Does that mean they used to keep treasures and trophies in this place? That would be so amazing!"


    Sylvia shook her head; she brought out the helmet of her armor from her space ring and immediately wore it in an instant.


    "There''s no time to explain! Everyone gets in combat stance! We can get attacked at any moment!"


    "Just keep in mind that this place isn''t just a trophy ground anymore; this is a monster nest for a very terrifying monster!!"


    *Crunch* *Crunch*


    Just as everyone raised their guard, an eerie sound of bones being crunched started to resound in the entire trophy hall.


    Mark''s mana detection immediately noticed the disturbance in the mana nearby, and his expression became solemn.


    "A gigantic horde of monsters is coming our way¡­"


    Hearing those words, Sylvia immediately took command of battle with a solemn look on her face.


    She unsheathed her sword and spoke in a solemn voice.


    "Make the arrow formation! I will be the spearhead; we will break out right through this encirclement! If we waste too much time here, we will all die!"


    "Don''t look back; just follow me and run like crazy!!


    As Sylvia completed giving her instructions, a gigantic horde of spider-type monsters came rushing from all directions and surrounded the group.


    Sylvia raised her sword above her shoulder and took her stance.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Flaming Arrow!!]


    She swung her sword downwards and fired a gigantic flame arrow from her sword towards the horde of spiders rushing in her direction.


    She completely burned all the spiders in front of her to crisp and opened a small opening through the encirclement for the entire group!


    "Now!! Follow me!!"


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Rushing Wind Storm!]


    Using the boost of the wind elementals, Sylvia gave more speed to the entire group, and everyone rushed forward with all their might to get out of the place.


    Mark and all the mages cast ''float'' magic on them all, and Sylvia''s windstorm attack gave them enough push to fly out of the place at an extremely high speed!


    The spiders immediately aimed at the group and tried to fire their spider silk threads at them, but Sylvia noticed it immediately.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Blazing Heat Wall!]


    As a gigantic wall of fire had surrounded the from all sides, Sylvia''s sword attack was impeccable and perfect!


    She easily repelled away all the silk thread attacks and burned them to crisp before they could even reach the group.


    Sylvia might just be a peak-grade 2 swordsman, but she was depicted as a very powerful character even in the game lore.


    She took down an entire army of lesser demons and monsters alone; this much is nothing for her!


    The group immediately broke out of the encirclement and continued to float further towards the walls of the ''Trophy Hall''!


    "Keep going till we reach the walls! I will break those walls for you! Keep going! We can''t stay in this place!"


    "I have read records that a powerful grade-1 spider-type monster made this place its nest during the days when this underground area was finally closed off completely!"


    "Those smaller spiders must be its offspring''s!! We can''t stay in this place! If that grade-1 monstrosity noticed us, we will be nothing but it''s prey!"


    They had been teleported here suddenly, and Jareth isn''t with them right now, so they can''t fight a grade-1 monster head on!


    Fighting a grade-1 monster in their current state will be suicide!


    "Breakthrough!!"


    The group encountered more spiders coming from the front, but Sylvia took care of them in an instant!


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Raging thunder dragon!]


    Mark and the entire group were shocked to the core by Sylvia''s techniques.


    There are very few people in the world that have affinity for several elements all at once.


    Sylvia being able to use three elements one after another is really a great feat! Even a genius like Mark can''t help but feel admiration for the other party.


    ''She''s so strong!! If she was a grade 1 being¡­ she would have been unstoppable!!'' Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire


    After dealing with several groups of spiders coming at them continuously, the group finally reached the wall of the trophy hall.


    "Get ready to jump out! I am gonna destroy the wall!!"


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Heavy Armor Piercer!]


    *BOOOM!!*


    Sylvia took her stance and thrust the swordstip into the wall with all her might; her mana created a massive shockwave, and the wall collapsed in an instant from her attack!


    The group flew out as the wall collapsed and blocked the path for the spiders, making it impossible for them to pursue the group any further!


    Sylvia''s quick decision-making skills and fast reactions saved everyone''s life in that moment.


    If they hadn''t broken out of the encirclement on time, they would have gotten entangled with hundreds of thousands of spiders in this place, and there would have been no end to it.


    Eventually they would have all died under the endless seize of those spider monsters.


    The group panted heavily as they finally made it out of the place safely, but Sylvia immediately pointed her sword toward the corridor and spoke in a serious tone.


    "This is no time to rest; get moving! This place isn''t safe! The grade-1 monster must be out hunting for food or something right now!"


    "We must get out of here before it comes back and finds us!!"


    With Sylvia''s command, the entire group immediately started to move away from the trophy hall in a hurry.


    Just dealing with those little spiders is such a big trouble if a gigantic monstrosity also came with them; they will really die in this place.


    "By the way¡­ what is that sword art of yours? It''s so amazing! It lets you control so many elements! I wanna learn it too!!"


    While walking through the dark corridors, Risa requested Sylvia to teach her the sword art with an excited look on her face, but Sylvia shook her head at those words.


    "I can''t teach you this sword art¡­ In fact, no one can¡­ This sword art is called ''Elemental Sword Art''; it''s been passed down from generation to generation among the royal elven family¡­"


    "Only the elves with royal bloodline can use this sword technique, as only they have such high affinity for all types of elements! Anyone else can''t use it¡­"


    "Well, even in the history books, there''s no clear record of who created this sword art and where it came from¡­" S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sylvia patted Risa''s head and spoke in a helpless tone.


    "Forgive me¡­ If it were actually possible, I would have really liked to teach it to you¡­"


    Risa shook her head and stopped asking unreasonable demands when Sylvia explained the situation.


    "Can a human never learn this technique?"


    Sylvia nodded her head at Risa''s question.


    "Yeah, unless there''s someone who has such high sword talent that the sword art itself decides to bow down to their feet and acknowledges them as their master¡­"


    "I don''t think anyone would be able to use it otherwise¡­"


    "There''s no way such a person could exist in this world, though¡­ After all, if there really was such a person, he wouldn''t even need this sword art anymore¡­"


    "He would have already awakened the legendary skill ''Sword Intent''!! At that point, sword arts just become auxiliary support skills; ''Sword Intent'' is the true pinnacle of swordsmanship¡­"


    "Every sword user in the world dreams of obtaining it¡­"


    (And then there''s a guy who uses that very sword intent to make tea¡­ I wonder who it is¡­)

 Chapter 233 The Mad Scientist, Fisur Jolmoh...

    *BOOOM!*


    Just as the group was trying to leave the Trophy Hall as far away as possible, the ceiling above suddenly cracked and broke apart.


    A gigantic spider monster came crashing down.


    Nearly all of its legs were broken, and its body was injured and wounded horribly. The giant spider seemed like it was on its last breath at the moment.


    "Where did this spider come from all of a sudden!? Moreover, it''s so horribly injured! What could have done this!?"


    *BOOM!*


    Just when the group was shocked at the sudden appearance of the injured spider, the ceiling broke apart even further as a person came crashing down right after the spider.


    "Urk¡­cough!... cough¡­"


    Seeing that person, a look of worry appeared on Sylvia''s face, and she ran over to hold the person in her arms.


    "Sister!? Big Sis!? What happened to you!? How are you so injured!? Did you get in a fight with that giant spider?"


    The person who came crashing down after the spider was none other than the elven queen and Sylvia''s older sister herself.


    Seeing Sylvia appear in her blurry eyesight, a look of anxiety and regret appeared on the elven queen''s face.


    "S-Sylvia?... A-am I hallucinating?..."


    The Elven Queen fainted immediately after uttering those words in a shaky voice.


    "Carlos! Heal her! Everyone else, stand on guard! There might be dangerous entities nearby; I will deal with this spider first!" S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As a seasoned knight who has faced numerous challenging circumstances and battles, Sylvia remained composed and gave precise instructions to her subordinates.


    One of the three mages that Sylvia brought with her is of the healing type; therefore, she instructed him to heal her older sister.


    She immediately unsheathed her sword and dashed towards the giant spider with all her might.


    The spider was still holding on to the last few threads of its dear life; it immediately moved its last remaining leg to attack Sylvia, who was dashing towards it with killing intent!


    Just when Sylvia was about to attack the spider, its body started to glow brightly, making Sylvia lose focus for a second.


    [Imperial movement art!]


    Using movement art, she immediately jumped away and made some distance from the glowing spider.


    Her intuition told her one thing at that moment:


    ''It''s going to blast!''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Earth Type: Wall of Stone!]


    Using the sword art to summon a gigantic wall of stone elementals, Sylvia instantly protected everyone behind her.


    If she doesn''t do this, everyone in the vicinity will get caught in the explosion.


    *BOOOOM!!*


    The massive spider body blew apart and exploded like a balloon.


    The same thing that happened to Emu happened to the spider too! It died a horrible death as a living bomb!


    Just by looking at that same kind of death, anyone can tell that this was also the handywork of the forbidden magic user, Fisur Jolmoh!


    The explosion was too strong for Sylvia alone to protect everyone; thus, Mark immediately used his own earth magic to support the Sylvia Stone wall and enhanced its power with his own earth affinity!


    With Mark''s help, the stone wall stopped cracking at high speed and was able to endure the gigantic explosion!


    The explosion was so big that all the nearby walls were completely reduced to powder, and a gigantic crater was left behind where the injured spider once stood.


    Looking at that gigantic crater of immense size, even Sylvia couldn''t help but feel a bit anxious.


    ''Such power¡­ Is this really possible for a human to achieve this much power?''


    It seemed more like a natural disaster of unimaginable scale than something a human could create.


    That''s the difference between a grade-2 and a grade-1; any casual attack from a grade-1 mage is simply too out of the league of grade-2 individuals.


    "Retreat! We can''t stay here for long! We will need to wait for Mr. Jareth; otherwise, going to fight them is just complete stupidity!"


    Sylvia is indeed a brave warrior; she takes great pride in her honor and combat capabilities, but she''s not a fool either.


    Even she knows when to advance and when to retreat.


    When the situation is just too disadvantageous for her and her allies, it''s always better to retreat.


    After all, as the person in command, she can choose to sacrifice her own life, but if those under her command die for her wrong decisions, then that would be more shameful.


    Hearing Sylvia''s words, the group rushed, carrying the elven queen with them and rushing in a completely different direction through the corridors.


    What they didn''t notice was that there was already a person standing in the sky looking at them with an amused look on his face.


    "More pests? Oh, they decided to run away. Ah, forget it, they can wait; I need to deal with that ''Golden Nail'' first; otherwise, my mission will fail¡­"


    "Once I am done with the main mission, I will enjoy myself to the fullest¡­ There''s thousands of lovely elves wandering outside¡­ I can take my time and enjoy each one slowly¡­"


    "kehehehe¡­"


    Standing in the sky, the man grinned happily and licked his lips in anticipation of what''s to come.


    His greenish and messy hair waved with the air, and his red serpentine eyes were filled with ecstasy.


    Wearing a big white lab coat, Fisur Jolmoh looked exactly like what mad scientists look like in cartoon books and shows.


    He was ugly and hideous; dark spots were all over his face and body, and a mad grin seemed to be permanently fixed on his face.


    "Ah¡­ Forbidden magic is so sweet! That little spider was so cute¡­ I just couldn''t stop myself from altering its body¡­"


    Just when the mad scientist was laughing to himself happily and enjoying his time, he noticed a sudden change in the situation.


    ''Hmm? That cold-face guy is beating Nathan completely one-sidedly; this is not good¡­ I don''t have much time to waste here¡­ Let''s hurry and complete the mission¡­''


    Jareth is the biggest obstacle in the plans of the ''False Dome Cult'' right now, as he''s not only a very strong grade-1 mage; he''s been continuously destroying the various plans of the False Dome Cult.


    Fisur has already heard about Jareth''s notorious reputation of wiping his opponents off the face of Earth in a single attack; thus, he isn''t interested in fighting Jareth at all.


    ''I expected him to come here but to think he would come so fast¡­ I must also speed up my plan; there''s no point in fighting that walking nuclear missile head on¡­ I just hope that useless dog can keep him busy for a while¡­"


    Nathan has been completely mind-controlled by the false dome cult using miasma; he is nothing but a loyal dog who is forced to do their bidding now.


    Right now, he''s being used by Fisur to keep Jareth busy for the time being so that his plan can go to the next step and succeed without a hitch.


    Fisur flew away in a certain direction and reached the gigantic training grounds of the Forbidden Fortress.


    *Thump* *Thump*


    A gigantic heart appeared in sight as Fisur landed on the ground.


    The giant heart was thumping; it seemed like it was pumping blood constantly, and hundreds of thousands of blood vessels were scattered all around the training grounds.


    The blood vessels were attached to a giant container that had several living brains floating inside in blood.


    "Hmm, this version of biological computer is indeed quite efficient¡­"


    "I am certainly making a lot of progress these days; it must be because Miasma''s influence over the world is slowly increasing as more golden nails are getting broken."


    Although the scene looked extremely gross and horrific, Fisur didn''t care about it one bit at all.


    He just walked towards the giant gross-looking mutated heart with a grin on his face and embedded it with more miasma.


    Hundreds of big and small creepy-looking eyes suddenly opened on the giant mutated heart, making it look even more horrific and gross.


    Each eye''s pupil was showing a timer as if those eyes were the timer set on a giant biological bomb.


    "There''s still three hours left?... I guess I need to put the brains on overdrive mode to increase the processing rate¡­"


    Fisur walked towards one of the containers and opened its lid and dipped his hand in that blood-filled container to grab one of the floating brains out!


    The brain literally twitched and throbbed in his hand like a squishy small pillow. The scene was so horrible and gross that if a weak-hearted person had seen it, they would immediately throw up on the spot.


    "Hmm? Should I go for triple efficiency or double¡­ Double one will keep the risks low, but triple one will provide more speed¡­"


    Ignoring the twitching brain in his hand, Fisur used forbidden magic to mess up with the brain''s physical functions.


    [Forbidden Magic: Mutation: Brain Alteration!]


    "Hmm, yeah¡­ This will do¡­"


    Once he was done with it, he tossed the modified brain into the container once again and then grabbed the other one.


    Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire


    As a grade-1 mage, he certainly can use telekinesis for this kind of thing so as not to get himself dirty, but he chooses to do it in such a gross way on purpose as he likes it this way.


    That''s the kind of person Fisur is; he loves his mutated, messed-up experiment subjects to the point that he loves torturing them all the time.


    And he does it all with his own hands without ever feeling a bit of hesitation.

 Chapter 234 A Chaotic Battle... Part-1.

    *BOOM!*


    Closing the distance at fast speed, Jareth punched towards Nathan and forced the other party to use more space magic to dodge.


    [Grade-1 Fire Magic: Beam of endless pursuit!]


    Jareth pointed his finger towards Nathan as the other party appeared out of another portal and fired a massive beam made of condensed true flames.


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Portal of Redirection!]


    Nathan also immediately cast a spell to counter Jareth''s magic and tried to teleport that beam of fire back to Jareth.


    "Have you not learned your lesson yet? You can''t teleport my magic idiot!"


    Nathan''s magic circuit for space magic was immediately destroyed by the beam of condensed true flames, which burned straight through the portal without teleporting.


    "Tch!"


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Spatial Shuffle!]


    Nathan stomped the ground, and a massive circuit made of miasma spread out, making it possible, and immediately teleported away Nathan at random.


    Similar to shuffling the position of cards in a deck, the spell shuffled Nathan''s location in a set area continuously, thus making it impossible for the tracking spell to keep pursuing him.


    This kind of teleportation is random, and it''s like a gamble; there are even chances of you getting teleported right in front of the attack, which will make things even worse.


    But Nathan had no other choice but to take the gamble.


    If he uses his teleportation field once again, Jareth will smash it to bits with his physical power once again, and that will waste even more mana.


    Thus, he had to use an alternate method.


    Just when Nathan was slowly exhausting the power of the fire beam, Jareth raised his finger in a certain location and fired his magic.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Fist of the Fire Giant!]


    Seeing Jareth try to fire magic, a mocking smile appeared on Nathan''s face.


    ''Idiot, this shuffle is completely random; not even I can control it; there''s no way your attack will land on me¡­'' S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Once I get rid of this pursuing attack, I will show you hell and attack you with even more powerful space attacks!''


    But just when Nathan was thinking about attacking Jareth, he got teleported to the exact location where Jareth had fired the flame fist attack.


    A look of horror and shock appeared in Nathan''s eyes.


    "H-how is this possible-"


    *BOOOM!*


    Before he could even complete his words, Nathan was hit by the flame fist directly, and he flew away like a cannonball.


    His body broke right through the walls behind and crashed on the ground right after.


    "Don''t forget my mana detection is exceptionally good¡­ I can''t interfere with your magic right now because it''s made up of miasma, but I can definitely do other things¡­"


    "For example, calculating the pattern of your attacks¡­ In this closed area, you could only teleport to a few limited spots; obviously, I took everything into consideration¡­"


    With Jareth''s insanely highly intelligent brain and powerful mana detection capability, calculating these complex possibilities was as easy as taking a walk in the park.


    It was Nathan who was underestimating his capabilities a bit too much.


    Just as Jareth was about to continue his onslaught of attacks, a gigantic snake came crashing down along with the ceiling.


    ''A grade-1 monster? What is this doing here?''


    And that was just the start; two more grade-1 puppets came flying and crashed down in front of Jareth like falling missiles!


    *BOOOM!*


    "BAHAHAHA, As I said, Jareth! You are dead meat today!!"


    Nathan wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed like a maniac as he teleported once again to confront Jareth.


    This time he has the support of his friends, though.


    ''Puppet squad? Weren''t they only supposed to appear in the end stage of the story line¡­ Well, I guess I messed up the plot so much that many things are coming out early...


    Puppet Squad is basically a group of genetically modified test subjects that Fisur created to be his subordinates.


    In the game, he used several hundreds and thousands of corpses to create the puppet squad that couldn''t use magic but had physical capabilities as strong as an early grade 1 warrior.


    These are basically the direct guards and the most valuable assets under Fisur''s command.


    ''And this snake must be some wild monster that he altered with his mutation magic and made his puppet¡­''


    ''Tch, he''s trying to delay me¡­''


    Jareth isn''t an idiot; he easily saw through what the other party was planning.


    He knows Fisur''s character personality all too well.


    Fisur is a coward type of person, and he never fights head-on; he always tries to use his puppets and others to do his bidding.


    In fact, he doesn''t even have proper combat experience; his expertise lies solely in forbidden magic and illegal research that involves very shady stuff.


    ''He''s likely already found the golden nail and is now trying to destroy it, but as I can cause problems in his plan, he''s going all out to delay me as much as possible.''


    Jareth knows that Fisur is the type of guy who will run away as soon as the mission is completed if there''s any danger to his life in the vicinity.


    ''His original plan must be to torture all the elven people after dealing with the golden nail, but now that I am proving to be much more trouble than he could handle¡­''


    ''He''s going to run away as soon as he''s done completing his mission¡­''


    Thinking about all this, a smirk appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''Idiot, you really think I am stupid enough to fall for this obvious plan? I am not a warrior or a knight; I am not obliged to stay in one place and deal with your subordinates first before dealing with you¡­''


    Jareth is a wizard after all, who are known for their cunning and scheming nature.


    Fisur''s thinking that Jareth will get swept by emotions and deal Nathan, who''s the enemy of the nation, at all costs first before doing anything else.


    But that thinking is completely wrong.


    Jareth doesn''t give a single sh*t about dealing with the problems of the human empire or taking revenge from Nathan.


    What he''s after is preservation of the golden nail.


    And thus, he has no need to entangle himself with these cannon fodders.


    In fact, Fisur should be more worried about how to tie down Jareth in one place, not him.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Mana Command: Smoothen Mana flow!]


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth completely ignored the four grade-1 beings that were getting ready to attack him and flew towards Fisur''s direction like a rocket!


    The moment he flew into the sky, he directly broke through the sound barrier and created a powerful sonic boom.


    A powerful shockwave spread in all directions, and the four grade-1 being in the vicinity were forced to take a few steps back from this sudden movement.


    They didn''t even have the time to react, and only when Jareth was gone for several seconds did they realize that Jareth completely ignored them and rushed towards their boss directly!


    "Wait! You f*cking coward!! Where are you running to!!"


    "Pursue him!!"


    [Grade-1 Space Magic: Spatial Walk!]


    Nathan was the first one to react and follow after Jareth. He controlled the space and accelerated himself towards Jareth at an insanely high speed.


    The giant snake also used mana and rushed towards Jareth, although at a slower pace.


    As for the two puppets, they had no mana, so they had to rush towards Jareth''s direction on foot with all their might.


    Aside from Nathan, the other three couldn''t keep up with Jareth''s speed at all and were easily left far behind.


    Jareth directly broke through the ceiling and walls that came in his way and flew towards the central training grounds at an extremely high speed.


    Still, Nathan was faster; he used teleportation to appear in front of Jareth and tried to stop him.


    But Jareth was ready for him; he had already covered his fist in fire elementals long ago.


    He knew that Nathan would definitely teleport in front of him and try to stop him from flying away, like how he was fighting with Abella back then.


    Thus, Jareth easily predicted this move before Nathan could even use any attack magic.


    Jareth''s flame-covered fist hit him in the stomach, and the true flames started to burn his body with extreme heat!


    "AHHHHHH!!! IT''S HOT!! AHHHHHH!!!"


    *BOOOM!*


    Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire


    Once hit by that powerful punch, Nathan''s body flew away like an arrow, and he fell to the ground, creating a massive crater.


    ''Hmm¡­ he used a space-type shield to decrease the attack''s effectiveness¡­ Still, this one must have definitely done some decent damage¡­''


    Jareth knew that this one attack was not enough to completely kill Nathan, and at most it must have only caused internal organ damage and severe burn damage.


    But Nathan will be able to keep fighting even with this much damage, and Jareth doesn''t have the time to get entangled with him here right now.


    Thus, he completely ignored the other party and flew straight toward the central training ground at the highest speed possible.


    ''You better not have destroyed it yet, Fisur Jolmoh¡­''

 Chapter 235 A Chaotic Battle... Part-2.

    [Grade-1 Magic: Wide Range Teleportation!]


    Nathan knew that the teleportation magic wouldn''t work on Jareth as his mana control is higher than Nathan''s capability to control Miasma.


    Although Nathan doesn''t know it, Jareth uses his mana singularity to easily avoid getting teleported by Nathan''s spatial magic.


    That''s why he didn''t get teleported along with the rest of the group earlier.


    Taking this matter into consideration, Nathan didn''t aim the teleportation at Jareth; instead, he aimed it at himself and the other three grade-1 beings.


    He directly teleported himself and the other three near Jareth in an attempt to stop him.


    One of the warrior puppets immediately kicked the air with immense force and launched at Jareth with immense force.


    Using air as ground, the warrior flew towards Jareth with immense speed and swung his sword upside down.


    But Jareth already knew the other party was chasing him.


    He easily flew to the side and dodged the sword attack and then kicked the puppet on the side of the waist, casing it to fly away and fall to the ground like a falling meteor.


    The puppet went down, crashing, and collided with walls, causing them to break apart and fall into an empty swimming pool.


    *BOOOM!*


    A gigantic crater was formed where the puppet fell, and the swimming pool was destroyed in an instant.


    The puppet doesn''t feel any pain, but still, Jareth''s kick did have an effect; it definitely broke a few bones in the warrior puppet''s body despite it being a Grade 1 warrior. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire


    ''These puppets can''t use mana, so if I use the flying speed of my floating magic along with fire elemental infusion, the kick from my grade-2 warrior physique will be as powerful as any other grade-1 warrior¡­''


    ''Well, you are to blame for rushing so close to me anyway¡­''


    Jareth can see that the warrior puppet was moving purely on instinct; it doesn''t even have a free mind of its own, thus it can''t formulate plans or fight like a real person in combat.


    All it has is raw power and speed; it would have indeed been too much for an ordinary grade-1 mage to fight two of such puppets at once, but Jareth''s doesn''t lack close-range combat capabilities either.


    Even if there were ten of such mindless puppets, he could have still come out as the victor using his tricks and plans.


    Combat is not all about raw power and speed; a calm and calculative mind is also very crucial.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Explosive Flames!]


    Jareth cast the fire magic around his feet and used the explosion of the flame magic to boost his own flying speed several times again!


    He burst through walls and metals so easily as if he were piercing a thin sheet of paper.


    His explosive power was immense!


    Even Nathan was having difficulty keeping up with Jareth despite having teleportation magic.


    Nathan immediately teleported the two warrior puppets again in front of Jareth and also teleported the giant snake.


    [Mana Command: Enhanced Range!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Explosive of Extreme Shockwave!]


    A magic circle as big as a five-story building appeared on the ground right below where the four obstacles on Jareht''s path were standing and a massive amount of fire elementals condensed in a matter of milliseconds.


    The puppets and the snake didn''t even have the chance to react to that attack before the condensed flame elementals exploded with immense force!


    *BOOOOM!*


    The explosion was so powerful that even the ground started to tremble a bit.


    Nathan teleported away at the last instant and escaped with a few burns, but the other three were hit directly and flew away in different directions after being hit by such a powerful explosion!


    The snake broke through the ceiling and was blasted off in some faraway place, while the two warrior puppets were half burnt to the crisp and were blasted off the side.


    "You sure do love to get in my way¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam Barrage!]


    Hundreds of massive magic circles appeared in the area and began to bombard huge mana beams in all directions with incredible intensity!


    *BOOOM!* *BOOOM!!*


    As the beams were fired like crazy in all directions, Nathan had nowhere to hide, and he had to consume an immense amount of mana to cast a space shield and block Jareht''s beam attacks!


    A few of the beams even hit the two puppets, but they got up on time and started dodging with all their might.


    Their bodies were already at their limits, and even dodging Jareth''s attacks was getting difficult!


    But Jareth didn''t have the time to play around with the three of them; after casting the spells to keep them busy, Jareth flew in Fisur''s direction once again!


    *BOOOM!*


    Just when Jareth was a few hundred meters away from the central training ground, the massive snake came back and crashed down as it broke through the ceiling.


    "Get out of my way¡­"


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Fist of the Flame Giant!]


    A magic circle the size of a four-story building appeared in the air, and a gigantic first appeared out of it that punched the snake in the head with immense power!


    The snake flew away like at insanely high speed, and Jareth completely ignored it before moving forward!


    *CRACK!*


    Jareth punched the wall in his way and smashed a massive hole in it to get into the central training grounds!


    After rushing through the entire forbidden area with immense speed, Jareth finally reached the place that would decide whether this nation would survive or get destroyed!


    *Thump!* *Thump!*


    What appeared in front of Jareth''s eyes was a giant mutated heart attached to the golden nail and hundreds of weird containers filled with living brains connected with blood vessels.


    The scene was extremely gross and disgusting to look at; weird sticky brain liquids were splattered all over the training grounds, and the hundreds of blood vessels were spread over the entire area!


    From time to time, some of the living brains would burst apart, and the contents of the container would spill on the ground, making it even more gross and disgusting.


    Looking at this sight, Jareth''s eyes narrowed in an instant.


    ''Forbidden magic¡­ a biological atomic fusion bomb!?''


    The original Jareth has been researching atoms, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion all his life, and the knowledge of the other party''s achievements is filled in his mind right now.


    Thus, just by looking at the entire forbidden magic''s circuit and layout, Jareth instantly figured out what Fisur was trying to achieve with all this!


    "Hoh¡­ You are here earlier than I expected, Jareth Ayad¡­ It seems even four grade-1 beings were not enough to hold you in one place¡­"


    "You are quite the troublesome fellow, aren''t you¡­"


    Right beside the giant mutated heart was a man wearing the white coat of a researcher and a creepy wide grin on his face.


    "You have quite the guts to be creating a nuclear fusion bomb here¡­ Do you even know what will happen if the power of this nuclear fusion bomb becomes uncontrollable?"


    Seeing that Jareth saw through his plan in just a single glance, even Fisur was shocked for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face.


    "AHAHAHAHA, MARVELOUS!!! I should have expected that you had amazing insight; I underestimated you, Jareth Ayad¡­ Forgive my rudeness¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and pointed his finger at the timer on the giant heart.


    "I have no need for your praises¡­ The timer on the bomb had already reached ''Zero'' long ago, it seems¡­ Now it only needs your permission, and it will go off¡­"


    "Why stop until now?"


    Although Jareth hates to admit it, the timer has already reached it''s end; Jareth is late.


    ''He likely sensed that I was rushing here directly, so he used some underhanded methods to speed up the process and caused the timer to reach ''Zero''...''


    At that moment, Jareth''s eyes fell on the broken container, and he noticed the brains that had exploded on their own.


    ''I see¡­ He must have put the brains on extreme overload to the point that they burst apart one by one from overwork¡­''


    ''The risk in this process is extremely high, but this is the only way he could have sped up the timer¡­ He really is planning on giving up everything just for this bomb to explode¡­''


    While Jareth was contemplating his mind, Fisur gave a mocking smile and spoke in an arrogant tone.


    "Well, you see¡­ I thought that you were rushing her with such speed; you must really be hoping to stop me on time like a hero and would have been dreaming about being a hero¡­"


    "So, I wanted to break your mind and show you utter despair by making you see a timer that had already reached ''Zero''¡­"


    "Ah, I wanted to see a powerful person like you show despair and worry on his face¡­ But it seems you are not the type to falter over such matters¡­"


    "Quite the shock this is¡­ From the way you were desperately rushing here, I thought you were worried about the safety of the elves above ground¡­"


    "But looking at you now, you seem completely unfazed¡­"


    S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 236 Horror of the Forbidden Magic!

    "If you can see that I am unfazed, then you can also see that I can deal with the explosion even if you do succeed in exploding it¡­"


    "You aren''t going to make it out of her alive either way, Fisur Jolmoh¡­"


    Fisur and Jareth''s eyes collided at that moment, and as if sparks of lightning were flying between them, the two gave each other death stares at the same time.


    "You seem like a reasonable and intelligent person, Jareth Ayad¡­ So we can skip the pointless talk; we both know that we can''t let each other get away from here alive¡­"


    "Even if you don''t want to kill me¡­ I will kill you after all; you are too dangerous for my research¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at Fisur''s words.


    "I can say the say to you too¡­ I have my own research to protect too¡­"


    This world is paradise for people who want to go the dark path and commit crimes of small and high degree of severity alike.


    In this world, two research geniuses can''t exist at the same time!


    When an extremely talented and intelligent person makes a plan for his future and conducts research that''s beyond the comprehension of ordinary folk, their biggest fear is the appearance of another genius who can ''steal'' their research.


    If another genius appears, then the chance of the other party seeing through your research and plans increases tremendously.


    Both Jareth and Fisur are making plans for their future, and neither of them can let the other party live. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Fisur knows that Jareth is intelligent enough to steal all his discoveries and use them against his fellow cult members.


    Even if Jareth saw a single research paper from any branch of the False Dome cult, Fisur''s entire life''s efforts and research will become pointless!


    That''s the horror of a genius mind!


    Jareth, on the other hand, is also a variety of Fisur.


    In this entire world, if there''s anyone who can completely destroy his plan of creating a stable wormhole to escape, then that person is Fisur Jolmoh!


    No one else is intelligent enough to see through his plans.


    If Fisur discovers the list of items Jareth is searching for, or even reaches out to a single scientist from his team, it would be sufficient for him to understand what Jareth is plotting.


    That will completely destroy his entire plan, and he will have no other choice left but to die with this world in the end.


    Neither Jareth nor Fisur can tolerate each other''s existence; if they don''t kill the other party, then the future will be dark, and that''s something both of them can''t afford to have.


    "Hoh¡­ What kind of research someone as powerful as you might be interested in? I am suddenly getting curious... you found out about my forbidden magic research¡­ It''s only fair if I know about your too¡­"


    Jareth sneered at those words and replied in a cold tone,


    "Do you take me for a ''pure-hearted hero'' or something? I am not going to tell you a single thing at all¡­ I don''t care whether it''s fair or not, you are going to die anyway¡­"


    "There''s no point in knowing anything else¡­ Continue your forbidden magic research in the afterlife!"


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth didn''t bother wasting any more time on the other party and jumped toward him at full speed.


    His speed was so fast that Fisur couldn''t keep up with him with his eyes and had to rely on miasma detection to find out Jareth''s location.


    ''Idiot, I just have to say it once in my mind, and the forbidden magic will activate! There''s nothing you can do now!''


    ''Forbidden magic-''


    Just when Fisur was about to activate the explosion, Jareth suddenly appeared behind him and placed his hand on the other party''s back.


    "You like forbidden magic so much, right¡­ I am a bit of a forbidden magic user myself; let''s see who''s one is more horrible¡­"


    [Forbidden Magic: Test*cular Torsion!]


    Fisur''s face became pale in an instant, and cold sweat appeared all over his body in a matter of seconds!


    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    "OH!!! NOOOOOO!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!"


    Even in his wildest dreams, Fisur had never thought that someday the horrible forbidden magic would be used on him too!!


    Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    Fisur lost in his own game and experienced the consequences of his actions!


    "Pant!...huff¡­pant¡­ huff¡­ you bast*rd¡­. not even us horrible cult members use that kind of ''forbidden magic'', you are demon¡­ a monster!!...."


    "You have no right to blame me¡­ ahhhhhh! Ahhhh!! Not even the vilest demons use this kind of forbidden magic!!!... you evil monstrosity!!!"


    "AHHHHHHHH!!! MY Cherished family jewels!!! AHHHHH!!!"


    Fisur couldn''t even think clearly at this moment, as blood gushed from his lower body, causing his clothes to be covered in blood.


    He collapsed on the ground while holding his crotch; tears of blood appeared in Fisur''s eyes due to the extreme pain.


    It was a horrible sight; if a faint-hearted person had seen it, they would end up developing PTSD from watching that situation.


    Jareth scratched the back of his neck in awkwardness and thought to himself.


    ''Er¡­ I-I kind of got pissed at him for being arrogant in front of me and mocking me by killing that little girl Emu in front of me¡­ So I went a bit overboard¡­''


    ''M-maybe I shouldn''t have used that spell after all¡­ I can kind of feel several generations of my ancestors looking at me from the afterlife in horror now¡­''


    The two grade 1 warrior puppets, who were hiding behind the broken wall and were peeping at Jareth and Fisur all along, glanced at each other''s faces and nodded their heads at the same time.


    The two immediately got up and ran away in a different direction as fast as possible, as if they were saying,


    ''Nah, I don''t f*ck with this sh*t; imma outta here now¡­''


    *Thump* *Thump!*


    At that moment, Fisur passed out on the spot from all the pain, as he just couldn''t bear it anymore, and the giant heart bomb started to glow bright all of a sudden!


    ''Oh sh*t¡­ He lost consciousness; this one''s likely the type of bomb that gets triggered if the user''s brain signals stop responding to it¡­''


    ''How troublesome¡­''


    As if time itself had slowed down in that instant, Jareth made his move in the matter of milliseconds!


    [Mana Command: Smoothen Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana flow acceleration!]


    [Basic Magic: Support type: Enhanced Barrier elementals!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Barrier Creation: Barrier of True Flames!]


    Jareth gave himself immense boosts, used mana commands to smoothen his mana flow, and used basic magic to accelerate the mana flow.


    Then used the support type basic magic to increase the barrier elemental support rate with his mana singularity!


    Finally, he cast a powerful grade-2 flame barrier that covered the entire giant heart along with the golden nail inside it!


    Several magic circles appeared all around and completely surrounded the barrier, making it even stronger.


    Jareth even used the influence of the ''law'' of true flames to enhance the barrier further.


    It seemed like a lot, but Jareth did it all in a matter of milliseconds, and he did it so skillfully that it was insane!


    Despite his fast speed, Jareth didn''t miss a single step in the creation of the powerful barrier; he even used the inspirations he got from Nathan''s barrier in the hidden library.


    *BOOOOOM!!!*


    The moment Jareth finished creating the barrier, the giant heart bomb blew apart.


    It''s power was immense¡ªso immense that the void itself started to tremble, causing powerful spatial fluctuations that broke apart the walls and floors of the area!


    But Jareth remained unaffected by all this; he didn''t feel the least bit intimidated at all.


    Instead, he kept supplying more mana into the barrier to keep the explosion in control!


    *CRACK!*


    Massive cracks appeared in the barrier despite all the efforts, and the wind became chaotic from the leaking hot energy.


    ''Just quiet down already!''


    Jareth increased his mana output to the maximum and enforced the barrier even more, thus causing the cracks in the barrier to heal on their own as the mana got replenished!


    The powerful explosion was finally suppressed inside and Jareth heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''The power of this explosion has likely been enhanced by ''soul energy''¡­ likely with the souls of the people whom these living brains belong to¡­''


    Jareth felt a bit bad about using that horrible forbidden magic on Fisur despite the fact that he had promised himself that he wouldn''t use it, but after seeing the power of the explosion, he stopped caring about it.


    ''If it were possible I would have liked to use the forbidden magic on him a few more times now, actually¡­''


    Jareth gritted his teeth as he noticed that what he had feared the most had indeed become reality.


    The power of the explosion was simply too much, and the golden nail, which was already several millennia old and on the verge of collapsing, directly shattered right in front of Jareth''s eyes.

 Chapter 237 The Gate of Hell Opens... Part-1.

    ''Ah sh*t, here we go again¡­''


    Jareth felt quite helpless seeing that although he was able to keep the explosion in check, he still ended up failing in saving the Golden Nail.


    ''This is the second time I have failed in a mission because of the False Dome cult¡­ Despite it being right in front of me, I was still not able to prevent it from breaking¡­''


    As the golden nail broke apart and the explosion stopped, an extremely powerful miasmic energy started to appear.


    The golden nail''s sea of consciousness had a ''Miasmic Rift'' locked up inside of it, and once it broke apart, the miasmic rift slowly started to manifest beside the golden nail!


    ''And it happened¡­''


    Jareth sighed while looking at the massive rift of Miasma and couldn''t help but shake his head in regret.


    If he had made it here earlier, he could have stopped Fisur from attaching the giant mutated heart to the golden nail.


    That giant heart had already attached itself to the golden nail that it had nearly penetrated inside its structure and sea of consciousness.


    Even if Fisur wasn''t here, there was no proper method to get rid of the mutated heart once it was attached to the golden nail.


    It can only be stopped when the forbidden magic has still not been used and the heart hasn''t fixed itself into a firm position.


    ''This is the exact reason why I hurried so much and even went as far as to find the ''flaw'' in the forbidden area''s barrier¡­ I didn''t even wait for the main entrance to open¡­''


    ''No¡­ Even if I was a few days early, it still wouldn''t have changed anything¡­ This golden nail was already under their target from the moment that incarnation of the demon god found about it¡­''


    ''I was unaware about it and realized it too late¡­ The false dome cult has been on the move for quite a while now¡­''


    ''At this rate, I can''t save any of the golden nails¡­ I need some other plan¡­''


    Jareth gritted his teeth and backed off into the air to make some distance.


    *BOOOM!*


    Just as Jareth backed off, the barrier cast by him instantly broke apart, and an immense amount of miasma started to leak from the miasmic rift!


    As if the space-time fabric itself was ripped apart in that place, miasma started to pour like crazy.


    ''Such concentrated miasma¡­ it''s also as if it''s turned into liquid, for due to the concentration, it''s not even miasma anymore; it''s ''Corruption''!...''


    As if a dam to a river had been opened, massive amounts of corruption in the form of dark black mud-like form started to emerge from the miasmic rift.


    The moment it touched the ground, the ground turned pitch black, and even the air started to change color.


    ''The air, the ground¡­ everything''s started to turn into something similar to what I saw in the ''Abyss Altar Area''¡­ If this isn''t stopped on time, everything in this forbidden area and even outside will get corrupted!''


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed as he stared at that miasmic rift and clenched his fists.


    ''There''s no doubt about it; this miasmic rift is connected to some place outside the barrier of the ''False Dome''¡­''


    ''So, this is how the sea of miasma is? This is extremely odd¡­ very odd¡­'' Find exclusive stories on My Virtual Library Empire


    Although Jareth''s facial features were still as cold-looking as ever, a horrific thought came into his mind at this moment.


    ''Don''t tell me¡­ T-this....''


    At that moment, after seeing that mud-like form of corruption, Jareth realized a very serious truth of this world that not even Grade 1 mages know about.


    ''This solar system¡­ isn''t in any galaxy anymore! There are no stars or solar systems nearby!! For hundreds of thousands of light years, there are no galaxies here¡­.''


    Just thinking about it made Jareth feel how insanely powerful the sea of miasma is.


    ''The telescopes of this world show that there are millions of stars, galaxies, and solar systems in outer space¡­''


    ''Through the night sky of this world, we can see a starry sky with countless twinkling stars shining brightly¡­''


    Looking at that mud of corruption, Jareth gritted his teeth.


    ''But if this kind of substance is surrounding our solar system and is spread over thousands of light years¡­ then it''s impossible that there''s any living stars or solar systems to exist out there!''


    ''Such high concentration of corruption is enough to completely dissolve a planet and even a star to the point that each atom of them will be separated far apart!''


    According to this theory, it is impossible for a starry sky to exist! If the sea of miasma is indeed spread over a massive scale, then no galaxies or stars can exist in this place.


    It will create a ''Great Void'' in the space that will have nothing inside it¡ªno stars, no planets, and not even black holes.


    Just a massive sea of corruption that keeps spreading outwards faster and faster!


    ''No wonder this great seal surrounding the solar system is called the ''False Dome Seal''¡­ the inside barrier of the seal is basically a ''False'' image of what the outside world is like¡­''


    ''When they try to look outside with telescopes all they see is the illusion of a starry sky engraved on the inner layer of the ''False Dome Seal''. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Everything about it is completely ''Fake''.


    The cruel reality is that this solar system is floating inside the sea of miasma and is barely surviving because of the ''False Dome Seal'', everything outside has already been destroyed in several thousand light years of area.


    ''No wonder I always felt that something was amiss¡­ I was still lacking crucial information¡­''


    ''The more truth about this world I find out, the more dangerous this place becomes in my eyes¡­''


    The situation of this solar system is similar to that of a sinking submarine that is too deep into the ocean and several holes have opened into it.


    There''s no knowing when the immense pressure of the sea of miasma will crush it or when an extremely powerful celestial entity will end up stumbling on this small, sinking submarine.


    The truth of this world is so cruel that it''s enough to give existential threats to even the strongest minds.


    ''It''s expanding even more!?''


    Just when Jareth was thinking about what to do to patch up this massive miasmic rift, in the spacetime fabric, the rift started to expand even more, and what Jareth feared happened.


    Hundreds of thousands of hideous-looking mutated monsters and demons suddenly started to pour out of the miasmic rift along with the mud-like corruption.


    It was as if a glass of an aquarium had broken and the water and the fish started to fall out of it.


    Moreover, as time passed, the rift even started to expand further!


    ''A world-destroying calamity¡­ This is a world-destroying calamity now; unless this massive spatial rift is either sealed or completely closed off, this can spell the end of this world¡­''


    The ''False Dome Seal'' is already getting weaker, and if the miasmic rift isn''t closed on time and too much miasma enters inside, the global miasma density will increase tremendously!


    Mana will lose dominance over the inner area of this solar system, and the ''Law'' of mana will get even weaker than it already is.


    Then forget about becoming grade-0; even reaching grade-1 will become just a dream, and those who are already at grade-1 will start to lose their power and become weaker!


    As every living creature in this world has some amount of mana in their body except for demons, all creatures will get suppressed if the ''Law'' of Mana gets suppressed.


    Their skills and magic spells will become less effective and weaker, and if the ''Law'' of Miasma becomes too strong, the ''Law'' of Mana will be completely eradicated from this place.


    Just like how there''s no mana in the Abyss Altar Area, mana will cease to exist in the entire solar system.


    At that point, wizards won''t even be able to cast magic anymore and will get reduced to just normal people.


    With no mana, it would become impossible to withstand the corruption of miasma, and people would start mutating into weird monstrosities!


    ''This miasmic rift is enough to end this world alone¡­ I assume that the false dome cult didn''t know what was stored inside the sea of miasma of this golden nail¡­''


    ''If they knew that a world-destroying calamity was stored inside, the entire false dome cult would have been here today, as they would have defended this miasmic rift with all their strength.''


    ''Thankfully they don''t know about it yet, so they only sent Fisur and a few puppets to deal with this golden nail¡­''


    While Jareth was racing his mind and thinking about countermeasures to seal the miasmic rift and was focused on his thoughts and theories.


    The unconscious body of Fisur got swallowed by the mud of Miasma, and the thousands of monsters and demons started to run wild and destroy everything that came into their sight.


    The scene looked as if a gate of hell had opened and the armies of abyss were marching out of it endlessly!

 Chapter 1 - 1: Prologue. A Horrible Death...

    Earth, Near a River, Evening.


    The sky turned scarlet as dusk fell.


    Red-tinted clouds filled the evening sky, producing a scene so picturesque one could have thought it was a work of art.


    This sublime scene was enhanced by the river''s crystal-clear water, which gleamed and reflected the sun.


    The gentle autumn breeze caressed bystanders in a manner reminiscent of a mother stroking her young one.


    ...


    On a bench nearby.


    A pair of individuals sit on the bench, their expressions solemn.


    With a helpless and dejected expression on her stunning face, the woman turned to face the man.


    She spoke in a tone of helplessness as her large, gorgeous eyes became blurry with tears.


    "Why!? Why can''t you accept my love!? Why are you rejecting me like this!?"


    "It was you who expressed your love for me first! and now that I am in love with you! You refuse to accept my feelings for you!?"


    Tears streamed down from the woman''s big eyes; she tried wiping them away with the sleeves of her top, but it did not work, and the tears kept flowing.


    The man did not respond to the woman and continued to stare at the sunset with a solemn expression on his haggard face.


    His dark under-eye circles appear to indicate that he has not slept in days. In addition to his clothes appearing disheveled, his hair appeared untidy.


    The man glanced at the woman.


    "I already told you that I do not have a job, a future, a house, or a life now."


    The man''s eyes were empty of light and devoid of feeling.


    "I am no longer the successful man I once was, and we cannot be together."


    "Everything is gone now; I have nothing left."


    It was as though his eyes were reflecting the depths of his heart, lifeless.


    "I thought I was capable enough to propose to you at that particular time. I am no longer worth more than a maggot."


    "I do not have enough money for dinner today, and I am homeless."


    "In addition, I do not have a lot of time left to live."


    The woman spoke in a trembling voice, her tears getting even more intense when the man mentioned all of these.


    "I-I can assist you; my father is wealthy... Additionally, I will shield you from those loan sharks. Please! Please stay with me! Please do not abandon me... Sob sob"


    The man shook his head and spoke in an emotionless tone:


    "No, no one in the world knows your father better than I do... In fact, everything I am dealing with today was his fault in the first place."


    "His men would be here to kill me eventually; I have worked for him for years.... I know how he handles things..."


    "I do not have much time left..."


    After hearing his comments, the woman opened her wide eyes and spoke in a trembling voice, saying:


    "F-father can''t do something like that! Y-you must have mistaken it... Y-yeah let''s go and ask him in person..."


    "I will help you, I have got your back!... he will definitely listen to you!"


    The man shook his head in response to the woman''s sad cries.


    "It is too late..."


    Just as the man had predicted, several black muscle cars approached them at breakneck speed.


    The man stood up from the bench and extended his hand to the woman, a cheap wristwatch resting on his palm.


    "Here, take this watch... This is the only thing I have left now... It''s cheap, but it''s a very precious memento..."


    "This is the watch my childhood friend gave me... I have cherished it ever since..."


    "Many of my precious memories are contained within this memento; this is the same watch I used to keep track of time on my first date with you..."


    The woman held the watch with trembling hands.


    When she accepted the watch, the man smiled with satisfaction on his face. Behind him, the sun''s rays shone brightly, as did his haggard face.


    "T-this.."


    *Bang*


    A loud gunshot rang out before the woman had time to ask anything or even speak.


    "Ugh..."


    A bullet struck the man in the left leg, and he collapsed on the ground, blood pouring out of his leg like a fountain.


    "Noooo!"


    At the sight of this, the woman let out a horrified cry.


    Tears came like a fountain from her reddened eyes as she quickly knelt to try to help the man. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yet the man looked unconcerned; a smile appeared on his face, and he said with a happy tone.


    "This is it, this is the end... I am grateful that I got to spend so many years with an amazing woman like you..."


    "Thanks for everything; even in death and in the next life, I will continue to love you forever..."


    "My well wishes are with you. Go and live a happy and carefree life... My love will always bless you from wherever I go..."


    "This is farewell, my love. Farewell Shiina..."


    Several people in bodyguard clothes rushed towards them with hurried steps.


    One of the bodyguards struck Shiina on the back of her neck with his hand. She immediately fainted, and the bodyguard handed Shiina over to a maid.


    "It''s time to go back home, milady."


    Without giving a single glance to the man lying on the ground, the maid carried Shiina back to a nearby luxury car.


    After the maid carried Shiina away, several bodyguards approached the man lying on the ground with baseball bats in their hands.


    Without any warning or hesitation, the bodyguards raised their hands and hammered down the baseball bat on the man''s chest.


    He was brutally beaten to death, yet the odd thing was that the man didn''t even let out a single scream.


    ...


    A few hours later.


    A luxurious mansion, Office.


    The butler knocked on the door of the office respectfully.


    "Enter."


    After getting permission, the butler entered the room without hesitation and entered with calm and silent steps.


    A man sitting on the master chair who seemed to be in his 50s appeared in the Butler''s view.


    The butler saluted the man respectfully and handed over a photo.


    The man stretched out his hand and looked at the photo. A frown appeared on his face.


    The photo showed a dead body whose chest was beaten to death, and the innards could be seen splattered everywhere.


    Yet the face of the dead body still had a smile on its blood-covered face as if the other party was still happy even in death.


    That smile made the man frown, but he didn''t pay it any mind. He squashed the photo in his hand and threw it on the floor.


    "What about the body?"


    Hearing the question, the butler replied in a respectful tone:


    "We fed it to the pet tigers in the private zoo... I have thoroughly gotten rid of all evidence...we even erased all of his information... According to records, that man never existed..."


    The butler smiled with a creepy look on his face.


    Hearing that, the man also smiled a little bit and replied in a satisfied tone:


    "Good, give a bonus to all bodyguards..."


    The butler nodded his head respectfully. He bent down, picked up the squashed photo, and turned it into ashes with a lighter.


    After getting rid of this last piece of evidence, the butler nodded his head to the man and left the room calmly.


    After the butler left, the man got up from his chair and walked towards the window.


    He glanced at the full moon in the beautiful night sky.


    "You messed with the wrong person, kid; your foolishness brought this tragedy on you..."


    "Make sure you don''t make the same mistake again in your next life....hahahaha"


    *Bang**Bang*


    Two loud gunshots sounded outside all of a sudden and several shouts and screams echoed in the mansion.


    A frown appeared on the man''s smiling face. He opened the door of the office, walked out and noticed several maids and bodyguards gathered with panicked looks in the corridor.


    "What happened?"


    Hearing the master''s voice, all the servants scattered and opened the way for him, but none answered his question.


    Everyone had a horrified look on their face.


    The man frowned at this situation and walked forward.


    When the servants stepped aside, two dead bodies appeared in his view.


    One was the butler who had just left his room and the other was his daughter Shiina.


    The butler was shot directly in the forehead and Shiina also had a bullet hole in her head.


    The man''s legs gave out and he fell on the floor with a devastated look on his face.


    At this moment he finally understood that his daughter''s love was genuine and Shiina was ready to even commit suicide for her love.


    Shiina killed the butler before committing suicide because she had already figured out that this butler was the reason for all of her suffering.


    She succeeded and the butler died in one shot.


    The man remained blind to his daughter''s emotions till she died.


    He earned millions and billions but was not able to save the life of his cherished daughter.


    And thus he lived the rest of his whole life in infinite regret and pain.


    He cursed and loathed himself for his wrong decisions till his last breath, everyday was like endless torture.

 Chapter 2 - 2: Transmigrated!?

    Nirvana Continent, Capital City Delta.


    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University, Professor Dorms, Room no: 13.


    Through the window''s curtains, bright sunlight entered the space and fell on the face of a middle-aged man who was dozing off on a big bed.


    A frown appeared on the man''s intimidating face.


    "Ugh!..."


    The man sat up quickly, checked his chest with his hands, and opened his eyes in shock.


    ''What the!?''


    He was surprised to see that everything seemed normal with his body. On his face, a frown emerged.


    ''What is going on here? I vividly recall the excruciating pain I endured as those bodyguards pummeled my chest to nothing. ugh¡­''


    ''Even the most cutting-edge medical technology could not have saved me from such horrific injuries... I was literally beaten into a meat paste!...''


    The man noticed his hands looked different at that moment.


    ''What? I do not recall having hands that rough!''


    ''Furthermore, why is my palm covered in so many scars?''


    The first thing he did was to hurriedly check the condition of his younger brother.


    ''What the! I can not recall ever owning a package this magnificent! Dearer brother, how did you grow up to be so big?''


    "This is weird, hmm¡­. What happened to my voice?¡­"


    ''I don''t remember having such a heavy and intimidating voice!''


    He realized abruptly that he was in a strange room at this moment.


    ''This place is so luxurious¡­. Where the f*ck am I!?''


    Just then, he saw a full-body mirror that was hung on a nearby wall.


    The man stood up quickly and approached the mirror.


    He caught sight of a middle-aged face. The man''s frown added to his icy appearance, giving him an even more menacing appearance in the mirror. The word "villain" cried out from his very image.


    ''The F*ck! These dark purple hairs and eyes! And this intimidating face! Isn''t this ''Jareth Blaze''!?


    In his mind, Jareth was shocked, but his expressions stayed cold and calm.


    Jareth checked himself several times over, growing more and more shocked as time went on.


    "This body moves like it is mine, and I do not even feel the pain from the beatings I took earlier."


    Suddenly, he had the following thought:


    ''Did I transmigrate into this body!?''


    ¡­


    15 Minutes Later.


    Jareth eventually achieved mental clarity and came to terms with reality. There could not have been any possibility that he would have survived at the hands of those bodyguards; he knew he was dead.


    "But why must I inhabit the body of a villain? In addition, this guy is a mediocre villain! He is the weakest kind of villain who was defeated by the "Hero" with only one blow!"


    Jareth had a headache from thinking about it all.


    "Well, at least I survived another day¡ªthat is a huge blessing in and of itself." (Jareth)


    ''Wait, what is today''s date!?''


    Jareth looked around, and on the desk next to him was a smartphone. Quickly using the "fingerprint" feature on his smartphone, he checked the date.


    [9 April 2137] S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Oh! Thank god I still have time! I do not have to worry about any death flags at first because classes for the new semester will begin on April 12th, which means Jareth has not met the "Hero".'' (Jareth)


    Then it dawned on him, quite suddenly:


    ''But wait! On the first day, was not the University attacked by a wyvern?''


    Jareth eventually recalled the main points of the entire incident as each memory gradually entered his consciousness.


    He moved to the bed''s corner and took a seat, crossing his hands over his chest.


    ''A childhood friend of mine gifted me this game when I was younger, and if my memory serves me correctly, Jareth is the game''s starting villain!''


    A modern world serves as the backdrop for the magic-fantasy game called ''Fantastic Hero''s Compass'', or F.H.C. for short. There are monsters, knights, magic, and other typical role-playing game components in this game world.


    The player starts as an ordinary young kid who wants to become a ''hero'' and gets admitted to ''Ivan''s higher arcane university'' to learn about magic and stuff.


    Then the hero becomes strong, saves Jade beauties, and makes a huge harem. (At least he has a better personality than a certain someone¡­ Tell me in the comments who I am talking about¡­)


    The storyline of this game is simple and there''s nothing unique in it. The Hero goes and bashes the enemies, returns home, and lives with Jade Beauties thereafter.


    On his way to the peak, Hero crushes many Villains and enemies without mercy to save the world, blah blah blah¡­.


    ''One such measly Villain is this guy, Jareth¡­ I don''t want to even remember his horrible death¡­''


    Jareth is a professor at ''Ivan''s Higher Arcane University''; he teaches magic theories and magic circle formation to first-year students. He got this job with his exceptional knowledge of various magic circles.


    Jareth is currently 28 years old and it has already been three years since he started teaching in this university.


    ''I don''t have any memories of his past at all¡­''


    Jareth didn''t receive any memories of this body at all, due to which he has no idea about what the original Jareth was supposed to know and teach¡­


    ''How am I supposed to teach others about magic when I don''t even know what magic is all about in first place!?''


    ''The only knowledge I have about the original Jareth is from the game lore¡­''


    The original Jareth was a theoretical genius, but he was extremely weak in combat and his magic was pitifully weak.


    The only reason he got this job was because he submitted an exceptional research paper to the University and bribed his way in.


    The principal of the academy is always in favor of new theories and research on magic, when Jareth came to the door and donated an amazing research paper to the academy, the principal himself granted Jareth''s wish to become a professor in this university.


    Jareth had graduated from this same university at the age of 21 and he got the job at the age of 25.


    The principal was already acquainted with Jareth because he had graduated from this university in the first place, so the principal accepted him rather easily.


    ''According to the lore, Jareth became jealous of the exceptional talent of ''Hero''¡­''


    The hero comes from a poor household.


    Jareth, who takes fake pride in his noble origins, becomes extremely jealous of the ''Hero'' when the hero helps the students and fights against the wyvern on the very first day.


    The principal was out of the academy at the moment and the other teachers took a while to arrive on the scene; thus, the Hero kept the monstrosity at bay in the meantime.


    Jareth watched the ''Hero'' fight the wyvern and became jealous of him.


    After the attack, everyone found out that Jareth was only good at theories and his magic was even weaker than that of the first-year students, so he got expelled from his job.


    This is the starting scenario of this game. Later, Jareth returns to the academy as a possessed being. He got possessed by a Mind demon and attacked the ''Hero'' which ended up in his defeat.


    Jareth gets captured and then he gets publicly executed by the magic guillotine. (The magic Guillotine is an artifact that shatters the soul of the punished, and causes great pain to the soul till it disappears into nothingness)


    ''Ugh.. I don''t even want to remember that cruel scene¡­''


    ''The main problem is that I am even weaker than the original Jareth right now, which means it is inevitable that I will get expelled and my reputation will be dragged through the mud¡­''


    ''Is this what they call ''Starting at hell difficulty!?''¡­''


    Suddenly, an idea came into his mind:


    ''Wait, if it''s a game world and I used to be a player originally, can I still use the system panel!?''


    Jareth immediately tried to confirm his doubts.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 800/800] [MP: 50/50]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Talentless fool]


    [Str: 13] [Agi: 12] [Spe: 10] [Def: 9] [Int: 42]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: 6)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade 6]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 6), Null-Magic (Grade: 6), Mana Control (Grade: 6)]


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 100]


    [Evaluation: You are not worthy of an evaluation!]


    Looking at that Evaluation, Jareth rubbed his forehead and calmed his throbbing headache.


    ''Ugh! Why do I have to transmigrate into this body in the first place! sigh~''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! I hope you guys like my second novel.


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to get the experience of the Magic Guillotine?


    1. Yes (No way, please go to therapy if your answer is yes¡­)


    2. No (Cough! I don''t want to become a headless zombie so I would pass..)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 3 - 3: This is a Scam!!

    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 800/800] [MP: 50/50]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Talentless fool]


    [Str: 13] [Agi: 12] [Spe: 10] [Def: 9] [Int: 42]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: 6)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade 6]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 6), Null-Magic (Grade: 6), Mana Control (Grade: 6)]


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 100]


    [Evaluation: You are not worthy of an evaluation!]


    ...


    Grade 7 is the lowest, and Grade 0 is the highest, according to the current known power standards of this world.


    Null-magic is an unattributed magic, like a mana ball, a mana beam, etc. that every magician can use with a little bit of skill and knowledge.


    People in this world don''t have a system panel like Jareth, not even the ''Hero'' because even the ''Hero'' is not a player but an actual individual right now, and this is an actual world now.


    ''All my skills are at Grade 6, which means I am barely at the level of a newbie magician¡­ sigh~''


    Jareth got up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom and through the corridor he walked towards the original Jareth''s training hall.


    Although this place allotted to every professor of the academy is a small room, with the help of spatial manipulation devices, the area in the small rooms has been expanded several times.


    Due to this, Jareth''s Dorm Room 13 has several big rooms inside it; there are long corridors and a huge training hall too. (Magic is amazing¡­)


    ''This whole academy is hand-built by the greatest magic craftsmen of his time¡­. obviously, this place was going to be extravagant and luxurious¡­''


    Wherever Jareth passed, the maids consciously avoided his path and respectfully kept their eyes low, They seemed to be used to Jareth''s intimidating personality and didn''t dare anger him.


    ''Where was his training room, by the way?¡­''


    Jareth had no memories of this world; he only knew the general lore of the game, but these small details were unknown to him.


    Jareth was now getting annoyed. He looked at the nearby maid, who was mopping the floor.


    He wanted the maid for guidance, but what came out of his mouth was rather shocking:


    "Hey, you peasant¡­ Where is Richard?..."


    Jareth''s head tilted on its own, a frown appeared on his cold face and several veins popped up on his forehead, making his look even more intimidating, His eyes stared at the maid with an extremely cold look in them.


    ''W-what am I saying!? I don''t talk like that! What''s happening here!?''


    Although Jareth was shocked in his mind, his face remained cold, and his eyes stared at the maid as if looking at some measly trash.


    [Ding! The personality trait ''Arrogant'' is in effect; the host''s body can''t say kind words to others unless on special occasions!]


    ''What!? What kind of Sh*tty character design is this!? Who made this idiotic game!?''


    After cursing a few more times, Jareth finally calmed down and thought,


    ''Could it be that the reason why the original Jareth was so cold and arrogant was because he was set to be like this from the start?... Sigh~''


    While Jareth was busy contemplating in his mind, the maid shivered like a rabbit being stared at by a bloodthirsty wolf, The maid could feel that if she made a mistake, she would die today.


    "I-I.., th-that¡­"


    "Huh¡­ you what? Speak clearly¡­"


    Jareth''s dark purple eyes stared at the maid and made her so fearful that she was nearly on the verge of collapse.


    "Ahem! Master you called for me?"


    At that moment, the old butler Richard arrived to save the day.


    Although Richard''s back was dripping from sweat, he gathered his courage and tried to take Jareth''s attention away from the maid.


    The maid was his own daughter in the first place, and he couldn''t help but save her from the intimidating presence of Jareth.


    Jareth''s purple eyes shifted and landed on the bowing Richard.


    ''Hmm, he seems to be a capable guy; I should ask him instead¡­''


    "Is the training room ready right now?"


    Hearing Jareth''s heavy and intimidating voice, Richard shook a little bit and replied in a calm tone:


    "Yes, Master, you can use it whenever you like!" S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hmm, good, lead the way¡­"


    "Understood!"


    Richard hurriedly got up and showed the way ahead.


    With the butler''s guidance, Jareth reached the training hall in just a few minutes of walking. (This place is extremely vast and luxurious¡­)


    After reaching the training hall, Richard opened the door for Jareth and stood aside in a respectful posture. From start to finish, Richard didn''t even look Jareth in the eyes.


    Jareth ignored these minor things and directly entered the training room.


    "Okay, you may go now¡­ also prepare a bath for me...."


    "Understood!"


    After bowing towards Jareth once, the butler closed the door and left.


    ''Sigh~ Master seems to be in a better mood today¡­ fortunately, he didn''t get angry at that foolish girl¡­ sigh~''


    Richard wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief as he hurriedly walked towards his daughter.


    He found the girl collapsed on the ground.


    ''Sigh~ she is still too young to be working here, it seems¡­''


    ¡­


    In the training hall.


    ''Hmm, that butler was indeed a capable guy; he didn''t even ask a single question, I favor such straightforward people¡­. Perhaps I should increase his salary¡­''


    (Oblivious to the chaos he caused from a single stare of his, Jareth was happy inside his thoughts and even forgot about the fact that this body was incapable of speaking kind words to people¡­)


    ''Now that I am here, let''s try out this thing called magic!''


    As a fellow otaku, Jareth was a great fan of magic and adventure in his previous life. Now that he had the chance to use magic in real life, he couldn''t help but become excited at the thought of it.


    ''Okay, let''s start with the most basic magic in the game¡­''


    Jareth stretched his hand out and targeted the dummy fixed on the wall nearby.


    ''Fire Ball!''


    ~swish~ (Cold breeze noises)


    Jareth kept staring at the practice dummy but nothing happened.


    The expected fireball didn''t come out and he stood there in embarrassment.


    Feeling the cold air, Jareth lowered his hand and slowly walked towards the nearby resting bench.


    He sat down with a plop. Only one thought came into his mind.


    ''Sh*t! I can''t even use the weakest and most useless spell of them all! I am doomed!''


    ''Looking at the current situation, Jareth can''t even properly wield mana right now. How would I even survive that wyvern attack, and how would I protect myself from this cruel world!''


    ''Ahem! No, I can''t lose hope right now! I just got a new life; I can''t waste it all again!''


    A newfound determination flashed in Jareth''s eyes; he seemed to have gained some confidence.


    ''Let''s see if there''s anything helpful in the shop¡­''


    <Shop>


    [Credit points: 100]


    [Purchasable items:


    [Newbie exclusive pack: 100Cp] (Cp is ''Credit Points'')


    [???]


    [???]


    ''What is going on, All of the items are greyed out, I can''t even see them, and only this newbie pack is available¡­''


    A confused look appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''If I remember correctly, there was no such thing as a ''Newbie pack'' in the game shop¡­ What even is this thing?''


    ''Moreover, I can''t see many other functions either¡­''


    After contemplating for a while, Jareth still didn''t reach an understanding so he decided to put this matter on hold for the moment.


    ''Should I buy this newbie pack¡­. Well, it''s not like I have any other choices right now¡­''


    Jareth immediately selected the ''Newbie Pack'' and bought it after a little bit of hesitation.


    [Are you sure you want to purchase the ''Newbie Exclusive Pack''!]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Congratulations! You got the ''Newbie Exclusive Pack''!]


    [Opening the pack¡­.]


    [You get the following items¡­]


    [1. An Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)]


    [2. Memory Card (Intermediate)]


    [3. Memory Card (Low)]


    [Inventory function has been opened¡­ all the items have been stored in the inventory¡­]


    Looking at these rewards, black lines appeared on Jareth''s face, several veins appeared on his forehead and he looked extremely angry.


    ''Scam! This is an absolute scam!!!''


    ''Why did I get these useless items!?''


    Jareth felt his heart bleed at the loss of those precious Credit points.


    ''Sigh~ can''t you let me live an easy life for once¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jareth''s aura is something, people faint with one look of his¡­ it''s getting interesting, isn''t it¡­


    Question of the Day.


    Do you think Jareth would be able to get past the restraints of this arrogant body and say some nice words eventually?


    1. No (No, we like this edgy side of him too¡­ it is advised to seek therapy if you like a toxic guy like him¡­.)


    2. Yes (Character development is what we need here¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 4 - 4: A way to survive...

    Inside the training room.


    Jareth glanced at his inventory with a cold expression on his face.


    Inventory:


    [1. Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)]


    [2. Memory Card (Intermediate)]


    [3. Memory Card (Low)]


    --


    --


    --


    ...


    There are only three items in the inventory; these are the items that Jareth got from the ''Newbie Pack,'' which he now considers a scam.


    ''Sigh, how did I end up falling into such an obvious scam... It would have been better if I waited for new items to appear¡­''


    With complicated emotions, Jareth stretched his hand out and clicked on the ''Memory card,'' and the description appeared beside the item.


    [Memory Card (Intermediate): Helps the user remember past memories in great detail¡­]


    ''As I thought, it''s this useless thing¡­''


    Jareth had seen this very same card in the game before; all this card does is help the character remember some past memories in the form of a slideshow and some sound effects.


    This was mainly used as a way to clear some character-related quests in the game. It has no other use aside from helping people remember their past memories.


    ''Ugh, moreover, it''s just an ''intermediate'' one, not even an ''advanced'' one¡­''


    Even the memory card has its own tiers.


    While the ''intermediate'' one can help the user remember their past memories in great detail, the ''Advanced'' card can help the user remember every single detail about the user; the user will remember his whole life, like what he did on a random day several years ago, everything!


    Moreover, the advanced card can increase the ''Int'' stat of the user quite a bit too.


    Jareth then clicked on the other memory card.


    [Memory Card (Low): Can help the user remember some random important things¡­]


    ''This is even more useless¡­''


    Not to mention the ''Low'' grade memory card is barely ever used in any of the quests; it doesn''t even help much, and most of the time is used by the players as a joke.


    ''Only this attack card is barely even usable¡­''


    [Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced): Enhances the next attack of the user by 500 times¡­]


    ''This thing is like a trump card and can only be obtained during the late stages of the game, but the main problem right now is¡­. I can''t even do a decent attack right now!...''


    For an attack to be enhanced by the enhancement card, there must be an attack done in the first place. If the user is already incapable of attacking, then even the enhancement card is useless.


    ''Even if I had an enhancement card and tried to punch, this body is too weak to land a proper hit in the first place¡­''


    He can''t use mana or the original Jareth''s magic either.


    Jareth shook his head in despair; although his facial expression remained cold and the same, his internal emotions were a mess at the moment.


    ''Ugh, I miss the days when I used to live a carefree life with my lovely Shiina¡­ I hope she is living a happy life now¡­'' (Jareth) (Sadly, Jareth had no way of knowing what happened to Shiina after his death¡­) S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''No! I can''t waste this life like this; I must figure something out!''


    With determination in his eyes, Jareth clicked on the Memory card and used it:


    ''This is the only way I have right now¡­ here goes nothing¡­''


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Memory Card (Intermediate)?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    At Jareth''s agreement, a huge amount of memories started to appear in his head all of a sudden.


    Jareth felt like his head would burst apart from this sudden rush of memories. He felt a lot of pain in his head, but his body didn''t even scream or flinch a little bit.


    [Ding! The personality trait ''Arrogant'' is activated! The user can''t show weakness and must maintain an arrogant demeanor!]


    His character trait didn''t even let him scream to relieve his pain, due to which no one outside of the training room found out about his agony. The silent screams in his mind never reached anyone outside of this room.


    After a few minutes of continuous agony, Jareth finally felt the pain disappear, the crazy rush of memories finally stopped, and he was finally able to calm himself down.


    ''F*ck! I thought I was going to die!''


    Although he knew that he was going to feel pain in this process, he had no other choice. (He had seen the game characters writhe in pain whenever he used the ''Memory Card'' on them, so he knew beforehand about this whole thing¡­)


    Jareth relaxed his body and sat on the ground with a plop.


    ''Sigh, now I know why the player character nearly went insane from using the ''Advanced'' Memory card, this pain is similar to torture¡­ it''s not meant for a human¡­''


    Jareth shook his head.


    ''But at least I got something good from this¡­.''


    Jareth stretched his hand out and felt the sensation of mana. From these huge amounts of memories, he had learned how to use mana, and now he can finally be called a real mage; without knowing mana, he was just an ordinary person earlier, but now he can feel mana.


    ''It''s as if I have grown a new type of sensory organ¡­ I can feel the mana coursing through my body and in my surroundings¡­''


    As he had been an otaku before in his previous life, Jareth had always dreamt of using mana; now that he had achieved this dream, he felt extremely happy at the moment.


    ''Perhaps with this, I can finally survive¡­''


    Jareth got up from the ground and stretched his hand towards the practice dummy again.


    ''It should work now¡­ let''s start with the easiest and lower rank fire magic first¡­''


    [Fire Magic: Flame Arrow!]


    A small magic circle the size of a human palm appeared in front of Jareth''s palm.


    At Jareth''s command, a flame arrow was fired from the magic circle, and the bright red flame arrow collided with the practice dummy.


    The practice dummy barely had a small burn mark from that attack, and it didn''t even do some basic damage.


    Seeing this lukewarm damage, Jareth was not disappointed, though. Instead, he felt quite happy at this moment.


    Jareth glanced at the system panel and saw his MP.


    [45/50]


    Due to his extremely low mana control ability, most of the MP was wasted during that attack, and it didn''t even have the lethality an ordinary flame arrow spell should have, Jareth was happy that he had succeeded at this moment.


    ''I think I can survive with this for now¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head as he glanced at his hand.


    ''If I apply the ''Attack enhancement card'' and then use this attack, I can at least scare that wyvern off and also prove myself worthy enough, thus avoiding my expulsion from this university¡­''


    ''Although this could be only considered a temporary solution¡­ it seems to


    be the only way I have right now¡­''


    Now that Jareth had finally figured out a way to survive, he felt relaxed all over his body.


    Oblivious to all the trouble he might have to encounter in the future, Jareth was quite satisfied right now.


    ''With this attack, I have extended my lifespan by at least a few days, I think¡­.''


    Originally, Jareth doubted that the memory card was of much use to him because he didn''t expect that he would awaken the memory of how to use mana.


    But now that he has found a way out of the current crises, he finally acknowledged that these memory cards are not useless.


    ''It seems the goddess of luck is smiling at me today¡­''


    Jareth then glanced at the other memory card and looked at it with kinder eyes this time.


    ''Let''s see what you hold for me, my little gem¡­''


    The moment Jareth realized the usefulness of the memory cards, he directly changed his face and stopped treating them as useless, and indeed, he is a shameless guy, it seems.


    While smiling like a punk in his mind, Jareth clicked on the other memory card.


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Memory Card (Low)?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems our villain has finally found a way to survive the devastating plot waiting ahead, but let''s see if it actually works the way he wants it to¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, would you like to use a ''Memory Card'' too?


    1. Yes (It may help you remember what you learned for the exams¡­.)


    2. No (I don''t want the pain, so I will pass¡­ )


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 5 - 5: A Peculiar Introduction...

    Capital City Delta.


    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University


    The campus of the university is extremely lively today. Today is the first day when classes will start this year.


    Thousands of students belonging to different classes could be seen hurrying off to their classes.


    A young teenage girl with light blue hair and pupils glared at a teenage guy with similar light blue hair and pupils with an angry look on her cute face.


    "Hurry up, Allen! We are going to be late for class!" (Mia Stormwalker)


    Mia held Allen''s hand and dragged him behind her. Allen''s face was covered in sweat, and he was panting and gasping for air due to all this running. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "W-wait for me¡­ "I can''t run anymore." (Allen Stormwalker)


    Mia glanced back and glared at Allen with a frown on her cute face.


    "No, we can''t stop here! We have to make it on time. We can''t be late on the very first day of our university life!"


    Mia continued to drag Allen and didn''t let him rest for even a single second.


    "I heard from the other students that the professor teaching ''Magic Theory'' is a very strict person. We will get punished if we end up late for class. so hurry up!"


    "Just listen to your big sister and keep running!"


    "Y-Yeah¡­"


    Just when Allen was desperately trying his best to keep up with the pace of his energetic big sister, someone purposely cast a magic spell under Allen''s feet.


    A small hole appeared on the ground due to the spell, and Allen lost his balance from the sudden shift in posture. He directly fell and kissed the floor, and even Mia, who held his hand, lost her balance and fell backward on the ground.


    "Ouch!"


    "Ugh!"


    When the two siblings fell on the floor, they heard the mocking laughter of a guy from behind them.


    "BAHAHAHA, look at those two idiots, bahahahaha." (Mark Kalashnikov)


    A teenage guy with bright golden hair and pupils laughed at the two with a mocking smile on his face.


    Allen got up from the ground, the design of the floor tile still visible on his face, and he had an angry expression.


    "What is the meaning of this, Mark!?"


    Mark ignored Allen''s shouts and continued to laugh at the two of them for a while before finally calming down. He wiped the slight tears from his eyes, which appeared due to laughing too much, and said in a teasing tone:


    "You two idiots don''t even know that there is still half an hour left before class is going to start... seeing you two rush like idiots makes me laugh."


    Mia and Allen both stared at Mark with an angry look on their faces, but Mark continued to ignore them.


    "Okay, don''t waste my time. I don''t want to be late because of some random peasant."


    All of a sudden, Mark stopped laughing and hurried off to class as if he wanted to escape from something.


    "You are shameless!"


    While Allen glared at the leaving figure of Mark and cursed, Mia suddenly went silent. She stretched out her hand and poked Allen with her trembling fingers as if to make him notice something.


    Allen frowned at Mia and glanced behind him.


    A middle-aged man with dark purple hair and pupils stood behind him. His intimidating face stared at Allen as if a predator were looking down on its prey.


    "Don''t make a fuss here, Student Allen."


    Allen''s eyes widened at Jareth''s cold and intimidating presence. He felt like Jareth could beat him at any moment.


    Allen felt suffocated just by standing in Jareth''s dense and intimidating aura.


    "U-understood!"


    Hearing Allen''s reply, Jareth nodded his head. He gave Mia a slight glance and then walked away. Everywhere he went, students consciously maintained several meters of distance from him for fear of getting beaten.


    Seeing the fading figure of Jareth, Allen heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Mia, who was standing there like a stone statue.


    She seemed to have been too intimidated to even move by Jareth''s presence.


    "Who was that person?". His presence is so intimidating."


    Allen shook his head and decided to put this matter behind him. He dragged the petrified Mia and walked off towards the classroom.


    ¡­


    Jareth''s POV.


    ''Hmm, I wasn''t expecting to see the ''Hero'' face-to-face so early, but seriously, that little guy seems to have the same clumsy personality as shown in the game.''


    As Jareth continued to walk towards his classroom with a slow and steady pace, he continued to think about various things; complicated thoughts swirled in his mind.


    ''Allen is the ''Hero'' character of this action RPG game, and he is supposed to have a clumsy and short-tempered personality at the starting stages of the game.''


    Allen goes through many hardships during his long journey of becoming a ''Hero'' and matures as an individual to become the very epitome of heroism during the late stages of the game.


    ''Well, I can''t blame him either. He is still a 17-year-old kid. young people are generally full of energy and clumsy by nature.


    ''Mia is Allen''s elder sister; her only purpose in the game was to be ''Emotional Support'' for her younger brother ''Allen'' and then die for character development... so she doesn''t have that many unique characteristics...''


    Jareth also felt quite weird, but the game was designed this way, so he couldn''t really do anything about it in his previous life.


    ''As for that guy, Mark, that is the real deal... an extremely talented guy born as the sole heir to the royal family and the main rival for Allen... he is supposed to be the only one capable of going toe to toe with Allen in the late stages of the game.''


    Jareth was expecting to meet these three characters when he entered the classroom, but unexpectedly, he met them while he was still heading towards the class.


    ''I actually don''t want to go to that class, sigh~''


    Many talented and intelligent students were present in that classroom of first-year students, which he was supposed to teach.


    ''If I make a single mistake, these little devils will immediately find out that I am a fake... and then I will be suffering my whole life¡­ sigh~''


    With slow and hesitant steps, Jareth continued towards the classroom, and eventually, he stood in front of the door of the classroom.


    [First-Year Classroom No. 1]


    ''Here goes nothing...''


    ¡­


    Inside the classroom.


    The lively classroom suddenly fell silent when the gate of the class opened steadily, and Professor Jareth walked in with an intimidating momentum.


    Allen and Mia were sitting by the windows, and Mark was sitting at the last seat in the classroom. There were a total of fifty students in the classroom, and all of them fell silent the very moment Jareth entered.


    *Step**Step*


    Only the sound of Jareth''s steady steps rang out in the class, and no one dared to even make a slight noise to avoid getting on the bad side of Jareth.


    Jareth walked over to the center of the stage and stood in front of the whole class with a cold and intimidating look on his face. His eyes wandered off and scanned the whole class with an intimidating glare in his dark purple eyes.


    "Since every desk is filled, that means everyone is present. I don''t need to take attendance then¡­ bring out your ''Magic Theory'' Books and open the first chapter."


    "I don''t really care about introductions and all pointless things. If you guys keep performing well in class from now on, I will eventually know your names. otherwise, you won''t even be recognized. Make sure to keep your scores up if you want the approval letter from me."


    Hearing Jareth''s harsh words, everyone understood immediately why rumors were going around about the Professor of ''Magic Theory'' class being extremely strict.


    The rumors turned out to be all true; Jareth was indeed as heartless as the rumors depicted him to be.


    On the very first day, he had already declared that he would only give the approval letter to those who would perform exceptionally well in the class tests.


    If the student''s performance is not to his liking, he won''t even give the approval letter, which will cause the student to fail in the subject called ''Magic Theory''.


    An approval letter is like a grade or mark for the students of this world.


    Only when the professor has given you the approval letter will you be considered to have passed in that subject, and only then can you be promoted to the next year; otherwise, you will have to repeat the whole year''s worth of classes all over again.


    This means this one statement from Jareth made all of the students feel suffocated and disciplined at the same time.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Due to the character traits of Jareth, he automatically spouts harsh words; thus, he gets misunderstood as strict on the very first day¡­


    Question of the day:.


    What are your thoughts on ''Hero'' Allen?


    (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 6 - 6: The First Lesson!

    Inside the classroom.


    Jareth glanced at all of the children with a kind gaze. (He thinks his gaze is kind, but in reality, it''s not.)


    Aside from the ''Hero'' Allen, the side character ''Mia'', and the ''Rival'' character Mark, there are two other most noticeable students in the classroom.


    A girl with a cold look sat on the very first bench of the classroom. She had similar dark purple hair and eyes as Jareth had.


    ''So, that''s my supposed younger sister, Aiza Blaze, the cold beauty and second heroine of this game... Furthermore, she is considered a ''genius'' in flame magic.''


    Jareth didn''t stare at her for too long and averted his eyes to the next student, but that one look from him made Aiza wary of him.


    She looked calm and cold on the surface, but many complicated thoughts were raging in her head right now.


    Jareth didn''t notice her conflicted emotions at all and then glanced at the girl sitting near Allen.


    She had light green hair and golden pupils. She looked like the very image of gentleness and cuteness.


    ''That''s the genius wood magician, Airin Wainwright, a direct descendant of a famous Wood magician... She is the main heroine and the childhood friend of Allen.''


    Since the game had the ''Harem'' building part in it, there were many routes to follow to try to increase the favorability of a heroine.


    Airin is the only heroine whose favorability is full from the very start of the game.


    She already likes Allen from the start, but Allen is the ''Dense'' type of protagonist and he never recognizes her love until the very end of the game. Moreover, he already had a harem of ten women by that time.


    (Allen is the type of protagonist who is extremely dense but still pulls several jade beauties and becomes a harem king just by wearing pure plot armor.)


    ¡­


    Jareth didn''t think too much about this matter and just gave every student a slight glance before finally deciding to start the class.


    ''Luckily, that other memory card didn''t disappoint me.''


    When Jareth used the ''Memory Card (Low)'' that day in his training room, the card gave him memories about what the original Jareth was preparing to teach on the first day of the classes.


    This gives him plenty of knowledge to pull off a fake show of teaching and swaying these innocent children. As long as he doesn''t make any mistakes, no one can figure out that he is a fake.


    The original Jareth survived based on his excellent theoretical knowledge and his clever mind. His intimidating aura is also a life-saving mechanism that he developed over time to protect himself from being recognized as weak.


    ''The life of the original Jareth was miserable, that''s for sure.''


    Jareth put this matter behind for now and touched the smart board with his hand.


    He opened a picture of the magic circuits of an individual and started to explain some basic magic theory knowledge to the students.


    "Most of the students here are from prestigious families and have the basic knowledge already due to private tuitions, but since there are students from ordinary families here and have little to no knowledge..."


    "We will start from the beginning."


    Jareth glanced at the students with his cold eyes and then pointed to the image with his index finger.


    "This is a simple anatomy diagram or you could say a basic magic circuit diagram of a newbie mage."


    Jareth continued to explain.


    The magic circuits of newbie mages and above vary greatly.


    A newbie is not proficient enough, and their control over their mana is very lacking; thus, their mana circuit is small and inefficient, and it barely covers a small portion around the heart of the mage.


    On the other hand, Grade 1 Mage''s mana circuit is so vast that it covers their whole body and is even partially connected to their soul and will, forming a proper and efficient mana network.


    Such a feat is only possible with extremely refined control of mana.


    "The difference between a knight and a mage is that mages have a mana circuit which expands over time as their control over mana increases."


    "Meanwhile, the knights don''t have any magic circuit to begin with; they just use the outside mana and spread it all over their body in an attempt to nourish their body with mana and make it stronger and more durable."


    "There are various Meditation or breathing techniques to become a knight or a warrior by inhaling mana into your body and strengthening it¡­"


    With proper training and opportunities, even an ordinary person can become a knight, but this is not the same for a mage.


    Only those who are born with a magic circuit in their body can walk the path of a mage.


    Many great minds have theorized that the magic circuit is a manifestation of one''s soul''s compatibility with mana. It depends on pure luck if you can be born with a mana circuit or not.


    Obviously, there is one other way, and that is to pay an extremely high fee and hire a grade 1 magician to artificially create a magic circuit in your body. Although the process is very inhumane and torturous, it is indeed very effective.


    Many wealthy businessmen whose children are untalented use this method to provide their children with a bright future.


    (This also means that ordinary people only have one way to become strong, which is to become a knight or a warrior by somehow finding those rare breathing techniques.)


    Even though the condition of being born with a magic circuit seems completely random and dependent on luck, it is also affected by many other factors.


    If the parents of the child are strong magicians with amazing mana affinity, their child will also be born with a solid and proper magic circuit with amazing mana affinity in-built.


    This is the reason why illegitimate children are treated so badly in this world; most of them have no talent or very low talent.


    And in this cruel world where the strong are revered and the weak are bullied, low talent means you will be treated very badly.


    "Mana is the building block of this world; it is present in everything and everyone." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In this world, every living or non-living creature has mana in various amounts and forms. Even non-living objects like soil, stone, and water have trace amounts of mana in them.


    Even ordinary people have a faint amount of mana in their bodies; the only reason they can''t become strong is that they have no proper way of training and their mana affinity is extremely low.


    Yet Exceptions exist. A child with extremely high mana affinity can be born from ordinary people too; the probability is very low but it sometimes happens.


    Allen is one of those exceptional children; he was born into an ordinary household, yet he still had amazing mana affinity and mana purity.


    Every year, the government provides scholarships and many other supports to these exceptional children.


    Ordinary people hope that their children are born with a mana circuit so that their future is secure and stable. The government even rewards the family that births an exceptionally talented kid with a medal of contribution.


    This may sound absurd but this is all true. The world outside the human nation is not so peaceful; dreadful monsters run rampant in this world. Demons and other chaotic beings always try to invade and kill humans whenever they wish.


    Various demonic cult members terrorize humans by summoning monsters and beasts every once in a while.


    Due to the chaotic nature of the world, the strong are respected and every new talented child is welcomed by the government with wide arms and support.


    There are dedicated guilds that maintain the security of human cities and maintain order.


    Most Mages, knights, and warriors go to these guilds for employment.


    ¡­


    While Jareth continued to explain various basic knowledge, the students kept listening to him with solemn expressions on their faces. Most of the wealthy students had no interest in this low-class knowledge and were already feeling bored.


    But no one dared to show their boredom on their face. Jareth had already warned them that they had to perform better in the class if they wanted to pass; thus, no one wanted to get on his bad side.


    They took his words seriously and kept listening to him while pretending to be solemn.


    Just then, an extremely strong mana fluctuation spread all over the university.


    Every mage present in the vicinity sensed that strong mana fluctuation. Dense mana condensed, and the buildings of the university trembled uncontrollably.


    *GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNNNNNN*


    A loud sound of a wyvern resounded throughout the capital city.


    The tremendously huge figure of the wyvern appeared out of a magic circle that covered the whole university''s campus.


    The wyvern''s wings collided with the university building, destroying the wall and exposing the classroom and the children sitting inside.


    Through that broken wall, the wyvern stared at the people inside with a dangerous look on its hideous face.


    Seeing that giant eyeball staring at him, Jareth had only one thought in his mind:


    ''It''s much scarier than I saw in the game.''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The show is about to begin! Let''s go!!


    Question of the Day.


    Would you like to become one?


    1. A Mage (Magic is the way...)


    2. A Knight (Armor and sword are the dreams of every young soul looking for adventure.)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 7 - 7: Shocked beyond belief!

    One day ago. Aiza Blaze''s Dorm Room.


    "So, it''s confirmed now, that incompetent bast*rd Jareth will be your teacher for this year¡­"


    Hearing the middle-aged voice of a man on her smartphone, Aiza frowned and said in a cold tone:


    "But father, you said that you will somehow get the teacher changed¡­ what if he loathes our family and doesn''t give me the ''Approval Letter'' just because of the tension between us¡­"


    "He might perhaps be as incompetent as you say, but he still is a professor in the academy, right? What if he targeted me personally¡­"


    Hearing the concerned voice of his daughter, the voice replied with a mocking tone:


    "Heh, that weak bast*rd had no talent when he was kicked out of the family; there''s no way he would have grown much in these few years¡­ don''t worry much; he is too weak to even fight you¡­"


    "Be confident; you are the genius fire mage of our family¡­ there''s no way you will pale in talent against that bast*rd child!"


    After saying that, the tone of the man turned solemn:


    "I wanted to get him expelled from the academy to clear a way out for you, but the principal is a weird person; he doesn''t care about money or any other things¡­"


    "Even when I offered him dragon teeth, he still didn''t agree; he is a tough being to deal with¡­ he seems to be in favor of that guy because of those theory papers he published¡­ tch!"


    "Don''t worry though¡­ I will pressure him to give you the ''Approval Letter'' if he disagrees¡­ surely he won''t dare to go against my coercion, haha..."


    "Just go and enjoy your university days, while watching his pathetic and weak self, getting embarrassed¡­"


    "Understood, father¡­" (Aiza)


    Aiza put the phone down and contemplated in her mind.


    The main problem of the ''Approval letter'' was resolved with her father''s assurance, now all she needs to do is study and focus on improving her magical capabilities.


    Since her childhood days, everyone has told her only one thing about her illegitimate brother: that he was a weak guy with barely any talent for magic. The only plus point was that he was good at magic theories.


    Except for that, he was evaluated as a talentless bast*rd child by everyone around her.


    She didn''t witness him cast spells with her own eyes, but due to everyone''s remarks, she also considered Jareth weak. She has an older brother who is much more talented than Jareth in every way.


    The Blaze family is one of the ancient wizard families; many excellent wizards have risen from their family from generation to generation. The current head of the family, Aiza''s father is also a famous Grade 2 flame wizard.


    Aiza is considered to have the talent to reach Grade 1. That is already an extremely strong being. The principal of the academy is a Grade 1 wizard, there are only two Grade-1 wizards in the whole human nation.


    A grade 1 wizard is capable of casting magic that can shatter continents and evaporate seas. Destroying a mountain or creating one from scratch is a child''s play for them.


    With one spell they can change the weather and with another, they can cause massive earthquakes.


    All professors in the academy are at the level of grad-3 wizards at least, each one of them is a famous and strong individual with a vast amount of wisdom. (Except Jareth who became a professor through bribery¡­)


    Aiza is currently 17 years old, but she is already as strong as a grade-5 mage. Her exceptional talent makes her stay ahead of her peers.


    The other students from wealthy families are around Grade-6 and even the ''Hero'' is still just a Grade-6 mage, Aiza is too talented for the rest of her fellow classmates to compete with.


    ¡­


    The day of the first class.


    Aiza arrived in the classroom ten minutes earlier. She didn''t like getting late and had a straightforward personality. She despised those who couldn''t properly follow the time schedule.


    (In the game, Allen had to wake up early and arrive in the class ahead of time to avoid her favorability points from decreasing¡­.)


    All the students entered the classroom one by one and eventually, all the seats were full. The clock ticked and the door opened right at the time when the class was supposed to start.


    Jareth arrived at the exact time, neither one minute early nor one minute late. His timing was perfect.


    The moment Jareth entered the classroom the air seemed to have cooled down a lot and the atmosphere became heavy. His intimidating presence made the students silent instantly.


    No one even dared to speak against him.


    When Jareth declared that he wouldn''t give the ''Approval Letter'' to the students he didn''t deem worthy, she thought he had started targeting her already.


    She knew that he wouldn''t let her do as she pleased and would try to make things difficult for her, thus she didn''t even show any reaction on her cold face.


    ''Father said his magic is weak, I shouldn''t get intimidated by his bluffs¡­''


    Aiza had already considered Jareth''s intimidating momentum as a bluff. (She was right¡­ it''s indeed a bluff¡­.)


    Jareth''s eyes then stared at all the students one by one, as if he was evaluating them in his mind.


    When his eyes landed on Aiza, she felt a little flustered by that strong aura, but she reminded herself about what her father had said and thus she regained her confidence.


    ''I am not afraid of you¡­ you can''t punish a student without proper reasons either¡­''


    After a while, Jareth started his class. He didn''t even bother with the usual stuff like an introduction or some small talk. He directly started the lesson without even letting the students introduce themselves. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''He is as arrogant as everyone described him to be¡­''


    Aiza had heard many bad rumors about him during her time in the family house. Now that she had seen him with her own eyes, she knew that those rumors were not baseless.


    Jareth was indeed an arrogant guy with a bad personality.


    ¡­


    (Back to the present time.)


    But Aiza had never expected what she was about to see today. Her worldview is shattered by Jareth''s one move.


    When the wyvern appeared out of nowhere, all the students trembled in fear. Some students directly fainted and some screamed for help.


    The dangerous aura of that wyvern was too much for the students to handle. It was an extremely strong monster, capable of razing down cities and towns in just a few hours. (How did the ''Hero'' keep it busy you ask? The answer is:- The Plot armor!)


    Aiza stared at the monster with trembling eyes. She had trained and fought against monsters like magic-wolfs and goblins, but a wyvern was too much for her to handle.


    Her hands trembled while looking at that gigantic monstrosity. Even Its eyeball was bigger than her whole body.


    Just then she heard a cold and arrogant voice resound throughout the classroom. That one voice made everyone quiet in an instant.


    "Too noisy¡­"


    Jareth''s cold voice made all the students forget about their fear and made them focus on him.


    Jareth stood there with his usual cold expression, he faced the wyvern and didn''t seem to be affected by its aura one bit.


    In the shocked eyes of the students, the professor stretched his hand out without any hesitation and cast a spell.


    [Ding! You have used the ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    [Grade-6 Fire magic: Fire Arrow!]


    Jareth had cast an extremely weak spell ''Fire Arrow'' that any newbie flame wizard could learn and use easily. Its lethality was extremely low.


    But when it was enhanced by the enhancement card and became 500 times stronger, it was already a new spell of its own league at that point. Even Jareth was not sure of its possible destructive power.


    A magic circle the size of a five layered magic circle appeared in front of Jareth''s palm.


    In the astonished eyes of the spectators, a massive flame beam fired out of the giant magic circle. The flame beam was the size of a truck and the flames were purple in color.


    It was an extremely condensed flame with an extremely hot temperature. Its destructiveness was off the charts.


    A massive shockwave swept away everything and the pillar of flame collided with the head of the wyvern in an instant.


    Before the wyvern could even react its whole head burst into smithereens, the destructive purple flame didn''t stop there and directly burned the whole upper torso of the giant wyvern before finally going out.


    After a full five seconds, finally, the intense flame pillar went out and the magic circle disappeared into thin air.


    Without his usual cold expression on his face, Jareth walked towards the broken wall and glanced outside.


    The lower half of the wyvern''s body had collapsed on the ground and its innards fell out of its stomach. There were still parts of the burnt meat scattered around everywhere.


    A half-burnt wing was lying on the ground nearby.


    Jareth glanced upwards and found that the flame beam had made a huge hole in the clouds hanging in the sky.


    Without his will, harsh words spouted out of his mouth again:


    "Tch! Pathetic¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! Finally, our weak villain has survived the disaster hanging on his head. Let''s go!!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to learn that awesome ''Fire Arrow'' too?


    1. Yes (Let the sky rain fire!!)


    2. No (It''s a weak spell so I will pass¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 8 - 8: Aizas Dilemma..

    "Tch! Pathetic¡­"


    A look of annoyance and disappointment appeared on Jareth''s face. All the students who saw this scene were so shocked that they didn''t dare even move from their place.


    Without caring about the chaos Jareth had caused in the onlooker''s minds. He walked back towards the front of the smart board and glared at the students with cold eyes.


    "Why are you guys squirming on the ground¡­ get back to your seats¡­ the class isn''t over yet!"


    At Jareth''s harsh scolding, all the students hurriedly got up and sat back in their seats with fearful looks on their faces. They had just seen Jareth kill a wyvern with a basic-level spell that was supposed to be one of the weakest spells in existence.


    Jareth''s one attack had shattered their worldview from the core.


    All the students who were originally not interested in learning theories also started to concentrate on theory. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Everyone had only one thought in their mind right now.


    ''The professor is Too Strong!!''


    Due to Jareth''s one-time usage of the enhancement card his attack was strong enough to kill that wyvern a supposed Grade-2 monster, in just one attack. This is already an extremely remarkable feat in other''s eyes.


    But only Jareth knew about the turmoil of emotions he was facing in his head right now.


    ¡­


    [Ding! You altered the supposed starting plot of the game by defeating the wyvern with your own hands!]


    [Ding! You have received 10,000 Credit points!]


    ''The f*ck just happened!?''


    Earlier when the wyvern appeared, he wanted to just scare it off and prove his strength to avoid expulsion. He had known about the capabilities of the enhancement card from the game.


    But he never expected that the enhancement card would become so destructive when used in real-life moments. This was totally out of his predictions.


    He was expecting to get the destructive power of a mere grade-3 spell, but what he ended up with was the insane destructive force of a peak grade-2 spell.


    Even the flames that should have been blue had turned into dark purple as if they had a unique characteristic of their own.


    (Grade-2 or above level spells have a ''Unique'' characteristic that resembles the user in some way or other¡­.)


    ''But one thing is for sure¡­ this body doesn''t know the word ''fear'' at all...''


    When that wyvern stared at Jareth, he didn''t feel any fear at all, instead, he felt like his arrogance was being challenged.


    Due to the character trait ''Arrogant'', Jareth is so arrogant that he doesn''t fear anyone in the world, he would rather die than bend his knees in front of others.


    ''Moreover, I even scolded the dead body of a wyvern saying it was pathetic¡­ seriously, this guy Jareth is too arrogant¡­ he will get me killed one day, sigh~''


    When looking at those panicked kids, Jareth felt angry at their rude behavior of leaving their seats in the middle of the class, thus he ended up scolding them harshly too.


    ''My reputation is beyond saving at this point, let''s just go with the flow then¡­''


    As the old saying goes: If you can''t go against them, then join them instead. Problem solved. (Friendly warning: Don''t take this advice to your heart, take it to your lungs¡­ cough!)


    ...


    A few hours later. Aiza''s dorm room.


    Aiza sat on the couch and stared at the smartphone with a blank expression on her face.


    Today she seemed to have suffered a great face-slap.


    She made the mistake of assuming someone was weak and believed in baseless rumors told with no actual facts.


    "He wasn''t weak¡­"


    Aiza stared at the smartphone and doubted everything she had learned about Jareth through his family members.


    ''They all told me that he was weak¡­ is this what they consider weak!?''


    ''Doesn''t that mean nearly 99 percent of the human race is worth nothing! if even that insanely strong magic was considered weak!?''


    Aiza seriously couldn''t comprehend the situation that had unfolded in front of her today.


    While she was trembling in fear against that horrifying monstrosity, Jareth stood there with no fear in his eyes.


    Instead, he seems to have thought of that monstrosity as a mere nuisance that was getting in the way of his job as a teacher.


    ''But how can ''flame arrow'' be so strong!?''


    The strangest thing of them all was, that Jareth didn''t even use any strong spells at all. He used a mere basic-level spell that any newbie fire magician could learn in just a few days of practice.


    The lethality of ''Fire Arrow'' is universally known to be too low for actual combat purposes. It is mostly used to light up torches in the ruins or create a bonfire. Some magicians even use that to smoke cigarettes.


    It is barely ever used on an actual battlefield.


    But Jareth''s ''Fire Arrow'' was different; it was too strong to be even considered a ''Fire Arrow'' at this point.


    ''His spell had ''Characteristic''¡­ doesn''t this mean he''s already a Grade-2 mage!?''


    It is well known in the world that only a mage at Grade 2 or above can infuse their spells with ''Unique Characteristics'' to make them more lethal and stronger.


    A Mage that can infuse ''characteristic'' in his magic is considered more than ten times stronger than the one who couldn''t use this infusion.


    ''How much is father underestimating him in the first place!?''


    ''Father must have made a great mistake! He has severely underestimated his magical capabilities¡­ if he can kill a wyvern, he can surely go toe to toe with father too¡­''


    Aiza knew about the seriousness of this matter. She knew that if Jareth was so strong, then their family was in grave danger. Her father had kicked Jareth out of the family and if he had any grievances with their family, then it was a very dangerous situation.


    Her father may also be a grade 2 mage, but Jareth is much younger than her father and he is already capable enough to be an equal with him. This proves that he can reach even greater heights in the future.


    At that point, their whole family would be at his mercy. His whims will decide if he will let them all live or not.


    ''I-I need to inform father about this¡­''


    With all this speculation messing around in her head, Aiza decided to call her father. Her hands trembled as she carefully tried to dial his number.


    *Ring* *Ring*


    Just when Aiza was about to call, her phone rang on its own and the caller ID showed the name of her father.


    She heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly answered the call.


    "Aiza, I know the situation¡­. It seems I have made a terrible mistake this time¡­ that guy¡­ sigh~ I underestimated him too much¡­ but you don''t need to worry about anything¡­"


    "I will personally talk with the principal next week, you don''t need to worry about your safety on the university campus¡­ but make sure you avoid getting entangled with him before I properly settle this matter¡­"


    "Yes, father"


    "Good¡­"


    The call was cut off immediately. Aiza noticed the tiredness in her father''s voice. He seems to be facing many difficulties at the moment.


    ''It must be the vassal families looking for trouble again¡­''


    Several of the vassal families used to support Jareth because he was the oldest of the siblings, they wanted that Jareth should have become the next head of the family.


    But the birth of Aiza had changed everything. Her amazing talent enchanted them all, and she received the full support of the whole family.


    Only a few vassal family members still stood on Jareth''s side; most of them are now in support of Aiza.


    Now that everyone has found out that, Jareth is already an extremely strong mage, capable of fighting her father on equal grounds.


    They have started to have different thoughts again and her position as the future heir of the family has been challenged. (Political matters are always complicated, no matter which world it is¡­)


    ''I must become stronger¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! Your Beloved author is here! The misunderstandings seem to have started to increase in favor of Jareth, it seems, Let''s see how far these misunderstandings carry on¡­


    Question of the day.


    Isn''t it Chocolate Day today, so how many did you get?


    1. One or more (I am smarter, I am stronger, I am better, I am better!!)


    2. None (Sad life¡­ burn this cruel world!!)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 9 - 9: Jareths troubles..

    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University, Professor Dorms, Room no: 13.


    In the training hall.


    ''I ended up attracting more attention than I was expecting¡­''


    Jareth sat on the resting bench and stared at the news being played on his smartphone''s screen.


    ¡­


    The news anchor showed the video of him killing the wyvern in a single attack and explained things in great detail.


    "The secret recordings of the security camera that was positioned in the corner of the classroom when the wyvern attacked, have been leaked!! our reliable sources have found out about everything that had happened in the university!!"


    "As you can see in this recording, the professor of the academy whose name is Jareth Blaze, defeated a grade-2 monster, an adult wyvern in just one attack!!"


    With great enthusiasm in his voice, the anchor explained how amazing of a feat this was.


    "An adult wyvern like this can destroy a city in just a few of its breath attacks! But Professor Jareth didn''t let the wyvern harm a single student in the classroom!!"


    "He stood as a shield to protect his students and the future genius mages with his own hands!"


    "The amazing fact is that he didn''t even seem tired at all from using such a strong spell, he truly is a remarkable and strong mage!"


    Suddenly the Anchor pulled out the photo of Jareth on the screen and showed his grade as allotted by the mage guild.


    [Grade-6]


    "As you can see, Professor Jareth is considered a grade-6 mage by the mage guild, even though his magical capabilities are on par with a peak grade-2 mage, as proved by his remarkable feat of slaying a wyvern in one attack!"


    "The grade allotted by the mage guild was last updated 4 years ago, this proves that the mage guild has clearly neglected its duties, they should come forward and publicly issue a proper grade to Professor Jareth¡­"


    "This negligence can cause great distrust in the grading system of the mage guild by the major public¡­"


    The anchor found Jareth''s graduation records and other theoretical achievements and showed them on the giant screen.


    "Professor Jareth has always been a theoretical genius and has proposed many diverse theories throughout his career as a mage¡­"


    "as you can see here he even scored highest in the final graduation exams during his student days!"


    "He has been well known as a great magic theory professor with an excellent mind¡­


    "but today he proved that he was not just good at theory, he had remarkable fighting capabilities too!"


    "He had been rarely seen using an attack spell before, but today he used a basic level spell and defeated an extremely strong monster with no effort!"


    "This proves he is worthy to be teaching at the prestigious Ivan University!"


    Then the Anchor changed the topic of the news.


    "All the praise aside, the real matter of concern right now is where this wyvern even came from¡­"


    The anchor raised the question and then showed the official statements that were released by the university to explain the situation from their perspective.


    "According to the statements of the academy, the wyvern was summoned by demon cult members to terrorize the students and they intended to kill as many talented young mages as possible¡­"


    "Those supposed demon cult members have successfully escaped the grasp of the security staff and there''s no evidence left either¡­"


    "This has raised the concern of many people, but the university has reassured everyone, saying that their capable professors are always ready to protect the students and there is no need to worry about their safety¡­"


    "This statement has made the worried parents relax because everyone saw the capabilities of the professors teaching at the university with their own eyes¡­"


    "Some parents even stated that, as long as strong professors like Jareth are protecting the children, they do not need to fear about the safety of their children¡­"


    ¡­


    At that point, Jareth stopped watching the video.


    He put his smartphone away and contemplated in his mind.


    ''I didn''t expect that this would turn into such a big deal¡­ now the whole world knows about what I have done¡­''


    Jareth only wanted to survive the situation for now with that enhancement card, he didn''t expect it to be strong enough to literally decimate the wyvern in just one go.


    That was totally out of his plan.


    Moreover, now that the whole world misunderstands him as strong, he can''t even show his weakness in front of anyone.


    The moment they found out that he was actually much weaker compared to what they thought of him, at that moment he would have to suffer the wrath of the whole world.


    Without the strength to safeguard his bloated reputation, he is now in a very complicated situation.


    (Originally a mere third-rate villain, now Jareth is being considered as the late-stage villain, even though he has no actual strength¡­) S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thinking this far, he could only think of just one way to get himself out of this situation.


    ''I need to become strong¡­''


    Determination flashed in his eyes.


    He knew that his fake bluffs would not save him for too long, and he needed to become strong.


    ''The problem is that it''s not that easy¡­''


    In the game, the character used to get stronger by using EXP to increase his level, but right now he isn''t getting any EXP at all.


    His system seems to be different from the game system; it has no function of gaining EXP and there are these weird credit points in its place that he got when he changed the original plot by killing that wyvern.


    ''Things are getting more complicated as time goes by¡­.''


    Jareth shook his head and decided to stop thinking about this for now.


    He immediately opened the shop window.


    ''Only this can save me from my current dilemma right now¡­''


    [CP: 10000] (This is the amount of CP he has right now¡­)


    [Shop]


    [1. Bronze Lottery (1000 CP)]


    [2. Silver Lottery (5000 CP)]


    [3. Gold Lottery (25000 CP)]


    --


    --


    Seeing the options in the shop, Jareth was disappointed.


    ''Unlike the game shop, I seem to not be able to buy anything right now¡­ there are just these lottery options¡­''


    Originally, the shop of the game was filled with options to buy, skills talents experience cards, and various other things, but in Jareth''s system shop, only these three lottery options are showing up right now, which weren''t even supposed to be present in the game in the first place.


    ''Let''s just go with it for now; this is the only thing I have left for now¡­ I still need some way to survive¡­''


    Since Jareth didn''t have the CP to buy a Golden lottery, he decided to use the silver lottery twice. His thinking was simple, the silver lottery had a better chance to give something useful compared to the bronze one.


    [Are you sure you want to draw two silver lottery?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! Congratulations you got an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [Ding! Congratulations you got the ''Memory Card (Advanced)''!]


    Seeing that he was able to get another ''Attack Enhancement Card'', Jareth felt relieved in his mind.


    ''Even though it''s not my own strength, it can still give me some sense of security in this cruel world¡­ if I hadn''t gotten this card, I would have always felt on the edge whenever I went out¡­''


    ''But I better not use it for small inconveniences¡­ I need to save it for emergency uses only¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s Your Beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Have you drawn lotteries before, How was your luck?


    1. Good (I am moderately lucky¡­)


    2. Bad (The heavenly luck seems to hate me for real¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 10 - 10: Backstory...

    Inventory:


    [1. Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)]


    [2. Memory Card (Advanced)]


    --


    --


    --


    ¡­


    ''At least I got an advanced memory card from the lottery, now I can finally learn everything about Jareth''s life and his interpersonal relationships¡­ Furthermore, I can at least recover his academic talent for myself¡­''


    Jareth stared at the card with determination in his eyes.


    ''The only problem is that using this thing will cause immense pain¡­ sigh~''


    As mentioned before, the ''Advanced Memory Card'' card can help the user remember every single detail about the user; the user will remember his whole life, like what he did on a random day several years ago, everything!


    Moreover, the advanced card can increase the ''Int'' stat of the user quite a bit too.


    But the only problem with this advanced card was that it caused great mental distress to the user.


    It forces a huge amount of memories into the brain of the user, and if you can''t withstand it, you will lose your mind and fall into a coma right after.


    But just when Jareth was hesitating, his body acted up again.


    [Personality trait Fearless triggered! You fear no pain!]


    In an instant, Jareth''s mind cooled down and he felt like he had become fearless all of a sudden. He felt like even if he had to fight a dragon at this moment, he could still do it.


    In that fearless state, Jareth immediately used the ''Advanced Memory Card''.


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Memory Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    [Severe warning! Using this card may cause extreme mental pain to the user!]


    Jareth ignored that warning, as he felt fearless right now.


    Jareth Blaze didn''t fear pain and he was arrogant enough to not step back once he decided to do something.


    ''Yes'' S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At Jareth''s approval, a huge amount of memories started to pour into his head.


    The forceful entry of so much knowledge into his head caused great pain. But Jareth was already ready to face anything at the moment.


    He sat down on the ground in the lotus pose and gritted his teeth. Sweat covered his forehead, but he didn''t let out a single shout out of his mouth.


    He focused on understanding the memories and ignored the pain as much as possible.


    ¡­


    (Memories of Jareth Blaze)


    Born to a maid who was working in the Blaze mansion, Jareth was an illegitimate child.


    His mother was a beautiful woman; the family head took a liking to her and thus Jareth came to be.


    When the maid got pregnant, the family head threw her out of the mansion and fired her from her job to avoid any complications, as he was about to get married to a wealthy household woman around that time.


    The legitimate wife of Jareth''s father found out about the existence of Jareth after his birth in the hospital.


    Unfortunately, the hospital was one of the properties of the Blaze family, and thus the vassal families found out about Jareth''s existence easily.


    The family had tried to get rid of Jareth various times to avoid the mockery from the vassal families.


    He even got Jareth''s mother assassinated in an attempt to silence her voice.


    But one of the vassal families took pity on Jareth and adopted him as their own child.


    That one vassal family had no children of their own; thus, they poured all of their love on Jareth during his younger days.


    Jareth grew up and turned out to be a theory genius; he got excellent marks in all exams.


    But the Vassal family and everyone else knew that Jareth didn''t have much talent for magic, as his mana purity was extremely low for a Blaze family''s child.


    Everyone mocked him for his weak strength, but the Vassal family loved him a lot.


    Jareth grew to the age of twelve and went to a prestigious school in a different city.


    Thus, he escaped the calamity that happened back at his home.


    The legitimate wife of Jareth''s father had it enough when she heard that Jareth was making great progress, She immediately used her connections and got the whole vassal family killed overnight by an assassination organization.


    She wanted to kill Jareth too, but Jareth had already entered the premises of the prestigious school and she couldn''t attack him there.


    Thus, she changed the plan and asked the family head to disown Jareth and erase all his inheritance rights.


    The family head agreed and erased Jareth''s existence from the family''s records, Now Jareth had no family to return to at home.


    ...


    The young Jareth despaired at the death of his family and worked hard to become strong; he wanted to take revenge on the Blaze family for what they did to him.


    Jareth tried his best but he soon found out his limits. He was simply not built for magic. He tried his best, but he was not able to increase his mana control or mana purity at all.


    This made him despair; his gentle nature turned cold and ruthless as time went on, and he started to use arrogance and fearlessness to hide his weakness.


    He stopped taking part in combat-related classes and focused more on theories and problems.


    His genius mind made him recognized by the school staff and he easily graduated without even having to prove his magical capabilities.


    Jareth got an invitation from Ivan''s university and then he went there to study.


    He completed his education.


    More than ten years flew by since the day his adoptive family had been assassinated and since he was not strong enough to go against the Blaze family at all, his desire for revenge slowly cooled down.


    He stopped thinking about taking revenge, as it seemed impossible as time went on.


    ¡­


    More memories poured in but most of them were useless everyday occurrences like what he ate on that day and what he ate on another day.


    The amount of memories was so huge that Jareth''s whole body was now covered in sweat due to the insane amount of pain he was feeling.


    But he still didn''t scream one bit.


    The various theoretical and magical knowledge that the original Jareth had slowly entered his mind and he finally understood why everyone was praising Jareth for his amazing mind.


    Jareth has written many theories that prove that ''mana can even affect the atoms itself''. This may seem like nothing but in the scientific community, this is a new and bold idea.


    If this theory gets proven, then it means that in the future, humans can create weapons that would use mana to create things like a mana-powered ''Nuclear Bomb'' with fewer radiation-type side effects.


    This would be a huge progress for mankind.


    Jareth donated this theory to the principal of Ivan''s university and got to become a professor easily.


    Jareth himself could not have proved and worked on that theory anyway; after all, his own mana control was extremely low, so he gave the theory to the principal, who is a grade-1 mage and has extreme mana control.


    Nowadays, the principal is working on researching that theory further.


    Using mana to control such small things as atoms needs extreme mana control and precision; the original Jareth couldn''t have done that in any way possible


    ¡­ so he decided to use the theory to land himself a job that would pay him a good salary.


    Moreover, Jareth gets to live in this safe place without worrying about his own life.


    As long as Jareth stays a professor at the university, the Blaze family can''t do anything to him, as it would be considered an attack on the university itself, and the principal will get angry.


    ¡­


    Whether you believe it or not, the original Jareth pulled off this very clever move.


    His only mistake was that he dared to be jealous of the protagonist and thus he ended up dying miserably in the original setting.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Jareth has his whole memories, now this can be considered a proper start to this novel¡­ phew~


    The details and explanations in this chapter may seem random and weird to read because Jareth''s memories are entering in an unstable and chaotic fashion. I have tried to depict it from his perspective.


    Question of the day.


    Are you also interested in theories and science like Jareth?


    1. Yes (To the space we go!!!)


    2. No (I am not that good at studies, so I will pass¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 11 - 11: Learning Hidden Skills!

    Jareth''s Dorm room.


    Inside the training room.


    After a whole hour of mental agony, the immense pain finally faded away.


    Jareth''s gritted teeth finally relaxed and he felt tired all over his body. He seems to have used too much mental strength to comprehend so much information in such a short amount of time.


    [Ding! Congratulations you withstood the side-effect of the ''Memory Card (Advanced)!]


    [Ding! Your ''INT'' stat has increased by 10!]


    [Ding! Maximum mana capacity has increased to 60!]


    ''At least I got some compensation for this pain¡­ sigh~''


    It was a good thing that his ''INT'' stat increased further. Even one point of increase in the INT stat is already a very good thing for his weak self.


    The INT stat directly boosts your ''mana control'' ability. Moreover, the INT stat indirectly influences your mana capacity too.


    ''Well it''s not much but even this is great progress from this body''s perspective at least¡­'' (Jareth)


    Jareth slowly got up from the ground with tired eyes.


    He glanced downward and noticed that his whole body was covered in sweat; thus, he decided to take a bath first.


    ...


    While in the bath, Jareth continued to think to himself.


    ''Now that I know the whole backstory of the original Jareth, I can stop worrying about my survival for now at least... Instead, I need to focus on becoming strong¡­''


    ''Perhaps I should go and grab some of the hidden items that may make me stronger¡­''


    Jareth used to be a veteran player of the game; he has decent knowledge about a few hidden items that could help him a bit in this time of need.


    ¡­


    After half an hour, Jareth got out of the bath and put on his clothes.


    He sat down and contemplated in his mind.


    ''According to the memories of the original Jareth, the principal favors Jareth quite a bit, thus, I can stop worrying about my survival for now, instead, I should focus on becoming stronger¡­.''


    Jareth got up and opened a closet that had many antique items stored in it.


    ''This should be it¡­''


    He took out a small, ordinary-looking ring from the closet and used his mana on the ring.


    ''This should be the space ring that stores all of the materials that the original Jareth worked on his theories with¡­''


    Jareth sensed the stored items in the ring with his mana and found that there were many items, like mana scrolls and different-sized mana stones, various magic tools, etc.


    He ignored all these items, as he wasn''t in the mood to research, instead, he brought out the mana recovery potions and health recovery potions, which were stored in the storage ring.


    Jareth put both types of potions on a nearby table.


    ''There are a total of five high-grade potions of each kind¡­ That should be enough, I guess¡­''


    Jareth opened the lid on the health potions and swallowed all of them together.


    ''Although this is quite an expensive method and I would rarely have used it in the game... but right now I have enough money to afford this, so why not do it anyway¡­''


    When Jareth drank so many high-grade healing potions, he felt a feeling of warmth spread all over his body.


    [Ding! Hidden conditions fulfilled!]


    [Ding! You gained a new skill ''Active Healing!'']


    [Active Healing: Use mana to trigger your body cells into dividing at a fast speed and regenerate the wounds at your will!]


    ''Good, this shows that the hidden ''skill-gaining'' conditions are still in play, This is good news for me¡­''


    As a veteran player of this game, Jareth had the know-how of many things that a newbie player wouldn''t have known at all.


    ''This skill may look ordinary and weak, but it can play a crucial role in longer battles¡­''


    Many a time, this skill saved Jareth when he played the game, He found out about it quite late, but it still proved very useful.


    ''With this skill, I don''t need to worry about getting injured at all¡­ Furthermore, there are many other benefits of this skill¡­''


    ¡­


    After succeeding in his first attempt, Jareth then glanced at the mana recovery potions.


    He opened the lid of all the high-grade mana recovery potions and directly poured them all into his mouth.


    A huge amount of mana entered Jareth''s body.


    He immediately sat down in the lotus pose and started to meditate, He used his mana control to circulate the mana in his mana circuit.


    ''If I remember it correctly, I need to make the mana swirl around my magic circuit¡­''


    Jareth focused all his mind on swirling the mana around the magic circuit in his heart.


    He pumped the extra mana that he got from the potions into the blood that was being pumped by the heart, and then he connected the mana circuit to the bloodstream via a new magic node.


    He got knowledge on how to create magic nodes from the original Jareth''s memory.


    This way, he connected his existing small magic circuit to the blood; now, wherever the blood goes into his body, mana will flow there too.


    The huge amount of extra mana that was overloading his magic circuit started to spread all over his body through the bloodstream and the pressure on his mana circuit lessened.


    Jareth brought out even more mana recovery potions from his space ring and then swallowed them all too.


    He kept spreading mana all over his body.


    The process kept going for five hours non-stop. Jareth kept spreading his mana in his whole body through the bloodstream.


    After a whole five hours of non-stop effort, Jareth finally fully digested the vast amount of mana.


    At this point, Jareth has reached harmony.


    His blood carried mana out from the heart and spread it all over the body through the veins, then the circulated mana returned to the heart for another round of circulation.


    At this point, Jareth''s mana circulated in his body, similar to how blood circulates in the body.


    [Ding! Hidden Conditions fulfilled!]


    [Ding! You have learned the passive Skill ''External Mana circuit!'']


    [External Mana circuit: The user embeds his whole bloodstream with mana and pumps mana all over his body like blood circulation.]


    [Effect: User can store mana outside their mana circuit, thus increasing their mana capacity by many times.]


    [Ding! Your ''Mana Control'' skill has been upgraded from grade 6 to grade 5!]


    [Ding! Your Passive skill ''External Mana circuit'' has increased your maximum mana capacity tremendously!]


    ''I was successful, this is quite good news¡­''


    The skill that Jareth acquired just now was learned by the protagonist of this game world during the end-game stages. This skill is extremely rare and only a few characters in the game know about its existence.


    Moreover, if you don''t have the proper knowledge of the whole procedure, you might end up dead from interfering with your own heart like that.


    Jareth has the ''Fearless'' trait; that''s why he was able to carry out such a dangerous process without any fear, Others might have fainted at the thought of forcing your own heart to pump mana in such a crazy manner.


    ''Well, I have no other choice but to use these risky methods; otherwise, I might die in this cruel world at any time, If I stayed as weak as I am right now, I wouldn''t survive for long¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about these. He focused on his current self.


    ''Let''s see how much my mana increased from this¡­''


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 800/800] [MP: 1200/1200]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Talentless fool]


    [STR: 13] [AGI: 12] [SPE: 10] [DEF: 9] [INT: 52]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: 6)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade 6]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 6), Null-Magic (Grade: 6), Mana Control (Grade: 5), Active Healing (Grade: 7)]


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit] S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 0]


    [Evaluation: An arrogant guy, pretending to be strong!]


    When Jareth saw the insane increase in the amount of mana, his eyes widened in pure shock. He felt like he had counted one extra zero by mistake, but no matter how many times he looked at it, it was true.


    His maximum mana capacity increased from the original 50 to 1200 in just one go!


    ''This.. this is insane!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Jareth has started to walk on the path of improvement, but still, this is just the beginning. Currently, he is even weaker than the first-year students, and there''s a long path ahead of him¡­


    Question of the day.


    If given the chance, would you dare to try this dangerous technique?


    1. Yes (Anything for strength!!)


    2. No (It looks kinda dangerous, I will go the steady path of improvement instead¡­)


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 12 - 12: Sway the Principal...

    Jareth''s Dorm Room, Bedroom.


    1200 mana may seem too high, but it''s not that big a deal, Even grade 4 mages have more mana than that.


    The reason Jareth was so surprised is because of the insane increase in mana capacity.


    His mana capacity directly jumped from 50 to 1200, it happened just after he learned the ''External Mana circuit'' skill.


    It was a huge increase that surprised him.


    ¡­


    (General mana capacity of a mage)


    Grade 7 Mage: 1-10


    Grade 6 Mage: 10-500


    Grade 5 Mage: 500-1500


    Grade 4 Mage: 1500-4000


    Grade 3 Mage: 4000-8000


    Grade 2 Mage: 8000-12000


    (No proper data was recorded for grade 1)


    ¡­


    The Mages are generally divided into grades by their maximum mana capacity. And their mana capacity depends on their innate mana circuit.


    If someone''s mana circuit is too small and weak, obviously their mana capacity will be extremely low too. (This was the case with the original Jareth; his max mana capacity was too low due to his mana circuit being small and weak.)


    You can grow your mana circuit and make it stronger with higher mana control and mana affinity, but unfortunately for the original Jareth, even his mana affinity was too low.


    This is the reason for his despair; he was helpless against his inability to grow further than a mere student''s level.


    ''Mana affinity and mana purity are the two things that I can''t improve right now¡­ they are going to give me quite a bit of trouble¡­"


    ''Instead, I need to focus on mana control first, if I have better mana control, I can still manually increase the other two given enough time¡­''


    From the game, Jareth knew many ways to increase his abilities, but right now, he is short on time.


    All the other things will take a long time to work, and he doesn''t have time right now.


    ''I need to earn more CP; perhaps I will be able to get stronger with just these CP¡­''


    Just as Jareth was contemplating in his mind, his smartphone suddenly received a notification.


    Jareth unlocked his phone and clicked on the notification to see what it was.


    [From The Principal]


    [Description: All teachers are ordered to report to the principal''s office, immediately.]


    Looking at that formal notification, Jareth felt a headache coming his way. His face twisted in arrogance.


    ''Are they arranging a meeting to discuss about what happened yesterday with that wyvern¡­ tch! what a waste of my precious time, such audacity!''


    ''Moreover, the principal is being so arrogant, summoning me on such short notice!''


    Jareth''s eyes widened in shock. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''What is happening¡­ when did I start thinking so arrogantly about myself¡­ strange..''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    He slowly walked out of his dorm room and headed towards the principal''s office with the usual cold look on his face.


    ¡­


    Principal''s office.


    Jareth opened the doors and walked in with no hesitation.


    A roundtable came into his sight.


    ''I arrived too early...''


    All thirteen seats reserved for the teachers were empty, only the principal was sitting on his chair.


    Jareth walked in without hesitation and directly sat on the seat with the number ''13'' written on it. There are currently 13 full-time professors in the academy; the rest are just staff members whose work is to do maintenance and other things.


    Jareth is the newest among the 13 professors, he joined only 3 years ago. The rest of them joined before him.


    These 1-13 numbers are assigned according to the time of joining the academy.


    Jareth didn''t care about these numbers either.


    Your number doesn''t represent that you are weaker than others; it''s assigned just for better efficiency.


    When Jareth sat down, he glanced at the principal, who was staring at him with a content look on his face.


    The principal has Golden Hair and golden eyes similar to Mark; he may look old but he is an extremely strong individual. His wrinkled face had a gentle smile on it.


    If he concealed his identity, people might mistake him for a gentle old man with a good personality.


    But those who knew him would not be swayed by his gentle smile. He is a world-famous grade-1 mage and an old monster who has lived more than three hundred years.


    Jareth nodded his head towards the principal as a simple greeting.


    The principal gave a gentle smile at Jareth''s nod and laughed a bit.


    "Haha, I didn''t expect you to hide such strength¡­ I didn''t even detect your strength until now¡­ it seems I am getting old sigh~" (Nathan Estrella)


    Jareth shook his head and replied in his usual cold tone.


    "It''s not that the principal is old, it''s just that I have an artifact that hides my aura, and I don''t like showing off too much..."


    Jareth already knew that the principal would doubt him and would ask about how he became so strong all of a sudden. Thus, he had already prepared an excuse before he came here.


    "Ah, so that''s how it is! It seems I was just thinking too much¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and explained further:


    "I have been using this artifact since I was young, it helps in hiding the user''s aura, and it has saved my life many times¡­"


    Jareth lied with a straight face and didn''t even bat an eye, his acting skills were so high that even the principal was swayed away by him.


    "Is that so¡­"


    Nathan nodded his head again and again at Jareth''s explanation.


    As a grade-1 mage, Nathan was able to see the general aura and mana capacity of an individual in just one glance.


    Originally, Nathan thought that Jareth was a talentless guy with barely any mana in him, but with his feat of defeating a wyvern and now this explanation, it seems more likely that Jareth was hiding his strength from a young age.


    ''It seems he made those rumors on purpose to survive in his childhood¡­ hehe that''s quite a clever move¡­''


    Jareth''s plan turned out to be a proper success; even though Nathan was a Grade 1 mage with immense knowledge, he couldn''t read people''s minds after all.


    Moreover, Jareth''s expression was always cold and arrogant, so it was even more difficult to tell if he was lying. Thus, Nathan ended up believing Jareth''s made-up story without any thought.


    Only a few people know about Jareth''s past, as the Blaze family has completely banned his childhood stories from leaking; nowadays, they don''t even acknowledge him as their child.


    Nathan originally accepted Jareth into the academy because of the theory he donated, and he was planning on suspending him at the very first opportunity that appeared.


    But now that Jareth has proved that he is worthy of his position, Nathan does not need to replace him anymore.


    ''Perhaps I should raise his salary for protecting the children in my absence¡­''


    While Nathan was busy thinking about how to reward Jareth for his good deeds, Jareth was heaving a sigh of relief in his head.


    ''Sigh~ that was much easier than I expected¡­''


    Jareth had already planned out everything beforehand about what he needed to say and do in case the principal questioned him all of a sudden.


    (Don''t forget he has the talent ''Sharp Mind'' and the previous Jareth''s knowledge too¡­ He planned everything out in the time he walked from his dorm room to the principal''s office¡­)


    The thinking capabilities of Jareth are no joke, he swayed the principal in his favor with just a few words and stabilized his position in Nathan''s eyes easily. This was already a great feat.


    After a while, other teachers also started to arrive one by one and sit in their respective seats.


    Each of them stared at Jareth for a while before nodding their head and sitting on their seats.


    The atmosphere became a bit awkward when all of the professors were unconsciously maintaining distance from him.


    Only one of the professor was staring at him with narrowed eyes, the rest were minding their own business.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems our boy has finally made some progress, now he has become smarter, stronger, and better!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think the principal is too careless to not have noticed Jareth''s lie?


    1. Yes (He is too strong and doesn''t bother himself with worldly things¡­)


    2. No (Jareth is too smart to have swayed Nathan in just a few words¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 13 - 13: Shin Isaz, a rival?

    The Principal''s Office.


    The professor sitting at the chair with the number 12 written on it, stared at Jareth with narrowed eyes.


    He had bluish hair and eyes.


    He stared at Jareth as if he wanted to see through his every secret.


    "It''s been a while, Jareth; don''t get too cocky just because you are also a grade-2 now¡­" (Shin Isaz)


    Hearing Shin''s provoking tone, Jareth replied in a cold tone.


    "Humph, you should worry about your own trashy attitude before talking¡­"


    At Jareth''s reply, Shin was taken aback for a second.


    "The f*ck did you say to me!?"


    Veins appeared on Shin''s forehead showing his anger and his face turned into a creepy smile.


    "I don''t repeat my words¡­ if someone''s ears are not working properly, then it''s not my problem¡­"


    "You!"


    *Cough*


    Seeing that the conflict was going to escalate, the principal coughed lightly and everyone fell silent instantly.


    "I know you guys don''t like each other, but keep your personal matters out of this meeting¡­"


    "Understood!" (Both Shin and Jareth replied in a united tone.)


    Both of them stopped arguing and focused on the principal.


    "Okay, it seems everyone is here; let''s start the meeting then¡­ Professor Thomas, do tell everyone about your findings..."


    "Understood"


    Professor Thomas, who was sitting on the chair with the number 1 written on it, nodded his head and brought out a report from his space ring and started to explain his findings to everyone.


    "As everyone knows, yesterday, when Principal Nathan was out of the capital city, a wyvern appeared in the university¡­"


    "That was not a mere coincidence; it was a properly planned attack that was conducted by the demon cult ''False Dome''¡­"


    "We have found traces of miasma that match the magic patterns of the members of the ''False Dome'' cult... Right now we have conclusive evidence against them¡­"


    Thomas continued to explain.


    "False Dome cult is a relatively new organization that seems to be fluent in summoning magic; they can summon various monsters and control them to attack human settlements¡­"


    "Their objective is speculated to spread terror on humankind and do as much destruction as possible¡­ it seems they worship the demon ''Azaroth'' that symbolizes greed and death¡­"


    Azaroth has many believers and all of its believers think that only through destruction and death can people achieve salvation.


    Their ideology is harmful to others and even to themselves. Miasma-induced corruption is the main cause of death for those who believe in demons.


    Every professor had a solemn look on their face when hearing about this report.


    They all knew that if this cult has the power to sneak right into the heart of the human capital, then they are definitely being backed by an extremely strong individual.


    Nathan frowned a bit and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "From the looks of it¡­ a high-grade demon seems to have been summoned; otherwise, they wouldn''t have the capability to summon a wyvern so easily¡­"


    "If my guess is correct, it''s at least a peak grade-2 demon... that''s going to be quite a lot of trouble¡­"


    Nathan himself is a grade-1 mage, he can easily kill a grade-2 demon, and the only problem is that it''s extremely difficult to locate a demon, they are extremely good at hiding.


    Demons have inherent stealth capabilities that make it difficult for others to track them properly. Moreover, if the demon had signed a contract with someone, it would make it even more difficult to track that demon.


    A demon can hide in the body of the one that it has contracted with and thus it makes it really difficult to locate.


    "Well, if it enters the capital city while I am still here, I can still sense it, but if I leave the city, I won''t be able to sense it either¡­"


    Nathan closed his eyes and spread his mana detection all over the city.


    After a few seconds of looking, he sighed and said in a disappointed tone:


    "It''s not in the capital city right now¡­ it seems we would need to make the patrol routine stricter in the following days¡­"


    Everyone nodded their heads at Nathan''s proposal, they all knew that keeping a close watch was important, otherwise, it would put the lives of the students in grave danger.


    Thomas sighed at those words and said,


    "Indeed, this time Professor Jareth handled the situation on time and there were no casualties except for some students who fainted due to fear¡­"


    "There was some damage to the buildings and the training grounds, but that has already been taken care of by the maintenance staff¡­ the buildings have been repaired and the classes can be resumed as usual¡­"


    Everyone sitting in this meeting hall is at least an early grade 2, and thus each of them knew that defeating a wyvern with one attack was a great feat, thus each of them had a basic respect for Jareth in their heart now.


    They were nodding at Jareth for him handling the matter properly. Only Shin was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes. It seems he wanted to shout that:


    ''Even I can do that! Why are you guys praising him so much!?''


    ¡­


    "By the way, I suddenly remember that yesterday I went outside the city because there were reports that a new low-rank dungeon has been found near the city''s outskirts¡­"


    "I personally went there for evaluation, it seems to be a low-rank dungeon and is composed of deep caves, the cave entrance is located just a few kilometers away from the city walls¡­"


    "In my opinion, that dungeon is quite suitable for training our young magicians; what do you guys say?"


    Hearing Nathan''s question, everyone was in a dilemma.


    "But principal, isn''t it a bad time to be sending our students out on such a dangerous mission when the demon cult ''False Dome'' is still roaming freely out there¡­"


    At Thomas''s words of concern, Nathan nodded his head and replied in a sharp tone:


    "Well, how about I accompany the students personally then¡­ if they really dare to come out, I will squish them like ants¡­ Hehe, that would be hitting two birds with one stone¡­"


    Thomas shook his head and replied in a concerned tone:


    "No no, if the principal goes out of the University, then instead of attacking those few students that are in the dungeon, the cult might instead attack the university again!"


    Other professors also nodded their heads and someone else added:


    "If another attack happened so early, the reputation of the university will be dragged through the mud, it will affect our image¡­"


    Hearing everyone''s concern, Nathan nodded his head in regret.


    "Indeed, I should stay here for now¡­ let''s do this then¡­. We will send a capable professor with the students to protect them, no let''s send two professors instead! That will keep the students safe!"


    Hearing Nathan''s proposal, everyone simultaneously looked at Shin and Jareth.


    Shin was bewildered at this sudden change and replied hurriedly:


    "No way am I going with this guy! I would rather die than travel with this stone-faced bast*rd!"


    Jareth''s body also reacted to Shin''s words on it''s own,


    "Tch! I don''t like being near a ''trash can'' either¡­ He smells like a dirty pig.."


    Veins appeared on Shin''s face and his expression twisted in anger; his aura condensed and he said in a hoarse tone:


    "Who the f*ck are you calling pig!? I am more handsome looking than a cold-faced statue like you!"


    Jareth smirked a bit at that and replied in a cold tone,


    "Heh, the ''trash can'' is blabbering bulsh*t now¡­"


    Shin glared at Jareth in sheer anger and shouted,


    "You! Let''s go and duel right now! I will beat the sh*t out of you today!"


    Jareth also didn''t back down at the face of those provoking words,


    "Humph, I don''t want to dirty my hands with the blood of a pig¡­"


    *Cough!*


    "Silence you two! I have already decided! You two are going to accompany the students! And while you are on the trip, make sure you resolve all your personal enmities too!"


    "The meeting is dismissed! Everyone should leave now!"


    Hearing the anger-filled voice of the Principal, everyone hurriedly retreated from the principal''s office as if they were all running away.


    Only Shin and Jareth stared at each other while standing outside the principal office.


    "Tch! What a waste of time, I am going¡­"


    "I am going too! It''s not like I prefer being here either!"


    And thus peace finally returned to the professor''s office.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved author here! It seems Jareth has gotten himself a rival now¡­ Let''s see where this rivalry leads him to¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you guys also have a friend that you roast the most and still like the most?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 14 - 14: The monsters of the university!

    While on the way back to his dorm room, Jareth was contemplating in his mind about what happened at the principal''s office.


    ''Shin Isaz, a grade 2 ice mage¡­ he is one of the few supporting characters of the mid-stage of the game...''


    Except for when he is around Jareth, he has a gentle and benevolent personality. Most of the students like him a lot due to his kind personality.


    He is the literal opposite of Jareth.


    Jareth is cold and arrogant; Shin is kind and gentle. Jareth is a fire mage and Shin is a frost mage.


    Both of them have studied at the university at the same and have been rivals for a long time now.


    Shin was famous for his magical talent and Jareth was famous for his academic talent. Both used to be rivals at one time.


    Shin thought of Jareth as a rival due to Jareth''s good grades, on the other hand, Jareth was busy finding ways to exact his revenge and thus he never noticed Shin''s presence much.


    Later, their rivalry became so huge they both started to curse at each other every time they met. And this has been going on for a while now.


    Shin joined the university as a professor one year earlier than Jareth and thus his seat number is 12.


    ''All this was not explained in the game lore; I only found out after gaining Jareth''s memories¡­''


    ''Well, it''s a good thing I gained those memories back, otherwise, I would have never known why this guy was being rude to me¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and continued to move slowly.


    His slow and steady steps seem to show his relaxed and leisurely mood.


    ''As for that new dungeon¡­ that thing is also a starting event¡­ it is the place where the protagonist finally gets to see the capabilities of the principal for the first time¡­''


    Originally, Nathan would have gone with the students to that dungeon. But now this task has fallen on Jareth and Shin. They are both like water and fire; they can''t stay together.


    ''It''s going to be a headache to put up with that guy¡­ sigh~''


    ''It seems I would need to go and make some preparation before going to that dungeon¡­ going there without any proper items would be quite bad for my health¡­''


    ''Since there is still a week''s worth of time before the dungeon raid, I should try to make some thorough preparations¡­''


    ¡­


    University''s backyard garden.


    "Allen, look, this bird is injured¡­ we need to get it to a healing magician quickly!"


    Airin''s voice was filled with sadness and concern.


    "Yes, let''s go; it seems to be in quite a bad state¡­"


    Under a large tree, Airin picked up an injured Bird in her hands. She had a concerned look on her. Her light green hair swayed in the wind and her golden pupil shone with concern in them.


    Allen had a helpless look on his face, he knew that Airin had always been like this. She has a gentle and caring personality, she can''t ignore the sight of the little bird bleeding.


    And thus he didn''t stop her and went with her to the healing mage''s office.


    Airin is a wood magician and has always been quite close to nature. Her magic is gentle and calm, just like her personality.


    ¡­


    After a while, they got the little bird healed and the bird flew away the moment it felt like it had recovered.


    The healing mage looked at the flying bird and said,


    "It must have been attacked by an eagle; it had claw marks on its neck, Well, now that you guys helped in saving it, it seems to be going back to its nest¡­"


    The Mage looked at the two with a concerned look on his face and said in a serious tone: S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "It''s getting late, kids, you shouldn''t wander around this time, hurry back to your dorm rooms now¡­"


    "Understood!" (Allen and Airin said in a united tone.)


    After thanking the mage, both of them went out of the office and walked off to their dorms.


    "The healing mage seems to be a kind person, it seems¡­"


    "Yeah¡­"


    Just when the two were on their way back, a huge lion jumped down from the sky and blocked their way forward.


    *GRRRRRR*


    The lion glared at the two and its low-pitched growl made them both terrified in an instant.


    "W-what!? Where did this huge Lion come from out of nowhere!?"


    Airin was so terrified by the killing intent of that monstrosity that her legs gave out and she immediately fell on the ground with a thud sound.


    "T-this is a shadow lion¡­ a Grade 3 beast!!"


    ¡­


    (Monster description.)


    [Specie name: Shadow Lion]


    [Description: A rare species of magic beasts, shadow lions are rarely ever seen in the world. They are so rare that seeing one is like winning a lottery. There have been only three recorded sightings of this species across the globe.]


    [Abilities: An adult Shadow lion is at least a grade 3 beast and can be extremely difficult to fight.


    Its shadow-lurking abilities make it an extremely dangerous foe during the night. It can use shadows to hide its body and attack at an extremely fast speed.]


    [Note: If you are below grade 2, don''t try to fight an adult Shadow Lion and immediately retreat as far as possible.]


    ¡­


    During the previous theory class, Jareth had already taught everything about this ''Shadow Lion'' to the students because he already knew that it would appear in front of the students.


    He wanted to let them know about it beforehand.


    Due to that class, both Allen and Airin knew about this ''shadow lion'' and were shocked to see this extremely rare creature appearing there.


    Just when they both thought that the beast was about to attack them, a calm and old voice resounded throughout the area.


    "Oi! Yoma! I told you not to scare the students! What are you doing!"


    The Lion immediately calmed down after hearing Nathan''s angry voice.


    Nathan appeared in front of the two students out of thin air. His old face had a helpless look on it.


    He glanced at the students and said in a helpless tone.


    "Uh¡­ Don''t be afraid it''s my pet Yoma¡­ it doesn''t bite! It''s a good boy! It just gets a bit moody sometimes that''s all¡­"


    Hearing Nathan''s voice both Allen and Airin were bewildered, they didn''t believe Nathan''s words though, and they both knew that if the principal hadn''t appeared Yoma would have definitely attacked them.


    *Step**Step*


    Steady footsteps resounded and a man''s figure appeared from the darkness. (It''s nighttime right now¡­)


    The man had dark purple hair, and his dark purple pupils shined like gems in the darkness.


    Seeing Jareth appearing all of a sudden, Yoma glared at Jareth too.


    "Tch! Lowly animal¡­"


    Obviously, Jareth was an arrogant guy, he wouldn''t let a mere animal glare at himself like that.


    He pointed his finger towards Yoma.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack enhancement card (Advanced)'']


    [Yes or No]


    ''No!''


    Although Jareth''s face was cold and arrogant, he didn''t dare to waste his triumph card on this mere pet animal; he just used it to scare the animal off.


    *Whimper**Whimper*


    The lion got scared all of a sudden and immediately hid behind Nathan, its body shook in fear from time to time. (It''s a sensitive creature; it sensed its death coming when Jareth was about to use the enhancement card¡­)


    "Oi! Oi! Stop Jareth! That''s my pet! Don''t scare it like that!"


    Hearing Nathan''s voice, Jareth shook his head and put his finger down.


    "Tch! Keep that animal in check¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and went somewhere else after ignoring the principal and the students altogether.


    Nathan glanced at the scared kids and said with a kind smile.


    "Jareth must be on the night patrol today, he is a strict guy but has a good heart, and don''t worry about it¡­ you guys should hurry back to your dorm rooms now¡­ it''s getting late¡­"


    After saying that, Nathan also flew away along with his pet Lion in tow.


    Seeing this scene, both Airin and Allen were bewildered beyond words.


    Originally they felt helpless against that monster but then two much stronger monsters appeared and made that Lion look weak in front of them.


    Allen wiped the sweat from his forehead and only one thought lingered in his mind that day.


    ''There are many monsters in this university¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to have a shadow lion as your pet?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Others


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 15 - 15: Stealing Session.... Part-1.

    Next Morning. University main gate.


    A luxury car stood in wait.


    Jareth sat in his car and ordered the driver towards the ''Romono market''.


    While the car was on its way, Jareth contemplated in his mind.


    ''I thought that getting involved in the meeting event yesterday would earn me some CP but it seems it''s not that easy after all, I need to do some major things¡­ just scaring off someone''s pet won''t earn me CP¡­.''


    Yesterday''s pet event was one of the few random events that the protagonist triggers during the start of the game.


    This event helps the protagonist get recognized by the principal for the first time.


    Whenever future events happen that involve the principal, the protagonist would be able to shine in his eyes like a bright star illuminating the night sky and would easily impress the principal from then on.


    Jareth thought that if he got involved in this event too, he might earn some extra CP but since he didn''t do anything major yesterday, he didn''t earn anything at all.


    (He can only earn CP when he changes the plotline somehow¡­)


    ''Such a headache¡­. I should have killed that animal yesterday¡­ what a shame, sigh~''


    ¡­


    After half an hour of a relaxed journey, the car finally stopped in front of a crowded market street.


    A huge number of people were gathered in this area and the street was as lively as ever.


    ''This brings back memories¡­ I used to loot all the stores in this market area in the game¡­ well I can''t do that now though¡­ it''s real life now¡­.''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped his ''gamer'' urge to loot the NPC houses.


    He got out of the car and ordered the Driver in a cold voice.


    "You stay here; I will come back in half an hour¡­"


    "Understood!"


    This luxury car and driver are provided by the university itself. All professors have a personal car and driver given the moment they join as a professor.


    ''Ivan University'' is the most famous and wealthy university of the human empire after all. It gives the highest level of benefits to its staff members and all the students studying at this university.


    The original Jareth also liked to use this car to travel around whenever the need arose for it, and now he is doing the same.


    ¡­


    With a cold look on his face, Jareth walked towards a nearby dark alleyway. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''I am here to steal a hidden piece from the protagonist''s hand today¡­''


    ''It''s not a major artifact for the protagonist¡­ but for a weak person like me¡­ it''s like a blessing given by the god himself¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and entered the alley hurriedly.


    ''Why do all these cheat items have to be located in these shady places¡­ tch! The developers of this game are really lacking in originality¡­''


    ''If it were me, I would have placed the cheat items right in front of this market so that my character could get it easily¡­. But I guess that would have degraded the worth of that artifact¡­.''


    While playing that game, Jareth had to properly look at each nook and cranny in case he missed some hidden items that were supposed to make his character much stronger.


    But since Jareth always played the game at ''hardcore'' difficulty, he rarely ever found some loot. All that he found was some random ''moss'' or ''stones''.


    ''Why do games do us so dirty with that miserable moss has always been a strange thing¡­ like why do we even need that thing, The character can''t even eat that thing¡­''


    ''This game didn''t have the food or fatigue feature, yet there was moss all over the loot boxes¡­ the only question in my mind at that time was, ''What this thing even is for!?''¡­ Those were some interesting moments¡­''


    While walking to his destination, Jareth continued to remember old memories of this game and how he was so excited when he found some better loot.


    ''I used to smile like an idiot whenever I got something other than that pitiful moss¡­''


    ¡­


    After walking for a while, Jareth stopped in front of a small shop. Jareth raised his head and glanced at the shop''s name and sure enough, ''Donna''s magic books'' was written on the entrance.


    Jareth raised his hand and knocked on the small metal door lightly.


    There was no response.


    Seeing this Jareth wasn''t surprised at all.


    ''It''s this clich¨¦ plot of telling some edgy password to get in¡­''


    Without wasting time in contemplating, Jareth said in a calm tone.


    "To the stars and beyond, may Donna reach the heavens!"


    *Clink*


    At Jareth''s words, a lock opening sound resounded.


    Jareth pushed the door open and entered the shop easily.


    ''Originally a game mechanism, but now that I am in this real world, this password-asking door is just a magic item with a grade-3 magic circle embedded in it¡­''


    ''Even if you don''t know the password, any grade-3 or above grade mage could easily break the magic circle and enter this shop without any problems¡­''


    He had original Jareth''s memory now, so he knew that this door was the result of barrier magic, nothing special.


    "Hoho, it''s quite rare for customers to appear in my desolated shop; moreover, you look like someone strong too¡­"


    A Half-broken statue of a young girl sat at the counter and said in a robotic tone.


    ''Hhmm, so this is how Donna looks like in real life¡­ the game had bad graphic design, but I guess things are extremely detailed in real life huh¡­''


    "You are?"


    Although Jareth already knew the identity of this statue, he pretended to not know about it.


    Hearing Jareth''s question, the statue''s right hand pointed towards its head and a robotic voice resounded throughout the shop.


    "I am Donna! I am the manager of this shop! The owner of the shop is still sleeping so please make sure you don''t make any unnecessary loud noises¡­ Master doesn''t like to be disturbed in sleep¡­"


    Listening to Donna''s answer, Jareth nodded his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Okay, I will keep it in mind¡­"


    ''It''s pointless; the owner is already dead after all¡­''


    Donna was just a statue; after all, she didn''t know that its owner had already died long ago in his sleep. Even his body has long since rotten away; only a skeleton sits on the chair of the owner now.


    ''This world is filled with sad tales¡­ there''s no helping it¡­.''


    Jareth knew the whole story behind this shop; the owner of the shop was an old grade-3 mage, who had no children. He lived his last days alone in this closed shop.


    Donna was a statue that he created to survive those lonely days. He thought of Donna as his granddaughter. Donna has been doing her duty ever since the day she was created.


    It''s just she can''t understand that her owner is already dead.


    ¡­


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about this all, He went towards the cabinet that had many books decorated on its shelves.


    He reached out towards an old book placed on the lowest shelf. Its Book was covered in dust and looked extremely old at first glance. Its pages had all turned yellow by now.


    ''Here you are...''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems the game that Jareth played had some sad lore hidden in its deepest corners¡­ This is just the beginning of this journey though, who knows what else we may find¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you also hate it when the games don''t give you enough loot?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 16 - 16: Stealing Session.... Part-2.

    Inside the shop.


    ''Here you are...''


    The book that Jareth held in his hands was the artifact that he was looking for. This old book is a ''grimoire'' that suits the current Jareth very highly.


    ¡­


    [Item name: The Grimoire of Amplification]


    [Ding! This item is in a ''sealed state'' right now. Unseal it for more information¡­]


    Seeing the system notification, Jareth shook his head, he knew that this would happen.


    ''Well it''s never easy to get a strong weapon so easily¡­ but I have the knowledge of the game and I know what I need to do next, so it''s easier for me¡­''


    In the game, Jareth had to follow an extremely long and difficult hidden quest to finally get this grimoire unsealed.


    ''It''s not that difficult to unseal it, the only thing that''s difficult is to find out how to actually do that¡­''


    Jareth has already done the quest in the game, and thus he already knew what he needed to do next. Due to this knowledge, he didn''t have to go and find ways to unseal this grimoire.


    ¡­


    Jareth brought out some money and put it on the counter where the skeleton of the dead mage lay.


    ''Okay¡­''


    After putting the grimoire in his space ring, Jareth walked towards the gate. He tried to open it but it didn''t budge at all.


    "Please pay before leaving, dear customer!"


    Hearing the voice of Donna, Jareth tilted his head in confusion.


    ''Hmm, I already put the money on the counter, in the game that was the way to leave the place¡­. Is this doll broken or something¡­''


    After contemplating for a while, Jareth shook his head and walked towards the skeleton.


    ''If the first method doesn''t work, Then I can only try the second method¡­''


    In the game, things had different probability of happening.


    Some of the players found that even after putting the money on the counter their character couldn''t leave the shop, and Donna kept repeating the same words as she did just now.


    That was an in-built rare scenario that rarely happened due to its low probability of being triggered.


    ''Well I didn''t encounter it in the game personally, but as I was a die-hard fan, I read about it on some random forums¡­ now that I think about it, I was so down bad over this game I even put my pocket money to ''top-up''¡­ sigh~''


    Thinking this far, Jareth shook his head and stopped himself from getting distracted.


    He raised his head towards the skeleton.


    [Grade-6 Magic: Fire Arrow!]


    ''May your soul rest in peace¡­''


    The counter and the chair were built from wood and thus it immediately caught fire due to Jareth''s fire attack.


    In just a few seconds the whole counter burnt away and only ashes were left in its place. The skeleton bones, the money placed on the counter, the nearby chair, etc. everything burned and turned into ash.


    (It''s a fire caused by a magic attack, it is much more intense and violent than normal fire¡­ so don''t compare its burning speed with real-life fire¡­ moreover, Jareth had full control over it so it didn''t spread anywhere else.)


    The fire that Jareth caused didn''t even produce smoke, it was efficient and fast.


    ''I think this was it¡­''


    In case this rare scenario happens, you just have to burn the skeleton along with money notes, and this will apparently make the soul of the dead mage rest in peace.


    This way the door will unlock automatically.


    *CLINK*


    And sure enough, after Jareth burned the skeleton along with money, the sound of a lock unlocking resounded throughout the shop from that door.


    ''Let''s go then¡­''


    When Jareth walked out of the Shop, the doll collapsed into nothingness. The floor of the shop broke and all the books and cabinets fell down in the basement along with all the debris.


    It seems the shop has fulfilled its purpose after the mage''s soul finally achieved peace.


    Oblivious to all this Jareth walked out and headed back to his car.


    ''Next to the Garden of Night-witch flowers¡­''


    ¡­


    National Hero Memorial.


    Jareth''s Luxury car entered the parking area of the vast Memorial grounds.


    After the car was finally parked in its designated spot, Jareth got down and ordered the driver to wait there for him. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The driver was also a properly trained individual, he didn''t ask any questions and his expressions stayed the same as he nodded at Jareth''s orders.


    (The driver was getting high pay to just wander around with Jareth, so why would he care about anything else¡­ money can make anyone numb after all¡­)


    Without caring about it too much Jareth walked towards the garden directly behind the huge main building.


    The main building here has many statues placed in it. All these statues are made in honor of some past heroes who achieved great merits for humanity and did many famous and great deeds.


    While walking towards the back garden, Jareth was contemplating various things in his mind.


    ''Come to think of it¡­ isn''t Nathan''s statue also placed here¡­. I wonder how Nathan would have felt when they invited him to inaugurate his own statue¡­ that must have been a funny sight to watch¡­''


    Most of the statues placed here are made in the image of the dead heroes who did great deeds for humanity.


    Although Nathan has also obtained great merits by saving several cities from dungeon outbreaks, it was still weird to put his statue beside those of the dead ones.


    When the players discovered this fact, it became a classic meme to troll the fans of Nathan in the forums. Later Nathan became famous among the players as ''The statue man, Nathan''.


    Some players even speculated that the presence of this statue must be foreshadowing the future plot in which Nathan might die. But that old guy was too tenacious he refused die and they had to plot a lot to deal with him.


    ''Although he is kind of an annoying character who meddles with the protagonist many times, he is still a good character after all; moreover, he is the reason why the university is still standing peacefully¡­''


    Nathan''s existence is like a barrier that protects the students from the dangers that lurk in the outside world.


    The various demon cults like ''False Dome'' don''t dare to attack the university in his presence, but if Nathan disappears, the university will have to face continuous attacks from the demonic cults.


    ''The existence of the Ivan university is a great headache for the demonic cult afterall¡­''


    The Ivan University gives rise to several excellent mages for the human race every year and these mages protect humanity from the influence of outside threats like the demon cults.


    If the demon cult members somehow are able to get rid of the University and all the talented students studying in it, they could easily cause great damage to the whole human race.


    If all the talented children in the university die, there will be a huge decline in the number of strong mages in the future.


    Several mages die every year at the hands of monsters or demonic cults, the only way to replenish their numbers is by making the university pump new mages out in the world.


    If the new mages stopped appearing, the number of the mages would continue to decline and in just a decade there would not be enough mages left to defend even the capital city from the influence of the Demonic cults.


    ''Sigh~ this world is cruel and dangerous, people can die in a blink of an eye here, I better get strong as fast as possible, otherwise I will also be disposed of by this cruel world eventually¡­''


    Jareth''s facial expression remained as cold as ever, but his eyes flashed with determination.


    ''I will survive no matter what¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here! The stealing spree goes brrrrr..


    Question of the day.


    If given the choice, would you also steal the protagonist''s chances or not?


    1. Yes. (Let the protagonist die in a ditch I don''t care! Gimme those epic chances first!!)


    2. No (I wouldn''t want to interfere with the plot too much¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 17 - 17: Stealing Session... Part-3.

    National Hero Memorial, Back garden.


    ''This place is really quite unpopulated¡­ well, very few people come to the memorial in the first place anyway¡­''


    Even though many statues are placed here in remembrance of past heroes, few people come here to visit the place.


    Only those who were saved by those heroes come on a regular basis.


    Most of the visitors are just some tourists who come to see the statues and they usually leave the place without fully exploring it.


    ''Well, can''t blame them either¡­. The place is boring; moreover, it''s hot during daytime in this garden¡­''


    Jareth was wearing a magically modified robe; thus, he didn''t feel the heat but the temperature in this garden was really quite high.


    (That robe is standard clothing provided by the university to all professors¡­ it''s equipped with temperature-regulating capabilities and some basic defensive features¡­)


    After walking for a while, Jareth arrived near the giant tree located in the center of the garden. (This place is called a garden, but it''s quite vast¡­)


    White flowers hung on the giant tree and its leaves fluttered with the wind breeze.


    The Shadow of the tree provided a cool place to rest for any tired visitor.


    ''Yep, this is the place¡­'' (Jareth)


    Jareth walked over and sat down in the shadow of the tree. He rested his back against the tree and put his hands on his stomach.


    Then Jareth closed his eyes, and the calm wind breeze made him sleepy in an instant.


    He felt like he was being wrapped in a warm embrace, and his whole body relaxed. He immediately fell asleep. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡­


    A Dreamland, A Night witch''s paradise.


    Jareth opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of a giant tree. All the leaves of the tree were silver-colored, and they were shining brightly.


    He raised his head and saw that the moon and the stars were shining brightly in the dark sky.


    The place that Jareth stood on was the giant root of the tree, and everywhere he looked, the ground was covered in shallow waters.


    Thousands of bright white flowers were floating on the water''s surface, everything felt calm and peaceful.


    The scenery of this place was so picturesque that it felt unreal.


    "Beautiful, isn''t it?"


    The soft whispers of a woman entered Jareth''s ears all of a sudden.


    He tilted his head and glanced at a nearby root of the tree.


    A woman in silver clothes was sitting on the root. She was also staring at the huge flower field.


    From this angle, Jareth couldn''t see her face as it was obstructed by her long silver hair.


    "May you find peace in this beauty¡­visitor."


    After saying that, the woman''s body turned into particles of light and disappeared into the night sky.


    ''So that was the remnant will of the ''night-witch Rose''¡­ well this place is indeed quite beautiful¡­''


    Shaking his head in agreement, Jareth got down from the root and entered the shallow waters.


    He slowly walked towards a nearby ''Night-witch Flower'' and took the floating flower in his hand.


    Then he said in a calm tone.


    "Let me bring this flower as a memory of this world¡­"


    As if hearing Jareth''s request, the same voice entered his ears again.


    "Do as you wish, visitor¡­"


    After getting the approval, Jareth nodded his head, took the flower, and went back to the place where he woke up.


    He sat down and said in a calm tone.


    "This place is beautiful, you must have had a beautiful heart¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s praise, Rose''s remnant giggled and her soft voice resounded throughout the area.


    "Thanks, visitor¡­"


    "Your Welcome¡­"


    Jareth felt someone patting his head and immediately he was sent back to reality from that dreamland.


    ¡­


    Jareth opened his eyes and found himself sitting near the same tree where he had slept earlier.


    ''It''s evening already, I slept for nearly two hours it seems¡­''


    Jareth got up from the ground slowly. He glanced nearby and found the same ''Night-witch Flower'' resting on the ground. It seems to have appeared out of nowhere.


    Jareth took the flower and put it in his space ring.


    ''Good¡­ time to go back now¡­''


    ¡­


    (Explaining the lore)


    In the game, you had to complete a quest named ''Remembrance of the Night-witch''. It was an extremely long and daunting quest, and at the end of that quest, you get to find the final resting place of the Night-witch Rose.


    Indeed, the final resting place of Rose was this giant tree. Rose''s grave was located in this place and this tree grew directly above her grave.


    In the game, we find that, if the player puts his character to sleep in this place, they can enter a hidden location, called the ''Dreamland of the Night-witch''.


    This place is just an illusionary space created by the remnant will of Rose and it only appears in the dreams of the visitor once. (You can only access this world just once¡­)


    If the player chooses to bring back a flower from that dream world, the remnant will make the flower materialize in the real world using the giant tree''s white flowers as a medium and the surrounding mana in the atmosphere.


    Rose was a grade-1 Mage in her life and died like a hero while defending the people and thus her body was buried in this place as a form of honor. (This place is the national hero memorial after all¡­)


    Jareth already knew about all this from the game, thus he didn''t hesitate at all. Even if other people slept here and entered the ''Dreamland'' they would still not be able to understand its true purpose anyway.


    And somehow even if they brought the flower out, the sealed grimoire was already in his hand, and thus that flower would just be a mere decoration with no proper use to it.


    ¡­


    (Back to present¡­)


    Jareth slowly walked back to his car as he rubbed his blurry eyes.


    ''It was a good sleep actually¡­ ever since I came to this world I have been stressed a lot¡­ sleeping here made my fatigue disappear into thin air¡­'' (Jareth)


    Jareth shook his head in satisfaction and entered his car. Although his facial expressions remained cold and arrogant, he was feeling quite happy in his mind.


    He glanced at the driver and ordered:


    "Let''s go back to the university now¡­"


    "Understood!"


    "By the way, take this¡­ they handed it to me when I was leaving, I don''t like this drink so you can keep it¡­"


    When Jareth was leaving through the hallways earlier, some staff member of this place handed him a refreshment drink and it was actually not a flavor he liked, so he just decided to give it to the driver.


    ''It''s not a good thing to waste food after all¡­''


    Although the Driver was bewildered by this sudden generosity, he didn''t dare refuse Jareth''s offer.


    (Later that day, the driver went home and bragged to his children that he received a gift from a grade-2 mage¡­)


    ¡­


    University, Jareth''s dorm room, Bedroom.


    Without wasting time, Jareth brought out a mana potion from his space ring and placed the ''Night-with flower'' inside the flask that contained that potion.


    The flower started to slowly dissolve into liquid and started to mix with that mana potion.


    Jareth stared at this whole process with satisfaction.


    He nodded his head and went back to his bed to sleep.


    ''It''s a long process, it will take the whole night with the current rate, I should rest for now and let it do its work¡­''


    ''Today was quite a long day¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Jareth''s evil plans of stealing the chances of the protagonist have succeeded with great results¡­ let''s see where this leads¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you sleep under that tree after knowing that a grave was buried directly below you?


    1. No


    2. Yes (Seek professional help and therapy please¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 18 - 18: Grimoire of the Night Witch!

    Jareth''s Dorm Room, Morning.


    6: 00 A.M.


    Jareth placed his hand on the alarm clock and turned the alarm off before it could even ring for once.


    With a blank look, he stared at his hands and thought in his mind.


    ''Now that I think about it, ever since I came to this body, I have become quite good with things like timings¡­''


    In his previous life, Jareth used to never get up on time and his alarm used to ring several times before he finally got up from the bed.


    ''All my laziness seems to have disappeared ever since I entered this body¡­''


    [Ding! Your talent ''Sharp Mind'' unconsciously makes you ''perfect'' in various things!]


    Hearing the system notification, Jareth shook his head.


    ''Sigh, it seems there''s going to be a lot of trouble coming my way in the future¡­''


    Since all this was not under his control, Jareth stopped thinking about this matter and went for the morning exercise and then took a bath.


    He wore his professor uniform and donned his purple cape, which increased his charm a lot more. (His cold and angry-looking face will make everyone feel intimidated; there''s no way someone will be charmed by him¡­)


    ¡­


    After getting ready, Jareth walked over to the table where he put the flask containing the flower.


    The flower in the flask had already dissolved into the mana potion properly. The liquid in the potion had turned bright red from being mixed with that ''Night witch flower''.


    ''Perfect¡­''


    Jareth brought out the grimoire from his space ring and put it on the table.


    He grabbed the flask and opened its lid.


    ''Here goes nothing..''


    Jareth directly poured the whole red liquid on the grimoire and then he stepped back a little.


    The red liquid was suddenly absorbed by the grimoire and a magic circle appeared on the book. The grimoire started to float in the air on its own.


    The magic circle glowed with a bright red color for a while before it broke and the mana particles scattered into nothingness.


    After the magic circle was broken, the grimoire opened successfully, and the mana in the surroundings started to gather around it.


    Using the mana in the surroundings, the book repaired its original form.


    After a few seconds, the old-looking book has now turned into a fresh and new-looking one.


    With all this done, the grimoire floated down and fell back on the table, where it was originally placed.


    Everything happened so fast that it was incredible and shocking to see. If someone else had seen this shocking sight, they would have been awe-struck by this whole process.


    But Jareth had already seen this whole ''cut scene'' in the game quite a few times, so he wasn''t the least bit interested in this at all. His facial expression remained the same as ever.


    He was just waiting for it to be done.


    ¡­


    Seeing that the grimoire was finally unsealed, Jareth nodded his head in satisfaction. He stretched his hand out and took the grimoire in his own hands.


    ''My plan was a total success, it seems¡­''


    [Ding! Stole a rare artifact from the protagonist! You have changed the destined fate!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You got 5000CP!]


    ''tch! How petty can you be¡­ barely giving 5k for all the difficult work I did¡­ sigh~'' S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth was quite disappointed at the low amount of CP he earned from grabbing this grimoire from the protagonist.


    ''But, oh well whatever, let''s appraise this thing first¡­''


    Jareth put the grimoire in this system inventory.


    The system inventory has an automatic appraisal function built into it. So, Jareth put the grimoire in the inventory to find out about the specs of this grimoire.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: Grimoire of the Night Witch]


    [Item Grade: 3+] (''+'' this sign shows that this artifact can be ascended further¡­)


    [Item Description:


    An ordinary book was gifted to a Night witch by her suitor. The night witch dug the heart out of the man who dared lay his eyes on her and used his heart to bless this book and convert that ordinary book into a grimoire.


    This grimoire is enhanced by the remnant will of that unfortunate love and can grant the user incredible magical amplifications¡­


    Just remember, a ''heart once crushed'' rests in this grimoire, make sure not to get tainted by this twisted agony¡­]


    [Item Effects:


    1. Magic Amplification: Amplifies the user''s attack and increases damage by 80%.


    2. Locked due to the low grade of the user.


    3. Locked due to the low grade of the user.]


    ¡­


    Jareth had seen that description a hundred times in the game, but he still felt weird after reading it again.


    ''The Rose I saw in that dreamland was just a mere ''remnant will'' of her true self, but the actual Rose was not a gentle person at all¡­''


    Rose was famous by the name ''The Night Witch''. She might have been a hero who saved hundreds of lives, but she was no saint either.


    The term ''Witch'' in her title is not for show. She was a cold-blooded woman who liked to torture her enemies a lot.


    ''Some records that I read in the game point out that she killed all her suitors and used their hearts and life force to enhance her weapon¡­''


    Thinking about that, Jareth glanced at the grimoire once again and complicated emotions swirled in his mind.


    ''This is the very weapon that was enhanced by the life force and the hearts of those who wanted to pursue her¡­ she was a cruel person¡­''


    At that point, Jareth stopped thinking about it further.


    ''Forget it, I have used this weapon several times in the game, why hesitate now¡­''


    After shaking his head, Jareth closed his system panel and decided to go to the class first.


    ¡­


    Principal''s office.


    "But principal, would it really be a good idea to send those two with the students¡­ they both have been rivals for years, and it''s difficult to ask them to cooperate all of a sudden¡­"


    Hearing Professor Thomas''s remarks, Nathan shook his head and replied in a calm tone:


    "It doesn''t matter¡­ even if they both might not like each other, it is an undeniable fact that they both are one of the strongest individuals among today''s wizards¡­"


    "Moreover, Jareth is good at Fire magic and Shin is good at Frost magic, both of them are literal opposites of each other, it will give the students a better chance to learn and explore¡­"


    The principal got up from his chair and walked over to the nearby window. He glanced outside and the students walking on the ground came into his view.


    "Don''t underestimate the students of this year either¡­. There are many exceptionally talented children among them this year¡­"


    "I am looking forward to what heights these children will achieve in the future¡­"


    Hearing the principal''s remarks, Professor Thomas shook his head in defeat. He knew that once the principal had made up his mind, it was near impossible to change his decision.


    "Okay then, if you say so¡­ I just hope nothing bad happens¡­"


    "Hehe, don''t worry; with them both around, I don''t think much will happen¡­"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, Jareth has found a good weapon for himself. Let''s wait and see what the future holds for him too¡­


    Question of the day.


    If you were one of the students, would you leave your safety to Jareth?


    1. Yes (Bruh, how can you leave your safety on his weak shoulders¡­)


    2. No (Bruh, how can you doubt Jareth''s sharp mind¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 19 - 19: Shin and Jareths endless bickering...

    One day before the dungeon raid.


    Near the teleportation altar.


    *chatter**chatter*


    "Professor Shin, will you also help us in fighting the monsters?"


    "If you helped us, it would be so easy to conquer that dungeon!"


    The students chattered endlessly and talked with Shin in an excited and happy tone.


    Shin looked at the excited faces of the students and replied in a helpless tone:


    "No no, it''s a low-rank dungeon, all the students will be allowed to explore it freely and learn about actual combat, the professor can''t help you in this matter¡­"


    "I am being sent there to keep watch and maintain all of your safety, you mustn''t overestimate yourself by thinking that I will also help you all in your fights¡­"


    "This is a rare learning opportunity, so don''t waste it and try to get as much as you can, out of it¡­"


    "Understood, Professor Shin!"


    Even though the students were not going to receive much support from the teachers, it was still relieving to have two Grade-2 mages watching your back and ensuring your safety.


    (These little kids are literally receiving the highest level of security which even the president of the nation rarely gets¡­)


    This is also the main reason why most parents can rest assured about their children''s safety at the university. Grade-2 mages patrol the university, after all, no place could be considered more secure than Ivan University.


    (Although it was invaded by that wyvern, even that wyvern was disposed of ultimately, which in return boosted the reputation of the university even more¡­)


    ¡­


    While Shin was surrounded by many students and was having happy conversations, Jareth arrived at the exact assigned time, neither was he early nor was he late.


    The moment he arrived on the scene, the happy and relaxed atmosphere disappeared instantly. All the students went silent and hurriedly formed a proper straight line to show discipline.


    They knew that Shin was a friendly person and would forgive them for not following the discipline, but Jareth was different. His gaze alone was intimidating enough to make people shiver, thus they didn''t want to get reprimanded by him at all.


    (His image in the mind of the students was that of a scary, strict, and strong mage¡­)


    Seeing the students follow proper discipline, Jareth nodded his head in satisfaction.


    "Good, it seems this year''s batch is more well-behaved and disciplined than the previous ones¡­"


    Hearing the slight praise from Jareth made everyone feel relieved.


    Just when the atmosphere was about to relax a bit, Shin commented in an annoyed tone:


    "Tch! They are children, what''s the big deal, why not let them have some fun? As expected of a ''wannabe Mr. Perfect''¡­"


    Listening to Shin''s provoking remarks, Jareth tilted his head slightly and said in a calm tone.


    "What bad luck to hear the wailing of a wild boar the first thing in the morning, even the refreshing air has been contaminated by your foul breath¡­"


    Several blood veins appeared on Shin''s forehead instantly, he clenched his teeth and bit his lips. His face became hideous as he heard Jareth''s reply: Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "What did you say to me!?..."


    At Shin''s angry voice, Jareth raised his hand and waved It like he was shooing some dog away.


    "Go away, I don''t want to see your face the first thing in the morning¡­"


    Shin clenched his fists and replied in an angry tone:


    "It''s not like I want to see you either¡­ d*mn it! Why do I have to be the one to go with this bast*rd!"


    "I want to say the same too, I don''t want to be with you either¡­ after entering the dungeon tomorrow, just stay as far away from me as possible¡­"


    "Yeah, yeah, I was going to do the same even if would have not told me to¡­ I have no interest in accompanying you¡­"


    ''Good, this way I will be at a lower risk of being discovered. If he stays close to me it will be easier for my secrets to be found out by him¡­''


    ''It''s better if he stays as far away as possible¡­''


    While the two professors were bickering back and forth, the students were standing with shocked looks on their faces.


    This was the first time they had seen Professor Shin get so angry at someone. All the students could sense that Shin was barely controlling his anger and if he snapped he would attack Jareth directly.


    And then it will become an unresolvable matter.


    In their opinion, Jareth may have a bad personality but he wasn''t weak at all. He had killed a wyvern in one attack.


    This would mean that if Jareth and Shin fought, it would become a fight with no clear victors and the damage caused to the property would be too huge to estimate.


    ¡­


    After a few seconds of awkward silence, Jareth glanced at the students and said in a cold tone.


    "What are you all waiting for? Start entering the teleportation circle in groups of ten¡­ this teleportation circle is headed to a hotel on the outskirts of the capital, don''t waste time and hurry up¡­"


    "Understood!"


    After receiving the approval, the students started to climb the teleportation in groups of ten each time. (The maximum capacity of this teleportation altar is 10 people at one time¡­)


    Shin also went with the first group of students as it was his duty to lead the way forward while Jareth would safeguard the back.


    Although Shin and Jareth both were not on good terms they still needed to fulfill their duties properly.


    Shin was exceptionally good at making strong barriers that could block strong attacks, thus without any discussion with Jareth he immediately assumed his role of the ''front guard'' instantly.


    And since Shin had already taken the front row, Jareth had no choice but to follow the group from behind.


    ''Well, it will be good this way¡­ I will not have to fight much if I stay on the backside¡­the only time I will need to interfere is when I have to change the plot to earn CP¡­''


    ''Getting involved in unnecessary fights in that dungeon will be useless for me as that will not generate any CP¡­''


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of wait, Jareth also teleported away with the final group of students.


    The teleportation altar shined brightly and a sense of weightlessness enveloped Jareth''s body. He felt like he was floating in zero gravity, but that sensation only lasted for a few seconds and he found himself standing on a different altar.


    Jareth got down from the altar and raised his head to look at the giant signboard placed nearby.


    [Hotel ''Outer Core'', welcomes you!]


    ''Ah, here we go again, with a new event, new difficulties are sure to come¡­ sigh~''


    Jareth shook his head and saw Shin leading all the students to the main building of the hotel.


    The hotel staff handed one room key to each of the students as they passed by in an orderly line.


    Even the hotel staff was impressed at the disciplined nature of these students. They also thought that Ivan University was indeed quite unique, all the students studying there were so well-mannered and disciplined after all.


    What they didn''t know was that the students were in fear, and didn''t want to get beaten by Jareth thus they were unconsciously being so well-mannered.


    If it was only Shin accompanying them, they would have already made this place worse than a fish market.


    After handing the keys to the students, one of the staff ladies also handed two keys to Shin and said.


    "Uh, these are the keys for the two professors¡­"


    "Why are you giving both of them to me, just give the other one to that guy with an arrogant face¡­"


    The staff lady glanced at Jareth who was shrouded by a cold aura and in fear they hurriedly left after giving both of the keys to Shin.


    Shin clicked his tongue in annoyance and threw the other key at Jareth''s face.


    "Here take it¡­"


    Jareth caught the key and brought out his ''sanitizer'' to clean the key from Shin''s touch.


    Seeing Jareth''s openly mocking behavior, Shin was so angry that he wanted to smash Jareth into the ground with one punch.


    But he somehow controlled his anger and hurriedly left before his anger could leak out uncontrollably.


    "D*mn it all!"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Its really quite hilarious to see Shin and Jareth go for each other''s throats like this at every possible moment, don''t you think so too?...


    Question of the day.


    Have you also pretended to be disciplined in your school days when the strict teacher was nearby?


    1. Yes (Didn''t want to get in trouble so just did it¡­)


    2. No (I bunked his class)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 20 - 20: The oblivious children...

    Dungeons in this world are naturally occurring phenomena. They appear in unpopulated areas in the form of caves, monster nests, miasma-corrupted areas, etc.


    Dungeons of this world are not like the ones in the games; they don''t refresh after a certain period of time. Monsters that are living in these dungeons will disappear if you kill them all.


    The dungeon will only be refreshed if other monsters migrate to that empty dungeon for various reasons.


    It wasn''t like this in the game that Jareth played, but now that this world is a real one, it''s obvious it will follow the rules of reality instead of working like a game.


    ¡­


    The dungeons are graded in this world like this:


    Low-grade dungeon: Generally infested by Grade-7 to grade-5 monsters and the mana density in it is quite low. (The dungeon Jareth and the students are going to raid falls into this category.)


    Medium-grade dungeon: Generally, these types of dungeons are monster nests infested with thousands of monsters of the same type. Grade-7 to Grade-4 monsters reside in these types of dungeons.


    High-grade dungeon: Extremely rare to find and difficult to conquer. These are generally the dwellings of grade-3 or above-grade monsters. (A wyvern-filled valley can be considered to be in this category.)


    Nearly all monsters can be found in the dungeons across the world, except for a few rare ones, like dragons.


    Dragons are not considered monsters in this world, they are sentient beings with immense power and wisdom, Considering them to be the same as those brainless wyverns is one of the biggest mistakes someone can make.


    Dragons aren''t found in any dungeons across the world; they live in hidden places where they make their own nest. Many adventurers, who dream of becoming ''dragon slayers'', travel across the world in search of dragons.


    But finding a dragon nest is as difficult as finding a needle in the vast ocean.


    ¡­


    Outside the dungeon''s entrance.


    A massive flying carriage landed on the ground right in front of the dungeon entrance. Its massive weight and size crushed the trees beneath it and the carriage landed on the ground without any problems.


    This carriage is powered by high-grade mana stones and doesn''t have a horse in front of it. It''s built in the style of a carriage but it is actually no different than a magic plane.


    It can carry a hundred passengers inside it because spatial magic is used to expand the space inside. It looks small from the outside but from the inside, it is as vast as a ''football playground''.


    (This is an expensive private vehicle of the university that is rarely used¡­ today its keys were borrowed by Shin from the principal to reach the dungeon more efficiently¡­)


    (The principal agreed that this carriage could transport the students with better safety¡­ and Shin was happy that he got to drive a flying carriage, it was a win-win situation for them both¡­)


    (Jareth personally wasn''t interested in flying this thing as he had done so many times in the game, and he had no interest in begging from the principal¡­)


    ¡­


    After the safe landing, the gate of the carriage opened automatically and the students walked out of the carriage one by one, followed by Shin and Jareth.


    Shin glanced at the map and then looked at the small cave entrance with a confused look on his face.


    ''This place looks so small yet the mana density here is quite high¡­ this is strange¡­''


    Shin closed his eyes and used his mana detection to scan this dungeon, but he found that everything was normal.


    Shin glanced at Jareth; he wanted to ask if he could also feel the abnormality with the dungeon or not. But Jareth wasn''t even looking at him and was just staring at empty air; thus, Shin shook his head and didn''t ask him at all. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Anyway, he is also a grade-2 mage, I don''t need to tell him about every little detail, he can also see it on his own¡­''


    Shin has already taken Jareth as a Grade-2 mage by now. Thus he didn''t think it was necessary to warn him to be alert. They were both strong people; it wasn''t necessary to be on alert all the time.


    While Shin was busy contemplating in his mind, Jareth was more worried about the notification that he got from the system.


    [Ding! A semi-high-grade dungeon was detected nearby!]


    [Warning! You are still too weak to raid this dungeon! It is recommended to not enter this dungeon right now!]


    Seeing this notification, Jareth shook his head.


    ''Ah, as I thought, the plot is following the path as it was supposed to be¡­ the only problem is the principal is not here!''


    In the original Game, the principal saved the day, and now that he wasn''t here, the odds of things going south had increased by quite a lot.


    ''Well, I guess I will have to save my ''attack card'' for emergency uses¡­ I will leave the rest of the fighting work to Shin¡­ he is a genius at creating barriers anyway¡­''


    ''With those barriers, he can hold his own against strong opponents too, I guess¡­''


    ¡­


    After a while, when Shin finished his contemplating, he brought out his staff from his space ring and glanced at the students.


    "Okay, everyone, let''s not waste our precious time; come forward one by one, I will cast a barrier on each of you and after you get blessed by my barrier, enter the dungeon one by one¡­"


    "This barrier will work as a short-range teleport; if you suffer from any fatal damage inside the dungeon, the barrier will trigger and directly teleport you to my location¡­"


    Teleportation-related magic always cost insane amounts of mana, but since Shin was using his own body as an anchor of the teleportation, he reduced the cost of mana hundreds of times.


    But still, he could only bear to cast this magic for a short range; if the students were too far from him, this magic would not work.


    ''On regular days I won''t use this magic as it consumes too much mana, but since there are two grade-2 mages, I can still expend more mana on the safety of the students¡­''


    Shin was misunderstanding that Jareth was also a grade-2 mage and thus he thought that even if he used all of his mana to cast barriers and preventive measures for the students, Jareth would still have the strength to take care of any loose ends.


    Although Shin didn''t like Jareth one bit, he still knew that they both had to fulfill their duty as professors, and Jareth was not the type to back off at such a critical juncture.


    (If Shin knew that Jareth was just a fake guy pretending to be strong, he would never dare to be so careless¡­)


    All the students were also quite happy to see that the professors were taking such good care of their security.


    In their mind, only one thought ran rampant.


    ''We are raiding a low-rank dungeon, we are blessed by a high-grade barrier, and two grade-2 mages are protecting our back¡­''


    ''What can go wrong, right?''


    All in all, it was all pure chaos and Jareth kept frowning while looking at all this. He couldn''t tell them to stop from going in because they would think he was talking nonsense as the opponent was hidden.


    Amidst all these misunderstandings, the students entered the dungeon with happy smiles on their faces.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Flying carriage has entered the chat! Let''s go!!


    Question of the day.


    Would you be as happy as these ignorant students if you were being sent to this dungeon?


    1. Yes.


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 21 - 21: Mark Kalashnikov, The Genius arrives...

    One by one the students entered the dungeon.


    After casting those teleporting barriers on each student, Shin also went in, to keep a better watch over the students.


    Jareth was the last person to enter the dungeon.


    He tilted his head and found a student standing near the entrance of the dungeon. (They are standing inside the dungeon right now...)


    The young boy had bright golden hair and pupils, he looked exceptionally handsome and his aura seemed to be much stronger than all of the other students.


    When Jareth entered the dungeon, Mark stared at him and smiled a little.


    "Professor, I wanted to warn you about something, I can sense that there''s something wrong with this dungeon¡­ can you look into it?" S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth was actually more surprised to find out that Mark''s mana detection capabilities were already on par with Shin''s.


    His eyes narrowed as he looked at Mark.


    Seeing that Jareth didn''t answer his question, Mark became a bit nervous, He tried to explain.


    "Uh, you see, I am a bit more talented in mana control and detection, so I can sense if some place is highly dangerous¡­ uh.."


    While Mark was trying to somehow explain things to Jareth. Jareth was thinking about something totally different.


    ''As expected of the person who can go toe to toe with the peak strength of the protagonist¡­ Mark is indeed an exceptional talent¡­''


    In just a few seconds, Jareth had understood the whole plot instantly.


    He speculated that in the original game plot, Mark must have also detected the abnormality of this dungeon.


    But the principal was a careless guy.


    The principal left the students to conquer the dungeon alone and himself started to meditate on a nearby mountaintop, he only came to save the day when things were about to get out of hand.


    And since the principal was not present, Mark must have had no one to complain to about this dungeon; thus, this scene was not mentioned in the game plot.


    But now, the scenario has changed a lot.


    Jareth and Shin are the ones accompanying these students and they are always present right in front of the students.


    Thus, Mark chose to warn the professor about this dungeon beforehand.


    Yet he was feeling awkward, as it was difficult to explain the situation. The only abnormality that Mark was detecting was a high density of mana and a strong presence of killing intent.


    But since he couldn''t detect any strong monsters either, just like how Shin couldn''t detect any strong monsters earlier, it was difficult to explain why he felt that the dungeon was dangerous.


    ...


    Jareth nodded his head and said in his usual cold tone:


    "Hmm, to be able to detect this at your level, you are indeed talented¡­ don''t worry about any dangers; you are being protected by two grade-2 mages after all¡­"


    Mark was quite surprised to hear such unexpected praise from Jareth. Moreover, it seems Jareth believed what he had said earlier about the dungeon being abnormal.


    A smile appeared on Mark''s handsome face, he used to think that Jareth was a difficult-to-talk type of person, but that doesn''t seem to be the case.


    ''It seems he favors those who have talent and can show more results compared to the weaklings in our class¡­ sigh, is this what they call the indifference of a cold-hearted wizard¡­''


    Mark belongs to a rich family and has been taught by private tutors since childhood; thus, he knows a bit about history and other things.


    ''It is said that in ancient times, wizards used to be selfish and ruthless people who could kill people without batting an eye; if we see it from that perspective, then Professor Jareth suits the image of a wizard better than anyone else¡­''


    (As a rival of the protagonist, his brain works in the totally opposite direction of the ''hero''¡­ he thinks Jareth is more suited to be a wizard compared to the kind and benevolent Shin¡­)


    While Mark was contemplating in his mind, Jareth asked him one more question:


    "Why did you come to inform me, by the way? Don''t you think that Professor Shin will hear your problems better than me?"


    "Uh, you see, Professor Shin is too kind; I think he might not be as strong as you, Professor Jareth¡­"


    ''Holy burger! This guy thinks I am stronger than Shin; from what angle do I look strong!? Ahem!''


    "Well, I will keep an eye on things, you go and experience this dungeon, don''t lose this rare chance of gathering precious combat experience because of mere distractions¡­"


    Jareth then glanced at the cave and saw that there were nearly ten separate ways; he stared at the darkest path and pretended to be mysterious.


    He said in his usual cold tone:


    "I will take care of the pests that are wandering in the area, just remain careful and avoid strong, killing-intent-filled places¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s assuring words, Mark nodded his head in satisfaction and walked on the other roads. Leaving the darkest path, Jareth was looking far away.


    Noticing the fading figure of Mark, Jareth heaved a sigh of relief and walked into a brighter path, he didn''t want to go to dangerous places either.


    (What he didn''t know was that the path he chose later got combined with the path that looked dangerous at first glance¡­)


    ¡­


    On the other side.


    Mark walked through the small cave and after walking through several other diverging paths, he came to a wider area.


    Mark slightly glanced behind him and said in a calm voice.


    "Come out; I know you guys have been following me¡­"


    At Mark''s voice, several hobgoblins came out from the various paths that were connected to this wider area.


    Seeing that there were ten hobgoblins, Mark smirked a bit and said in a mocking tone.


    "Just this much? You can''t even touch me with such a small number!"


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Thorn field!]


    Gigantic spikes made of stone sprang out of the ground and the walls of the cave and pierced through the bodies of the hobgoblins around him at an extremely fast speed.


    Mark didn''t give them the slightest chance to fight back and used his stone spike to pierce through their heart in an instant.


    The monsters didn''t even know when they died or how they died. Thick red blood splattered on the spikes and painted them red.


    The suffocating smell of blood spread everywhere in the area instantly.


    "Heh, you guys are weaker than I was expecting¡­"


    Without wasting too much time on these weaklings, Mark left the scene and walked into another path nearby.


    "Let''s see what other monsters are here in this dungeon¡­"


    ¡­


    Near the middle area of the dungeon.


    ''Hmm, Student Mark indeed has some exceptional capabilities¡­ he might be the strongest amongst this batch of students¡­''


    Shin had a wide mana detection range and thus he sensed it immediately when Mark used grade-5 magic to defeat his opponents.


    ''In my opinion, with just a few years under his belt, he will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with us grade-2 mages eventually¡­''


    Every professor who was teaching Mark and his classmates knew the stark difference in capabilities between the regular students and Mark.


    They knew that it might take months for the other students to catch up to Mark''s current level at this rate.


    This is the reason why Mark is favored by nearly every professor in the academy.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The main star has entered the chat bois! Mark supremacy is at its peak! Let''s goo!!!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Jareth will be able to keep himself out of trouble?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 25 - 25: The Battle for Dawn! Part-3.

    Pulling off so many insanely strong spells right after buffing all the students with high-grade magical barriers proved that Shin is indeed an exceptional magician.


    His being a genuine grade 2 mage is not a joke he is indeed talented, after all, he reached this realm so much faster than others.


    Most of his peers are still in grade 3 or 4.


    Smiles returned to the faces of all of the students who had gathered on the upper floor''s edge to watch Shin''s fight.


    Their eyes shined in excitement as they got to see a proper ''demo'' of a fight between colossal powerhouses.


    Each of them learned something new from watching a real Grade 2 sorcerer''s battle.


    Moreover, Shin is quite popular among children because of his kind personality, due to which all students wanted to congratulate him now that he had won that desperate battle.


    The barrier that Shin had cast on the lower floor earlier slowly started to disappear as Shin''s mana ran out and he was no longer able to maintain the massive mana cost of such a huge scale barrier.


    Mark also arrived at the place after sensing the anomalies in the mana of the dungeon.


    Although he wasn''t really a big fan of Shin, even he was impressed by the scale of Shin''s magic. (Well, Shin is a genuine grade-2, unlike a certain someone¡­)


    ''I think it will take me at least two or three years to reach that level¡­''


    Unlike other students, Mark''s thoughts were totally different.


    Others were thinking how great and amazing Shin was, but Mark was already thinking much further ahead, he knew that he could reach Shin''s level given a few years of time. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Just when Allen was about to congratulate Shin, he noticed that Shin''s facial expressions suddenly changed.


    *Crack*


    A loud cracking sound rang out throughout the area, the sound was so eerie that all the students that were cheering and laughing in excitement just a few seconds ago, went quiet instantly.


    Mark''s eyes narrowed and a solemn look appeared on his face.


    "This!?"


    Even Mark was shocked by what he was seeing.


    "Not good!"


    *boom!*


    The ice burst apart and the broken ice shards flew in various directions randomly. The speed of those flying ice shards was enough to kill any of the students present here instantly.


    But before the shards could even touch any of the students, Shin placed all his remaining mana into the disappearing barrier and immediately tried to protect the students from harm.


    His desperate trick worked, all of his mana disappeared and the barrier also broke apart but it protected the students somehow.


    All the students that were saved from a hair''s breadth, slumped down on the ground as their knees gave away due to fear of death.


    Mark stared at the disappearing barrier and felt his hand tremble a bit. One of the few shards nearly blew off his head just now.


    Even he was not able to react to such an insane speed.


    Although his expressions remained calm on the surface his mind was already a mess.


    ''I certainly felt it just now¡­ the feeling of ''Death''¡­''


    For the first time in his life, Mark felt just how powerless he was in front of colossal powerhouses like the Cyclops and Shin.


    He nearly ended up dying from a stray ice shard that wasn''t even aimed at him.


    *Rahahahahaha! You thought I would be defeated just like that!?*


    The figure of the Cyclops appeared in front of everyone.


    The huge hole in his chest was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. His regeneration speed was so fast that it was comparable to the healing capabilities of a grade 3 magician.


    *I have a blessed physique! I won''t die from being frozen like that! If you had shattered the ice on time, then I might have had a little difficulty!! Bahahahah*


    Black lines appeared all over Shin''s face and his expression turned sour in an instant.


    Hearing the uncontrollable laughter of that Cyclops even after so much hard work, made Shin feel extremely frustrated and annoyed.


    The situation returned to the point from where it had started, the Cyclops stood there unharmed and unconcerned.


    But now Shin was out of mana and he will not be able to block the next attack at all.


    Knowing the sinister nature of the Cyclops race, Shin also knew that the Cyclops would likely not let go of any of the children present in this area.


    The barrier that Shin cast on them earlier will only prevent them once and will teleport them right outside the dungeon.


    But with the abilities of this Cyclops, he can definitely track down every student before they can escape back to the city.


    This means all of these talented children might die today.


    Everyone present at the place knew just how grim the situation was; they could feel from Shin''s expression that even he was helpless now and there was no more hope.


    Some students trembled in fear and some simply collapsed down, waiting for their eventual demise.


    Just when Mark was thinking of making a swift escape, a familiar voice entered his ears.


    "Hmmm, it seems I was a bit late to the party¡­ but well, it seems there is still a large bug hanging around here¡­"


    Although Jareth didn''t say that in a loud voice, his voice was easily heard by all of the students due to the fact that it was very quiet in this underground area, and you could even hear the voice of your own breathing here.


    Thus his voice definitely stood out a lot.


    In the surprised eyes of Mark, Jareth jumped down.


    [Basic Magic: Float]


    He cast a basic magic to cushion his fall and landed right beside Shin.


    His expression remained cold as usual.


    "Specifics?" (Jareth)


    "Intelligent, Grade-3 regeneration, acid blood¡­ Need a massive explosion." (Shin)


    "Blessed type?" (Jareth)


    "Physique." (Shin)


    The talk between Shin and Jareth ended in just two seconds, in those two seconds they both exchanged an immense amount of information.


    Both of them are professionals, after all, they have graduated from the same academy and their combat tactics are certainly not that different.


    Shin immediately put his personal conflict with Jareth aside as he knew what Jareth was going to do when he jumped beside him.


    (This is how professionals talk in this world it seems, fewer words and more information, extremely efficient¡­)


    "A regenerative type huh¡­ then I will just blast him to ashes in one go¡­"


    *BAHAHAHA! You certainly have a loud mouth for someone who isn''t even half as powerful as that white pest!*


    (The Cyclops was also able to see that Jareth''s body didn''t seem to have as much mana as a genuine grade-2, Shin also knew this fact, but he also knew that Jareth was able to kill a wyvern so he didn''t doubt his capabilities¡­)


    "You are yapping a lot¡­ in the first place.. Who asked?"


    [Do you want to use ''Attack enhancement Card (Advanced)'']


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! You used ''Attack Enhancement Cared (Advanced); the next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    [Activated the ''Magic Amplification'' skill of ''Grimoire of the Night witch''!]


    [Next attack will be enhanced by 80%!]


    A grimoire appeared beside Jareth and floated in the air without any support.


    Jareth raised his palm towards the Cyclops and a gigantic magic circle appeared in front of him.


    It didn''t stop there, two small magic circles formed right behind the larger circle and enhanced the bigger circle even further.


    The mana in that massive spell alone made everyone feel a chill run down their spine.


    Jareth''s face remained cold as usual as he smirked.


    "Farewell, overgrown pest¡­"


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Roar of the Flame Dragon!]


    ...


    ...


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jareth has finally entered the stage! It seems things will end soon now.


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to experience the feeling of using an (Advance enhancement card)?


    1. Yes (I am gonna use it to enhance my little brother!)


    2. Yeah! (I am gonna use it to enhance my brain!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 31 - 31: Unique Card and the strings of destiny!

    ''Unique Card'', among the players of the game, is one of the most favored items of the game.


    Even speed runners and hardcore type players have acknowledged the significance of this item.


    Considering it from the perspective of a ''Gacha'' game.


    If the attack enhancement card (advanced) can be considered a ''four-star'' item, then this ''Unique Card'' can be considered a ''five-star'' gold item whose probability of appearing is barely 0.001%.


    Such a rare item is obviously not ordinary.


    This item has many restrictions on it.


    You can''t use it during a fight; you can''t use it unless you are in a perfectly calm state.


    You can''t use it on a mentally affected character; neither can you use it on a cursed character nor on a De-buffed character.


    Your character must be in a perfect state to use this card.


    Even though these are considered minor restrictions, the major restriction is that you can''t use this card on the same character more than once.


    This means this card is a ''one-time use'' item and if you mess up, then say goodbye to it till you get your hands on it again.


    ''But even after all these restrictions, this card is worth the trouble¡­''


    Sitting in his dorm''s training room, Jareth was smiling in his mind happily while looking at the card sitting in his inventory.


    There are some items in the game that can literally defy the game mechanics and change a useless character into the most broken and overpowered type of character.


    This unique card is one of those heaven-defying items.


    The actual thing that this card does is very simple, actually.


    [Unique Card]


    [Item Description: Created from the condensation of space-time and the blessings of the world itself, this item can manifest the phenomena freely and change the destined fates of the user.]


    [Item Effects: Generates a random ''Unique Talent'' for the User by changing the threads of fate and destiny¡­]


    [Ding! Severe Warning! Using this item can affect the threads of fate! It may create unexpected changes in the world''s destined fate.] Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Tempering with the strings of fate will affect many unrelated destinies, be careful to use this item with extreme caution!]


    ''Yes! This is the exact same thing!''


    Obtained at the very end stages of the game, this card can change a character''s talent.


    You can literally change the destiny of a character and give them broken and overpowered talents with this item.


    There are literally no other items in this world that can change the destined fate and grant talents to an individual.


    All beings that are born in this world are either born with some kind of talent or they don''t have any talent.


    But there''s no way to change someone''s talent.


    You can''t just go and tell someone to ''Git gud'' and they will become strong from just that. That''s not how this world works.


    Everyone''s talent is determined from birth, and changing it is impossible.


    The only way for the untalented to get strong is by sheer hard work and effort, but this one card can change it all.


    This unique card is completely random; it can give you a very useless talent or it can also give you a much overpowered talent; it all depends on luck.


    Moreover, you have just one chance in this matter, you can''t use it again on the same character, and if the character has a useless talent, then it would be a waste of such a great opportunity.


    Several casual gamers in Jareth''s past life literally ruined their carefully built characters by giving them counterproductive talents due to this unique card.


    Although the outcome of using this card is uncertain, it can definitely be considered a broken item in the game.


    ''One of the barely known streamers got the talent to ''Manipulate space-time'' to their will and that streamer became famous overnight¡­''


    This unique card is a one-way ticket to heaven and hell, and the result is completely random.


    Thinking about all of this, Jareth slowly calmed down his beating heart and thought to himself.


    ''I never expected I would be able to get such a rare item right at the start¡­''


    Jareth was expecting a hefty amount of CP, but he never expected that such a rare item would come out after defeating those Cyclops.


    ''Well, that Cyclops was indeed a grade-2 monster after all, and I killed it in one shot while still being a Grade-5¡­ the reward might have been improved due to the fact that I achieved a cross-realm kill¡­''


    Although Jareth had used an attack enhancement card to strengthen his attack, he still defeated a monster that was three grades higher in realm than him.


    This was definitely a great achievement.


    Perhaps that''s why Jareth got this bonus reward along with the CP.


    Jareth gulped his saliva and prayed to heaven for luck.


    ''oh god of thieves and gamblers, bless me with the luck of a lucky gambling god! I Will sacrifice more monsters to you from now on in return!''


    After saying his devout prayers, Jareth finally decided to use the card.


    [Ding! Severe warning! The changes done by this card in the strings of destiny will be very high!]


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Unique Card''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    In an instant, as if the world had stopped from Jareth''s perspective, everything felt dreamy and unreal.


    ''Ah, yes, I have to see this cutscene too...''


    Jareth suddenly found himself standing in a white room.


    The room was so vast that Jareth couldn''t see the end of it and everything around him looked white and ethereal.


    Jareth started to see several red-colored strings attached to his body.


    ''Are these the threads of fate?''


    Jareth wanted to move and touch them, but he couldn''t move anything in his body except for his eyeballs.


    He suddenly noticed that out of the many threads of fate that were attached to him started to tremble and change their positions suddenly.


    Some threads got intertwined and some directly broke off from his body.


    Jareth didn''t know the meaning and significance of all this so he didn''t mind it too much.


    Then all of a sudden, an extremely thick red thread appeared out of nowhere and attached itself to his chest.


    The tread seemed a hundred times thicker and stronger than the other ones and it gave off a majestic aura from Jareth''s point of view.


    At this moment, Jareth knew he had succeeded; the appearance of such a strong string of fate was a great success.


    Jareth finally came back from the dreamy state and got control of his body back.


    The cutscene seems to have ended all the visions that he was receiving and disappeared into nothingness as if they never existed from the beginning.


    ''Sigh, although this cutscene didn''t seem to hold much importance when I saw it in-game, now that I have personally come to this world, I don''t know what it will change¡­''


    There was no official information in the game about this strange phenomenon, and even the game staff didn''t clearly talk about this strange cutscene, so Jareth had no idea what significance it held.


    ''Nonetheless, I seem to have already gotten a desirable outcome, it seems¡­''


    [Ding! You have successfully altered the strings of fate and destiny!]


    [Ding! A vast ripple has happened in the web of fate due to this disturbance!]


    [Ding! Congratulations, You have received a new talent, ''Mana Singularity''!]


    [Ding! Due to ''Mana Singularity'', your skill ''Mana Control'' has been eliminated!]


    In an instant, Jareth could feel subtle changes happen in his body; he could perceive mana on an extremely minute level.


    His control over mana seemed to have improved in an instant.


    [Unique Talent: Mana Singularity]


    [Talent Description: You are one with mana, no one can control mana better than you, your mana control will be so efficient and natural as if it were obeying your every command.


    You are loved by mana and even if you stand in a place filled with ''chaotic mana'', it won''t affect you either.]


    [Talent Effect: Improves mana control to an Extreme level¡­]


    ''Yes! Finally got something of my own!''


    Until now, Jareth was surviving off temporary strength, but now he can see his path of improvement.


    With this talent, he can certainly achieve greater heights.


    Jareth could feel that his body seemed to have become extremely comfortable with mana.


    ''At this point, it''s an insult to call it mana control anymore¡­ it''s basically ''Mana command'' at this point! As expected of one of the most favored talents in the game!''


    ''Mana singularity'' is a talent that can be considered equal to ''Sword Intent'' for mages.


    All Mages in the world want to achieve ''Singularity'' with mana.


    Everyone wants to reach this near-impossible state, but except for a few people recorded in the long annals of history, none has been able to achieve this insane feat.


    A look of confidence appeared in Jareth''s eyes, he now has strength and a path to become strong.


    With this talent in possession, a determined look appeared in Jareth''s Eyes.


    ''I can become strong too¡­''


    Now Jareth can finally see the hope of survival in this cruel world.

 Chapter 32 - 32: Misunderstandings continues...

    Student Dormitory, Mark''s Room.


    Just when Mark got out of the shower, he saw interesting news on the TV. (He left his TV on before going to shower¡­)


    "Breaking News! We have discovered a new video from our sources concerning the sudden appearance of that flame dragon outside the capital city!"


    Hundreds of people saw the sudden appearance of that massive flame dragon, and some even recorded it with their smartphones.


    The windows of houses that were located near the outskirts of the city were even broken by the shockwave produced by that dragon''s roar; thus, many people found out about this matter.


    Eventually, people posted the videos and captured them on the internet, and the news spread like wildfire, eventually reaching the media too.


    "Our sources have been investigating this strange incident for the whole night, and finally we, the principal of Ivan''s higher arcane university, have come forward to take responsibility for this matter!"


    Mark sat on the sofa and started to dry his hair with the hair dryer. The scene on the TV shifted from the new anchor to a press conference.


    Principal Nathan seems to have held a press conference all of a sudden to answer the question of the general populace.


    "Everyone, the damage caused to the property of people due to the shockwave of that attack will be covered by the government itself; you don''t need to worry about the compensation¡­"


    "Yesterday, we sent some of our students on a field trip; the students visited a dungeon while being accompanied by two of our most competent professors, Shin Isaz and Jareth Blaze¡­"


    "The dragon you noticed is just a spell cast by Professor Jareth to defeat a Cyclops which suddenly appeared in the dungeon¡­"


    "There have been no casualties due to the amazing capabilities of our professors; they defeated that grade-2 monster before it could do any harm to the students, We assure all the parents that our university places great importance on the safety of the children¡­"


    "Thus, there is no need to worry about this minor inconvenience¡­"


    After saying that, Nathan left the press conference and the scene shifted back to the new Anchor.


    "The principal has come forward to give a proper explanation for the event himself and he also told the parents to rest assured¡­"


    "The university sent two grade-2 sorcerers just to accompany the students on a field trip; this shows their sincerity and willingness to hold utmost safety measures for the students¡­"


    "We also found a video of Professor Jareth dealing with the said Cyclops¡­"


    The scene shifted, and a massive and intimidating Cyclops appeared on the TV.


    Just by looking at it, people can feel how strong that monster is. Shin and Jareth looked like ants while standing in front of that gigantic beast.


    But to people''s shock, Jareth killed that massive beast in a single attack, not even bones and ashes were left of the giant Cyclops after that one attack.


    That Cyclops was not a random mob, it was a genuine grade-2 monster and Jareth killed it in one attack.


    People all over the human empire were dumbfounded after seeing this news and the social media seemed to have suddenly caught up by a storm of people who were cheering Jareth for his feats.


    ''#Jareththegoat'' reached trending on various social media platforms.


    People seem to have gone crazy after seeing Jareth kill that Cyclops and his reputation skyrocketed overnight.


    Now Jareth has a whole fan club of his own all of a sudden.


    Mark took his phone and checked the trending posts on a social media platform


    ''This is too hilarious¡­''


    Mark noticed that people photo-shopped Jareth''s image and showed him standing on a throne, a soldier asked him:


    "Lord Jareth, a dragon has appeared outside!"


    And Jareth replied with his usual cold tone:


    "Ah, that must be my pet dragon, go tell him to p*ss off from here or I will eat him for breakfast today!"


    Then the ''Sigma'' music started to play in the background and Jareth was shown as a muscular macho man posing like an aesthetic bodybuilder.


    The memes were endless and seemed so hilarious to watch.


    Then there were memes where Jareth was photo-shopped to be saying: "Low on protein? Eat a Cyclops every day! It has a million-gram protein!"


    Seeing all these hilarious and funny posts, Mark couldn''t hold back his laughter and he laughed till his stomach started to hurt.


    He immediately joined the fan club called ''Professor''s Pet Dragons'' to see even more of such bizarre memes.


    Some memes were good some were weird like the one infamous paragraph meme of: ''All night all day from the bathroom to the kitchen¡­''


    All in all, Jareth''s popularity soared in a matter of hours and he became famous overnight.


    Mark closed his phone and wiped the tears from his eyes that appeared due to laughing too much at all those funny memes.


    Mark got up and put on his student uniform, then he glanced at his wand for a second.


    ''Will I reach his level someday? I think it might not be a bad idea to consider him as my goal for now¡­''


    A determined look appeared in Mark''s eyes as he thought about the pure display of power that Jareth showed him yesterday.


    Mark has already considered Jareth as his goal and he now looks up to Jareth as a symbol of motivation.


    He was born into the royal family so he didn''t have much interaction with his father and mother, that''s why he doesn''t have much of an attachment to them.


    Unlike other children who see their parents as their symbol of motivation, Mark doesn''t have such thoughts.


    He is confident in his talent and knows that he can surpass every single mage in this world in the future, thus he didn''t acknowledge anyone better than him.


    But now that he has seen Jareth''s insane capabilities directly from his own eyes, he seems to have taken Jareth as his symbol of inspiration and motivation.


    He has started thinking that a cold heart like Jareth''s is crucial for a mage and Jareth seems more like a genuine mage to him than any others.


    ''I will follow in his footsteps and surpass him in the future¡­ then I will be able to thank him for saving my life back there¡­''


    Mark also has his own pride as a genius, thus he can''t just go and thank anyone at random. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yesterday, Jareth saved the lives of all the students including Mark, thus Mark thinks he should at least say thanks when the opportunity arises.


    (Don''t think too much, he is basically a ''Tsundere'' who doesn''t know how to express himself¡­)


    After getting ready, Mark exited his room and started to walk toward the classroom with slow and steady footsteps.


    ''Shall I also post some interesting posts in the fan club? It would be so interesting¡­''


    Mark had seen everything happen right in front of his eyes, thus he had more insider information about the event than anyone else in the fan club.


    Just when Mark was passing through a small path that leads to the university''s main building a familiar person came into his view.


    He noticed a girl with dark Black hair and pupils standing under the shade of a large tree.


    Her hair swayed with the air, and a cool and calm expression hung over her beautiful face.


    She seemed to look like an ordinary university student, but Mark knew all too well who this girl was.


    "What the!?"


    The Girl immediately noticed Mark''s presence due to his sudden bewildered voice.


    She glanced at him and her expression turned into a crazy one instantly.


    A creepy smile hung over her face and her eyes went hollow losing all light in them.


    The aura around her became cold and crazy in an instant.


    A sword made of condensed shadows appeared in her small beautiful hand as she rushed towards Mark with a crazed expression.


    "Found you! You can''t run from me anymore!"


    "F*ck! How did this crazy woman appear here!?"


    Before Mark could cast a spell, the girl immediately pounced on him and pushed him back with a strong force.


    Mark stumbled and fell to the ground.


    The girl didn''t stop and directly sat on his stomach to restrain him, she placed her sword right beside his neck and smiled with a creepy smile.


    "I finally found you my darling!"


    "Ugh, what are you doing you crazy!?"


    "It''s all your fault, why didn''t you tell me you were going to live in the university all year long!? I had to go through so much trouble to come here you know¡­"


    "But today I finally got my hands on you again, let''s get married right here!"


    *Step*


    Just when the two young kids were having a ''peaceful'' marriage talk, heavy footsteps appeared.


    Both of them stopped and looked at the sudden appearance of the other person on the scene.


    It was none other than Jareth himself! His expression was just as cold as always.


    Mark immediately felt relieved seeing that Jareth was here.


    "Professor! Save me from this crazy woman!"


    Hearing Mark''s plea for help, Jareth glanced at the girl''s face and seemed to have been lost in thought for a moment.


    His gaze went over the two young people who were so close to each other and he shook his head.


    "Cough! Don''t mind me, I was just passing by¡­ continue¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth started leaving.


    Mark also heard him say in a quiet voice:


    "Young people these days¡­ they do such bold things in broad daylight¡­"


    Mark felt like Jareth severely mistook him for some reason and his expression turned into helplessness.


    ''My image in the mind of my idol has been destroyed, ugh¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that our boy Mark has a ''Yandere'' girl stalking him.


    Question of the day.


    Would you also like to have a Yandere girlfriend?


    1. Yes (I am mentally unstable¡­)


    2. What? (Girlfriend? What''s that? Never heard of it¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 33 - 33: Mark: Peaceful life? Whats that?

    While walking over to the classroom, Jareth''s face remained as cold as always.


    None of the passing-by students noticed anything different with him, in fact, his aura seemed to have vanished in thin air, and only those who ''saw'' him noticed his presence.


    Others didn''t even notice him passing by.


    This was all thanks to his newly gained talent, ''Mana singularity''.


    An individual''s aura is a result of the disturbance their mana causes in the atmosphere.


    Usually strong wizards suppress their aura by stopping the mana in their body to influence the surroundings around them.


    The control over aura differs among everyone, and it depends on the individual''s mana control ability.


    But with this talent, Jareth''s control over mana has reached an extreme state.


    He can literally command mana to stop influencing the mana in the atmosphere and this way he can conceal his aura as easily as breathing.


    If not for the fact that his face is now famous all over the world and even little children know him, other''s might even mistake him for an ordinary person.


    ''Phew, this talent is handy in many ways; I easily avoided getting surrounded by the excited students who wanted to know more about me¡­''


    Jareth''s mouth doesn''t know how to speak kind words, if those students block his way, he will likely say harsh things and that would make him look too rude, thus, the best way is to simply avoid such situations.


    As they say: The best way to avoid trouble is to not get involved in the event in the first place!


    While walking, several thoughts came to his mind.


    ''But still, to think that crazy girl will transfer to the university so early¡­ wasn''t she supposed to arrive after the mid-term exams or something¡­''


    ''Did I cause this butterfly effect somehow?''


    Jareth knew that with him surviving, the story of the game would start to change in subtle ways and the butterfly effect would definitely happen eventually.


    *DING* sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth glanced at his smartphone and the principal seemed to have sent a message to him.


    Jareth opened the message:


    [Message From: ''Old fossil''] (Yeah, he changed the principal''s contact name to ''Old Fossil'']


    [A new student will be transferred to your class today, I have sent the details in this document below¡­]


    [Click to open ''doc.69'']


    ''Here it is¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head and sent ''Okay'' as a reply, then he closed his phone and placed it back in the pocket of his coat.


    ''I already know everything I need to know about that character, so don''t really need that document to figure things out¡­''


    Although there have been some slight changes in the story due to his activities, he isn''t too worried about all this now.


    ''Now that I have a way to become strong myself¡­ I don''t need to worry about these small changes¡­''


    ''I just need to steal a few more chances from the protagonist and things will be in my favor¡­''


    Jareth felt no guilt while plotting to steal the chances of the protagonist.


    He knew that as the protagonist was a son of the heavens blessed by insane luck, he would certainly get some other chances.


    The world revolves around the protagonist and can produce any number of opportunities for him, so there''s no need to stay weak and watch as others try to kill you.


    Jareth knew how weak he was at the moment.


    Any random thing can easily blow his cover and the result will be his death.


    Thus, instead of thinking about what the consequences will be for stealing the chances of the protagonist, it''s better to figure out a way to survive.


    After all, who doesn''t want to live longer, No one wants to sacrifice their life like a hero for the sake of others.


    Only someone selfless can do something like this, and Jareth certainly isn''t a selfless person.


    ''If I can survive by stealing things from the protagonist, why would I not do that? Obviously, I will ensure my own survival first before thinking about others¡­''


    In this world, Jareth has no attachments to anyone; the only person he loved for his whole life has been left behind in the previous world and now there''s nothing that binds Jareth to the world.


    He can always be as selfish as he wants; he doesn''t need to worry about getting his loved ones involved in his matters, as he doesn''t have any to begin with.


    ¡­


    Inside the class.


    All students maintained pin-drop silence when Jareth entered the classroom.


    This has now become a regular thing and no one thinks there is any problem with it.


    But unlike usual, Jareth didn''t immediately start the class today.


    He glanced at the students and announced in his usual cold tone.


    "A Transfer student will be enrolled in this class today¡­"


    Jareth then glanced at the door and said,


    "You can enter now¡­"


    The door opened a beautiful girl with dark black hair and pupils walked inside.


    A cute smile hung over her face and she seemed elegant and cool-headed.


    No one could think that she was messed up in her head and was trying to attack Mark just a few minutes ago.


    "Nice to meet you, everyone, I am Risa Shadowfallen¡­"


    All the students who were from commoner backgrounds didn''t notice anything amiss, but those who were from noble households immediately recognized the name ''Shadowfallen''.


    Many students started to gossip quietly all of a sudden and the atmosphere became tense.


    The ''Shadowfallen'' household is very infamous all over the empire for raising deadly assassins who are extremely skilled at carrying out shady jobs.


    Jareth glanced at the girl and said in his usual cold tone:


    "You can sit there, right beside Mark¡­"


    "W-what!?"


    Mark was bewildered at Jareth''s decision to make Risa sit right beside him, even though he had already seen her trying to attack him earlier.


    Jareth tilted his head in confusion and said:


    "Is there any problem, student Mark?"


    Being stared down by Jareth''s cold eyes, Mark had no choice but to comply.


    One of his lackeys who was sitting beside him got up and moved to some other seat and Risa made her way over to him with a happy expression on her face.


    "Also, Student Mark will be responsible for showing Student Risa around the whole campus¡­ dodging this matter will result in punishment..."


    "Ugh¡­"


    Seeing the defeated look on Mark''s face, Risa smiled and whispered in a silent voice:


    "See, even professor can recognize my love for you¡­ hehe"


    Although Mark was indeed frustrated, he didn''t refute her words.


    "He likely mistook that something is going on between us when he saw us earlier¡­ ugh¡­"


    "Hehe¡­"


    Risa seemed to be giggling in happiness, but Mark was annoyed and frustrated by the fact that his image in Jareth''s eyes was destroyed.


    ¡­


    Time passed and the class ended, Jareth left the classroom and all of the students finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    Jareth''s deadly stare makes them all feel very nervous; thus, they can only relax after he leaves.


    If it were usual, all the students would have flocked over to talk with the ''transfer student,'' but the name ''Shadowfallen'' was just too big of a wall for them to ignore.


    None of them wanted to get involved with a girl who came from a shady household like her.


    But they were still curious and didn''t leave the classroom early either.


    Mark''s lackey who had to move away earlier came over with an excited look and asked Mark in a questioning tone.


    "Hey hey, boss! Do you know that girl? Even Professor Jareth made her sit right beside you? Can''t you tell even your loyal followers about this?"


    All of Mark''s lackeys flocked over beside him with excited looks to hear the story behind this interesting event.


    They all knew their ''boss and friend'' Mark all too well; he had never been involved with girls in his school life and had always focused on becoming stronger.


    His lackeys even started to mistake that he had no interest in girls like other boys of his age, but today they saw a golden opportunity.


    Certainly, if their friend can walk out of the dark shadow of never getting a girlfriend, they will also feel happy for him.


    (They may be his lackeys, but they consider Mark as a brother and friend. Otherwise, why would they sacrifice their lives for him when he goes against the protagonist?)


    "That-"


    Before Mark could even say anything, Risa got up and declared in a loud voice.


    "Mark is my Husband!"


    *Dead Silence*


    "J-joking! She is joking, guys! We are only engaged! We aren''t officially married yet!!"


    *Dead Silence*


    After a few seconds of silence, shouts of sheer shock rang out in the whole class.


    No one expected the most handsome guy in the university who was being considered the ''best boyfriend material'' by the whole girl''s community to be actually engaged!


    This was so shocking for some of the girls that they even fainted from heartbreak on the spot.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Damn! Mark really is a hidden expert; he already had a fianc¨¦e in secret.


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Mark will be able to live his university life peacefully with a yandere girl pestering him?


    1. No (Well, it''s not like he is against it; if he was, he could have directly denied her words¡­)


    2. Nope (He is gonna get buried under the endless love of a yandere¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 34 - 34: Risa, the Villainess! Part-1.

    The news that Mark has a fianc¨¦e spread in the university like wildfire.


    It became a major topic of discussion in every friend group.


    And unconcerned by the chaos that she had spread, Risa dragged Mark out of the classroom.


    Moreover, the most interesting part of the news was that Professor Jareth, who is famous for being extremely strict and cold towards students, actually gave his approval to Mark and Risa.


    "You know what? Professor Jareth himself asked the students to move so that Mark''s fianc¨¦e could sit beside Mark without any problems!¡­"


    "D*mn! If even Professor Jareth has given his blessings, Shouldn''t they already get married then!?"


    "Cough! Ahem! It''s not that simple, you know who the fianc¨¦e is? It''s a girl from the ''Shadowfallen'' household¡­"


    "W-what!? D*mn! A bright prince and a dark assassin, that''s such a conflicting combination¡­"


    Talks like this have become common in the whole university now.


    Some people even made up exaggerated rumors like:


    ''If your relationship can get approval from Professor Jareth, you are bound to live together forever!''


    All in all, the whole university was in chaos due to this incident.


    Only the two who caused this chaos were not that concerned about the flying rumors.


    ''Ugh, my image of being a hard-working genius in Professor Jareth''s eyes has been shattered; now he thinks I am a playboy who likes to have his way with women¡­''


    Mark wasn''t really concerned about the rumors spreading; his cause of concern was totally different; he wants to achieve greatness like Jareth, but if his image in his idol gets bad, then it will all be pretty much useless.


    Meanwhile, the girl who caused this chaos was also totally unconcerned about the rumors too.


    She tightly wrapped her arms around Mark''s right arm and said with a happy smile.


    "Shall we tour the university then?" (Risa)


    "A-ahem, you don''t need to cling to my arm so tightly, you know?"


    Hearing Mark''s annoyed tone, Risa''s grip loosened and a saddened look appeared on her face.


    "Why? Do you not like it?"


    Seeing her get dejected over such a small thing, Mark decided to let her do whatever she wanted, he didn''t want to cause more misunderstandings.


    "Forget it¡­ do whatever you want¡­"


    "Yes!"


    The happy smile returned to her face after getting Mark''s permission.


    ''In the first place¡­ it''s not like I feel anything¡­ the ground is too flat..."


    "Hmm, I feel like someone is talking bad about me¡­"


    "It''s your imagination, perhaps¡­"


    "I guess so¡­" (Risa)


    Risa''s eyes remained narrow for a while as she glared at Mark, but she didn''t say anything else.


    After this small incident, everything went fairly smoothly; actually, Mark showed Risa all around the university and helped her get acquainted with the schedule. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although he certainly wanted to just go home and train further, he had to fulfill the duty given to him by Jareth.


    He dared not make Jareth angry.


    Even the weakest spell cast by Jareth can destroy Cyclops-level monsters; thus, Mark didn''t want to take the risk.


    ¡­


    Caf¨¦ Starcatcher.


    "So, why did you come here?"


    Risa didn''t immediately answer his question, she sipped the tea brought by the waiter and enjoyed its taste, only then did she start to speak:


    "I am on an official mission, Your Highness. The mission is to protect you¡­"


    "The ''Shadowfallen'' household has been ordered by the King to send a skilled assassin to guard you¡­"


    "Ugh, so it was father''s doing¡­"


    "It was originally my brother who was supposed to come and guard you from the shadows, but I beat him in a fair and square duel to get this chance¡­"


    "Didn''t Duke Shadowfallen stop you from coming here?"


    "He did want to send my brother so that he can make friends with you and talk out some political matters, but I defeated him fair and square¡­"


    "The stronger one gets the reward; that''s how the shadow fallen household works¡­ so here I am¡­"


    The frown on Mark''s face intensified the more he heard about this matter.


    "I asked father not to meddle with my university life, yet he still doesn''t want to leave me alone, tch!"


    Seeing that Mark was frustrated by her being here, Risa was saddened greatly.


    "You don''t like me being near you?"


    Although she indeed likes him a lot, being rejected again and again like this can make even the calmest person feel bad.


    "Uh, it''s not that I don''t like your presence here; it''s just that I didn''t want my father to interfere with my campus life here¡­"


    "Sigh~ forget it¡­ as you are already here, things are already set in stone¡­"


    "By the way, shouldn''t they have sent a grade-3 or higher level person as a guard, Why did they choose to send their children as guards?"


    Risa sipped the tea and said in a calm tone:


    "Well, about that, any unauthorized personnel can''t stay in the university¡­ the principal won''t allow it¡­ Besides, everyone knows that you are under the protection of ''that'' professor¡­" (Risa)


    "Ah, yes¡­ with Professor Jareth being there to ensure students'' safety, there''s no need for an additional guard¡­"


    The videos of Jareth''s amazing feats have gone viral and everyone knows that he is the professor responsible for Mark''s class, thus unless Jareth is taken care of, no harm will come to the students.


    And getting rid of someone as strong as Jareth is not such an easy task.


    "Yes, we don''t need to worry about raw firepower with Professor Jareth protecting you, so they decided to send someone who is skilled in identifying poison and other abnormal things¡­"


    Risa proudly puffed up her chest and said in a confident voice.


    "Rest assured, there is no one better than me in the Shadowfallen house when it comes to these kinds of things; I can concoct even the most lethal poisons for your sake!"


    "Also, I have inherited the secret techniques of the Shadowfallen house; I will put my life on the line to help you escape if things don''t look good¡­"


    Mark was quite astonished at her words.


    As a prince himself, he has basic knowledge about all major families of this empire.


    Thus, he knows that it''s very rare for a talent to appear who can inherit all secret techniques of the Shadowfallen family; Risa being able to learn them proves that she isn''t weak.


    "By the way, the tea is very tasty here¡­ I like this place¡­"


    The rays of the setting sun fell and a beautiful smile appeared on her face, making her look like an ordinary young girl just like any other.


    ''Cute¡­''


    Mark knew that Risa had always been addicted to tea.


    "So, you are going to stay here from now on?"


    Risa nodded her head and said in her usual calm tone:


    "Yes, my luggage has been sent to the girl''s dormitory¡­ I will go and arrange the room later¡­"


    Suddenly Risa''s eyes narrowed and she smiled mischievously.


    "Why? You wanna come to my room? Hehe, that sort of thing is forbidden before marriage~"


    "W-who said I wanted to come!? I-I was just asking out of concern!"


    "Oh~ so you do feel concerned about me, hehe~"


    ''Tch! She is too good at teasing tactics!"


    "Hmph! I am going!"


    Mark left the caf¨¦ a with pouted face as he was not able to win against her teasing methods, and Risa simply just giggled as she thought that his pouty face seemed cute.


    But then she remembered that he left without paying the bill.


    "Ah, I forgot to bring money with me! Ugh, I will have to call a brother to borrow some money..."


    Just when she was about to call, she noticed that an unread bank notification had appeared on her phone when she didn''t checked it for the whole day.


    [Received 696969-- in your bank account from ''Mighty flaming Papa''!]


    ''Ugh¡­ what''s with this strange number, Did he really have to spend that much money just to make it look funny?¡­''


    Risa shook her head and left the caf¨¦ after paying off the bill for both of them.


    Standing under the brightness of the streetlight, Risa clenched her small fist and thought to herself.


    ''hehe, I will charm you eventually¡­''


    Then she suddenly remembered that she hadn''t eaten anything for two days now.


    ''Ugh, my old habit of forgetting to eat food is still not cured¡­''


    Risa rubbed her tummy and went over to a nearby shop to buy some calorie bars to make do with. She glanced at her own chest and thought.


    ''I should eat properly or I will miss out on two extra crucial weapons...''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! The book has finally gone premium! I look forward to your support guys!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Risa will succeed in her goal of charming Mark eventually?


    1. Yes (Let the ship sail!!)


    2. Yeah (Let the ship sail!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones!!

 Chapter 35 - 35: Risa, The Villainess! Part-2.

    University, Market Area.


    8:30 P.M.


    ''This area always becomes so dark and shady during night¡­''


    As Jareth has played this game a lot, he knew that the market area around the academy has always been quite shady during the night.


    It becomes oddly dark in this area when night comes, and even the magic lamps seem unable to extinguish this darkness fully.


    Jareth glanced at the eerily quiet area and thought to himself:


    "Hmm, as I am on night patrol duty today, perhaps I might be able to encounter ''that'' random event¡­"


    In the game, the reason why this area was always so dark was because it was the principal who did this on purpose.


    He has cast an illusion-type magic in this place to play tricks on the students.


    The market area closes after 8:30 P.M. and no shop is open after this set time.


    However, due to the illusion magic, any student who passes by this area after the set time can encounter the illusion at random.


    What the illusion does is show a shop that is open even after the closing time, which increases the student''s curiosity and lures them deeper into the illusion.


    Those students who enter the shop get stuck with a monster created by illusion and can''t leave unless they defeat the monster or morning comes.


    Rarely any students fall for this trap, as the illusion is rarely noticed by anyone, thus there is not much information available about it on the student chat groups and community sites.


    ''Hmm, in the game you can get some hefty amount of money and an enhancement potion as a reward for defeating that illusion¡­ I wonder if I will be able to encounter that event today though¡­''


    While walking through the market area without even a little bit of concern, Jareth was looking out for trouble on purpose.


    The talent ''Mana Singularity'' gives him enough confidence to go against this early-game boss without any trouble, thus he wasn''t afraid of encountering it.


    In fact, he wanted to encounter it on purpose.


    ''Strangely¡­ my body craves for battle the more I get stronger¡­ am I perhaps becoming a battle junkie or something?...''


    Just when Jareth was about to get disappointed and was about to leave the area, he sensed a faint mana fluctuation coming from a hidden alley.


    ''Hmm, a student is wandering around here so late?''


    Due to his extreme level of mana-controlling ability, he can not sense mana fluctuations from far away, no matter how small they are.


    Jareth immediately distinguished the fluctuation and figured out that it was a student who was wandering so late around the area.


    He immediately turned back and went directly into the dark alleyway without any fear or hesitation.


    ''Ever since I have possessed this body¡­ I seem to have lost the word ''fear'' from my dictionary¡­''


    ''If it were the original me, I would have been scared to go in this dark alleyway during night¡­ but this body is too d*mn fearless¡­''


    Everything around Jareth was eerily silent and dark, but Jareth was unaffected by all this.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana ball]


    A small magic circle appeared on Jareth''s palm and a glowing ball of mana floated out of it.


    Then it started to illuminate the area.


    Jareth immediately saw a familiar young girl standing near the wall with a dazed look on her face.


    ''Ah, so it was her¡­ she fell for that trap laid out by the principal¡­''


    ''Sigh¡­. This girl is really unlucky; she got in trouble right on the first day of the university¡­''


    Jareth went over towards Risa, who was standing with a dazed look on her face.


    He stretched out his hand and placed his index finger on her forehead, Using his amazing mana control, he immediately ripped apart the illusion that was clouding her mind.


    A gigantic magic circle that was originally invisible to the naked eye appeared on the ground and shattered into nothingness.


    ''Hmm, it''s a strong spell¡­ you can''t destroy it in-game as it''s not considered a destroyable object by the game files¡­ but now that It''s real life, I can easily break such spells with ''mana singularity''¡­''


    [Ding! Got 100 Cp for changing a mini-event!]


    ''Ah, come to think of it, I got a lot of CP after killing those Cyclops; I totally forgot to use it after I got the talent¡­ it totally slipped out of my mind¡­''


    While Jareth was busy contemplating in his mind, Risa regained her consciousness and came back to her senses.


    A confused look appeared on her face as she looked all around her in shock.


    "What just happened¡­ uh!?¡­"


    Then she noticed Jareth standing nearby and her eyes widened in surprise even further.


    Jareth, who was leaning his back against the wall, replied to her question in his usual cold tone.


    "Well, you fell into an illusion trap cast by the principal to mess up with the students who wander around this area at night¡­"


    "I just dispelled that illusion for you, as I am on night patrol duty right now¡­"


    "Why are you here so late, Student Risa?"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Risa suddenly remembered everything.


    "Uh, I was a bit hungry and wanted to buy some food but when I entered the shop, there was a giant wolf monster inside and I ended up fighting it¡­"


    Then an excited look appeared on her face.


    "It was actually a strong monster! I was enjoying an amazing death match with it! It even bit off my right hand and then I used the blood spraying out of my arm to blind its eyes and attack it again!"


    The more she talked, the more excited she became, but Jareth felt quite awkward listening to her words.


    ''She went toe to toe with a peak grade-4 monster while still being a grade-5 herself? As expected, this little villainess is talented¡­''


    *Groaaannn~*


    Then suddenly Risa''s stomach groaned loudly and due to the surroundings being so quiet the voice of help coming from her tummy rang loudly in Jareth''s ears.


    "Ah, I forgot I had to eat!"


    "You forget about eating?"


    Risa scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment and said in a sheepish tone.


    "Well, I have a bad habit of forgetting it, hehe¡­"


    Just then Jareth remembered the last lines this villainess said when Allen killed her with ''light'' magic.


    ''Sigh¡­ I forgot to eat again¡­forgive me, mother¡­''


    These were the last words she said during her boss fight; originally, it didn''t make much sense plot-wise as there was not anything in the game related to her personal life.


    ''But now it makes sense¡­ it seems she does have a bad habit of forgetting her food¡­''


    Jareth searched through his space ring, brought out a calorie bar and handed it over to her.


    "Uh.. thanks, professor!" sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Seeing the happy look on her face, a sudden thought came to his mind.


    ''If I had married Shiina, would I have had a daughter like her?'' (Jareth)


    A sudden nostalgia hit Jareth all of a sudden and he nodded at the girl before leaving.


    "Don''t wander around recklessly during night, the principal likes to play tricks on the students a lot, you might encounter his real pet wolf someday if you wander around in the night too much¡­"


    "The one in the illusion was a weaker version; his real pet wolf is quite strong¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth left the place without looking back.


    Risa nodded her head at his words and left with the calorie bar happily.


    ¡­


    While patrolling afterward, a sudden thought came to Jareth''s mind.


    ''Will I get extra CP if I alter the story and help out those two pitiful kids get together¡­''


    Mark was Allen''s rival in the game, but he was bound to be doomed by the protagonist''s halo and died horribly by being ripped to shreds by an endless siege of contaminated monsters during the later stages of the game.


    The fate of Risa is even more tragic; she was never able to get Mark to love her as he became too focused on fighting with Allen and she ended up being killed by Allen as she wanted to get rid of him.


    Her dying wish was to eat some food but she died hungry on the cold floor and even her dead body was never recovered as it was left behind in a dungeon to rot.


    ''I hope things turn out better for those two kids¡­ at least I don''t want people to end up like me¡­ separated from my loved ones forever¡­''


    At that time, Jareth didn''t know that his decision would change the whole world in a very different way.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! His decisions are so random, let''s see where it takes him in the future.


    Question of the day.


    If given a chance, would you have chosen to save Mark and Risa or not?


    1. Yes (Let their ship sail!!)


    2. No (I don''t like getting involved in other people''s business¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 36 - 36: A gamble to confirm a possibility...

    Dormitory, Jareth''s training room.


    It''s been two weeks since the dungeon incident, and Jareth has been training intensely in this rare time of peace.


    ''Phew~''


    While lying on the ground, Jareth panted heavily and his body was covered in sweat all over.


    ''Maintaining this ''form'' is very difficult and taxing¡­''


    Jareth glanced at his stomach and smiled when he noticed that ''abs'' started to appear slightly. He made years worth of progress in just a a matter of days! If the gym rats knew about this, they would have gone crazy from the sheer shock.


    ''But this method is worth the trouble¡­''


    The Game that Jareth played was a single-player type game with a straightforward storyline.


    And as it was made by some crappy studio, it had many bugs in the game that you can exploit to improve the character.


    ''Why the heck did I even play such a buggy game in the first place¡­ ugh, the younger me was such a cringe guy¡­''


    But now that Jareth is in this real world, he can exploit some of the bugs that seemed illogical in the game.


    Jareth got up from the ground and sat in a meditative pose once again.


    ''Let''s do it once more¡­''


    The best way in the game to improve a character''s mana capacity and quality was to level up by killing monsters and using Exp.


    But there was also a slow and buggy method in the game, which was to put your character to ''meditate'' and slowly build up mana and improve its mana quality over time.


    This method was so slow and unrewarding that most players had concluded that the game developers must have placed this method of improvement purely to make the game lore relevant.


    ''But I am quite thankful that they placed this method¡­''


    Everyone who wants to improve their mana capacity and quality uses this meditation method to slowly improve over time; this is the real and most genuine way.


    Using Exp is just a cheat and Jareth doesn''t have that luxury anymore.


    That''s why he has to follow the same method as everyone.


    ''But I am more than a hundred times more efficient than others when it comes to this stuff¡­''


    [Active Healing!]


    With his insane mana control, Jareth''s grasp over ''active healing'' improved tremendously in a short period of time and he consumed mana to heal the fatigue in his body easily.


    Active Healing is a skill that uses mana to force body cells to divide and heal wounds, If you improve your proficiency to grade 3 or above, you can even regenerate your severed limbs and destroyed organs.


    (It only works on yourself but you can''t use it on others¡­)


    For the past two weeks, Jareth has been constantly meditating and working his body endlessly to improve.


    After his body gets tired, he uses active healing to heal the fatigue and minor internal injuries. And then the cycle of constant training and healing continues.


    Jareth has been repeating this cycle for two weeks straight now.


    Moreover, Active healing has a major flaw: it doesn''t create body cells out of nowhere, it essentially just forces your own body cells to divide and heal naturally.


    However, scientific research has proven that a human body''s cells have a limited number of times that they can divide, which means that using this skill essentially burns your own life force.


    This means that if a random person uses this skill, they will be burning their own life-span to heal their injuries, but things are different for Jareth.


    The reason he dares to use this dangerous skill so carefreely is because of ''Mana Singularity''.


    This talent is tailor-made for him.


    Mana is a miraculous energy; if your control over it is extremely precise, you can use it to do anything, even genetic modification.


    Jareth is doing exactly that; with the help of his mana singularity talent, his mana control is at a level where he can use it in such a precise manner that even objects as small as atoms can be influenced.


    He used mana to directly modify his own DNA and with basic biological knowledge, he upgraded the limit of times his cells can divide.


    (Don''t ask me why he has such precise biological knowledge¡­ just know that he used to work for a shady person and has seen his fair share of ''things''¡­)


    [Ding! With your continuous efforts, Active healing has reached grade 5!]


    [You can now heal larger wounds¡­] S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth has been using this skill continuously for two weeks, except for the time when he had to go to the classroom to teach the students.


    ''I have been doing all this because I want to confirm a possibility¡­ if I can confirm that the possibility is indeed true, then I will be able to improve¡­''


    After reducing the fatigue of his body, Jareth instantly started to meditate and use his extreme mana control to make his mana run through his massive external mana circuit.


    With each full cycle, mana circulated throughout his mana circuit, and Jareth could perceive his mana becoming more condensed and pure.


    And Jareth''s guess indeed turned out to be true; after the hard work of two whole weeks, the possibility finally turned into reality.


    [Ding! Your mana Purity has improved from Grade 6 to Grade 5!]


    [Ding! You have become a genuine Grade-5 Mage!]


    (Yes, without mana purity at grade 5, he wasn''t even a proper grade-5 mage yet...)


    Once Jareth heard that notification, a smirk appeared on his face.


    ''I knew it! It was possible to do it even without Exp!''


    Jareth has been aiming for this exact thing all along; he wanted to confirm if he can improve his mana purity or not.


    And with these notifications from the System, he has finally confirmed the authenticity of this approach.


    When he was playing the game, improving mana purity was so much easier, as you had to just kill monsters and put the exp to upgrade the character.


    But now that Jareth doesn''t have that method, he has to follow the same method that every person in this world uses.


    He has to meditate slowly to improve the mana purity of his body.


    The reason why most people in this world can''t upgrade their mana purity is because their mana affinity and control are low and improving them takes talent.


    Talent is not something that everyone has; only someone like Mark could be considered a genius-level talent.


    Talent is something that you are born with; it can''t be changed.


    Those who don''t have talent can only continue to work hard and eventually, their life ends due to old age but they are never able to reach the realm that a talented person can reach in a much shorter amount of time.


    If Jareth didn''t have ''mana singularity'' it would have taken him ten years of hard work just to reach grade-5 mana purity with Jareth''s original body.


    But now, with the support of ''active healing'' and ''mana singularity'', he was able to reach this level in just two weeks; the difference is like heaven and earth.


    ''Being able to improve mana quality confirms the possibility that I can improve my mana purity faster and easier by using continuous healing¡­''


    Mana singularity has instantly changed this talentless body into a very talented one; with this talent, it might not be a dream to reach an unbeatable level.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 1050/1050] [MP: 1200/1200]


    [Titles: Illegitimate child, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat]


    [STR: 20] [AGI: 15] [SPE: 13] [DEF: 12] [INT: 57]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: 5]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 5)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 5100]


    [Evaluation: The source of disturbance in the threads of fate, you have defied your destined Fate¡­]


    ¡­


    The first thing that Jareth noticed was that the title ''Talentless Fool'' had disappeared from his titles and a new title had appeared in its place.


    Seeing the new title ''Jareth the goat'' shining in front of his eyes like that, black lines appeared over Jareth''s face as he was quite bewildered by this strange title.


    Jareth shook his head and then glanced at his stats.


    ''The stats have improved a bit, it seems¡­ well I have been putting my body under tremendous stress for two whole weeks.. It was bound to happen, I guess¡­''


    Then Jareth notices that his mana affinity has also improved.


    ''Did it get influenced by mana control¡­ after all, I can now command mana as I please, so my mana affinity is basically at the same level as mana singularity¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head in understanding.


    Lastly, Jareth''s eyes fell on the skills and he smiled when he saw that his active healing skill had improved.


    ''It''s a good skill; moreover, its real benefits will start to show after it reaches grade 3, I should improve it further¡­''


    Seeing his improved panel, Jareth couldn''t help but smirk at his own hard work.


    ''Sigh¡­ I have improved so much in such a short time period¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Jareth''s improvement speed has started to accelerate at a very fast speed now!


    Question of the day.


    Would you dare to use Active healing, if given a chance?


    1. Yes (Who cares about a long lifespan, I would rather live short but as a strong and muscular person!)


    2. No (I would pass; I want to live a long life¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 37 - 37: Forbidden spell!?

    Jareth''s Training Room.


    Jareth glanced at his Credit points and just when he was about to go for a silver lottery, he suddenly noticed that a new item had appeared in the shop. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced): 4000 Cp] (In stock: 1)


    ''Oh! I can buy a card from here now! But it only shows one in stock?''


    ''This system panel that I have is very strange¡­ how do I get it re-stocked then? Can I only possess one of these cards at one time? And it will restock after I use the previous one?''


    Jareth''s head was filled with questions.


    Right now he has no idea about what''s going on with this system of his at all. Everything seemed so different from the original that it was difficult to think that the two were the same systems.


    In the game, you could buy an unlimited number of these cards by just using in-game currency, but now he is being restricted to just one card at a time.


    ''Has this system panel got corrupted after I came here?... things are really strange...''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking further, there was no point in thinking too much about things that you don''t have enough information about.


    He will have to figure it all out in the future, but right now he doesn''t have the time or power to accomplish that.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to purchase ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)?]


    [Yes or no]


    ''Yes¡­''


    [Congratulations! You have purchased an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)!]


    ''Hmm, as for the rest of the Cp, let''s just buy a bronze lottery with it, perhaps I might get something interesting¡­''


    [Ding! You have bought a bronze lottery!]


    [Congratulations! You received the ''Forbidden spell: Test*cular Torsion!'']


    Looking at that notification, Jareth''s mouth opened wide in sheer shock as a black line appeared all over his face.


    The forbidden knowledge about how to use that spell was directly forced into his mind and Jareth''s expression turned weird instantly; the corners of his mouth twitched again and again.


    ''The f*ck!? Mind pollution!!''


    Jareth saw horrible diagrams and images appear in his brain as received that forbidden knowledge!


    ''This system is corrupt! D*mn it! It''s showing me weird things!''


    Jareth had seen this spell before in the game; the game devs added it just for joke''s sake and it was used to stun the enemy momentarily, but Jareth had no idea that he would receive this dark and twisted spell all of a sudden.


    ''Now I know why the game character would have a weird expression on its face whenever I made it learn this spell¡­ it f*cking shows weird images in your head out of nowhere!!''


    Jareth''s eyes, which used to look at the lottery system with excitement, have now changed in just a few minutes.


    Now he dare not recklessly gamble.


    ''I-I would never do a bronze lottery ever again¡­ similar type of hideous things are likely hidden behind that harmless-looking lottery¡­''


    Jareth placed his hand on his face and confessed his sins to calm his mind down.


    ''Forgive me, Shiina, I promise I am not that kind of man¡­''


    ¡­


    Market area, a dark alleyway.


    "Hmm, so someone broke my illusion trap, hehe¡­."


    Nathan has a hobby of laying traps in random places to make the students suffer.


    His hobby has traumatized many generations of wizards who have graduated from this university.


    But he is not a cruel person either, he places a reward in these traps, those who overcome the challenge can get the reward and improve themselves by leaps and bounds.


    ''Ugh¡­ this trap isn''t broken¡­ it''s obliterated¡­ such barbarism¡­''


    Nathan''s face twisted in doubt.


    ''A student can''t do something like this¡­ and this condensed aura¡­''


    Being a genuine grade-1 sorcerer, Nathan immediately figured out everything.


    ''It must have been a student who got stuck in the trap and then that guy destroyed the whole illusion from outside...''


    What shocked Nathan the most was the fact that he had worked hard on making the illusion as solid as possible from the outside.


    Without the mana control at the same level as his, no one can break through this illusion from the outside.


    ''Ah, so that''s how it is¡­ now everything makes sense!''


    Nathan narrowed his eyes at the mana fluctuations and thought to himself.


    ''It must be that his mana control has been very high since he was young and thus, he was always able to hide his real strength from everyone¡­''


    ''Perhaps he did so to hide his talent from his family¡­ but that doesn''t matter to me¡­ what''s more surprising is that he was able to hide in front of me too¡­''


    Nathan immediately made up things in his mind and misunderstood Jareth as a talented person.


    He originally asked Jareth about the reason for how he was able to hide his strength and Jareth had said that it was due to some rare artifact.


    ''It wasn''t an artifact¡­ from the start, his mana control has been at a higher level¡­ hehe, interesting!''


    Due to this misunderstanding, Nathan has completely regarded Jareth as a mana control genius at this point.


    Thankfully, Jareth already has the ''mana singularity'' talent, otherwise, his cover might have been blown away easily.


    Now even if Jareth tried to prove to others that he is actually a weak person, other''s wouldn''t believe him, as they will feel that his mana control is extremely good.


    It turns out that in pursuit of strength, Jareth somehow backstabbed himself and blocked his own path of redemption.


    Now he can''t tell the world that he is weak, even if he wanted to.


    Others will think that he is joking if he says that.


    ¡­


    A hidden underground church, location ''unknown''.


    A dark black mist condensed into a humanoid shape and glanced at the girl who was kneeling in front of the statue of Azazel.


    The Girl seemed to be in her teenage years in appearance, but her eyes carried wisdom that a young person could never have.


    The black mist stared at the kneeling girl for a while and then said in a hoarse, beast-like voice.


    "The previous attempt to lure that old fox failed¡­ even after sacrificing a wyvern and a cyclops, we still didn''t gather any considerable information on the powers of that Old Fox¡­"


    "We need to shake things up more wildly this time; even if we can''t lure out that old fox, gathering as much information as possible about all the professors of that university is important¡­"


    The girl who was kneeling earlier got up from the ground and smirked. A creepy smile appeared on her young-looking face. (She just looks young; she is actually in fact an old granny¡­)


    "You want me to launch a night parade then?"


    The dark mist nodded its head and gave its permission.


    "Abella, I order you to gather as much information as possible about the ''hidden dome'' from the secret archives of the university¡­"


    "Also take those ''two'' with you; other members are busy with other missions so I can''t give you more manpower¡­ take more of the corruption vials from the armory¡­"


    "Use them to create a huge night parade; when that old fox is distracted, you need to look for the information we need¡­"


    "Without that information, we can never create the path needed for our benevolent god''s descent¡­"


    Abella smiled creepily and nodded her head.


    "Understood, Master!"


    She brought out a broom from her space ring.


    The broom had hideous and distorted humanoid face-like patterns etched on it.


    When the broom appeared, those faces contorted horribly and screamed in pain in a suppressed and low voice.


    *k-KILL me.. Free me¡­ de-death.. ravage¡­k-kill¡­*


    Each facial pattern on that magical broom represented the innocent soul that was forcibly stuffed inside that broom.


    Each of those souls belonged to innocent people who were tortured and killed by Abella.


    Without caring about his screams, Abella sat on the broom and flew out from the underground church with a crazy smile on her face.


    The dark mist stared at Abella''s retreating figure for a while and then glanced at the gigantic statue of the demon.


    "Oh, my benevolent god! Bless that pitiful lamb with luck¡­"


    The stone statue''s eyes suddenly turned dark red and blood started to flow out of it like a fountain.


    That was the sign of a successful demonic blessing.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Jareth literally blocked his own way back now.


    Even if he just stood there and tried to explain his situation with the help of a long presentation, others would only look at him with weird eyes and wouldn''t believe him at all.


    This abyss of misunderstandings gets deeper and deeper every single day!


    Question of the day.


    Would you like to ride a magic broom that is enchanted with the agony of thousands of innocent souls?


    1. No (I will pass¡­)


    2. Nope (I don''t wanna get nightmares¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 38 - 38: Potion making event! Part-1.

    Principal office, Meeting Room.


    "So, what I am trying to say is, to lure the culprits who have been pulling the strings from behind, we should organize an event in the university itself¡­"


    Just when Thomas was trying to put his thoughts forward, Shin suddenly intercepted and said in a doubtful tone while staring at the empty chair of the principal.


    "Where did that old man go all of a sudden?"


    Hearing Shin''s rude tone, Thomas frowned a bit and said in a calm voice:


    "Please refrain from making rude remarks, we are in a meeting right now¡­"


    Shin wasn''t intimidated by those words in the least, he clicked his tongue and said:


    "If that old man isn''t here, then is it even worth the trouble thinking about organizing an event, We will need his permission in the end anyway¡­"


    Thomas shook his head and spoke,


    "You don''t need to worry about that; I will personally go and submit a report to him about this, It is very likely that he will agree if we all work on this project¡­"


    Jareth, who was quietly sipping the tea while watching all the drama unfold, had different thoughts than the two of them.


    ''In the first place, aren''t we just working here as employees? Why are we working so hard in the first place¡­ the employer is absent; we can just slack off and lay flat at this point¡­''


    ''We can enjoy free salary while doing the basic minimum of the work¡­ like why work more than you are paid for?''


    As Jareth used to work for a shady company in his previous life, he has quite a lot of experience in the corporate world''s inner workings.


    Most employers think that the employees should work their best while making the minimum wage.


    They want to reduce the employment cost as much as possible, thus they try to put pressure on the employees to work harder with various shady tactics.


    But the experienced employees all know these ways all too well; thus, they do the bare minimum of the work and never show off their skills.


    Those who show off too much, generally end up getting the most amount of work while still being paid the same as others.


    As they say: ''Those who stand out the most get oppressed the first¡­'' (Source: Trust me, bro¡­)


    Jareth glanced slightly at the other professors who were just sitting silently like him and were pretending to be mysterious and a thought came to his mind:


    ''It seems they also have the same wisdom as me¡­ no matter the world, money rules above all¡­''


    Jareth had no qualms against people worshipping money as the supreme truth.


    They say that you can never buy happiness with money.


    ''If you have money, you may be sad, but you will be sad while driving a supercar at least¡­''


    Just when Jareth was pretending to be mysterious and was busy thinking about how to ask the principal about increasing his salary, Shin suddenly pointed his finger at him and said:


    "Hey! What do you say, Jareth? I will agree to hold this event if I get to compete with you!"


    As his happy thoughts about bathing in money were interrupted by Shin''s unpleasant voice, Jareth frowned and glared at Shin.


    "You? Compete with me? Go look in the mirror again¡­"


    "D*mn you! You have the nerve to underestimate me?"


    "Underestimate? When did I say was even estimating your patheticness?"


    Veins appeared on Shin''s forehead as his face reddened in anger.


    "Let''s go fight right now! I will beat the sh*t out of you today!"


    "Hmph, says the guy who was done in by a mere one-eyed overgrown pest¡­"


    "Ugh¡­ you!"


    Shin became even more frustrated when Jareth mentioned him being defeated by the Cyclops just the other day.


    Just when things were about to escalate, the principal finally appeared.


    He directly teleported in his chair.


    "Ahem! Calm down everyone, It was my mistake that I got late for the meeting¡­"


    Shin and Jareth also went silent after the principal appeared out of nowhere.


    Jareth''s face remained cold but he was quite surprised in his mind.


    ''hmm, I don''t think the principal showed that he had teleportation magic in the game¡­ did the game developers give him hidden abilities that were never mentioned in the storyline?''


    Although Jareth was a bit surprised, he didn''t think too much about it.


    The world of the game has now become real and many hidden details that were not in the game have appeared, so Jareth already expected unforeseen events to happen.


    Unaware of Jareth''s thoughts, the principal glanced at all the professors and said:


    "I got late because I accidentally noticed a familiar evil mana fluctuation earlier, and went to investigate it, but it seems the other party has disappeared without leaving any traces again¡­"


    "I suspect that this evil cult ''Flase Dome'' has some kind of high-grade artifact that can conceal presence¡­ or can help the user retreat via some kind of spatial technique¡­"


    "Which means pinpointing their exact location is a near impossible task¡­"


    Hearing Nathan''s solemn voice, all of the professors nodded their heads in understanding and thought about various countermeasures in their minds.


    "So, for now, keep your guards up, everyone¡­"


    When the principal finished talking, Thomas decided to put forward the previous conversation.


    "Actually, about that, we want to hold an event that will help us lure the enemies, after all, we can''t just sit and wait for them to attack us, that''s just too passive¡­"


    A look of interest appeared on the principals face hearing that,


    "Hmm, that''s actually quite a good idea¡­ but what event are you going to organize?"


    "I don''t have a solid idea right now; that''s why I was asking the others for advice-"


    Just when Thomas was worried that the principal would flat out reject his opinion for not having a solid idea, the professor in charge of the ''Potion Crafting'' class interrupted the conversation.


    "Actually, I have a good idea! We can hold a live potion crafting competition!"


    The principal narrowed his eyes and asked the female professor for further details.


    "How will that help us lure the enemies, Ms. Aria Wainwright?"


    An excited look appeared on Aria''s face as she finally got the chance to put forward her own thoughts in this meeting.


    "We will invite the parents of the students and some famous people as guests for the event, with that, a lot of media will be concentrated over to the live-event¡­"


    "The enemy will think that the attention of all the professors and the civilians has been shifted over to the live event as it''s quite stressful to conduct it properly¡­"


    "This will seem like a perfect opportunity to them-"


    At that moment, Shin interjected and spoke in a doubtful tone,


    "Bullsh*t! Do you really think that those crafty demon cultists will get distracted by this so easily? Do you take them as idiots?"


    "W-well uh¡­"


    Aria''s confidence disappeared like a deflated balloon after Shin criticized her idea and she fell silent instantly.


    But before Aria could get depressed, the principal interjected:


    "Actually, it''s not that bad an idea; we don''t have any other ways right now, so it''s better to bet at this idea instead of just sitting here and wasting our time¡­"


    The brightness in Aria''s eyes returned as the principal took her side on this matter.


    Thomas also supported the idea further,


    "The principal will need to sit at the venue of the tournament himself so that the enemy can confirm the principal being away from the university¡­"


    "Yeah, we can take ''guarding the guests'' as an excuse and station nearly all of the professors at the venue of the event¡­"


    "As for whom to appoint the duty of guarding the university¡­"


    All the professors stared at Shin and Jareth instantly, as if they all had planned about it from the start.


    "A-actually, I am still recovering from the previous fight; I-I will pass¡­"


    The principal nodded his head at those words,


    "Well, if Professor Shin can''t do it, then we Ms. Aria, you will do it¡­"


    Aria pointed her index finger at her own face and said in a bewildered tone:


    "Me?"


    "Yes, you¡­"


    Before Aria could even process the whole thing, Nathan directly teleported away and disappeared, leaving only a few words behind.


    "I will leave the preparation to prof. Thomas¡­ the meeting is dismissed¡­"


    All of the professors, including Shin, happily left while gloating at Aria''s misfortune.


    "Hehe, you were the one who suggested the plan in the first place, you brought it upon yourself¡­"


    "W-what!?"


    Aria was so bewildered by the situation that she only came back to her senses when nearly everyone had left.


    Just when Jareth was about to leave too, she looked at him with pitiful eyes and said: Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I-I¡­ uh, I am a wood magician, and I don''t have any major attack spells; how will I guard the university!?"


    ''Ah, yes, this character¡­. She''s useless¡­''


    Jareth has interacted with this character in the game; aside from the potion recipes that she sells in the games, she is pretty much useless.


    ''Well, she can make good potions, I guess, but when it comes to combat, she gets intimidated quite easily¡­''


    Jareth glanced at her snot- and tear-covered face; a frown appeared on his face.


    "You just need to stand guard until the enemy shows up; once they show up, others will come over as reinforcement¡­ and your job will be done¡­"


    ''I don''t have any idea why the principal decided to give this risky job to someone like her, who can''t even kill a chicken¡­ does he have some personal beef with her?''


    Jareth shook his head and left while ignoring the panicked woman.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems that no woman''s tears can sway him anymore, as he left his heart in Shiina''s care long ago and now he can never love anyone else again¡­


    Question of the day.


    Would you agree to take on this dangerous job of guarding against a demon cult?


    1. Yes (High risk, high rewards!)


    2. No (I don''t wanna get fed to the demon''s statue¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 39 - 39: Potion Making event! Part-2.

    The news that a massive live competition will be held at the university where excellent students will show off their skills to the world spread like wildfire.


    The whole internet seemed to have been taken aback by this sudden news and the parents of the students, immediately started to make preparations to attend the event.


    Moreover, those who couldn''t afford the tickets for the venue can watch the show live from the comfort of their home through TV or smartphones.


    ¡­


    Unaware of the chaos that was happening outside the university, the students were busy thinking about what potion to practice.


    Mark got paired up with his three lackeys and Risa. (Of course, it was Jareth''s doing¡­)


    "Earlier, when prof. Jareth told us about the competition, he didn''t specify which potion we should be working on¡­"


    Potion-making is usually a job that only healing-type mages like to do, but as this university is the most advanced in the whole empire, it has the resources to teach the basics of potion-making to all students free of charge.


    Aria is the teacher responsible for teaching the students about potion making, and in the past month, she has taught them about a few basic grade potions.


    With her careful teaching, even the most talentless student can make a simple potion like ''Mana Restoring potion'', or ''basic recovery potion''.


    Keep in mind that recovery potions and healing potions are different things, recovery potions are usually quite versatile, and they can be used to recover mana, or enhance the body''s natural healing process to recover health.


    They can be used to recover fatigue and blood loss, like minor inconveniences too, but the effects of this potion are too mild and they can''t be used to treat severe or fatal wounds.


    That''s where healing potions come in.


    Healing potions are made by condensing the ''Healing mana'' produced by the healing magic.


    Healing potions can only be made by a mage who can use healing magic; thus, most students aren''t able to make this potion.


    They usually go for the recovery potion instead if they don''t have an affinity with Wood Magic. (Healing magic is a sub-branch of Wood magic¡­)


    Risa glanced around and noticed that other groups were also talking about this matter.


    "I think the professor didn''t give us a specific potion because we are free to make any type of potion¡­"


    Just when Mark and Risa were confused, Mark''s three lackeys looked into each other''s eyes mysteriously and nodded at each other.


    "Ahem, Sister-in-law, I think we should make the Love-love potion!" (Lackey no.1.)


    "Yes! You can charm Brother Mark with it instantly!" (Lackey No.2.)


    "Go go! We support you!" (Lackey No.3.)


    Hearing their words, Risa''s eyes shined brightly and a smile appeared on her face.


    "Yes! We will make the love-love potion!"


    Mark shook his head in dismay and said,


    "Cough! Cough! Ahem¡­. It''s called a ''Charm Potion'' idiots¡­."


    ''I have gotten the most useless team out of the whole class¡­ all four of my teammates have below average grades and none of them knows sh*T about making potions¡­''


    Mark shook his head at his own bad luck, now he will have to do the whole project alone as the other four are just too useless, they don''t even know the proper names of the potions.


    "Moreover¡­ a charm potion only works on people below grade 5, it''s a very low-grade potion, its effects are very mild even on ordinary people¡­ all it can do is just increase your likeability by just a little bit¡­"


    "Aside from that, it''s total crap, just a waste of ingredients¡­ Even the weakest charm spell is better than it¡­"


    When Mark finished his speech, he noticed the other four were staring at him in shock.


    "Hmm, what?"


    One of his lackeys patted Mark on the shoulder and said in a disappointed voice:


    "Brother¡­ you know so much about such a forbidden potion¡­ you really are something else¡­ I didn''t expect you to be that type of person¡­" (Lackey no.1)


    "What are you even talking about¡­ this is just basic knowledge, you know¡­"


    In the confused eyes of Mark, the four of his teammates shook their heads while looking at him.


    ¡­


    "Okay, jokes aside, what potion should we really make¡­" (Lackey No.1.)


    Hearing that question, Mark pondered for a bit and replied with a smile on his face,


    "Hmm, I have an idea¡­ we can make ''The sleeping flame dragon¡­'', that might even be praised by Prof. Jareth too¡­"


    "Well, let''s just do as you say!"


    Risa and the others were not really into potion making, thus, their knowledge about it was too shallow, they didn''t even take Aria''s classes seriously, and thus now they are going to depend on Mark for the whole project.


    "Oh, by the way, stop calling her ''sister-in-law'' right in front of the whole class! That''s embarrassing!"


    "O-oh okay¡­" (Lackey No.1)


    Hearing Mark''s scolding, the lackeys had to back off.


    Risa just rolled her eyes at Mark being so embarrassed at that simple term, she even thought that he looked kind of cute when he was embarrassed.


    ¡­


    The Potion research lab.


    "You think the students will be able to do a satisfactory job on this?"


    While sitting on the chair opposite Aria, Jareth picked the teacup from the table and sipped the tea made by Aria with the usual cold expression on his face.


    "U-UH¡­ I-I think at least half of them should be able to give s-satisfactory result¡­"


    Jareth tilted his head in confusion and asked:


    "Hmm, you are stuttering a lot¡­ Are you not feeling good these days?"


    "N-no I am just a bit tired from making preparations for the students, that''s all¡­"


    Aria wiped the sweat from her forehead with her handkerchief as she desperately avoided eye contact with him.


    ''Who the heck would feel good when someone as ridiculously strong as you is sitting near them!?''


    ''One wrong move and he will blast me off the face of the Earth!''


    Aria is indeed a grade-2 wood mage, but she has no confidence in herself, she has never been in real battles and has never faced life-or-death situations.


    Thus, for her, a person who can blast off monsters like Cyclops and Wyverns with single attacks is a very intimidating presence.


    Sitting in front of Jareth, it felt like she was being stared down at by a Demon who had crawled right out of the abyss.


    (Jareth thinks he is looking at others with kind eyes, when in fact his glares feel like he is staring right through your soul¡­)


    "I see, you should take more rest; soon we might be get involved in battle¡­"


    "By the way, talking about the battle, you should get a lot of healing potions ready beforehand, who knows how the enemy will attack¡­"


    "In case some collateral damage happened, we can use the healing potions to heal the students¡­"


    Jareth was indeed concerned about the students, but his words sounded totally different in Aria''s ears.


    ''Collateral damage!? Does he mean to say that he might accidentally blast me off too! and he will label my death as collateral damage!?''


    Aria was already making up misunderstandings in her mind at this point.


    She thought that Jareth was warning her to not get in his way, or he might blast her off too, just like he did with the Cyclops.


    With trembling eyes Aria nodded her head desperately.


    "O-okay, I will keep that in mind¡­"


    ''Someone save me! Take me out of this lab; where did all the students go!? Why did they leave me here alone with this guy!''


    Totally oblivious to her inner thoughts, Jareth continued in his usual cold tone.


    "By the way, the standard of the students still needs to be raised, I think; if only fifty percent of them can perform well in the competition, it might damage the reputation of the university¡­"


    "How about giving them a further push? Do some last-minute improvements?"


    Meanwhile, Jareth''s words from Aria''s perspective:


    "You can''t even teach properly! You are so useless!"


    "Yes! I will teach them properly next time!"


    Satisfied with the answer, Jareth placed the empty teacup down and got up to leave.


    "Well then, I have something else to do too, so I will go first, Keep up the good work¡­"


    Only after Jareth left did Aria finally calm down a bit.


    Her heart, which was about to jump out of her mouth, finally started to stabilize.


    ''Phew~ I survived¡­ thanks Mother and Father, oh dear ancestors, I survived with your blessings!''


    Just when Aria was praying to her ancestor, Jareth''s voice appeared again.


    "Ah, I forgot to tell you that you should ask the principal for any special ingredients you might need for the students¡­ he said he will provide all resources for this event free of cost¡­ "


    "Well then, I should go now¡­"


    Jareth came back so suddenly and left that Aria wasn''t able to process anything and remained stiff like a rock from the start to the end.


    ''AHHHH! He saw me praying to my ancestors!!'' (Emotional Damage +99)


    ¡­


    ¡­ S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that wherever Jareth goes, misunderstandings follow him¡­ Let''s see where this takes him next.


    Question of the day.


    Would you survive having a direct conversation with Jareth as he glares right through your soul?


    1. Yes (Imma fear nothing!)


    2. No (I will pass¡­ don''t wanna turn into stone like Aria)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 40 - 40: Potion Making Event! Part-3.

    Competition venue, Yodo District.


    A week went by in a flash and the day of the competition arrived fast.


    The competition venue was arranged at a fairly distant place from the university.


    From the current distance, providing reinforcement would only take a few minutes for the grade-2 mages and Nathan can directly teleport as this is a very small distance for him.


    Sitting on the topmost seat, Nathan glanced at the people below with his usual calm and collected look.


    Thomas came over from the side to report.


    "It seems all arrangements are ready; the whole stadium is already full of the guests and parents.... we can start the competition any time now¡­"


    The principal nodded his head at Thomas''s words.


    [Basic Magic: Spirit Voice]


    Nathan cast a basic spell to enhance his voice so that everyone can hear him without any problems.


    "Good Morning everyone, Our University welcomes you all on this special occasion¡­ We are glad that you all came to watch a show put on by our talented students¡­"


    And then, the usual half-hour-long speech that every principal in the world likes to give, started. The speech went on and on, making nearly all of the people feel sleepy.


    "Ahem, it''s time we start the competition¡­" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thomas whispered in Nathan''s ears in a quiet voice after he had enough of Nathan''s bulsh*t.


    Only after Thomas reminded him of the time did Nathan come back to his senses and finally end the speech, which nearly made everyone fall asleep.


    "Ahem, without any further delay, let us start the competition¡­"


    Nathan sat back on his designated chair after he completed the speech and fell silent.


    Three professors from the academy acted as judges and sat down in their respective spots.


    The three judges were Shin, Thomas, and a professor named Gazid who teaches about monster anatomy and psychology.


    All three of them have veteran-level knowledge in potion-making and are qualified to judge the potion-making skills of novice wizards without any problem.


    Aria is the one who is most proficient in potion making but the principal made her stay back at the university so she isn''t here right now.


    No one raised a voice against the choice of judges; after all, all three of the judges are famous people and are well known for being Grade-2 mages.


    But a little bit of gossip still happened all over the audience.


    The real crazed discussion was actually happening on the various social media platforms.


    "Where is the goat!?"


    "I can''t see the goat among all of the professors!"


    "Tch! I thought he would come to the competition as a judge too!"


    "Good thing I didn''t buy the ticket; it would have been such a waste as the goat isn''t even there¡­"


    People were going crazy at the fact that Jareth wasn''t at the venue.


    Netizens have always been like this; they follow trends the most.


    Recently, Jareth has been popular due to his feats but sooner or later, this trend of calling him ''the goat'' will also fade away if he doesn''t show up on the media again.


    Most people bought the expensive tickets because they wanted to take close-range photos of Jareth and then flex on their friends later.


    ¡­


    Amidst the cheerful and panicked voices of the audience, the competition finally started.


    All of the teams appeared on the stage and walked over to their dedicated potion-making table.


    Mark entered the stadium and glanced at the paper sheet in his hand.


    The paper had the number ''1'' written on it.


    "Hmm, it seems we are assigned to the first table¡­ hmm, ah, it''s there! Let''s go.."


    The other four walked behind him honestly, like chicks following the mother hen.


    Mark just rolled his eyes and thought to himself.


    ''how did we even get selected with such a line-up¡­''


    Only the teams that had shown good results were selected to go to the venue and the rest of the teams were disqualified before they even made it to the real stage.


    The reason why Mark''s team wasn''t disqualified, even with four of the members being useless, was because of Mark alone.


    While walking over to the designated bench, Mark noticed a young golden-haired girl surrounded by guards sitting on a VIP seat.


    The girl smiled and waved her hand at Mark as she noticed his gaze.


    "It seems your younger sister is also here, Mark¡­"


    Risa''s face pouted a little as she saw Mark''s younger sister stick her tongue out towards her in an attempt to taunt her with a mocking smile.


    ''Ugh, she is doing that on purpose; she knows that Risa will get annoyed at this¡­''


    Mark shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    He took out the ingredients handed over to him by the staff and placed them on the table in an orderly manner.


    "Okay, do everything as I had taught you¡­"


    The other four nodded their head and did as Mark had asked them.


    What they needed to do was pretend to be working so that they could show that they had proper team coordination; otherwise, points might be deducted.


    ''Ugh, I thought Professor Jareth would be a judge; why do I have to be judged by these three¡­''


    Although Mark respected the three as they were all strong grade-2 mages, in his opinion the true mages should be cold-hearted and decisive in nature.


    In other words, Mark thinks that an ideal mage should be like Jareth, cold, decisive, and strong.


    What he doesn''t know is that the person he was idolizing was a total fraud.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, around the same time.


    University, outside the main gate.


    Two burly men were squatting on the ground and talking with each other while drawing something with sand on the ground.


    "Idiot, big brother, what I am trying to say is that we should go from this door and then bypass this corridor first!"


    "No! I am the big brother; I will decide where to go!"


    Seeing the extremely burly and muscular guys squat right outside the university''s main gate, the passersby felt quite weird, but they deliberately avoided talking to them as the two unknown guys were giving off a dangerous aura.


    The Older brother placed his finger on the ground and continued.


    "We will destroy this wall here and break through to the inner area easily¡­"


    "But won''t that bring too much unwanted attention to us?"


    Just when the two brothers were in a dilemma, a third person appeared without them noticing and placed his finger on the ground.


    "How about you go from this place and then here¡­ there is no security here either¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the two brothers were taken aback and a look of surprise appeared on their faces.


    "Oh yes! Why didn''t I think of this!?"


    "You are so smart, mister!"


    The two brothers nodded their heads for a moment before they realized that a sudden unknown person had appeared between them


    "What the!?"


    "Who are you!?"


    The two brothers immediately shot up and jumped away from Jareth.


    Jareth waved his hands at the two and said in his usual cold voice.


    "I am a spy; I work for the great heavenly master of the supreme heavenly realms¡­"


    A confused look appeared on the faces of the two younger brothers after hearing Jareth say such a ridiculous thing with such a serious expression on his face.


    "Uh, so whose side are you on?"


    "Yeah, are you an ally or an enemy?"


    Jareth tilted his head and continued¡­


    "Hmm, I am on the side of muscles¡­"


    The eyes of the two brothers shined brightly when Jareth mentioned the topic ''muscles'' and they immediately nodded their heads.


    "Yeah, muscle is the real truth¡­"


    "Indeed, so whose side are you two on then, Where is your family, little kids?"


    The two brothers glanced at each other and nodded their heads.


    "Actually, we are lost, we came with big sis Abella, but she left after leaving us here, she said we can eat a guy named Jarem or something¡­ but we don''t know where to find him¡­"


    Jareth''s eyes instantly narrowed when he found out the information he wanted.


    ''So, the ''Nightmare'' Abella was dispatched¡­ Furthermore, these two death squad members are dispatched to deal with me... This is quite the trouble we have¡­''


    From the start, Jareth already knew about the identity of these two guys when he noticed them squatting outside the university with his mana singularity.


    But he didn''t immediately attack them because he needed more information from them and as a veteran player, he knew all too well about how to communicate with these brainless NPCs.


    All members of the death squadron have reduced intelligence; they behave like seven-year-old children.


    ''Seeing them in person is really different from the game¡­ to think that these burly monstrosities are a result of excessive experimentation on innocent children¡­ this world is really as cruel as it can be¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Things are very messed up in this world, those with faint hearts might not be able to digest all of this¡­


    Question of the day.


    Who would you rather have as your project judge?


    1. Shin (He will forgive your mistakes and provide better answers¡­)


    2. Thomas (He will judge according to the rules; he will be impartial in his judgment¡­)


    3. Jareth (If he notices mistakes in your project, you will be severely criticized for it¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 41 - 41: The Nightmare... Part-1.

    Competition Venue


    Mark wiped the sweat from his forehead and carefully placed the potion in a vial using a dropper.


    At his signal, Risa closed the vial with a magically enhanced wooden cork.


    "Good, it''s finally done!"


    Looking at the liquid inside the cork takes the shape of a sleeping dragon made out of flames. Just looking at it, you can tell that if you open the cork, a powerful flame will burst out and the temperature will be extremely hot.


    This potion is called ''The Sleeping Flame Dragon''; it can be used for surprise attacks on the enemy.


    All flame magicians like to carry one or two of these potions with them for emergency use.


    Mark was sure that if Jareth was the judge, he would have given a perfect score to this potion.


    But now he isn''t so sure about it.


    The whole process of their team making the potion was broadcast live so everyone looked at him with awe.


    Mark took his group and went over to the judges immediately.


    Their group was the first to finish and thus received the most attention.


    Shin took the vial in his hand and stared at the potion for a while.


    "Hmm, you guys made such a difficult potion in such a short time; you really deserve praise¡­"


    Shin nodded his head in acknowledgment and directly gave a ''9 out of 10'' score.


    "1 point deducted because the mana impurity is a little higher; you can improve it by improving your mana control over time, but again, being able to have the mana control to refine this potion is already a great feat¡­"


    Next, Thomas took the potion in his hand and observed it carefully.


    "Hmm, with the concentration of fire element in this vial, you can create an explosion with the power of a grade-4 fire magic¡­ good, it''s a good potion, you have meticulously followed all processes¡­"


    Thomas being a person who liked to stick to proper processes and rules gave a total of 9 out of 10 too.


    "1 point deducted for the lack of team coordination¡­"


    Being a grade-2 mage, it was as easy as breathing for Thomas to figure out that Mark''s team was lacking in coordination, but he didn''t blame them too much for it as all that mattered was the end result after all.


    Lastly, the professor in charge of monster anatomy observed and said with a smirk.


    "Hehe, you can certainly feed this potion to monsters and watch them writhe in pain; this is a great gem!"


    That professor gave a 10 out of 10 score to Mark''s team while smiling creepily.


    Mark knew about that professor''s weird personality so he didn''t think too much about the reason why he was smiling so creepily.


    Mark''s team''s name shined on the leaderboard and the total points ''28/30'' appeared beside the team''s name.


    Even the principal was surprised by such a high score.


    "Hmm, that kid Mark¡­ he seems to have some talent for potion making too¡­"


    The principal smiled as he stroked his long white beard with an amused expression on his face.


    ¡­


    After Mark''s team went back to their table to wait for the final results, other teams also started to bring their potions one by one.


    Only when others brought their potions did Mark see the strictness of the professors.


    "The mana is simply too impure for it to even be considered a potion; please work more on your mana control. It''s a 3/10!"


    "You didn''t even follow a single of processes properly; it''s a 2/10!"


    Barely any team got more than ten points in total and not even a single team crossed the 20-point mark on the leaderboard, thus Mark''s team remained at the first rank without any problems.


    Seeing the harsh criticism of the professors, the netizens boiled up instantly.


    "D*mn! It''s so difficult to impress the professor of the university!"


    "If I had been a student at that university, I would have failed long ago!"


    "The standards are too high for us common folks!"


    Mark is a well-known and famous talent; thus, no one doubted why Mark was highly praised, but seeing the other teams get such severe remarks, they realized why the university is so famous.


    It''s because their standards are too high.


    By the end of the event, only two other teams made it past twenty points, but Mark remained unchallenged.


    The only team left now was Allen''s team.


    ''Hmm, why are they taking so long¡­ weren''t they just making a simple ''compressed water'' potion?''


    Compressed water is a basic and very easy-to-make type of potion, you just need to gather enough water elements through the element conversion mana device given by the university and then use your mana control to compress the water elements into the vial. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This potion is used to store large amounts of water so that you can use it to replenish your water supply during longer dungeon raids.


    ''Don''t tell me they don''t have anyone with good mana control¡­ but if that is so, then wouldn''t they end up-'' (Mark)


    *Boom!*


    And Mark''s doubt turned out to be true, the vial broke apart due to the flaws in mana control and a massive amount of water burst out in an instant.


    (Obviously, how could the protagonist remain silent and not try to get as much attention as possible¡­)


    [Grade-5 Barrier Magic: Air Barrier!]


    Thomas immediately waved his hand and cast an air barrier to stop the water on the spot, so that other students don''t get swept away by it.


    "Team No. 15 disqualified¡­"


    Thomas declared the disqualification with a straightforward face, and the looks on the team members, including Allen and Airin turned sour instantly.


    With a simple wave of his hand, Thomas made the barrier in the shape of a bubble float into the air along with the water filled inside it and dumped all of the water outside the venue in an empty spot.


    From the start to the end, Thomas didn''t even move from his judging chair and did everything by simply waving his hand.


    Shin nodded his head at Thomas and said with a smile:


    "Hoho, it seems your skills have improved recently¡­"


    "It''s nothing much, just a small improvement¡­"


    ''What do you mean, little improvement!? You clearly have much purer mana than before! This is an immense improvement! Tch! He hides too deep¡­''


    Just when Shin was about to ask further questions, the wristwatch on his hand suddenly started to blink continuously with a dark red light covering its whole smart screen.


    Shin looked toward the Principal and noticed that the principal nodded at them too.


    The principal immediately got up and announced the end of the competition at that point.


    "Thanks for coming everyone, but we shall postpone this competition here, as there''s been an unexpected situation all of a sudden-"


    "KEHEKEHKEHEKEHE! What''s the hurry? How about we have a little chit-chat first?"


    Abella the ''Nightmare'' had suddenly appeared in the sky at this moment without anyone even noticing her.


    Sitting on her flying broom, a creepy smile hung over her face.


    The witch hat on her head glowed dark red as if it were dripping with fresh blood.


    The principal looked at the old witch, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.


    "What are you doing here, Abella? I didn''t expect you, of all people, to join a demon cult¡­"


    The smile on Abella''s face widened even further at Nathan''s doubtful tone.


    "Kehkehkeh¡­ well, of course, I joined the side of the great and benevolent demon god! He is the real savior of this world after all!"


    "Also, you old fox know the truth of this world better than others, but even you dare not tell it to the common folk, kehekeh¡­"


    "But I am different, I will work for this world, I will bring salvation to this corrupted world! Kehkehe! Only in the warm embrace of my demon god can this world be saved¡­"


    Nathan''s eyes widened at Abella''s words.


    "Don''t tell me you are going after the information on ''False Dome''!?"


    "Kehekeh, smart! As expected of you, Old Fox! You are smart!"


    "But my motive to come here is different, I came here to kill you first, I can deal with other things later¡­"


    Before the other professors could even react to her, Abella immediately revealed her aura and instantly suppressed everyone in the stadium.


    Shin''s eyes widened in shock as he was unable to move due to the immense pressure of a Grade-1 magician.


    Nathan waved his hand and spread his own aura to negate the effects on others.


    "You have advanced to grade-1¡­"


    A creepy smile appeared on Abella''s face as she felt amused while looking at the principal''s surprised expression.


    "KEhekeheke, of course! This is the power given by my benevolent god!"


    With a simple wave of her hand, a massive magic circle opened in the air and gigantic monsters like demon spiders, blood-hounds, and poisonous lizards were summoned by those magic circles.


    "Let me make you all remember why they call me the nightmare!"


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! And everything went out of control instantly! All plans went down the drain with the appearance of another grade 1 out of nowhere!


    Question of the day.


    Would you have bought a ticket to this venue or not if you had known that this would happen?


    1. Yes (There''s no way that the principal will lose¡­ right?)


    2. No (I would rather sit at my home to watch the show¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 42 - 42: The Nightmare... Part-2.

    A gigantic demon spider fell from the sky and landed right in front of Mark and the others.


    Its aura was so strong that it immediately made all students feel terrified.


    "Grade-4 monster!?"


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Hollow barrier!]


    Risa brought out her wand from her space ring and immediately cast a small shadow barrier to Cover Mark in it.


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Swap!]


    Before Mark could even react, Risa swapped his position with the shadow of a flower pot placed near the wall of the stadium.


    The spider''s sharp pointed feet pierced the spot where Mark had standing just a second ago and caused the ground to crack instantly.


    A massive shockwave created by that attack swept away all the nearby students, including Risa and Mark''s three lackeys.


    *KEHEKEHEKHE*


    Abella''s evil laugh rang out throughout the area as she watched the people below make fearful expressions.


    "Yes! Fear me! AH!! THIS IS THE BEST FEELING!!"


    Abella''s face turned slightly red as she saw people looking at her with fear and anxiety. (She''s messed up in her head¡­)


    "That''s enough!"


    Nathan brought out his cane from the space ring and immediately cast teleportation.


    A smile appeared on Abella''s face seeing the teleportation spell''s magic circle.


    "You think I will just stand and watch!?"


    [Summon: Mutated Space fiend!]


    A massive worm with dark black scales and a disgusting gooey liquid covering its whole body appeared out of the magic circle.


    With the appearance of the worm, the space-time fabric instantly solidified and the teleportation magic lost effect.


    Nathan''s facial expression became solemn as he watched his magic circle get broken.


    "You came well prepared, it seems¡­"


    "Kehkehkehe! Of course! I came well-prepared to kill you today! Letting me go that day was your biggest mistake!"


    Abella touched her broom and dark red blood started to flow out of the broom, The tortured souls howled in agony as they were used to summon Abella''s pets.


    [Forced Summon: Bone titan!]


    A gigantic magic circle appeared in the sky and a titan the size of a skyscraper appeared out of the gigantic magic circle.


    The bones of the titan shined with condensed miasma and the bone sword in its hand started to spread corruption everywhere instantly.


    All the professors present at the scene immediately went ahead to fight with the summoned monsters but that gigantic titan was out of their capabilities too.


    Nathan''s eyes widened as he saw the bone titan slowly moving towards him.


    "A grade-1 summon!?"


    The sky got covered with dark clouds, as if even the weather was in control of that titan.


    The principal gritted his teeth.


    [Grade-4 Wind Magic: Fly!]


    The principal elevated himself into the sky and glared at Abella with a serious expression on his face.


    "Last warning, Abella, I can let you fight with me, but not here! Let''s move the battlefield!"


    "GAHAHAHA! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! I take no orders from anyone except my benevolent god!"


    The gigantic titan immediately swung its massive sword at Nathan and the wind pressure from its sword swing alone swept away several clouds in the air.


    [Grade-2 Spatial Magic: Spatial gate!]


    Using a massive amount of mana, Nathan opened a massive spatial gate.


    The titan''s sword entered the gate and appeared from the space behind the head of the titan.


    Nathan had linked the spatial gate to the space behind the titan''s head; thus, when the sword moved, it directly struck the titan on its head itself.


    Causing the Titan to lose balance for a moment and fall to the ground.


    "Hoh! So you can still use your space magic with this space fiend being here?"


    Abella waved her hand and three more space fiends in the shape of worms appeared.


    The space-time fabric solidified even further after their appearance.


    "KEHEKHEKHE, NOW YOU CAN''t use any space-related magic below grade-1!"


    Space fiends are worm-shaped organisms; they are extremely rare, and they are so rare that finding even one of them is like winning a lottery, but Abella currently has four of them, which shows the effort she has put into finding them.


    The main ability of these types of creatures is to solidify the space-time fabric in a certain range.


    This means the Space-type magicians will be extremely restricted in the presence of these creatures.


    Moreover, the mana in the air will also become solidified, thus reducing the strength of the spells cast by the magicians in that particular area.


    Abella knew that the principal was most skilled at space magic and his other magic was not that strong; that is why she prepared all this just to restrict Nathan.


    The battle between two magicians is all about ''who can exploit the weakness of the opponent more creatively¡­'' and Abella has done it very thoroughly.


    ¡­


    Just when the gigantic spider was about to attack Risa with its pointed feet, a massive stone in the shape of an arrow hit the spider and caused a small wound on its stomach.


    [Grade-5 Stone Magic: Stone Arrow!]


    (Don''t underestimate this simple attack; the speed of this gigantic stone arrow was nearly the same as a bullet fired from a sniper rifle¡­ yet it did negligible damage¡­)


    The spider immediately got angered by that sneak attack and immediately fired a massive thread-like substance from her back toward Mark.


    [Grade-5 Stone Magic: Stone wall!]


    The thread-like substance instantly collided with the wall and broke it apart easily, as if the stone wall were made of cardboard.


    [Basic-Magic: Float!]


    Still, the wall gave Mark enough time to cast a basic level spell and he immediately floated in the air, successfully avoiding the attack without getting injured.


    "Mark! Don''t stay here! Run! I will distract the spider!"


    Mark simply ignored her words, as he didn''t want to abandon her behind.


    He knew that Risa had swapped his position earlier because she wanted him to run away from this place, but he didn''t want to agree with her.


    ''I won''t run away, If I ran away today, I would not be able to call myself a genius anymore¡­''


    The Mark in the original game''s timeline was a competitive and mischievous guy who always opposed the protagonist at every choice, but now that Mark has started thinking of Jareth as his idol, Mark''s view of the world has changed a lot.


    ''If I can''t face the monsters like him, will I still be able to surpass him one day?''


    Mark has seen Jareth face overwhelming monsters without batting an eye; he also wants to follow in Jareth''s footsteps.


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Mud coils!]


    The ground beneath the gigantic spider instantly turned into mud and tentacles made of mud instantly wrapped around the spider to restrict its movements.


    Even while restricted by the mud, the spider still forcefully started to move towards Mark in anger.


    ''Of course, you won''t be done in by just this¡­''


    [Grade-5 Stone Magic: Stone Rain!]


    Ten small magic circles appeared beside Mark and started to firestone bullets at the spider at a speed much faster than bullets fired by a Gatling gun!


    The Spider tried to resist the raining stones by covering its eyes with its front legs, but before it could even raise its legs, Risa seized this golden opportunity instantly.


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Binding!]


    A thick shadow rope bound the spider''s front legs and stopped it from covering its mouth and eyes.


    Mark didn''t miss either; his stone bullets directly hit the eyes of the spider, instantly blinding it.


    Other students were not idiots either; they also came over to help.


    Airin placed her wand on the ground.


    [Grade-6 Wood Magic: Suffocating Tree Bindings!]


    Allen, the protagonist, finally came in clutch and cast his wind magic to make the spider open its mouth forcefully.


    Then Aiza and Allen both fired intense Fire magic into the mouth of the spider together.


    [Fire Magic: Combination Spell: Fire Beam!]


    With the efforts of all the students combined, they finally managed to defeat the demon spider before their mana ran out.


    With the combined efforts, they burned the spider from the inside out, killing it in the most horrible way possible.


    "Phew~"


    Mark heaved a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.


    Just when he was about to wave his hand at Risa to thank her for the help, the body of the spider started to twitch all of a sudden.


    Gigantic tentacles made of miasma broke out of its body and started to wriggle violently.


    In the shocked eyes of the students, the dead spider slowly got up as miasma started to cover its whole body.


    "It''s turning into a zombie!?"


    Just when Mark and the other students were about to collapse under its massive aura, a condensed icicle came flying and directly froze the whole spider on the spot.


    Before the students could react, the frozen ice broke apart, killing the spider inside in an instant.


    "You kids, evacuate now, we professors have evacuated most of the civilians, now you guys should leave too¡­"


    Blood dripped from Shin''s forehead and even his whole body was smeared in monster blood, yet his face remained as calm as always.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that things are getting really chaotic now, let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Would you like to fire a Gatling-like stone magic too?


    1. Yes (FREEEEDOOOMMMM!!)


    2. Yeah (What the f*ck is a kilometer!! Rrraaaaghhhh!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 43 - 43: The Nightmare... Part-3.

    In the sky above the competition venue.


    *Boom!*


    The bone sword of the titan hit with a gigantic wind lance and created a massive shockwave in the sky; the sound produced by that collision killed all birds flying in the sky nearby.


    [Summon: Snake guardian!]


    A gigantic snake the size about half a kilometer appeared in the sky and started to fall.


    Nathan immediately aimed at the snake and tried to chant magic, but before he could do so, the bone titan immediately struck him with his bone sword, destroying one of the magic barriers around the principal.


    "Tch!"


    ''She''s doing it on purpose!''


    Nathan knew that Abella was purposely using that snake to distract him.


    But Nathan had no choice either; if that snake fell, it would kill many civilians below.


    "KEKEHEKHE! I won''t let you save anyone! Watch them die miserable as you meet your end!"


    Just when the snake was about to fall on the houses of the civilians. Shin in the sky and cast his magic.


    [Grade-2 Frost Magic: Heavenly Frost Spear!]


    A gigantic spear made of condensed ice burst forth from the ground and directly pierced the snake, instantly freezing it in the sky.


    The acidic blood of the snake started to flow out from the wound and it directly melted the snow before Shin could even react.


    The acidic blood fell down, instantly killing tens of people by melting them into a puddle of meat.


    Some of the acid even Fell on Shin''s magic barrier and directly melted the barrier.


    Shin barely dodged it after the acid scratched his forehead a little bit.


    Blood dripped from his wound, but Shin''s expression remained calm.


    He waved his wand and cast another spell.


    [Grade-2 Frost magic: Ice umbrella!]


    A gigantic umbrella made of ice appeared out of the magic circle and stopped the falling acid from killing any more innocent people.


    The family members of the people who died miserably cried while looking at their relatives and friends who were reduced to a puddle of burnt meat.


    Shin had to cast three more spells just to permanently freeze the acidic blood and kill the snake properly.


    He had to do this all while ignoring the happy laughter of Abella, who was smiling at the misery of the innocent people below.


    Thomas and other professors were not faring much well either.


    Some were trying to evacuate people; some were killing the monsters that were flooding out of those gigantic summoning circles.


    Shin went over to help the students when he saw the demon spider turning into a zombie.


    He then cast magic barriers on all students before helping them evacuate.


    Although the students also wanted to help out, this battlefield was just too dangerous for them to do anything. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even the weakest monster summoned by Abella is a grade-4 beast.


    All the professors were trying their best yet they were not able to save the lives of many innocent people who came to watch the competition.


    Some were eaten alive, some were turned into minced meat under the feet of the poisonous Lizard demons and some were ripped apart by the demon hounds.


    Hundreds of corpses with broken and incomplete bodies could be seen all over the stadium.


    Eyeballs, guts, and human organs were splattered all over the ground.


    Demon spiders sucking on the brain matter of dead bodies and demon hounds spitting fire all over the stadium and the nearby streets outside.


    Looking at all this, Mark and the other students could not help but relate this scenery to hell on Earth.


    Fortunately, the magic alliance sent reinforcements on time and started to evacuate people in a ten-kilometer radius.


    Shin handed over the students to the reinforcements and went back to fight and provide support.


    But before he went back, he informed the reinforcements that they needed to send mages over to the university as that place was also under attack.


    Shin had no time to think and wait; he immediately flew back to help evacuate as many people as possible.


    ''Sh*t, Reinforcements may take time; you better not Die on me, Jareth! We still have a score to settle!''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in the University.


    "Hoh¡­ So your home is near a river filled with dark water?"


    Jareth sipped tea as he sat under the shade of a tree along with the two muscular brothers.


    "Yes! Lucas and I live in a huge room there!"


    "Yes! Big brother Jacob even has a giant sword of his own! That scary uncle gave it to him!"


    The twin brothers described their home base with exaggerated expressions on their faces as they munched down on the pastries placed over the table.


    The chair they were given seemed too small for their huge bodies, and the scene of them eating like little kids seemed so comical from the distance.


    The kitchen staff member stood beside Jareth with his forehead dripping with sweat.


    There was only one thought in his mind right now.


    ''How the f*ck did I got stuck with these monsters!?''


    Just a while ago, Jareth asked the kitchen staff to arrange food for these two shady-looking guys and he had to stand and serve the food.


    This was the most dangerous job he had taken in his life.


    As someone qualified to work in the most prestigious university, the staff member is a grade-5 warrior himself.


    He can feel his whole body scream at him to run away from these two giant monsters instantly.


    The only reason why he still dared to stay on his legs without fainting was because Jareth was sitting right beside him.


    He knows full well about Jareth''s magical capabilities, that''s the only reason why he still has hope in his eyes for survival, otherwise, he would have run away long ago.


    From the earlier conversation, the staff member misunderstood that Jareth was trying to extract information from these two men and was being hospitable on purpose.


    On the other hand, Jareth was merely trying to stall for time as he was waiting for the other professors to come to his rescue.


    But after nearly half an hour passed with no one coming, Jareth seemed to have figured out the ins and outs of the situation.


    ''D*mn! They are all frauds! They said they will come back instantly, What the f*ck are those frauds doing now!?''


    The two guys ate all of the food available at the university in just half an hour without even hesitating; they didn''t even care if it was poisonous or not, as they are completely immune to poisons and various other debuffs.


    Then the younger brother, whose name is Lucas, brought out a magic scroll from his pocket.


    "Ah, I nearly forgot that big sis Abella said that we should use this scroll to find our prey!"


    Before Jareth could stop Lucas, the other party ripped the scroll, and a dark magic circle instantly appeared in the air.


    ''Sigh~ in the end, the worst-case scenario still happened?''


    Jareth glanced at the innocent kitchen staff member and waved his hand at him.


    "Go, this place is about to get chaotic soon¡­ also, ask the maintenance staff to prepare for massive renovations¡­"


    The confused guy slowly left after hearing Jareth''s words.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Barrier!]


    Jareth cast a basic spell on himself and continued to sip his tea.


    The dark magic circle shined ominously and immediately pointed towards Jareth.


    The eyes of the twins instantly changed into dark red as if they had gone mad; blood flowed out of their nostrils and ears.


    *Grrrarraaaaasgggg!!!*


    The two brothers started to scream at the sky loudly like mad wolves.


    They immediately lost their sanity when the dark magic circle deemed Jareth as their enemy.


    ''Sigh¡­ The lives of innocent people are considered so worthless in this cruel world¡­''


    Seeing the two innocent guys turn into mad beasts hungry for his blood in such a short time, Jareth couldn''t help but feel the seriousness of this world.


    He knew about the lore of this world, but seeing it all happen with his own eyes was still shocking.


    The abdominal muscles of the two brothers burst apart and huge tentacles made of miasma burst out of their stomachs.


    The organs and intestines of the two brothers flew out and splattered all over the ground, turning the ground into dark red with their blood.


    Jareth is not a good person either, he is watching all of this happen while sipping tea peacefully, he even cast the magic barrier as he knew that blood may stain his clothes.


    While working for a shady company in his past life, Jareth had seen his fair share of questionable things; he isn''t an innocent person either.


    ''Ah¡­ Forgive me, Shiina, for I am tainted with darkness too¡­ I have slaughtered even children''s now... sigh...''


    Jareth placed the empty teacup on the table and got up with a determined look on his face.


    ''If I can''t run away, I might as well just get involved in it myself¡­ this is the perfect opportunity to test out the skills that I trained so painstakingly¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Maybe Shiina was the one who was keeping Jareth sane, now she is gone he may as well become crazy himself¡­


    Question of the day.


    Which side of Jareth do you like the most?


    1. Villainous side (I like it when he conspires like a true villain¡­)


    2. Overpowered side (I like it when he blasts off his enemies in one go!)


    3. Others (Tell me about it in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 44 - 44: Broken! Mana singularity is too broken!! Part-1.

    The strength of ''Basic Magic'' entirely depends on three key things.


    One, the ''int'' stat or mental prowess of the sorcerer.


    Two, the ''proficiency'' in basic magic of the sorcerer.


    And last but the most important, ''Mana Control'' of the sorcerer.


    A sorcerer who excels in all of these three key things will obviously be able to cast basic magic so strong that even higher-grade individuals will have difficulty dealing with him.


    Jareth has the passive skill ''Sharp mind'' which boosts his mental prowess when casting magic, and as he has always been very untalented at fire magic, he has always used basic magic to do his bidding.


    Thus his proficiency in basic magic could be said to be in a league of his own.


    With the addition of mana Singularity, Jareth''s basic magic has strengthened a hundredfold, which means his basic magic is nearly at the level of a semi-grade 1 sorcerer now.


    Moreover, due to Mana singularity, Jareth''s control over his own mana is so high that he can theoretically never run out of mana as he can simply force the mana in the atmosphere to enter his body at any time.


    In other words, after casting the basic spell ''Mana shield'', Jareth became effectively ''immortal''.


    *Boom!*


    Jacob punched toward Jareth but the mana shield, which was nearly indestructible for him instantly blocked the attack.


    The force of that punch stirred the air and created a massive sonic boom, causing a gigantic shockwave in the air.


    The trees, the table, the chair, etc. everything was swept away due to the air pressure, but Jareth stood unharmed.


    Right now, unless you attack Jareth with an attack at the level of grade 1 or higher, it''s impossible to break through his mana shield.


    Even if you damage his shield he can repair it with mana again, and as his mana can never run out, thus, unless it''s a single massive damage attack, Jareth can''t die.


    "Is that all?"


    [Basic Magic: Mana beam!]


    A magic circle the size of a one-story building appeared beside Jareth and fired a massive beam of condensed mana at the twin brothers.


    The beam was so strong that it obliterated everything in its way and split the whole garden of the university into two.


    The ground cracked and debris flew everywhere at a speed faster than sound itself.


    *Boom!*


    The younger brother Lucas launched at Jareth, and with mana-infused punches, he launched a huge barrage of attacks on Jareth.


    [Berserker Style Martial arts: Crazed Punch barrage!]


    Even with those attacks, Jareth stood unharmed as his mana shield didn''t even budge.


    ''With that ''tanky'' body, of course, you won''t die so easily¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand and three more magic circles appeared in the air.


    Each one was the size of a one-story building, and all of them aimed at the younger brother at once.


    [Basic Magic: Mana beam Gatling!]


    *Boom!**Booom!*


    Hundreds of condensed mana beams the size of a building caused a massive, concentrated bombardment on Lucas continuously.


    The bombardment of mana beams caused the mana in the whole area to become chaotic and even the people inside university buildings could feel the changes in the atmosphere.


    That bombardment was so strong that it caused a small-scale earthquake each time the four mana beams hit the ground along with Lucas.


    Even the buildings of the university started to tremble at Jareth''s relentless attacks.


    The outer walls of the university already collapsed due to the continuous shockwaves produced by those mana beams.


    The barrage continued on and on for ten seconds.


    In those ten seconds, Jareth fired nearly a thousand mana beams on Lucas at point-blank range.


    Jacob, who was earlier blasted off by a beam, couldn''t do anything to save his younger brother and was only able to watch him get slaughtered by Jareth mercilessly.


    Once Jareth stopped his attacks, a gigantic crater filled with molten rocks and charred soil appeared in the view.


    *step**step*


    With the usual cold look on his face, Jareth slowly walked over to the edge of the crater and glanced down.


    What came into view was the ashes of Lucas''s body, which was so heavily bombarded by the mana beams that not even his bones were left, just some scattered ash.


    Seeing the horrible demise of his younger brother, Jacob instantly went mad, The miasma tentacles started to wrap over his body and his already gigantic body bulged up in size even more.


    ''He willingly accepted the corrosion after seeing me kill his brother?''


    A smirk appeared over Jareth''s face as he watched the dark and sticky miasma slowly cover Jacob''s body.


    ''You think you will be able to kill me that way?''


    "Useless¡­"


    Jareth raised his hand towards the sky and cast the spell:


    [Basic Magic: Glowing mana orb!]


    A magic circle the size of a gigantic skyscraper appeared in the sky right above Jareth''s head.


    ¡­


    (Sudden info dump!)


    [Spell Name: Glowing Mana orb]


    [Spell Type: Basic magic]


    [The glowing mana orb is a spell used like a torch. It is used as a light source while walking in a dark underground area or any other dark place with no source of light.]


    [Effect: Works as a torch and a light source. Also, ''it mildly repels darkness''¡­]


    ¡­


    Jareth knew that this spell could ''Mildly'' repel darkness, but he also knew one key thing, and that is, when he casts a basic magic-type spell, his spells can be enhanced due to the effects of ''Mana Singularity''.


    In other words, the spell that Jareth cast, produced a glowing mana orb so strong that its darkness-repelling abilities instantly got enhanced by a hundred times.


    The gigantic mana orb floating in the sky shined so brightly that it seemed a second sun had appeared out of nowhere.


    Its rays of light, which were condensed with mana, instantly landed on Jacob''s body, which was covered with darkness and started to burn it thoroughly.


    "GGGGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"


    As his body started to burn, Jacob screamed in great pain and agony, to which Jareth could only shake his head.


    ''Don''t worry, I will purify the darkness inside you with my own hands, let this take you to a happy afterlife¡­'' S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jacob''s screams of agony rang out far and wide, even the people on the streets heard his wails and felt like their ears might burst apart from that loud sound.


    Moreover, anyone who looked at Jareth''s glowing orb went blind for nearly three hours as a side-effect.


    *Gggggaaaaaahhhhhhhrrrrrr*


    With yet another beastly roar, Jacob''s body evaporated into thin air as he died miserable under the intense light of that glowing orb.


    Jareth waved his hand and made the mana orb disappear, as he figured out that his work here was done.


    ''Phew~ it took a lot of effort to get his done¡­ but I guess I have a strong footing in this world now¡­''


    ¡­


    (Info dumps)


    When Jareth started training he noticed a major difference from the game.


    Ever since he got mana singularity, his basic magic had become exaggerated and extremely strong.


    In the game, basic magic was there for just show and it never became strong no matter what.


    The game mechanics and restrictions were suppressing the basic magic and weren''t letting it bring out its true potential.


    Even if you get mana singularity in the game, your basic magic could never improve, only attributed magic could be enhanced.


    But this bug has been fixed in the real world.


    Now that Jareth is in the real world and not in a game, reality will follow the rules of its own.


    Mana singularity now applies to basic magic too, and the combination of mana singularity and basic magic is just straight-up overpowered and broken.


    You don''t need to improve your grade to upgrade your basic magic, all you need is a stronger mind and a higher proficiency.


    Although this sounds easy to achieve, Jareth was only able to do it because of how things aligned so perfectly for him.


    If he had possessed the body of someone else other than Jareth, he wouldn''t have had the passive skill ''sharp mind'' and the high proficiency of the original Jareth in basic magic.


    At that point, even if he had gotten mana singularity, without the other two things, it would have been useless.


    But Jareth didn''t face this worst-case scenario and luckily possessed the body of Jareth Blaze who already had the qualifications to become extremely strong at basic magic.


    All he needed was a push, and that push came when mana singularity entered the scene.


    Thus, even the weak third-rate villain, Jareth Blaze became as broken as any other grade-2 mage without even needing to use the attack card anymore.


    ¡­


    (Back to chapter)


    Standing near the ashes of Jacob''s body, Jareth''s facial expression remained as cold as always, he glanced at the setting sun and thought to himself.


    ''Hmm... do I even need the attack card anymore?''


    Jareth was now satisfied with his improvement.


    Although Jareth had technically cheated his way out, no one would believe that Jareth achieved all of this in just a month or so.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! D*mn! Who could have thought that all this while, Jareth was really cooking up something so fire! All hail Jareth the goat!


    Question of the day.


    Were you surprised at how Jareth overpowered those twin brothers so easily?


    1. Yes (D*mn, the author has cooked up something good!)


    2. Yeah! (We believed in the author''s cooking skills¡­ and see! The author really cooked something spicy!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 45 - 45: Broken! Mana Singularity is too broken! Part-2.

    The enigmatic cult known as "False Dome" established a death squad, of which Jacob and Lucas were both a part.


    Lucas and Jacob were orphans who were living a normal and peaceful life free from any worries; however, it is possible that their luck was just too bad on ''that'' day.


    In the middle of the night, the followers of the False Dome cult abducted both of them and took them away.


    Due to the fact that they were only seven years old, both of them were completely defenseless against the members of the cult, and there was no way for them to escape easily.


    The subsequent events consisted of a horrifying form of torture and an endless series of experiments.


    Hundreds of excruciating experiments were carried out on the twins by the crazed leader of the cult, who was obsessed with the idea of combining miasma with living humans while also trying to reduce the negative effects of the process.


    Out of the thousand kidnapped children, only five of the children who were kidnapped from all over the empire were able to stay alive by the time the experiment was over.


    Some passed away as a result of failed experiments, while others died as a result of shock, heart attack, or internal bleeding.


    Even among the five children who survived the experiment, they had all been subjected to severe mental traumas, which caused their minds to enter a state of shock and prevented them from ever maturing beyond their initial age.


    Because of this, Lucas and Jacob''s minds were still those of children, despite the fact that their bodies had already reached the age of twenty by this point.


    Currently, the leader of the cult maintains a death squad consisting of these five individuals who are mentally disabled.


    From time to time, he dispatches them to carry out the assassinations of influential individuals.


    If they are somehow able to survive, a teleportation circle will materialize with the purpose of transporting them back to the primary base.


    Following that, the leader of the cult heals them and puts them to use once more.


    There is no end to this cycle unless they pass away while on some mission.


    Among the five children who managed to escape alive, two had already passed away while on their mission, and two more passed away today as a result of Jareth''s onslaught on them.


    There is only one of them who is still alive at this time.


    ¡­


    ''If my memory serve me right... Jacob and Lucas were late-game mini-bosses; if you kill one of them, the other one will power up and attack you like crazy with their increased strength....''


    It is possible that if you kill any of the brothers, the brother who is still alive will absorb the strength of the brother who has passed away through the soul connection that exists between them.


    This will make the fight against the boss more challenging.


    A great number of players encountered quite a bit of difficulty when battling these two in the game.


    While it is true that you are unable to stop the ''cut scene'' in the game in which one brother absorbs another, this was not exactly the case in real life.


    As soon as Jareth laid eyes on the two of them earlier, he immediately began formulating a strategy in his head.


    So, in order to prevent the power from being absorbed, Jareth utterly destroyed Lucas''s body into nothingness and transformed it into fly ash.


    Nothing was left behind as a result of such intense bombardment, which caused the energy that was contained within Lucas''s dead body to disperse before it could even be absorbed by Jacob.


    "However, that dark phase was actually quite unexpected, even for me."


    As this is the real world now, everything is open to new possibilities, and by preventing Jacob from absorbing the power of his brother, Jareth triggered one such unique possibility.


    The cult leader''s experiments led to Jacob''s partial fusion with the miasma; however, it was impossible for Jacob to fully meld with the miasma without his mental health deteriorating severely.


    There was a small amount of sanity that Jacob maintained for the sake of his younger brother, Lucas.


    However, after Lucas passed away, Jacob lost his sanity, and miasma took control of his entire body, which corrupted him from the inside out.


    ''Thankfully, I now possess mana singularity; if it weren''t for that glowing orb, I would have had to use the attack enhancement card...''


    Non-attributed magic, also known as basic magic, can''t fight against miasma in an effective manner.


    Jareth''s mana beams would have had no effect on Jacob, even if he had bombarded him like he did on Lucas.


    It would have been possible for Jareth to effectively counter miasma if he had used his fire magic, but unfortunately, his fire magic was not powerful enough to accomplish that.


    "Well, it''s a good thing that I was able to save the attack enhancement card; it''s better to keep such a good thing safe, after all, who knows when I will end up in another trouble-"


    *Boom!*


    A huge beam of condensed miasma came flying and hit the ground fifty meters ahead of Jareth.


    This caused a significant amount of debris to fly into the air.


    "D*mn you! old fox!"


    In the sky above the university, Abella, the nightmare, appeared and Nathan seemed to be pursuing her.


    Abella waved her hand and a dark magic circle fired a massive beam made of condensed maisma towards the principal.


    In an effort to eliminate the miasma beam that was coming from Abella''s magic broom, the principal waved his wand and constructed a massive spatial gate.


    Once more, Abella''s beam was teleported away and landed on the ground close to Jareth.


    Shin, along with the other professors, appeared in the sky and landed close to Jareth, when he was uncertain about what was happening.


    Shin''s expression changed to one of skepticism when he realized that Jareth had not sustained any injuries at all.


    "Did they not attack the university?"


    To that question, Jareth responded with his usual arrogant tone:


    "Hmph, of course it got attacked; you guys are so slow and useless that I ended up killing the attackers on my own..."


    Following that, Jareth looked at the other professors with a disdainful expression on his face and pointed to the two piles of ashes nearby.


    The mocking tone that Jareth used caused Shin to become instantly enraged, and blood vessels began to appear on his face.


    "Tch! We had a difficult time with it too, you know!... We had to deal with an endless number of grade two and grade three monsters... because that d*mn witch bounced so many summons on us out of nowhere!"


    Even Thomas nodded his head in acknowledgement at Shin''s words.


    "Yes, despite the fact that the grade-2 monsters in her arsenal are much weaker, the total number of them is still quite substantial..."


    The excuses that both of them offered were completely disregarded by Jareth, who instead came up with a question of his own.


    "In that case, how did the battlefield move to this location in the first place?"


    Jareth slightly glanced in the direction from where two grade 1''s came from, and sure enough, several of the civilian houses were completely destroyed in that direction.


    This means Nathan and Abella have caused the deaths of many people as a result of their battle''s collateral damage.


    Shin noticed Jareth''s gaze and realized what he was thinking about.


    "As the principal pursued Abella through the air, we made every effort to reduce the number of casualties as much as possible..."


    "However, there were still some powerful attacks that were able to penetrate our defenses and result in the deaths of a great number of innocent people..."


    Thomas glanced at Jareth and said in a solemn tone: Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Earlier, when you used that strange purification spell, the bone titan and other monster summoned by Abella were suppressed for a few seconds, that gave the principal a great opportunity to counterattack¡­"


    "He was able to deal with that bone titan because your spell suppressed that bone titan¡­. By the way, what kind of spell was that?"


    Jareth tilted his head and said in his usual cold tone,


    "Considering that you are a professor yourself... are you not aware that it was nothing more than basic grade magic?"


    "Well¡­ it certainly did look like the ''glowing mana orb''... but I have never seen such a massive glowing mana orb¡­"


    Before Thomas could ask anything else, Shin intervened in the conversation.


    "Ugh¡­ don''t think too much about it¡­ this guy''s spells are all so mutated¡­ it was same with that dragon roar spell back in the dungeon too¡­"


    "He seems to be obsessed with practicing low-level spells to the extreme¡­"


    The misunderstanding that Shin has of Jareth is that ''he is a magic freak who enjoys practicing low-level spells to the point of extremes.''


    According to him, the reason why Jareth''s low-level spells are so powerful is because he has practiced them to the point where they are beyond their limit.


    ''Only insane people could make such a decision... Despite his outward appearance, he may be a complete maniac on the inside...''


    Even Thomas was also quite impressed after hearing Shin''s words.


    ''Indeed, low-level spells are easy to cast and take less time and mana; moreover, if you practice them to the extreme, like Jareth¡­ they might really become as lethal as any other grade-2 spells¡­''


    Unaware of the inner conflicts of the professors, Jareth, who had technically cheated his way to the top, was experiencing a lot of internal conflict at the moment.


    ''Ugh... I spent an excessive amount of mana on those enormous mana beams; it will take a few more minutes to replenish it to its full capacity...''


    *Boom!* *Crack!* *Crack!*


    Just as Jareth thought things were slowly coming to an end, massive tree vines burst out of the main building of the university.


    A figure that was dressed in a dark black robe flew out of the building like a cannonball and collided with the walls of the building that was on the other side.


    The ground beneath Jareth''s feet began to rumble all of a sudden, and thick tree roots began to emerge from the ground at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    In order to avoid being struck by those tree roots, Jareth immediately flew into the air, and the other professors followed suit shortly after.


    "This is¡­ Professor Aria''s magic!"


    "Oh wait! That black shadow¡­ Why does it look similar to Abella!? Is that a clone!?"


    As Jareth watched the scene devolve into chaos once more, he couldn''t help but feel irritated in his mind.


    ''Ah sh*t! here we go again!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that troubles will continue for a while longer and won''t let Jareth rest this easily¡­


    Question of the day.


    Do you also think that Jacob and Lucas were really miserable?


    1. Yes (How dare you give them such a tragic backstory, author!!)


    2. Yeah! (Hey, somebody, stop the author! he''s cooking too much now!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation

 Chapter 46 - 46: Broken! Mana Singularity is too Broken! Part-3.

    Half an hour ago.


    When Jareth was still fighting the two brothers, he did not notice a dark, black shadow enter the university building quietly.


    The shadow lacked facial features and wore a black cloak covered in black mist. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Surprisingly, the shadow''s physical structure resembled Abella.


    And, sure enough, Abella created this shadow.


    She utilized forbidden dark magic to detach a piece of her soul and transplant it into a dark magic-enhanced doll.


    Her powerful soul molded the doll into her body shape, giving it such unique characteristics.


    Abella can control her shadow from thousands of kilometers away, allowing her to sneak into any well-protected location.


    As this doll retains a portion of her soul, it has its own will and can make independent emergency decisions.


    The doll lacks mana circuits; therefore, mana detection cannot detect it.


    Even still, Abella had to get the principal away from university because it''s highly likely that he could notice the doll in some way.


    Thus, she dispatched her main body to battle the principle and keep him busy, while her shadow sneaked into the campus.


    Jareth could have spotted the small traces of mana on the doll, but he was too preoccupied with the twins to notice the shadow.


    The shadow entered the university''s main building and began to move stealthily toward the principal''s office.


    She needed to steal the secret library''s keys, because without them, even a grade-1 magician would take a long time to open the magic seal on the door of the secret library.


    When the shadow doll was going to sneak into the principal''s office, Aria, who had been depressed for the previous few days, came over to retrieve the smartphone she had left there.


    The shadow quickly created a knife from the residual mist surrounding its body and launched a surprise attack on Aria.


    Aria is a coward when it comes to fighting and killing, yet she is a genuine grade-2 mage who can maintain a mana barrier around herself at all times, much like other high-ranking mages.


    *weng!*


    Thus, when the shadow doll attacked Aria, its knife met with the mana barrier and came to a halt in mid-air, prompting Aria to go into alert mode immediately.


    "Wh-what!?"


    The shadow doll fled quickly after realizing its attack had failed.


    The shadow doll dashed towards the adjoining student classes, where other lower-grade wizards were instructing the less gifted kids.


    (The academy''s 13 grade-2 mages only educate the most gifted students, while lower grade wizards teach the others.)


    Aria raced behind the shadow as she noticed it running.


    But the shadow doll was faster than her; it entered a classroom and grabbed the nearest student''s neck, then placed the knife on the student''s neck, threatening the professor with the student''s life.


    Aria entered the room and yelled at the shadow doll impatiently.


    "Stop! Do not put your hands on the students!"


    The shadow doll ignored Aria''s words and slowly retreated, holding the pupil hostage.


    Because the shadow doll has free will, it does not want to die; instead, it wishes to live


    And if it does die, the soul fragment of Abella in its body will vanish, causing significant harm to the main body.


    Abella did not want to hurt her soul while still fighting Nathan.


    Thus, when the shadow doll became stuck in a tight position, Abella''s primary body chose to fly towards the university in an attempt to rescue it.


    But Nathan didn''t let her do what she wanted; instead, he pursued her and continued to fire deadly spatial spells.


    This resulted in a stalemate; both of them refused to let go of each other and kept pressing with magic bombardment heavily.


    But the deadlock was broken when the shadow pulled out a teleportation scroll from her coat and attempted to flee with the hostage.


    Aria realized how dark and deadly the cult was; she knew that if the shadow doll succeeded in taking the student, that student would most certainly be unable to live peacefully again.


    Aria''s fear peaked when the shadow accidentally slashed the student''s throat while attempting to activate the teleportation scroll.


    When someone''s anxiousness reaches a breaking point, their thinking becomes chaotic.


    "NOO! I won''t let you!!"


    Aria lost her temper and promptly used her strongest spell.


    [Grade-2 Wood Magic: Absolute tree of bindings!]


    Not only did she unleash her most powerful magic, but she continued to pour her entire mana into the tree as if she had gone mad.


    A large magic circle appeared, and massive tree roots and stems began to stream out of it in a second.


    One of the tree stems went directly at the head of the shadow, hitting it with such force that the shadow doll rocketed away like a cannonball, breaking through the building wall in an instant.


    Aria''s wood magic did not end there; in her fright and distress, she lost control of her own mana and poured an excessive amount of mana into the magic circle, causing it to overload.


    While the tree roots burst through the floor and dug into the ground, the tree''s shoots broke through the roof and began to grow upward.


    Eventually, giant tree branches filled the entire sky above the institution, blocking the sun''s rays.


    Even Abella and Nathan, who were fighting in the sky, were taken aback when they saw the massive tree.


    Taking advantage of Nathan''s momentary hesitation, Abella dropped down quickly and snatched the broken shadow doll before flying away at incredible speed.


    ...


    Originally, Abella''s strategy was foolproof; she knew that if she could discover the keys in the principal''s office, they were probably in Nathan''s space ring, so she began a two-front attack.


    Even if one of her bodies succeeds, the other will be able to escape in time.


    What she didn''t expect was the unpredictable element known as Jareth.


    She sent Jacob and Lucas, two grade-2 warriors, to deal with him, but Jareth not only survived but also counterattacked and killed those two brothers.


    Furthermore, his glowing mana ball magic triggered a significant suppression on the bone titan, allowing the principal to score the victory.


    Nathan instantly destroyed those space-stabilizing worms, restoring the potency of his spells, and then launched an unrelenting barrage on Abella.


    In other words, Jareth inadvertently thwarted Abella''s intention to assassinate the principal by casting some basic magic.


    After the shadow doll''s unsuccessful plot, Abella had to fly away quickly to distance herself from Nathan and use the teleportation scroll.


    Jareth shook his head as he watched the fading figures of Abella and Nathan in the sky before diving down to deal with the chaos below.


    Shin and Thomas both were shocked while looking at that tree.


    "Ugh¡­ Despite using magic, this tree continues to grow...Unless she stops pouring more mana, it won''t stop..."


    "I can temporarily control its growth by casting a barrier, but she is using too much mana... She has most certainly lost control of herself... It will be tough to stop her now."


    Jareth scoffed at the two and remarked,


    "You people are always so useless..."


    [Basic Magic: Mana Barrier!]


    Jareth created an unbreakable mana barrier for himself and entered the university building via the broken wall.


    Using the float spell, he quickly approached Aria.


    Although many of the unrestrained tree branches attempted to bind him on the spot, Jareth successfully evaded them.


    Because of mana singularity, his basic magic has become stronger overall, including his float spell.


    He can effortlessly fly and avoid the branches.


    After a few seconds of flight, Jareth approached Aria, who had become unconscious while standing in front of a massive magic circle.


    The magic circle launched numerous tree branches and roots toward Jareth, but he effortlessly avoided them by shifting the direction of his float magic.


    Jareth placed his hand on the magic circle as soon as he reached its edge.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Interruption!]


    Jareth''s mana interruption ability had advanced to a new level as a result of mana singularity.


    He simply disrupted the mana flow in the magic circle, preventing it from operating.


    After losing its mana supply, the massive tree comprised of condensed mana began to lose shape as the mana within it dissipated in the air.


    ''Phew, finally done...''


    Although it took a lot of effort, Jareth was able to survive through this whole ordeal.


    His mana was already running low after fighting those twins and now that he had to deal with Aria''s spell, his mana was already down to just one percent.


    He can''t even keep up the mana barrier now. He needs atleast a few minutes to barely recover enough mana to cast the mana barrier again.


    ''Sigh... Once this is over, I must somehow improve my mana capacity...''


    ...


    ...


    Author''s notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Jareth has finally ended all the chaos happening in the university, let''s see what happens next¡­


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also think that Jareth should add mana interruption in his actual combat?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 47 - 47: The Nightmare ends...

    Aria''s body fell to the floor as her wand lost its mana output.


    She had already gone unconscious the moment her mana went out of her control, it will take her quite a few days to recover.


    As he was done with the work, Jareth straightened up his unkempt clothes and decided to leave.


    But Just when Jareth was about to leave, Shin came over to irritate Jareth again.


    "Hey, you aren''t supposed to leave a lady defenseless like that¡­ how about sending her to the infirmary or something?"


    Jareth shook his head at those words immediately.


    "I will pass, you do it¡­ I am out of mana anyway¡­"


    "Who are you kidding? I know you definitely have tons of mana left¡­ I am the one who is actually out of mana! I had to cast grade-2 spells over and over to keep the endless hoard of monster at bay¡­"


    "Forget it then, let her catch up on her sleep, you do the same¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand and left without even looking back, he needed time to recover his mana, so there was no point in standing there and bickering with Shin.


    "Tch! You are so heartless, bruh!"


    "I am not your ''bruh''¡­ the heir of the Isaz family is indeed lacking in manners¡­"


    Thomas, who came over a bit later, shook his head in helplessness when he saw Jareth and Shin bicker like that while standing near an unconscious Aria.


    ''If people saw them, they will misunderstand that these two caused Aria to faint by making her listen to their endless bickering¡­''


    "hah! Then prove that you indeed like ''woman'' and are a true man! by carrying her in your own arms!"


    "Like I said, I don''t have any interest in carrying her to the infirmary; you do it yourself¡­"


    "Nah, bruh, I don''t believe ya anymore! Are you even a man!? Can''t you see that there''s a helpless maiden in distress right here!?"


    "At least she is not as helpless in terms of brain power when compared to you!"


    "The heck are you even talking about!? I clearly am considered better than all of the professors by the students! They prefer me more!"


    "That''s because you get swayed by the simple compliments they throw at your face!"


    A complicated look appeared on Thomas''s face as he heard them bring random bullsh*t into their bickering.


    ''Ugh, these two will tarnish the image of all grade-2 magicians if someone heard them talk like this¡­''


    (Actually, Jareth doesn''t want to bother with dealing taking extra work on his hand, anyway he doesn''t give a sh*t about Aria in the first place...)


    Just when Shin was about to come up with a counter, Jareth suddenly looked in a certain direction and narrowed his eyes.


    "hmm?¡­"


    Shin and Thomas instantly took a defensive stance and increased their perception to the highest, but they failed to find anything worth noticing.


    "Specific?" (Shin) (Decoded version: "What are the specifics?")


    "Observe." (Jareth) ("Something''s observing or keeping an eye on us¡­" )


    "Mana fluct?" (Thomas) ("What''s the fluctuation range?")


    "Low¡­ hmm? It disappeared¡­" (Jareth)


    "Tulip?" (Shin) ("It teleported out of perception?")


    "Yup¡­ it''s left my range of perception, likely teleported away¡­" (Jareth)


    The three of them conveyed immense information with each other in just some simple words, that''s the way of professionals.


    Seeing that Jareth stopped using the ''codes'', Shin relaxed his defensive stance and heaved a sigh of relief.


    Shin wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his palm as he said in a solemn tone:


    "I really am out of mana; I barely have any left¡­ I can''t afford to deal with another hassle now; it''s a good thing it disappeared¡­"


    "What was it, by the way?"


    "Hmm, it seemed like a condensed mass of miasma to me¡­ but I am not sure¡­" (Jareth)


    As Jareth''s mana perception has been enhanced by ''Mana singularity'' he noticed the strange presence while Shin and Thomas were completely clueless about it.


    ''I have a strange feeling about this¡­''


    ¡­


    An underground church, Location unknown.


    While sitting on the front bench, a creepy smirk appeared on the face of the humanoid black mist all of a sudden.


    ''This is the second time in my whole life that someone has noticed my presence¡­ interesting¡­ very interesting indeed¡­''


    Just now, the cult leader manipulated the lingering miasma in the ''Ashes'' of Jacob and Lucas''s bodies to cast a projection of himself.


    He wanted to see for himself about what the situation was and who had killed his two lab rats without his permission.


    But after Jareth noticed his presence, he immediately cancelled his mana manipulation, making the miasma dissipate.


    After all, He didn''t want to alert the prey before it was time to hunt.


    Just when the cult leader was busy contemplating about various things, a dark magic circle appeared near the entrance of the church and Abella fell out of the teleportation circle.


    Her shadow doll was supporting her at the moment, as she seemed to be in really bad shape.


    Abella bowed towards the cult leader and acknowledged her defeat.


    Her magic broom was already broken and she had suffered a lot injuries while escaping from Nathan, Her plan had failed thoroughly.


    Moreover, she hadn''t even completed the key objective of the mission, despite losing Jacob and Lucas in the process.


    "Well, forget it¡­ I got to see something really interesting just now so I will forgive you this one time¡­ By the way, did you succeed in planting the ''seeds''?"


    "Yes, I have scattered them as you instructed¡­ all that''s left is to wait and let them mature¡­"


    "Good, that will keep them busy for a while¡­ in the meantime, we can peacefully do soul-gathering ritual¡­ others are also on their way back so next time the attack will be an all-out war¡­"


    Abella''s eyes widened in surprise at his words.


    "Is the time for the seal shards to align arriving soon?"


    "haha, yes! It won''t be long before we can break the seal on the ''False Dome''! All we need is to find an ''opening'' through the ''Hidden Dome'' pathway!"


    "Once we get rid of all eight seals, our benevolent god can finally descend in this world!"


    The smile on Abella''s face returned again as she heard his words; she nodded her head and the determination in her eyes returned.


    Seeing her excited look, the cult leader waved his hand to signal that she can leave.


    "Go, you are dismissed for now¡­"


    "Understood!"


    After getting permission, Abella immediately left the church.


    The creepy smile on the cult leader''s face remained the same as usual.


    "About time, I guess¡­"


    ¡­


    Ivan''s university.


    The principal returned to the university empty-handed.


    He pursued Abella for at least a hundred kilometers before she finally got the chance to teleport away.


    Even after his various attacks, the only thing he was able to do was destroy her magic broom and free the suffering souls contained in it.


    Once the principal returned, his face twitched as he saw the state of the university with a complicated look on his face.


    The whole garden was destroyed by Jareth and the twins, the main building was destroyed by Aria''s magic; and massive holes were littered all over the ground that were created by Abella''s magic beams that he himself teleported away.


    Seeing the university in ruins, the principal felt quite angry but there was no one who he could blame; after all, it was him who approved of the tournament.


    ''Ugh, it seems my age is catching up to me¡­ why did I even agree to conducting that tournament¡­''


    Later, the principal held a major press-conference to explain the situation.


    He needed to provide a proper answer to the families of the people who died in this whole incident.


    The whole media boiled up at this devastating news and questions about safety of the citizens started to rise instantly.


    This is the first time in fifty years that such a major incident has happened in the capital city.


    Nearly a thousand innocent people died in this incident and all of this happened under the nose of the strongest mages.


    This incident was named ''Terror attack of Abella the nightmare!'', later the incident became a major topic of debate between the politicians and the government also had to face public criticism.


    Eventually, the government had to acknowledge the situation and provide proper compensation to the victim''s family members.


    All of the high-grade mages that were present in the tournament venue witnessed a significant loss in their popularity.


    Even Nathan''s popularity and reputation got tarnished by a lot of people.


    Only one person benefited from this whole ordeal.


    [Ding! You caused a minor change in the storyline!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 10000 CP!]


    Not only Jareth get a lot of credit points, a video in which he was fighting with the twins went viral overnight on the internet, giving a major boost to his popularity.


    A famous quote started to go viral on internet:


    ''Roses are red, Spells against me won''t prosper,


    With this teacup and leather coat,


    I summon, Jareth, the goat!''


    (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Don''t mind my weird quotes I just make them up on random, they are just meant to be funny don''t take them to your heart, take them to your kidney¡­. Cough! My bad, my hands slipped a bit while typing...


    Question of the day:


    Do you also think Jareth has attracted more trouble his way now?


    1. Yes


    2. Yeah


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 48 - 48: Its too unfair...

    An old house, Bedroom.


    "Wakey wakey! Sleepy head!"


    "hmm, let me sleep for five more minutes¡­"


    Seeing that he wasn''t waking up, Shiina smiled mischievously and pinched his nose with her small beautiful hands.


    Feeling the suffocation, Jareth suddenly opened his eyes and hurriedly sat up. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Damn! Nearly died!"


    "Hehe! Then you should have woken up on time no?"


    Jareth shook his head at Shiina''s mischievous giggles.


    "Sigh, why are you here all of a sudden?"


    Hearing his words, Shiina pouted her cheeks and replied in an angry tone:


    "What do you mean, why am I here? Have you forgotten what day it is today?"


    "Huh¡­ there''s something special today?"


    Shiina rubbed her forehead to stop the headache coming from Jareth''s question and replied in a helpless tone:


    "How come you forgot that it''s your birthday today¡­ Do people even forget their birthdays?"


    "Ah, oh, now that I think about it, it''s indeed true¡­"


    Seeing Shiina look at him a gaze of pity, a complicated expression appeared on Jareth''s face.


    "Ugh¡­ don''t look at me like that¡­"


    "Then get ready, idiot! We are going on a date~"


    "Oh, let me take a shower first¡­"


    Jareth immediately unbuttoned his shirt, which caused Shiina''s face to blush slightly.


    "Idiot! I am also here you know¡­"


    "Huh? But haven''t we already seen each other nak-"


    "Humph! Idoit!"


    Ignoring his words, she ran away to the living room while covered her reddened ears.


    Jareth shook his head and went to take a quick shower.


    ¡­


    Outside a movie theater.


    "Hurry hurry! We are going to be late!"


    Shiina dragged Jareth inside the theater in a hurry, they were already quite late as Jareth woke up late and wasted time while getting ready.


    "How are you running so fast while wearing those heels!? What!?"


    Hearing the praise from Jareth, a cute smirk appeared on her face.


    "Hehe, of course I am good at it! I have practiced it! Aren''t I amazing?"


    ''She always says that when she wants to be praised more¡­''


    A smile appeared on his face as she stretched out his hand to pat her head and mess up her hair.


    "Yeah yeah, you are the most beautiful and amazing girlfriend in the world¡­"


    Shiina lightly punched Jareth to protest against his actions of messing up her hair for no reason.


    "Idiot! Don''t mess them like that¡­"


    The two of them finally reached their designated seat and sat beside each other.


    A movie about a world filled with magic and spells started to play on the screen.


    Shiina pointed her index finger towards the screen and said excitedly.


    "See! Didn''t I say that the villain of that movie looks so similar to you!"


    "Ugh.. why did they make me a villain¡­ and that character seems like an arrogant and edgy character¡­"


    "Hehe, I think villains are cool, though¡­"


    "Hmm, well... if you like it, then it''s okay, I guess.."


    Shiina puffed up her chest and declared proudly:


    "Of course I will like you no matter what!"


    At those words, he gave a wry smile and said in a helpless tone,


    "Ugh.. you are spoiling me too much¡­"


    But Shiina only smiled mischeviously. She replied using the internet trend instead,


    "Yeah! Get spoiled and become my pookie bear!"


    ¡­


    Market area, near the movie theater.


    Shiina flailed her arms and said in a depressed tone:


    "Sigh~ that movie was so tragic; the villain suffered so much and died so horribly at the end¡­ ugh¡­"


    Seeing her depressed mood, Jareth pointed to an ice-cream caf¨¦.


    "How about we eat ice cream to lighten up the mood?"


    Hearing those words, light returned in her eyes,


    "Oh yes! Ice-cream!"


    With stars shining in her eyes, excitement returned to her face when she heard the word ice-cream.


    She held Jareth''s hand tightly and dragged him inside the cafe with her.


    "A vanilla one!"


    When the waiter served the ice-cream, Shiina immediately pounced on it like a hungry cat.


    Even her hair seemed to be swaying in happiness.


    Seeing that cute smile on her face, Jareth felt that this birthday was worth it.


    Shiina mistook his stare and pouted her cheeks.


    "Don''t stare at it; it''s mine! I won''t give the ice-cream to you!"


    "Heh¡­ then how about I have you instead?"


    "Hmph idiot!"


    Hearing his teasing tone, Shiina''s face turned red all of a sudden.


    Jareth just smiled at her cute behavior and didn''t tease her further; otherwise, she might get angry at him.


    ¡­


    Night, A fireworks show, near a small lake.


    *Boom!*


    "Whoa¡­ look at that one! the pattern looks like a bird! It''s so beautiful!"


    Amidst the cheer of the nearby crowd, Shiina and Jareth watched the night show with happy smiles on their faces.


    Shiina stared at the sky with an excited look on her face, but Jareth wasn''t even looking at the sky; he was instead staring at her happy face the whole time.


    He only pretended to be looking at the sky when she noticed him staring at her.


    Sitting on the comfy grass as the warm wind breeze brushes past your face and watching the fireworks in the sky while holding the hand of the love of your life, if this isn''t paradise, then what else is?


    Although the shouting of the excited crowd was loud, Jareth and Shiina could hear each other without any problems.


    While watching the amazing fireworks, Shiina smiled and said in a happy tone:


    "I love these firework shows; we should come back someday to watch them¡­"


    "I think they organize a massive fireworks show, even bigger than this at new year¡­"


    Shiina held Jareth''s hand and said:


    "Then promise me that you will come with me to watch the show¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head and replied in a solemn tone,


    "Yes, I promise, not only this one, let''s visit a lot of shows together!"


    Under the starry sky and the brightness of the moonlight, the two of them promised each other, their words were sincere and came from the bottom of their hearts.


    "Hehe, you better not go back on your words then¡­"


    Jareth puffed up his chest and replied proudly:


    "I won''t!"


    The two of them then laughed together at each other''s cringy dialogue and lay down on the comfy grass to watch the rest of the show.


    ''I hope I can stay with you forever, Shiina¡­''


    ''I hope I can stay with you forever, ------''


    {That was the last date for them together; they both died before New Year came¡­ the promise made with love was never fulfilled as the strings of destinies were cut off prematurely¡­}


    ¡­


    Jareth''s dorm room.


    Jareth''s eyes opened and he sat up in an instant.


    ''W-what?''


    After a momentary confusion, Jareth figured out everything.


    "Sigh¡­ it was a dream¡­"


    Although his facial expressions remained the same as usual, Jareth felt quite sad in his mind.


    He got up from the bed and walked over to the mirror.


    ''Ah, yes¡­ I have become Jareth now¡­ I can''t be with her anymore¡­''


    His heart seems to be carrying immense sadness but he had no way to get rid of these emotions.


    Jareth rubbed his forehead as the light in his eyes dimmed a bit.


    ''This is unfair¡­ if you keep coming in my dreams like that¡­ I will never be able to become happy again¡­''


    Jareth knew that he must leave these emotions behind; otherwise, he will never be able to live this new life properly.


    ''but still¡­ I don''t want to forget her¡­ maybe that''s why I had such a dream today¡­''


    Just when Jareth was thinking about his dream, he suddenly noticed a weird detail.


    ''hmm¡­ wait, why did I appear in that dream as Jareth and not in my original body¡­''


    Thinking about this, an ominous thought came to his mind that caused his eyes to widen in sheer shock.


    ''Wait, w-what was my name again? I know that I worked for a shady company but what was my name in my past life?... hmm¡­ wait what?...''


    No matter how he tried to remember it, Jareth couldn''t remember his name or face from his past life at all.


    ''Does that mean I appeared in the dream as Jareth because I have already forgotten about what I looked like in my past life?''


    ''Strange, all of this is very strange¡­''


    In his whole life he hasn''t felt more confused then he is now, everything seems more and more bizzare.


    Jareth shook his head and calmed his mind down, He stopped thinking about this further and drank a glass of water.


    While drinking water from the glass, he walked over to the window and glanced at the rising sun on the horizon.


    ''Sigh¡­ the questions in my mind keep piling up, and there''s no way to answer them¡­''


    Jareth was contemplating all of this when he noticed the date on the nearby table clock.


    ''Ah¡­ it''s 12 August¡­ it''s my birthday¡­ forgive me, Shiina, I never fulfilled our promise¡­''


    For the next hour or so, Jareth chugged down a lot of water to forget about this sadness. (He doesn''t drink alcohol because Shiina didn''t like that kind of men¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved Author here!


    Many of you were complaining that you wanted to see Shiina again! So here she is!


    Enjoy the suffering and heartbreak that I purposely made for you! Don''t forget to praise me for it later!


    Question of the day.


    Do you think Jareth will be able to move on in his life?


    1. No (He can''t forget Shiina)


    2. Nope. (The author won''t let him forget her¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 49 - 49: The Chaotic Chatgroup!

    Jareth''s class takes place at 9:00 A.M. and lasts for three hours straight.


    Which means students have to sit and withstand his overwhelming gaze for three hours straight; you can''t even move to grab your water bottle and drink water from it; otherwise, you will have to face his cold stares.


    It''s not that Jareth stops them from drinking water, it''s just that his eyes unconsciously fell on the person who makes the most movement in the whole classroom.


    Imagine a scenario where the whole class is sitting upright with serious faces and is listening to his words, and you suddenly start moving to drink water¡­ obviously, you will be noticed by him.


    And Jareth''s gaze is not something everyone wants to attract.


    It feels like he is evaluating your patheticness with those arrogant eyes, so it''s better to just drink water and do other things before or after his class.


    Usually, most student think of his class as stressful but useful.


    Moreover, ever since Jareth has proven his abilities by one-shotting strong enemies, the students have started to respect him a lot.


    They take his teachings seriously, as they want to reach his level one day.


    Same is true for Mark, who has become the ''Class Representative'' just now.


    {Official Class Group}


    [Prof. Jareth: Mark will be the Class representative¡­]


    [Mark: Understood Professor.]


    Seeing the straightforward message from Jareth in the official chat group, Mark was bewildered a bit, but then he agreed to it as he thought of this as a chance to improve his destroyed image in Jareth''s mind.


    (He still thinks that Jareth has mistaken him for a playboy¡­)


    The official chat group includes Jareth and all of the other professors; thus, barely any student talks in this group, as no one wants to attract the dangerous gaze of the Grade-2 mages.


    For some people, it may be beneficial to try and impress the professors, but when they see that Jareth is also in this group, they don''t bother sending messages here.


    Thus, to solve this issue, students have made a secret chat group of their own, in which they haven''t included any professors. (It was an idea from Mark''s lackeys¡­)


    After Jareth sent the message in the official group, the unofficial group boiled up instantly.


    [Backsh*t_grand_master: D*mn! Prof. Jareth really favors Mark a lot!]


    [Hanging_Banana: Yeah! This is blatant favoritism! We will raise our voice in protest!]


    [I_am_bullsh*t: Bruh! @Mark_is_my_father you better explain yourself! How did you get prof. Jareth to appreciate you that much!?]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: I have a theory¡­ could it be that @Mark_is_my_father is actually Prof. Jareth''s illegitimate son!?]


    [Hanging_Banana: D*mn! That''s quite possible! Or perhaps he is some distant relative of Prof. Jareth¡­]


    Seeing the chaos that was happening in the group chat, Mark couldn''t help but rub his forehead. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Mark_is_my_father: First of all, who the f*ck changed my nickname! And there''s no favoritism, your grades are not good that''s why you weren''t chosen¡­]


    [Backsh*t_Grand_master: Ahem.. I changed the nickname, because I revere you as my father from now on, you got the appreciation of Prof. Jareth, you are the real legend!]


    [Backsh*t_Grad_master: I won''t mind taking backsh*ts form you¡­ cough¡­]


    [Mark_is_my_father: F*ck you! Go away!]


    [Mark_is_my_father: @Big_Brain_Crocodile take that d*mn theory and shove it up your a*s!!]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: You reacted to it.. I have a theory; you likely are trying to hide it from us¡­ you definitely are his illegitimate child¡­]


    [Mark_is_my_father: Your father is the illegitimate child! F*CK YOU x10000!]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: Hhmm, my father is Mark, So you accept it that you are an illegitimate child!? D*mn! I knew it!]


    Mark rubbed his forehead as he saw the guys mock him endlessly.


    "D*mn, these guys are shameless! They even claimed me as their father just to prove their point! Too d*mn shameless!!"


    Just when Mark was getting irritated, another familiar person entered this chaotic discussion.


    [Mark''s_illegal_waifu: Oh.. someone changed my nickname too, but this''s not bad either¡­]


    [Backsh*t_grand_master: Sister-in-law, can I borrow your husbando for a few hrs?]


    [Mark''s_illegal_waifu: Huh? What do you need him for?]


    [Backsh*t_grand_master: Ahem¡­ I will-]


    {Ding! Mark_is_my_father has placed a ''one week mute'' on Backsh*t_grand_master!}


    [Hanging_Banana: Holy sh*t! father got angry! Run guys!]


    [Big_Brain_Crocodile: Run!]


    [I_am_Bullsh*t: Run for your dear life everyone!]


    [Mark_is_my_fahter: Just wait you guys, once the university gets renovated and classes restarts, I will beat the sh*t out of you all¡­]


    ¡­


    Finally, with Mark taking strict measures, the chaos in the chat group ended.


    After half an hour, Just when Mark thought he could relax, the door of his room burst open and a young girl who was half height came inside.


    "Big bro!! I heard that you are Prof. Jareth''s illegitimate son!?"


    "Who told you that!?"


    "Look, it''s on trending right now¡­"


    Alice showed her cute-looking smartphone to him and sure enough, it was the guy he had ''muted'' from the group chat just now who had posted it on internet.


    Although it was being considered as a joke by everyone, and they all were laughing at it, it was still quite weird that this joke entered trending so fast.


    ''Ugh, I will beat the sh*t out of this guy!!...''


    (Fun Fact: This joke went so viral that it even reached the ears of Mark''s real father¡­)


    ¡­


    Principle office, meeting room.


    While the students were enjoying, the professors were sitting with the principle in the meeting room.


    "Uh¡­ they didn''t repair that broken wall yet?"


    One of the walls of the meeting room was broken, and cold air was blowing inside from that massive crack, and looking at that, Shin had a strange look on his face.


    Yesterday, when Aria''s magic threw the shadow doll out, it collided with this wall before falling down.


    This crack is indirectly Aria''s doing, who is sitting with an awkward and complicated expression on her face right now.


    The principal stroked his burned beard and nodded his head.


    "Quite a lot of money has been sent to aid the innocent people who died¡­ it will take some time for them to focus on the university¡­"


    "Eh!? Then what about our salary! The rare edition comic of ''doki doki moe'' is coming next month, you know! I have to buy that!" (Shin)


    "Yes, I also have to buy a rare edition watch next month¡­ is our salary going to be delayed?" (Thomas)


    Seeing the two of them distressed, Aria who had been silent all this while, said:


    "Uh, I have an idea¡­"


    Hearing those words, both Shin and Thomas retorted immediately.


    "No thanks! Last time your idea nearly killed the principal¡­"


    "Yeah, Prof. Aria you might Jinx it again¡­"


    But the principal ignored their words altogether,


    "Cough.. At least you shall tell us what you are thinking¡­"


    Seeing the positive answer from the principal, Aria smiled and nodded her head.


    "Okay, how about we ask the student''s families to raise a donation fund? Students like Mark are quite rich, you know¡­"


    *Utter silence~*


    Hearing her idea, everyone went silent for a good few seconds.


    "How do you come up with these strange ideas all of the time?"


    "No no, wait¡­ it''s not a bad idea, actually¡­ I can just go and talk with Mark''s father about some donations¡­the royal family might not have much power in the modern world¡­ but they certainly have a lot of money¡­"


    Nathan''s words left all the professors bewildered.


    "You know that his father is rumored to be a hot-tempered guy, right¡­ He is a grade 1 mage too; we don''t want another incident like this one!"


    "Yes, you should reconsider this; if you two end up fighting, more people will die from collateral damage¡­"


    A look of doubt appeared on the principal''s face at that moment.


    "er.. I need time to decide¡­"


    Just when they were having trouble about it, Jareth simply gave a random suggestion.


    "You know, you just need to sell one of the many secret spells you have to their family and they will give you the money without any fighting''s¡­"


    "Ugh¡­ I don''t want to sell my treasured spells¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head at the princpal and said,


    "What is more important, your spell or the reputation of the university that you have worked hard to build for decades?"


    "Ugh¡­ if you put it that way¡­"


    A determined look appeared on the old face of the principal; it seems selling his spells might take more determination from him than fighting Abella.


    ''Sigh, his character is just like how it was in the game¡­ he is obsessed with magic and treasures the spells he has learned and researched a lot.''


    Mages sell their theories to get money and resources; that''s what the original Jareth did to become a professor. He sold his theory in exchange of a permanent job.


    Nathan likely has several of these theories that he has collected in his long lifespan, he can bring out any of them and get a lot of resources.


    This is how transactions work between strong people.


    ''Even in the game¡­ he got seriously injured and retired as they laid a trap to attract him with spells and finish him off with an ambush¡­''


    ''The problem now is¡­ how do I change this plot¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your Beloved author here! It seems Mark will have to face a lot of trouble in the coming few days.


    Jareth has encountered a new challenge too it seems, let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day:.


    Do you also have friends who troll you for no reason?


    1. Yes (I have such friends!)


    2. No (Sad life, I have no friends¡­)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 50 - 50: The Banquet of Stars! Part-1.

    The Royal Palace, Throne Room.


    *Tap**tap*


    The rhythmic voice of a finger tapping on a solid surface again and again rang out in the throne room.


    That finger-tapping sound made all of the members attending the ''meeting'' feel nervous.


    The only person who could make all of these grade-2 mages feel nervous here, is none other than Mark''s father and the grade-1 mage, Reynald Kalashnikov.


    His other hand held a luxurious wine glass that contained the most expensive wine in the human empire.


    As he sipped the fine wine, Reynald''s golden eyes stared at the person bowing towards him with a face covered in tears and snouts.


    "So, what you are trying to say is that your family failed to protect the town that was entrusted to you and you came running back to me after the whole town was massacred?"


    "T-that, y-your majesty, i-I had no other choice-"


    [Grade-1 Earth Magic: Gentle hand of the earth god!]


    Before the other party could bring forward any excuses, Reynald waved his hand, and a gigantic magic circle appeared above the other party''s head.


    A ''hand'' made of condensed earth elements shot out of the magic circle and hit the other party with such speed that his body burst apart and turned into a puddle of meat and blood.


    A huge amount of blood splattered everywhere and even stained the clothes of the nearby grade 2 mages, making them retreat in fear.


    After squatting a grade-2 mage like he was some random fly, Reynald waved his hand and ordered the maids to clean up the area.


    "Utter garbage; can''t even accept their failure properly, I would have given you a lighter punishment if you hadn''t tried to justify the death of so many innocent people, just to hide your own incompetence¡­"


    The person Reynald killed was the head of a vassal family under the Royal family''s command.


    His family was given the responsibility to protect a small town, but due to their irresponsibility, monsters made it past the city walls as the magic barrier was not repaired on time due to corruption.


    Only the head of the family survived in that massacre and escaped with his life.


    Reynald already had all of the information beforehand, so he knew all the ''ins and outs'' of this matter, Underestimating Reynald''s information gathering channels is a mistake only a fool can make.


    While watching the throne room getting cleaned by the maids, Reynald waved his hand to dismiss all of the other grade-2 mages, as they had already completed the reporting session by now.


    The grade-2 mages finally heaved a sigh of relief after they left the throne room.


    None of them wanted to get turned into a puddle of meat and blood, so they hurried back home, not daring to stay too long in this place.


    They only came to give their annual reports on Reynald''s summons; otherwise, they wouldn''t have come here even if someone had paid them for it.


    Watching their retreating back, Reynald shook his head and thought to himself:


    ''Corruption has started to become extremely rampant in these few years¡­ if this continues¡­ thousands of lives will be lost¡­ there are major flaws in the current government¡­''


    Reynald is a person with great insight; he knows a lot about politics and stuff.


    Originally, it was the responsibility of the royal family to take care of the populace when they were in power, but two hundred years ago, the commoners started major protests and demanded freedom.


    Seeing the major protests, the royal family had to comply, they agreed to withdraw and helped in conducting the first ever elections.


    The law and constitution were formed, and a proper government was formed for the first time.


    Although it suppressed the ruling power of the royal family, other things in the royal family were totally unaffected.


    The royal family has always produced mages of Grade 1 in each generation, so there is no one who can completely eradicate their power.


    The previous head of the royal family was a benevolent person, he agreed with the common folk and helped them gain individual rights.


    But two hundred years have passed since then, and corruption runs deep in today''s politics.


    The Royal family also had these issues in the past, but they were usually dealt with by the grade 1 mage, a.k.a. the king of that generation.


    But the current government doesn''t have anyone to keep them in check so things have become dangerous for the common folk.


    ''The vassal family head''s associated with our family have also started to receive large amounts of bribes from the government¡­ making them corrupt¡­ things are not looking good in the future...''


    ''How will you handle it, Mark?''


    Reynald knew that his son will be the next king after him, so he was interested in how Mark will handle the chaotic times that were about to come.


    Just when Reynald was enjoying the wine while contemplating about the future in his mind.


    His mischievous daughter Alice came running into the throne room.


    "Father! Big bro Mark is an illegitimate child!!"


    "cough!!! Cough!!! W-what the!? Cough!!"


    Reynald chocked on the wine and coughed violently like an asthma patient. Even the wine glass fell down, which made the maids feel frightened.


    "Ahem! Cough!!! Ahem!"


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    Reynald used his mana to control his breathing after casting a simple spell to clean the wine stains from his clothes.


    Only then did he reply to Alice calmly:


    "Who told you such nonsense-"


    *BOOM!*


    Just when Reynald was about to question Alice about it, the ceiling of the throne room broke apart and a woman wearing full plate armor appeared.


    Her whitish-pink hair swayed in the air and made her look extremely beautiful, but instead of fascination, black lines appeared on Reynald''s face.


    "L-let me explain-"


    Before Reynald could explain himself, the lady swung her sword, and a gigantic arc made of condensed mana came flying at Reynald, nearly splitting his throne it two.


    (It couldn''t harm Reynald as his mana shield is too strong¡­)


    But the lady was still not claimed by this; she walked towards Reynald and placed her sword near his neck, but didn''t thrust it forward. (Even if she thrusts it, it won''t do anything to the mana shield¡­)


    Reynald looked at Alice and said in a helpless tone.


    "Explain yourself!"


    With a creepy smile on her face, Nadia glared at Reynald in anger.


    "Alice, explain things properly to your mom; she is misunderstanding something¡­"


    "Mom, look at this news! It''s trending!"


    Nadia stepped back momentarily and took the smartphone from Alice''s hand.


    The news on trending were:


    [Conspiracy theory!! Prince Mark might be an illegitimate child!!] Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Jareth blaze favors Prince Mark greatly! Is he his father!?]


    When Nadia and Reynald saw that news, both of them felt angry at it.


    Reynald waved his hand, summoned his secretory, and ordered him to get rid of this false rumor.


    "This is pure bullsh*t! Immediately block all accounts who are spreading about this thing and hold a press conference to show Mark''s legitimate right to the throne!"


    The secretory nodded his head and left in a hurry.


    Seeing that it was just a false alarm, Nadia placed her sword back into its scabbard with a look of disappointment.


    Reynald heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that she had calmed down a bit.


    He then smiled and asked:


    "By the way, what were you doing while wearing the armor at home?"


    Nadia puffed up her chest in pride and replied:


    "Of course I was training! A warrior must keep training to retain their wits!"


    Nadia was not born with a magic circuit, so she became a knight instead.


    Before marrying Reynald, she was considered one of the strongest knights out there.


    And even now, she is as strong as a grade-3 mage.


    "I see.. I see, good!"


    Reynald nodded his head in response to her words.


    Just when the two were busy talking, Alice pouted her cheeks and glared at them both.


    "You two are ignoring me! I am not talking to you anymore!"


    After saying that, Alice ran away with an angry look on her face.


    Nadia and Reynald could only shake their heads at their daughter''s mood swings.


    Just then, the head butler arrived at the scene and saluted Reynald and Nadia.


    "Hmm, you seem troubled¡­ what happened, Olin?"


    "Your majesty, the principal of Ivan''s university has requested for you to join an online meeting with him..."


    "Reject it! Do we even need to bother with that old fox? Just reject whatever he wants to say¡­ I have no time to waste with a traitor¡­"


    "Uh, your majesty¡­ he said he wants to negotiate with you about something important¡­ he wants to sell you a secret spell¡­"


    Hearing those words, even Reynald was shocked.


    "What? Is he pulling a joke again?"


    "No, he said he was ready to sign the mana contract too¡­"


    "hoh¡­ things just got a lot interesting¡­ what could have made him take that decision, I wonder¡­ interesting¡­"


    A look of contemplation appeared on Reynald''s face as he heard such an interesting thing.


    ''Today might not be as unlucky a day as I was originally thinking¡­''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems Reynald resembles his son a lot, he even married a yandere waifu himself! What a chad!


    Question of the day:.


    Who do you think is a better grade-1 mage?


    1. Reynald (At least he has a waifu¡­)


    2. Nathan (He nearly got beaten by Abella¡­)


    3. Jareth (He is not even a grade 2 yet but, bro''s a hacker!!)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 51 - 51: The Banquet of Stars! Part-2.

    Royal Palace, virtual meeting room.


    "So, which spell is it?"


    Without bothering with pleasantries and wasting time, Reynald started bringing up the main topic of the conversation right off the bat.


    The principal sighed and replied in a sad tone,


    "Do you really need to be so cold towards me?, I am your uncle-"


    Before Nathan could complete his sentence, Reynald interjected and warned in a cold tone,


    "I have no relationship with a traitor like you; don''t bother trying to please me¡­"


    "I am not the na?ve child anymore that I used to be¡­"


    Reynald''s expression turned cold as he continued,


    "I have seen my share of shrewd foxes over the years; don''t try to use that pathetic tactic on me¡­"


    "Come to the point directly¡­ I will ask again, which spell is it?"


    *cough!**ahem!*


    Seeing that his trick had failed, Nathan cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment and finally started talking about the real topic,


    "Actually, the university is in desperate need of funds right now; the government will take a lot of time as many innocent people were killed¡­"


    Nathan paused for a bit and then added,


    "So, in order to repair the university as fast as possible and give salary to all of the professors on time, I need to sell one of my spells¡­"


    A look of reluctance appeared on Nathan''s face as he continued, "If not for this, I would have never sold my precious spells¡­ugh¡­"


    Although Reynald was not sure if Nathan was really in distress or was just faking it, this situation surely brought a pleasant surprise to him.


    "Well, don''t try to draw sympathy from me; it was you who were incapable of dealing with that weak witch¡­ your incapability caused the death of so many civilians¡­"


    Just when Reynald was about to continue blaming, Nathan frowned a bit and said,


    "Oh, come on, you are also a grade-1 mage, you should have come to the scene, that way more people could have been saved!..." Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Although Nathan''s words were indeed true, Reynald simply smirked at them without thinking too much.


    "I certainly could have saved the people but¡­ why would I? What''s there in it for me? Do I owe something to you that I will help you out?"


    "Or did I ever say that I was a hero of justice?"


    Reynald smiled with an amused look on his face and said,


    "You are forgetting that, just like everyone, I am also a citizen of this nation, I am supposed to have my own rights, I can do what I want¡­ don''t mistake me for a self-sacrificing hero!"


    Reynald''s words were cold, yet they carried the truth: the royal family is not the one ruling this nation anymore, so he isn''t responsible for the safety of the nation.


    It''s his choice to do what he wants; he is not obliged to protect others at the cost of self-sacrifice.


    Hearing Reynald''s words, Nathan frowned and said in an annoyed tone,


    "Your family will also suffer if this nation gets destroyed, you know¡­"


    At Nathan''s words, Reynald simply shook his head and smiled,


    "Haha, if this nation can''t even protect itself and needs to depend on me for everything¡­ then does this nation''s people really have the right to remain free?"


    "If the people of this nation agrees to revere the royal family once again, then I might think about protecting them and safeguarding the country¡­ otherwise, forget it.."


    Saying that, Reynald sipped the luxurious wine with an amused smile on his face.


    Hearing those unsympathetic words, Nathan gritted his teeth and asked,


    "Then what about your son? What about Mark!? He could have died that day in the tournament venue!"


    A smirk appeared on Reynald''s face after hearing those pathetic words.


    "You really are losing our edge, old fox¡­ you didn''t even notice that I have already placed a grade-1 teleportation spell on him?..."


    "Haha, it seems you are going senile from old age¡­ retire early and give way to the younger generation instead of hanging on to that position of the principal¡­"


    With a mocking smile on his face, Reynald added,


    "Once you retire, my son will be the next principal and the King both! Hehe, the benefits he will bring to the royal family will be immense!"


    Reynald has always thought about the prosperity of his own family; he doesn''t care a sh*t about others, and he can go to any lengths to keep the royal family stable and secure for the next generation.


    A King''s duty is to ensure that the next generation gets to inherit the throne without much difficulty or resistance.


    If a King can''t even ensure this much, then they aren''t worthy enough to rule the populace.


    The reason why Reynald have only two children is because he didn''t want to see instability and infighting among the brothers for the sake of a lifeless throne.


    He has already planned out things ahead of time, just so that Mark won''t have to face difficulties in the future.


    ''For the sake of my children, I would not hesitate to sacrifice a million people¡­''


    Thinking this far, Reynald sipped the wine and turned his expression serious again,


    "Okay, enough chit-chat; I ask again¡­ which spell is it? This is the last time I am asking, more than this and I am leaving this conversation¡­"


    "My patience is limited¡­ don''t waste my time; I have more important things to do¡­"


    Hearing Reynald''s warning, Nathan realized that no matter what method he used to persuade him, the other party wouldn''t be swayed so easily.


    Nathan actually wanted to get resources and money for free by drawing sympathy, but all of his attempts failed miserably.


    In the end, all he could do was submit under Reynald''s pressure and agree to sell his spells.


    "Okay, the spell is called ''Ethereal dome of confinement'', it''s a grade-1 earth type spell¡­ this is one of my most beloved secret spells, I cherish it a lot, so give me a fair price¡­"


    Hearing the name of the spell from Nathan''s mouth, Reynald was extremely surprised.


    "You¡­ you stole my father''s life work!? That spell belongs to my father! You have the gall to sell that to me!?"


    *crack!*


    The wine glass in Reynald''s hand cracked and burst apart as it was not able to withstand the pressure of Reynald''s palm.


    This frightened the nearby maids but Reynald paid it no mind and continued in an angry tone,


    "Where did you steal it from!?"


    At Reynald''s angry tone, Nathan simply shook his head and replied in his usual plain voice,


    "He gave it to me himself when he was at his last breath¡­ he said I can keep it to myself until his son asks for it, but you never asked me for it so I just took it as mine¡­"


    "But let me be clear: we are both mages; what we get is ours¡­. So, this spell is mine and I am selling it to you; don''t assume that I should hand it over to you honestly¡­"


    Nathan''s words caused great frustration to Reynald, but he didn''t want this opportunity to slip away either, so controlled his emotions.


    "Good, you have killed the last bit of sympathy I had for you, I will be the first one to celebrate at your funeral now¡­"


    Reynald shook his head and continued,


    "The Banquet of stars will be held tomorrow night; come over with that spell and take the money¡­"


    "Also, make sure all professors of your university come too¡­ I will ask them if they are interested in switching places¡­"


    Nathan frowned a bit and shook his head.


    "No way, none of them is so fickle-minded that they will start working with you for no reason¡­"


    At Nathan''s words, Reynald smiled in amusement and said,


    "Who knows¡­ it depends on what benefits I give¡­ I am sure I can sway at least that man¡­ I have a very good piece of information for the illegitimate child of the Blaze family, hehe¡­"


    The principal shook his head and replied in a serious tone,


    "No way; I could have believed you if you had said it about others, but swaying that cold-faced guy¡­. That''s going to be impossible; his resolve is not that fickle, in my opinion¡­"


    A hint of curiosity appeared on Reynald''s face.


    "Hoh¡­ we will see about that tomorrow¡­"


    With that said, Reynald waved his hand and ordered the maids to stop the projector.


    Reynald got up from his seat and left the meeting room with an amused smile on his face.


    ''Jareth Blaze¡­ I wonder how you will react if I tell you the information that I have¡­ Mark praised you a lot, so I look forward to meeting you¡­''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in Jareth''s training room,


    ''hmm, I feel like someone is talking about me behind my back¡­ what a strange feeling¡­''


    While thinking about that strange feeling, Jareth glanced around him.


    Mana singularity lets him command and converse with mana; thus, the mana itself seemed to have conveyed this thought to Jareth.


    ''D*mn, mana singularity is too broken; can it can give me subtle hints about an incoming danger? I better prepare for what''s coming¡­''


    With a newfound motivation, Jareth started his hellish training once again.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here.


    Quite a few of you were complaining that when listening to the audio of the chapter, the words added behind the conversation in brackets felt odd.


    So, I have tried to change the writing style a bit. How is it? Do you prefer it this way?


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 52 - 52: The Banquet of Stars! Part-3.

    While Jareth was still training, a notification sound rang out on his smartphone, waking him from his endless training sessions.


    ''Hmm, who could it be?... I don''t have any friends that will message me all of a sudden out of nowhere¡­''


    As the original Jareth was weak guy, he feared that someone will discover his truth; thus, he always kept his distance from others.


    Which became the reason why he had no friends at all. Although this saved him from exposing his secrets, it also caused him to be excluded from the social life.


    ''Well, these bluffs saved his life for so many years, so I can''t blame him either¡­''


    Jareth shook his head while thinking about it and walked over to see the message on his smartphone.


    As he was busy training, he was shirtless and covered in sweat.


    But Jareth didn''t care about that at all; due to continued training for the past month, his body has seen rapid growth.


    Now he looks like an ''aesthetic type body-builder'' who has lean and strong looking muscles.


    (This is all the result of continuously destroying his own body cells and rebuilding them again and again through active heal¡­)


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    After casting some basic magic to clean himself, Jareth grabbed the phone and saw the message.


    [Message from: Old Fossil]


    All[The negotiations with the head of the royal family has succeeded, All professors are invited to the Banquet of Stars that will be held today in the evening, Make sure each of you arrive on time¡­]


    Seeing that it was a message from the principal, Jareth was disappointed, He was expecting a message from bank saying that your bank account has received the money. (He hasn''t received his salary yet...)


    But seeing the message from the principal only made Jareth''s mood sour.


    He placed the phone in his pocket and thought to himself.


    ''I was thinking that the principal will end this deal all by himself and I could just sit back and enjoy¡­ ugh, that old fossil is so useless, can''t even properly make a deal¡­''


    Jareth shook his head in annoyance, He walked out of the training room and went straight to take a comfortable bath.


    ¡­


    The butler handed over the clothes to him, and Jareth immediately got ready.


    Although there were still a few hours left, Jareth knew that it was not a good idea to be late.


    ''That king have a very strict personality¡­ he killed my player character in the game quite a few times as I was late to complete the mission¡­ wouldn''t want that outcome in reality¡­''


    Jareth knew that he was in the real world right now; he couldn''t just go and spam attacks on random people for no reason.


    Although he can easily defend himself, it''s still a bad idea to get on the bad side of a guy who literally has limitless money.


    Jareth doesn''t fear anyone, as he has the attack enhancement card, but as he also knows that it''s not idea to just go and kill the king of a country for no good reason.


    ''I have no idea if my attack will really work on a grade-1 mage either¡­''


    As Jareth buttoned up his coat, the butler bowed towards him and said in a respectful tone,


    "You look handsome today; may fortune be with you, Master¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth suddenly remembered a past memory.


    ¡­


    (A sudden flashback)


    *Whistle~*


    "Oi, Oi handsome~ where are you going~ How about this young lady accompanying you?~"


    It was the day of the 35th anniversary of the company that Jareth worked for.


    He bought new expensive clothes, just so that he could escort Shiina that day to the venue.


    It was a task from the boss, but Jareth was happy with it.


    Listening to Shiina''s playful tone, he felt quite embarrassed and out of place.


    "You are exaggerating it; I am not really that handsome-"


    Before he could continue, Shiina placed her index finger on his lip and stopped him from talking.


    A beautiful smile hung over her face as she said,


    "For me, you are the most handsome man in the world, hehe¡­"


    Her cute giggles melted his heart and made him feel that buying those expensive clothes was worth it.


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    Although his face remained the same as always, Jareth was taken aback by that sudden rush of memories.


    He paused for a moment and nodded his head at the butler.


    "Is that so¡­"


    That''s all Jareth could say in the end; his character didn''t know how to speak kind words, so he could not thank the other party even if he wanted to.


    ''Maybe¡­ this is the retribution I brought on myself¡­''


    Thinking this far, he stopped worrying about this topic further and ordered.


    "Tell the driver to get my car¡­"


    Just when Jareth was about to walk out of the room, the butler mentioned another thing.


    "Master, two young kids have arrived outside; they said that the principle asked them to stay with you during the banquet¡­"


    A confused look appeared on Jareth''s face and he asked back in a doubtful tone,


    "Hmm¡­ kids? Did he send some students over?..."


    The butler nodded his head and replied,


    "Yeah, they are waiting for you in the drawing room¡­"


    Although it sounded like trouble, Jareth still nodded his head and went over to the drawing room without hesitation.


    He opened the door and saw two familiar faces, both were dressed in luxurious clothes.


    ¡­


    "Why can''t you let me sit beside you!?"


    At Risa''s annoyed tone, Mark waved his hand and smiled in a helpless tone.


    "No, no, it''s Prof. Jareth''s place; he will scold us if he saw us sitting too close¡­"


    Risa pouted her cheeks and snatched the cookies that the butler had given to Mark from his hand.


    She stretched out her hand and said, sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Then let me feed this cookie to you!"


    Mark knew that she wouldn''t stop, so he had no choice but to comply.


    He wanted to get it done with quickly.


    But just as she was about to bite the cookie, Jareth opened the door.


    Seeing Jareth appear so suddenly, the two of them froze on the spot.


    Jareth glanced at the strangely close distance between them and said, in his usual tone,


    "ahem¡­ continue.."


    Ignoring the bewildered look on the two, Jareth slowly closed the gate and left.


    He didn''t want to be considered a third wheel so he decided to back off.


    ¡­


    A few minutes later,


    Inside the drawing room.


    Ignoring the awkward mood caused by the earlier misunderstanding, Jareth said,


    "Hmm, so the principal wants me to bring you two along in my car?"


    A strange look appeared on Jareth''s face.


    Noticing Jareth''s questioning gaze, Mark nodded his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Uh¡­ he said that it would be much safer if you were the one escorting us, so¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Jareth''s tone became colder in an instant.


    ''Tch! Does he take me for a babysitter? Such blatant mockery! That old fossil really know how to annoy people¡­ tch!''


    After cursing at the principle in his mind, Jareth questioned Mark again,


    "So, why didn''t he do it himself¡­ wouldn''t it have been safer if you had gone with him instead?"


    At Jareth''s question, Mark shook his head and replied,


    "I asked him about it, and he said that Prof. Jareth is our teacher; he himself is not well acquainted with us, so he wants you to stay by our side¡­"


    While relaying the principal''s words accurately, Mark made sure that Jareth doesn''t misunderstand anything and thinks that the principal is the only one to blame.


    Mark doesn''t want to face the wrath of a strong grade-2 mage like Jareth.


    ''I better not make him angry or he might blow us both away in one spell, ugh¡­''


    Mark himself doesn''t know that his father has cast a defensive barrier on him, so his life won''t be in danger, so he always do things with utmost caution.


    Hearing Mark''s words, Jareth contemplated for a bit and then nodded his head.


    "Forget it¡­ you can come with me; it''s not like my car lacks space or anything¡­"


    (Fun Fact: Jareth would have never agreed if it was any other student asking him... he shows favoritism over Mark and Risa alone...)


    Jareth got up from his seat and started to walk towards the main door.


    Just when Mark and Risa were about to follow behind him, Jareth turned back for a moment and added,


    "By the way¡­ keep yourself restrained in the car¡­ you young people are quite bold after all¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth shook his head and left through the main gate.


    But Mark''s facial expression turned sour at those words.


    ''Ugh! He misunderstood me again!! My reputation is ruined!! Ahhhh!!!''


    Seeing Mark''s sad face, Risa smiled cutely and stretched out her hand.


    "You want a cookie?"


    Mark shook his head and screamed in his mind,


    ''Ahhh! Just kill me now!! This is so embarrassing!!'' (Emotional Damage +99)


    Although his face remained calm, Mark was already dying inside from the cringe.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    It seems Mark has been caught red-handed for the second time now; perhaps Jareth has really started to think of him as a bold guy now.


    You guys kept pestering me to add Shiina, so here she is. Don''t blame me later that the flow of the story was broken by that sudden flashback...


    Question of the day:.


    Have you been caught in an embarrassing situation like this by someone?


    1. Yes


    2. No


    3. Other (Tell me in the comments.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 53 - 53: The Banquet of Stars! Part-4.

    (Random World Lore)


    In the legends and myths, it is said that a great King once descended to this world from beyond the stars.


    He shined with golden radiance and his benevolent gaze made everyone feel at peace.


    That mysterious King only stayed in this world for a few moments but the sensation he caused was immense.


    Those who witnessed his overwhelming presence started to worship him as the ''divine prophet''.


    That King bestowed the world with two prophecies.


    One was lost to time and was thus forgotten, but the other one remained till now.


    {Go home; there is still hope there¡­}


    That prophecy was very mysterious and vague, none of the people alive at that time understood its true meaning.


    It''s been nearly a thousand-years since then, generations came and went, Empires rose and fell, and eventually the prophecy became just a topic of stories and myths.


    With its purpose lost, it was recorded in history books, but never came into light again in the past millennia.


    Maybe it was the vague hint of crisis or a remark on a forgotten past, but no one was able to understand the true meaning of those words.


    Till this day, this myth remains a mystery.


    ¡­


    Jareth closed the book as he finished reading the last line of the book and shook his head.


    ''There really are many hidden facts about this world that I don''t know yet¡­''


    Jareth had borrowed this history book from the university''s library, he knew that the ''lore'' of the game that he played had many loopholes in it.


    To figure things out in more details, Jareth decided to read the history books.


    In the past month, he has been reading his thick book whenever he has some spare time.


    Now that he was traveling in the car, he had enough time to spare so he decided to read the book to pass time.


    But who could have thought that his reading speed was so fast that he read through the last few pages in just fifteen minutes of traveling.


    ''Sigh, when did I become so smart¡­ I didn''t have such a good brain before; is this also the effect of my talent?...''


    While Jareth was contemplating the mystery of this world in his mind, Mark and Risa sat quietly on the back seat of the car. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They were both ordered by Jareth to wear those safety seatbelts, which made them both feel like they were being treated as kids.


    Other students may fear Jareth, but Risa who was bold and courageous, didn''t fear anything.


    She immediately started a conversation after noticing that Jareth was done with his book.


    "Prof. Jareth, I wanted to ask a question¡­"


    Although Jareth''s face remained as cold as ever, he was certainly taken aback by that sudden voice.


    Without glancing behind, Jareth nodded his head.


    "hmm, ask away¡­"


    After getting Jareth''s approval, a smile appeared on her face and she immediately asked:


    "Who''s your most favorite student?"


    Seeing how bold Risa was in front of a strict person like Jareth, the driver was taken aback for a moment.


    "cough! Cough! Ahem.."


    All three of them looked at the driver with strange eyes.


    The driver dodged their gaze in embarrassment and said in a quiet voice.


    Seeing that the driver was embarrassed enough already, Jareth shook his head and replied to Risa in his usual cold tone.


    "In my opinion, only talented ones are worth the praise¡­ there are quite a few talented students among your peers though¡­"


    Jareth thought for a moment and then added,


    "Although most of the students in your batch are just straight-up garbage, a few of them are still decent¡­"


    "But of course there are some talented ones too, like the heir of the blaze family, Aiza, that commoner kid, Allen, the younger sister of professor Aria, Airin is also quite talented¡­"


    Then Jareth glanced at the blue sky outside and said, in his usual tone,


    "You yourself are talented too, student Risa¡­ but believe it or not, none of you come close to the genius that is Mark Kalashnikov¡­"


    As if the unmoving body had a sudden reaction, a slight smile appeared on Jareth''s face for the first time.


    "Any professor will be honored to have him as their student¡­ including me, of course¡­ being able to teach a student like him is the dream of all teachers¡­"


    Jareth''s words carried the truth; there was no falsehoods in them.


    Unlike the blessed child of heavens called ''Protagonists'', people like Mark have real talents that should be praised as much as possible.


    People feel envy over others talent and want to somehow tarnish their image, but those who are born talentless like Jareth know the real importance of talent.


    As he had memories of the original Jareth, he knew how much struggle a talentless person has to go through in order to earn a place in this world.


    This cruel world is full of hungry hyenas; only with overwhelming talent can you rise above others.


    Mark have the talent that Jareth never had.


    As a person who knows the true worth of talent, Jareth knows the true worth of Mark.


    Jareth glanced at the birds flying in the sky and said,


    "In simpler words, talent is like ''wings''; the one with stronger wings flies the highest¡­ and there is nothing wrong with it¡­"


    Jareth''s words struck Mark right in the head, At that moment, Mark achieved a sudden enlightenment and realized the importance of his own self.


    With those few words from Jareth, Mark broke through to the peak of grade-5 in an instant.


    A look of shock and awe appeared on Mark''s face as he figured out what just happened.


    "Thanks professor-"


    Before Mark could complete his sentence, Jareth shook his head and replied,


    "No need, it''s your own talent that has helped you, don''t place your own achievements on my name¡­"


    Mark nodded his head at Jareth''s words, stopped talking and started to regulate his mana after entering a state of meditation.


    Seeing the improvement in Mark, Risa''s eyes shone, and she became even more enthusiastic to ask questions.


    "What about me, Professor, Am I not your favorite?"


    Seeing the excited look on her face, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Well, you are indeed talented too¡­"


    The smile on Risa''s face turned wider and she asked,


    "Will I become stronger and taller than Mark one day then?"


    "I want big muscles! I want to be 2 meters tall!! hehe~" (She wants to become as strong and tall as a gorilla...)


    At her question, Jareth replied in his usual cold tone.


    "It depends on the efforts you put in; if you put more efforts than Mark, maybe you will be able to surpass him in the next decade, I guess¡­"


    Jareth was not mocking her; he was really telling the truth, Mark''s speed of improvement is beyond the thinking of everyone else.


    Thus, competing with him is only possible for the cheat like existence called the protagonist; others can''t possibly surpass Mark so easily.


    Thinking about it, a thought came to Jareth''s mind.


    ''Talking about Mark¡­ the Mark in his prime in the game lore was many times stronger than his father¡­ as expected of a genius like him¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head at Mark''s brilliance and thought to himself.


    ''I guess I need to train harder; it would be such a weird sight if I ended up becoming weaker than him in the future¡­ better be prepared than sorry¡­''


    While Jareth became busy in his thoughts again, Risa smiled from ear to ear after hearing the praise.


    She also knew that she was weaker than Mark, but if there was even the slightest possibility of surpassing Mark, that was already enough for her.


    She wanted to stand by his side, so she couldn''t just watch him progress while sitting still.


    To stand beside him as an equal, she need to work harder than him.


    ''And once I am stronger than you, I will forcefully marry you!! Then we will go and travel all over the world!!''


    Risa is still clueless when it comes to adult matters.


    As she is a social outcast from her peers, she has no access to knowledge on subjects like Love.


    In her opinion, she needs to become stronger than Mark and then make him submit to her. (I don''t know what her logic behind this is either¡­)


    An hour passed by in a flash and the car finally arrived at the front gate of the royal palace.


    Two Grade 3 knights that were standing on guard duty hurriedly opened the gate when they noticed Jareth and Mark sitting in the car.


    The car entered without any problems but just when it entered the palace, massive pressure appeared and tried to suppress them.


    Jareth waved his hand and instantly dissipated the aura, using mana singularity to command the mana in the atmosphere.


    The other party withdrew their aura and allowed them to pass, seemingly impressed by Jareth''s move.


    Seeing this, Jareth only shook his head and thought.


    ''This old trick again? Does he have nothing else in his arsenal?''


    Jareth knew that this was Reynald''s doing, as he had faced this same situation in the game.


    He has seen it so many times that he is already numb to it.


    ''In the game, the player character has to knee in the direction of the throne room to pass this test, but now that I have mana singularity, I don''t need to follow the rules at all¡­''


    Mana singularity is Jareth''s backbone and source of confidence. As long he has that, he will fear nothing.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! Finally, we are at the banquet! Let''s see what happens next!


    Do you think Risa will be able to fulfil her dream of making Mark submit to her?


    1. Yes


    2.No


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 54 - 54: The Banquet of Stars! Part-5.

    The Royal Palace, front door.


    When Jareth got out of the car with Mark and Risa, a butler came over to escort the trio inside. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Two knights standing opened the door slowly, and a gigantic banquet hall appeared in the trio''s sight.


    "Whoa! It''s so bright and beautiful!"


    Risa''s eyes shone with excitement as she glanced around everywhere.


    But Jareth was not focused on the luxurious items.


    His eyes fell directly on a man who was sitting on one of the chairs beside a wide table, and a wine glass was in his hand.


    Wearing a red coat and various luxurious rings in his hand, the smile on the other party''s face solidified instantly when he saw Jareth''s face.


    His dark purple hair waved in the wind, and his purple eyes shone with wisdom.


    Before the other party could say anything, Jareth raised his hand to cast magic. The grimoire of the night witch flew in mid-air and amplified Jareth''s magic.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    Immense pressure began to build up around Jareth, and the mana started to condense into such a pure state that it nearly became solid.


    The whole palace started to rumble like crazy, and even the knights guarding the area bent down on their knees under that immense pressure.


    A look of genuine fear appeared on the other party''s face as he felt ''Death'' in that one moment, but fortunately for him, Jareth stopped himself on time.


    ''No''


    As Jareth denied the attack card''s activation, the mana dissipated once more, and everything returned to normal.


    Mark and Risa panted heavily as they were nearly chocked by that immense pressure.


    *clap**clap*


    "You are strong! Jareth Blaze!"


    Reynald, who was wearing the king''s attire, flew out of the palace''s inner area and clapped with a smile on his face.


    Jareth glanced at the king for a moment before nodding his head to greet him gently.


    "Greetings, King Reynald, May the royal throne remain glorious¡­"


    Reynald landed on the ground and nodded his head to acknowledge Jareth''s greeting.


    As if he was impressed by Jareth''s polite manners and his wild power, Reynald said in a satisfied tone,


    "You are stronger than the rumors describe you to be; it seems my son is under the protection of a great mentor¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and replied in a polite yet cold tone.


    "No, the pleasure is all mine. I get to teach such a genius student; that''s my fortune in itself¡­"


    At that moment, Reynald''s eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a meaningful tone.


    "Well, it''s a good thing you didn''t blast off my palace just now, though¡­ It will take a lot of money to get it rebuilt¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied in an equally meaningful tone,


    "No problem, your highness¡­ It''s just that I lost my cool for a moment after seeing an unpleasant face... I will certainly get into a lot of debt if I destroy your palace and have to pay it all back¡­"


    Reynald laughed at Jareth''s words and nodded his head.


    "Well, the time is not ripe yet, so let''s continue this talk later¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words, and Reynald flew away again.


    The reason he even came out was to stop Jareth from destroying the palace.


    If Jareth had used his attack, Reynald would have immediately cast massive barriers to prevent the deaths of all people in the area.


    He had to leave a meeting to come here before the set time; the banquet hadn''t even started, and this wasn''t the time for the main star to appear.


    Once Reynald left, Jareth walked over to the other man and stood in a fairly distant spot from him.


    Jareth stared at the sweat-covered head of the other party, who bowed in shame.


    "The only reason you lived through today was because you were under the king''s protection¡­ Next time won''t be so lucky¡­"


    After saying that, Jareth shook his head and went over to sit on a faraway seat from the other party, as if he were avoiding a plague.


    Seeing Jareth''s retreating back, the head of the Blaze family, Kaiden Blaze, could only bow his head in shame and sit back down on his seat.


    As all major family heads will arrive at this banquet, he also had to come, but the reason he came so early was to avoid meeting Jareth outside the palace.


    If Kaiden was outside the palace and Jareth caught him off-guard, then his death would have been fixed and no one would have tried to save him, but if he stays inside the palace, then even Jareth will have to respect the limits.


    To save his life from Jareth''s claws, Kaiden had no other choice. No grade-2 magician will volunteer to help him out, and no one will try to offend Jareth for no reason.


    Since the day Jareth killed off that wyvern with one attack, Kaiden has been living in fear of death every single day.


    He knew how many bad things he had done, and there was no salvation for him. The moment he steps out of the capital city, Jareth will kill him in that instant.


    Kaiden laments his past decisions now more than ever.


    If he had acknowledged Jareth in the past, then nothing like this would have ever happened, and with two grade-2 mages, the Blaze family would have been the strongest family today, just below the royal family.


    ...


    Unconcerned about the previous matter, Jareth asked a waiter to serve him tea.


    Mark and Risa sat down beside him in an awkwardly quiet manner.


    Just before entering the palace, they were happily talking with Jareth, and now that they had witnessed Jareth''s immense strength once again, they fell silent from shock.


    But, disregarding all that, Jareth tilted his head and inquired in confusion.


    "Hmm, you are already at the royal palace; shouldn''t you go and greet your father, student Mark?..."


    Only after hearing Jareth''s words did Mark snap out of the daze.


    He nodded his head and hurriedly ran off to greet his parents.


    Previously, he only talked with them on the phone, and this is the first time he gets to see them after so many months; thus, he didn''t want to let this opportunity go to waste.


    Seeing Mark leave, Jareth glanced at Risa and said,


    "You should also go; your father is already in the meeting room inside, and your mother and siblings should be in the waiting area¡­"


    Hearing those words, Risa nodded her head and ran away instantly.


    She didn''t even ask how Jareth knew about all this. (Jareth sensed their mana presence with his mana singularity¡­)


    Sitting alone while sipping tea, Jareth felt so out of place.


    He already wanted to go home.


    He''s not a big fan of such massive events himself; the only reason he ever liked to go to such events was because he wanted to eat amazing food.


    But now that he is in Jareth''s body, all food feels bland and tasteless to him, as if he has lost his taste buds or something.


    ''This body certainly has some defects too¡­''


    While thinking about it, Jareth glanced at his palm and saw many cut marks on it.


    ''I have so many scars all over my body¡­ I can''t even heal them, as they are already too old¡­ but I guess I can reduce them once my ''active heal'' reaches a high enough level¡­''


    Jareth sighed and thought,


    ''Maybe I should regenerate my taste buds first, though¡­ Not being able to enjoy food is a real issue¡­''


    The original Jareth lost his taste buds as he lived in poverty and ate unhealthy food for quite a long time.


    Before getting adopted by the Vassal family, he had no money to buy food after all.


    (Fun fact: The original Jareth has even eaten raw dead mice before; it feels nauseating to eat, though¡­)


    ¡­


    While waiting for the other guests to arrive, Jareth sipped the tea quietly and thought about his future plans.


    He was bored and out of topics to think about.


    Then Jareth''s eyes fell on the door, and he noticed Shin''s arrival.


    He was wearing luxurious clothes today and was accompanying a beautiful lady.


    ''Oh, I nearly forgot that he is a married guy¡­ I don''t know if he had kids, though¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and thought to himself.


    (D*mn! Even Shin rizzed up a girl! This world is so unfair!! Let chaos take this world!!)


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in front of the meeting room in the inner area.


    Reynald wiped the sweat from his forehead and gritted his teeth.


    ''The F*ck was that aura!? How could a grade-2 mage have such immense strength!?''


    ''He clearly showed the aura of a grade-1 mage just now!''


    Earlier, when Jareth was just about to attack, Reynald was already ready to use his strongest attack to counter the force.


    He knew that Jareth''s attack was at the same level as his own.


    ''Sigh~ the old fox is really shrewd; he said that Jareth is only a grade-2, but that power is clearly at the same level as mine!''


    Although Reynald was sure that he was still the stronger one among them both, he would not be able to walk away unscathed if he fought Jareth now.


    (And thus the misunderstandings continues¡­)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems no matter where he goes, misunderstandings follow Jareth everywhere, let''s see what happens next!


    Question of the day.


    Do you also agree that Shin has too much rizz?


    Yes Yeah, of course!


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 55 - 55: The Banquet of Stars! Part-6.

    The Banquet of Stars is an event that''s very famous among the upper-ranking people of this nation.


    This banquet typically invites all major family heads.


    Every year during the royal family''s reign, all of the ministers and families would gather to greet the king at this banquet.


    The banquet served as a pretext for important meetings.


    Nobles have always liked to arrange banquets and parities when they need to do a meeting; this has been a long-standing tradition.


    However, now that the nation''s ruling body is a government, the royal family arranges this meeting once every five years or so.


    On this occasion, many well-known politicians are also invited as chief guests.


    In the game, this encounter marks the protagonist''s first meeting with the King.


    The principal himself is responsible for bringing the protagonist to this meeting.


    ¡­


    *Clink*


    Jareth toasted the juice glass with Shin''s wine glass.


    Shin smirked at Jareth and spoke in a mocking tone.


    "You can''t drink wine? Pfff~"


    Jareth was surprisingly calm at Shin''s mocking tone. With a thoughtful look on his face, he glanced at the juice glass and replied in a strangely calm voice.


    "I have promised someone that I won''t drink wine¡­ can''t break that promise¡­"


    Shin''s smile solidified instantaneously as he posed a serious question.


    "Is it a mana contract?"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Jareth shook his head and replied,


    "No¡­"


    Shin''s facial expression turned complicated at those words. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You are surprisingly loyal compared to how you look¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Shin and replied,


    "You are surprisingly irritating compared to how you look¡­"


    Shin shook his head and continued to sip his wine.


    "Tch! Talking to you gives me a headache¡­"


    Ignoring Shin''s words, Jareth glanced at a woman who was talking to other ladies and inquired in a doubtful tone.


    "When did you get married, by the way¡­. Did you kidnap her or something?"


    Blood veins appeared on Shin''s face due to anger instantly, and he replied to Jareth in an angry tone.


    "You take me for a hooligan or something? Also, I am not like those ''young master'' type people; we had an arranged marriage, you know¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and added,


    "Indeed, now that I think about it¡­ You really don''t have the face to charm a woman anyway, so the only way must have been an arranged marriage¡­"


    Shin rubbed his forehead to stop the headache.


    (Fun fact: After Mark, Shin is literally the most handsome guy in the whole university¡­)


    A smirk appeared on Shin''s face as he said,


    "You think too lowly of me; I am literally the most handsome guy in the whole capital city, you know¡­ Just how bad is my image in your eyes?"


    Jareth nearly choked on the juice when Shin described himself as ''the most handsome guy around''.


    "Hmm¡­ from my perspective, your face looks the same as that of a pig that rolls around in mud¡­. Ahem¡­ no, comparing you to a pig will be an insult to the name of pigs¡­"


    Shin almost broke the wine glass out of sheer anger, but decided against it because he knew it would attract too much attention at this massive banquet.


    "What about you, then? I don''t see you rizzing up any girls either! Have you even dated someone before?"


    Jareth sipped the juice and replied in a calm tone.


    "I am a sage; I don''t care about mortal desires¡­ Those who aim to become sages don''t bother themselves with worldly things¡­"


    Jareth''s words rendered Shin speechless.


    Before Shin could come up with a proper counter to that sentence, the star of the event, King Reynald, arrived with his family.


    The massive inner door opened, and the royal family entered the banquet hall.


    All individuals gave a slight bow to the king and the royal family.


    Although in today''s modern world everyone is equal and there''s no need to bow, Reynald is still a Grade 1 mage, so showing some respect to his power is not a bad thing either.


    A maid handed over a wine glass to Reynald and retreated quietly.


    The king smiled at all of the people gathered at the banquet and raised the wine glass to give everyone a big cheer.


    "May the empire last forever!!"


    Following the king''s lead, everyone else also raised their glasses and cheered along with him.


    And thus the banquet party officially started.


    The king and the queen both sat on their dedicated seats to greet the guests one by one.


    Mark had to deal with all the noble young masters, and Princess Alice assisted the noble young ladies.


    Observing all this, Shin let out a sigh and spoke quietly.


    "Thankfully, we don''t live in an aristocratic type of society; otherwise, everyone in this party would have been carrying out their selfish hidden agendas¡­."


    Shin sipped his wine and added,


    "Truthfully speaking, I don''t really like things like politics and stuff. I would rather stay in my room all day long and research magic spells instead of wasting brain power on such matters¡­"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Jareth nodded his head and replied in a sympathetic manner.


    "Indeed, being forced to figure out the hidden politics when you clearly lack brain power, that''s such a cruel task¡­."


    Although Jareth''s words sounded sympathetic to Shin, he kept feeling that something was wrong with them.


    But before he could think further, Jareth asked another question.


    Why didn''t I receive an invitation to your wedding? Did the Isaz family become so poor that they couldn''t afford a meal for me?"


    Shin''s face appeared strange when Jareth asked a question.


    "I sent you the invitation; you didn''t come on your own! And now you are blaming me?"


    After hearing Shin''s words, Jareth thought for a moment before responding.


    "Hmm, perhaps I ended up forgetting about it¡­ or I might have considered that you were joking or something¡­ forget it¡­"


    Ignoring Jareth''s words, Shin said,


    "Forget about me¡­. When are you getting married, by the way? Are you really planning on becoming a real sage?"


    "That would be such a waste of your legacy¡­ If you have kids, your children will have amazing fire magic talent, you know¡­"


    Jareth sipped the juice from the glass and nodded his head.


    "No, even if I don''t have kids, my legacy won''t be lost¡­. I am planning on taking a disciple¡­"


    A look of doubt appeared on Shin''s face at those words.


    "You know that you can''t take Mark as your disciple, right? He will always be destined for the throne, even if you try to influence him¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and said in a solemn tone,


    "I am not talking about Mark¡­ I have yet to find that disciple, but I am planning to¡­ perhaps in the future, I guess¡­"


    Shin simply shook his head in disappointment.


    "Tch, good disciples aren''t just cabbage; you can find them anywhere!" They are rare! You are just daydreaming!"


    Jareth ignored Shin''s words and continued to sip his juice with a mysterious smirk on his face.


    ''I know where I can find one such student¡­ The main issue is that the guy is a villain-type character too¡­ Also, he is a bit crazy, so I need to get a bit stronger before I can go find him¡­''


    Jareth wanted to go through this trouble because he wanted to leave a legacy of his own behind before he died.


    In his previous life, he lived in obscurity, and no one cared about his life or death except for Shiina.


    But in this life, Jareth wants to leave some imprints of his journey so that people can at least remember him in the future.


    ''But is this really even worth it?...''


    In any case, Jareth had lived a life filled with happiness prior to his death, with his only unfulfilled wish being to marry Shiina.


    And now that he has a new life, he has basically no real motive to live at all; the real reason he has been trying to survive is because he doesn''t want to die again.


    But there''s no real reason to live either.


    Currently, he''s like a captainless ship that sails in random directions along with the wind and has no clear destination to reach.


    ''First thing I need to do is find my motivation to live¡­ A person with no goals in life is just as good as dead. I better find some goals of my own¡­''


    Although clinging to life like this seemed quite weird, Jareth still wanted to be strong and improve himself.


    While Jareth was busy contemplating his future plans, the principal finally arrived, along with Allen and Airin.


    (Yeah, even if Jareth changed the plotline, he couldn''t change the principal''s favorability of the protagonist¡­ This is how broken plot armor is¡­)


    Allen hasn''t even achieved anything major in the past few months, but his favorability with the principals is already quite high, which is a very strange thing.


    The moment Reynald and Nathan''s eyes met, the whole banquet hall went dead silent, and the temperature dropped in an instant, making everyone feel cold for some reason.


    Fortunately, the two of them avoided starting a fight, sparing the lives of many innocent people.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It seems that thing are going to get uncertain soon, let see what happens next!


    Question of the day.


    What path would you choose if you became a mage?


    1. Mortal Path (Live life like while co-existing with your mortal desires, like marriage, money, fame, etc..)


    2. Sage Path (Live your life in self-improvement and searching stronger magical abilities¡­)


    3. Others (Tell me in the comments)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.

 Chapter 56 - 56: Hidden Schemes... Part-1.

    "You finally decided to show your face, old fox¡­"


    At Reynald''s words, Nathan smiled a bit and replied in a nostalgic tone.


    "Well, it''s been a while since I came back to the palace, so I took my time watching it from outside¡­"


    The two of them glared at each other with narrowed eyes for a few more seconds before deciding to leave for the meeting room.


    Both of them were wary of each other; they didn''t trust each other at all, so the tension caused by the two of them made everyone feel intimidated.


    Only after the two of them left for the meeting room did the rest of the people calm down a bit.


    ¡­


    Palace, Inner Area, Meeting Room.


    "If not for the negotiations, I would have directly attacked you right here right now¡­"


    Nathan smirked at Reynald''s hateful words and replied in an amused tone:


    "Seriously, kiddo, why hate me that much? All I have done is what a real wizard should do~"


    Blood veins appeared on Reynald''s face as he heard Nathan play innocent.


    Reynald''s father was an excellent grade 1 mage; moreover, he was a good-hearted person.


    He died while fighting an invading demon who successfully crossed the ''False Dome'' seal.


    If Nathan had helped out at that time, Reynald''s father wouldn''t have had to sacrifice his life for the sake of the empire.


    Reynald hates Nathan for this betrayal.


    Nathan refused to help his older brother because there were no profits in it for him.


    Unlike Reynald''s father, who was a kind person, Nathan is a wizard through and through; he follows the rule of equivalent exchange.


    If there are no profits to be made, he won''t bother helping others.


    Even during the fight with Abella, he didn''t really care about the lives of innocent civilians who were dying from collateral damage.


    However, we cannot hold this against him either.


    Given that Nathan is a wizard, one would expect him to be naturally self-centered and cunning.


    Those who are kind aren''t really fit to be wizards; they are fit for knighthood.


    Since the founding years of magic, this is how wizards have always existed; they have survived by being selfish, and that''s just how things are in this world.


    "Moreover, it was me who obtained this spell, so it''s my property now¡­ As a fellow wizard, you need to give an appropriate amount of benefits in exchange for this spell book¡­"


    Hearing Nathan''s words, Reynald felt irritated; he didn''t even want to hear that old fox''s voice, but to obtain his father''s lost legacy, and he had no other choice.


    Reynald waved his hand, and a maid brought a written ''Magic contract'', while another maid brought a few scrolls and space rings, placing them on the table between Reynald and Nathan.


    Reynald pointed at the scrolls and said in a calm voice:


    "These are the scrolls and lists of items you wanted; also, these space rings contain all of the money and resources that you asked for¡­ Sign the mana contract, and all of this is yours¡­"


    Nathan smiled at Reynald''s words and grabbed the mana contract.


    He opened the seal and began reading through the terms and conditions.


    After reading through the contract for a few good minutes, Nathan nodded his head and said,


    "Good, everything''s okay with the contract too. With this contract, you can''t sell this spell book to others, and only the royal family''s members can inherit it¡­"


    Nathan then proceeded to check the space rings, and only after confirming that everything was in order, did he sign the contract.


    Signing a mana contract is a big deal; if any of the two parties break it, they will receive massive mana backlash, causing fatal wounds in their bodies. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And recovering from such wounds takes decades or even more time; thus, no one dares to break the mana contract.


    A mana contract works on the basis of ''Mana'' itself.


    If the two people participating in a mana contract are equal in realm, then they both will have to face the same amount of damage if they break the contract.


    But if one side is weaker and the other is stronger, then things change a bit.


    In the event that the stronger party breaks the contract, they will receive a much stronger mana backlash as they have more mana in their body.


    On the other hand, if someone weak breaks the contract, then they will only get a small mana backlash as they have less mana.


    That''s why mana contracts tend to favor the weaker side most of the time.


    ¡­


    Once Nathan was done signing the contract, Reynald also signed, and the mana contract burned in an instant, eventually disappearing into thin air.


    It didn''t even leave ashes behind.


    Ignoring that phenomenon, Nathan handed over the spell book to Reynald and got up from his seat.


    "That''s it. Now that we are done with the official work, I should leave¡­ I still have to take care of the university''s restoration and all¡­."


    Reynald waved his hand at Nathan as if he were signaling him to leave as fast as possible.


    Nathan ignored Reynald''s actions and left with steady footsteps. He didn''t want to stay here for too long; otherwise, Reynald might get irritated at him more than necessary.


    If the two of them engaged in combat here, many innocent people would perish.


    (Not like they cared about the lives of innocent people either, though¡­ they just thought that it would be troublesome to explain the deaths of so many people to the media¡­)


    Watching Nathan''s retreating back, Reynald shook his head and opened the spellbook to check the contents one last time.


    ''Good, this is the genuine version; if he really dared to give me some fake¡­ ''I wouldn''t have let him leave this place alive today.''


    Reynald respected his father a lot, and safekeeping his legacy is like a very important job for Reynald.


    ''I need to go into seclusion for the next few months and study this spell properly¡­ Once I am done with it, I will give it to Mark. This should be very beneficial for his growth...''


    Helping Mark grow into a capable ''King'' is also one of his most important responsibilities, which he must fulfill at all costs.


    Reynald placed the spell book in his space ring, left the meeting room, and returned to the banquet with a slight smile on his face.


    Regaining his father''s lost legacy certainly put him in a good mood.


    His eyes fell on a purple-haired man who was standing near the window with a juice glass in his hand.


    As Reynald was in quite a good mood now, he immediately walked in Jareth''s direction without hesitation.


    Wherever he went, people gave way and kept a proper distance from him out of respect.


    Seeing Reynald come his way, Jareth also stopped talking with Shin and nodded his head to give a light greeting.


    "Your majesty, what brings you to me?"


    Although Jareth''s face remained as cold as usual while saying those words, doubts appeared in his mind.


    ''Why is this stern-faced guy smiling today? Did the principal give him such a good deal that it made this stone-faced guy smile?


    Jareth''s perception of Reynald was that he was a stern and strict person.


    However, that was only true in the game world; in the real world, even the king displays more emotions than his game character did.


    In the game, Reynald always remained sitting on his throne with a stern and expressionless face that never showed any expressions.


    That''s why seeing Reynald smile like this now caught Jareth off-guard.


    Unaware of Jareth''s inner monologue, Reynald smiled a bit and said in a curious tone:


    "Well, I just wanted to meet you in person, Prof. Jareth; my son has praised you a lot in his messages¡­"


    Reynald paused for a moment before continuing.


    "I originally tested you with my aura when you entered the palace grounds, but you proved that you are much better than I was expecting you to be; you are indeed a remarkable person, Prof. Jareth¡­"


    Hearing Reynald''s words of praise, Jareth shook his head and replied,


    "Haha, you praise me too much, your majesty; I am still much weaker when compared to your immense presence¡­"


    Reynald raised his wine glass, and so did Jareth; both of them toasted their drinks to show trust.


    A look of confusion appeared on Reynald''s face when he saw juice in Jareth''s glass instead of wine.


    "Juice?"


    Jareth nodded his head and gave a vague and simple answer:


    "Yeah, I made a promise to someone that I wouldn''t drink wine¡­ Forgive my rudeness, your majesty¡­"


    Reynald simply shook his head and replied,


    "Haha, no worries; promises shouldn''t be broken that easily; you are a man of your words, Prof. Jareth!¡­"


    Although Reynald said those words, he was thinking something totally different in his mind.


    ''I did hear that his mother was poor¡­ Could it be that he made a promise to her or something?...''


    Reynald misunderstood Jareth''s words and mistook that Jareth had promised this to his dead mother or something.


    After a few more words of sweet- talk, Reynald finally arrived at his main topic.


    "By the way, what are your thoughts on the position of ''The Head of the Blaze Family''¡­?"


    Reynald''s question seemed vague and simple, but it had a deep, hidden meaning, which caused Jareth to narrow his eyes a bit.


    ''Is he trying to provoke me or something?...''


    No matter how Jareth looked at it, this was clearly a signal to ask Jareth a hidden question which was:


    ''Do you want to take the position of head of the Blaze Family?''

 Chapter 57 - 57: Hidden Schemes... Part-2.

    "My thoughts?... hmm, in my opinion, the Blaze family is not worth mentioning¡­ Furthermore, I am not a member of the Blaze family, so I don''t consider the role of the ''head'' to be significant.


    Jareth''s words were clear and confident.


    With those words, Jareth made it clear that he had no interest in taking the seat of the head of the Blaze family; moreover, he wanted nothing to do with the Blaze family either.


    Before Reynald could come up with something else, Jareth continued,


    "But yeah, the head of the Blaze family certainly is a daring man¡­ He should invest in more safety measures; otherwise, the day he laments is not too far¡­"


    Hearing those words from Jareth, the smile on Reynald''s face returned.


    "Hehe, indeed, there are many monsters roaming in the capital these days; who knows if one of them ends up being too aggressive¡­"


    With that statement, Reynald made it clear that he didn''t care whether Jareth killed the family head or not; he was free to do whatever he wanted, and Reynald wouldn''t interfere.


    Although they were talking in a roundabout manner, both of them could easily understand each other''s hidden meaning.


    As the maid poured more wine into his wine glass, Reynald raised it and spoke in an amused tone.


    "Similar minds think alike... The lamb''s been getting fat by eating a lot of meat; it''s about time someone deals with its notorious behavior¡­ keheh¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at Reynald''s words.


    After the maid left, Reynald took a sip of the wine and proceeded.


    "I recently got my hands on a juicy piece of information; would you like to hear it?"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied in his typical cold tone.


    "Enlighten me about it, your majesty¡­"


    "The hometown of the Blaze family, ''Artavia'', has been hit by the ''nightmare'' in secret¡­. What do you think will happen soon?"


    Jareth''s eyes widened in surprise at those words; he knew all too well what Reynald meant by ''Nightmare''.


    "I see, so that''s how it is¡­ then I guess I will visit the lamb''s grave soon¡­"


    Hearing a satisfactory answer from Jareth, Reynald nodded his head and smiled meaningfully.


    "By the way, this information was just the tip of the iceberg¡­ If you want more information..."


    Reynald stretched out his hand towards Jareth and said it with an enthusiastic smile.


    "Become my vassal, Jareth Blaze; let''s dominate this empire together!"


    Hearing those words, Jareth shook his head and replied in a calm tone,


    "Those who aim for the sky don''t bend under the might of a mountain¡­ Forgive my rudeness, but I have my own path to follow, your Majesty Reynald¡­."


    Reynald took his hand back and smiled wholeheartedly.


    "hahaha¡­ That old fox was indeed right; you are a tough nut to crack. It seems my persuasion won''t work on you¡­ but that''s okay too¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied,


    "Well, if you are worried about your son, then don''t be¡­ As long as he stays a student at the university, he won''t die under my surveillance¡­"


    Reynald nodded his head at Jareth''s words and said,


    "I see, so you have decided to treat him as your disciple¡­ That''s quite fortunate; if you are his mentor, then I am not really worried about his safety¡­"


    At Reynald''s word, Jareth gave an appropriate counter-reply.


    "Well, I don''t really think either of us needs to protect him for too long; he''s going to surpass us both eventually anyway¡­"


    "A genius who works harder than a whole construction team¡­ He has put the entire younger generation to shame¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Reynald smiled in amusement and replied,


    "Hahaha, I heard that Prof. Jareth rarely ever praises someone, but here you are praising Mark that much; people will really misunderstand this as blatant favoritism, you know¡­"


    Jareth simply shook his head.


    ''This game has three endings; each one of them is a bad ending¡­ To create a proper future, I would rather choose to believe in a better probability called ''Mark''¡­''


    ''The protagonist did win in the end, but the core problems of this world will remain the same. We need a better option to create a better route¡­''


    Although Jareth was planning according to the bigger picture, others didn''t have the same mentality as him, so they misunderstood him greatly.


    "I think Mark is the possibility that will elevate humans to the next realm; don''t you also believe in that, your Majesty?"


    Reynald''s eyes narrowed momentarily as he contemplated something in his mind before speaking.


    "I see, so you have noticed it too?... As expected from your amazing perception skills, Prof. Jareth¡­ Indeed, Mark is born with the potential to explore the next realm¡­ He is the possibility for the next realm¡­"


    Reynald''s words were solemn; he knew just how precious this possibility was, and he dared not gamble on it.


    "I would prefer it if Prof. Jareth kept this to himself¡­. If this ''possibility'' is lost, humans might not get another chance to reach the pinnacle of sorcery¡­"


    After saying that far, Reynald decided to leave. He waved his hand and dispelled the ''Voice Silence'' magic that he had cast before he started to talk with Jareth.


    (You really thought they were talking it out in public? Of course not! By the way, if you really fell for that trick, then don''t worry¡­ author did it on purpose to give you anxiety attacks¡­)


    Jareth was also aware of the spell due to his ''Mana Singularity'', but he didn''t care why it was occurring.


    What made Jareth feel quite amused was how Reynald has cast this magic without using any ''Chants''.


    ''Grade-1 Magicians are indeed something else; they can cast basic-grade spells without even using chants and magic circles¡­''


    Watching Reynald''s leaving back, Jareth''s facial expressions remained cold, but his mind was already working at full capacity. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Ding! Due to your ''Mana singularity''s inherent properties, you saw through the ''chant-less'' magic cast by a grade 1 mage!]


    [Ding! As your command over mana is extremely strong, you can now command mana without the need to chant!]


    [Ding! You have learned a new passive skill ''Chant-less Magic''!]


    A smirk appeared on Jareth''s face as he sipped the juice from his glass.


    ''You shouldn''t have tried to show off in front of me like that¡­ See, I stole your skills without even doing anything¡­.''


    ''Mana singularity'' is a mage equivalent to legendary skills like ''Sword Intent'', ''Dao Rhythm'', etc.; it gives the user the ability to see through all magic''s and techniques at one glance.


    In this world, ''Sword Intent'' is the pinnacle level skill for all swordsmen, and ''Dao Rhythm'' is the pinnacle level technique for all martial artists; similarly, ''Mana Singularity'' is what all mages aim for.


    (Fun fact: All of these skills involve the power of the ''laws'' of the world itself; learning them is a very difficult and daunting task¡­)


    Due to ''Mana Singularity'', Jareth saw through Reynald''s chant-less ''basic magic'' in an instant and figured out how to use it himself; he literally just ''copy-pasted'' that skill on himself.


    This is the horror of a ''legendary'' rank ability; underestimating a user of these types of skills is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in combat.


    Although this chant-less magic will only work for ''Basic Magic'' and will be unusable for attributed magic, it''s still an amazing ability to have.


    With this skill, your basic magic will be extremely fast and much more effective.


    ¡­


    Once King Reynald left, Shin came back with a curious look on his face.


    "What did you talk with the king for so long in such a secretive way? Was he trying to recruit you or something?"


    Jareth nodded his head and said in a calm tone,


    "He wanted to adopt me into the royal family for some reason; I declined it as it felt kind of weird and awkward¡­"


    Hearing those words, Shin looked at Jareth as if he had heard the most unfunny joke in the world.


    "Where did you learn these unfunny ''dad'' jokes? That one was so cringeworthy. never cook again!"


    "Tch! You don''t have a proper knowledge of jokes, so your weak brain can''t comprehend them, and believe it or not, I can indeed cook great food!"


    (Fun fact: Jareth learned to cook in order to impress Shiina, but then he found out that her cooking was 100 times better when compared to his ''half-burnt food'', so he never cooked again¡­)


    Shin rolled his eyes and pointed at his wife.


    "Who cares about how good you are at it¡­ I have a loving wife to cook it for me; do you have the same privileges as me?"


    Jareth glanced at Shin and asked,


    "Then how many times do you do the dishes?"


    Black lines appeared all over Shin''s face as he knew that he was a ''lazy bum'' who never helped out at home and always slept like a log.


    "Cough! W-we don''t talk about that¡­ cough!"


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, at the same time,.


    In the border town of Artavia.


    *kaaaahhhh!!!* *HEEELLPP!!!*


    A massive worm sucked a man''s "life force" and killed him instantly by turning him into a mummified corpse.


    Even after death, horror and fear remained visible on the corpse.


    A woman wearing ''witch'' style clothing appeared and patted the gigantic worm with her hand.


    "Good! Just like this, keep extracting souls; my broom got broken; I need a thousand more souls to remake it¡­"


    The worm wriggled in excitement after hearing Abella''s praise and launced at a nearby group of innocent children.


    What followed after that was an absolute massacre.


    [Report of that day: 669 civilians died in a gruesome way, their bodies mummified and their souls extracted from their bodies, cause Abella ''The Nightmare''¡­]

 Chapter 58 - 58: Hidden Schemes... Part-3.

    While Jareth and the others were busy with the banquet, Abella had murdered more than six hundred innocent people in the border town of Artavia.


    To repair her broken magic broom, she massacred the people living in that area without holding back and forcefully extracted their souls.


    While looking at her minions working tirelessly to collect souls for her, a satisfied smile appeared on Abella''s face.


    ''A few hundred more, and I can start the ritual¡­ Kekehe, watching the souls of innocent people howl in pure agony and fear is indeed the best way to pass time. I will never get tired of this~''


    To Abella, people were just playthings; even her summoned monsters seemed more precious to her than the lives of other humans.


    Although the master of the organization did ask her to lay low for a while, she wasn''t really going to do exactly as he had asked.


    After all, mutual benefits served as the foundation for the ''False Dome'' cult.


    Abella provides her services to the cult in exchange for more summonable monsters and rare materials.


    She isn''t absolutely loyal to the cult either.


    All she wants is to see the destruction and pure carnage the demon gods will create once the ''seal'' on ''False Dome'' is broken.


    She will be happy to see people suffer horrible torture.


    Her interests aligned with the cult, so she joined it, but she wasn''t bound by anything.


    She doesn''t fear the leader of the cult, either, as he is also a grade 1 mage like her, and she can definitely fight him as an equal.


    The leader refrained from punishing her because he was aware that Abella would not comply with a harsh penalty. (That warning he gave was immediately ignored by her¡­)


    Abella shook her head and flew towards a hidden cave in the nearby forest.


    Outside the cave, a massive hill of mummified corpses stood, and the spider monsters were slowly rearranging the corpses within.


    Without stopping to look at the gruesome sight, Abella entered the cave and reached the innermost area.


    They were building a gigantic altar out of the skulls and bones of those mummified corpses.


    Many spiders were working hard to build the altar using their own solidified webs.


    Abella nodded her head and smiled as she noticed the altar was already 1/3 complete.


    ''A few more days, I guess, kehehe, and I will be back to my full combat prowess¡­''


    *Step**step*


    Just when Abella was feeling satisfied, heavy footsteps rang out, and a knight wearing dark black armor walked inside the cave.


    Noticing the other party''s arrival, the smile on Abella''s face disappeared in an instant.


    "What are you doing here, Norton ''The Bane''? I remember telling you not to meddle in my business¡­ Do you not take my words seriously?"


    The death knight ignored Abella''s words and walked over to the altar.


    He stared at the altar for a few seconds before he spoke.


    "Master said¡­ prepare¡­ another one¡­"


    Norton''s voice was hoarse and weird; it seemed like a beast''s groan instead of a human''s voice.


    Abella''s eyes twitched at Norton''s words, and she rubbed her forehead to stop the headache.


    "Ugh¡­ I was just about to complete this one in a few days, and he wants me to make another one now?"


    At Abella''s words, Norton nodded his head and spoke.


    "He said¡­ If you are¡­ doing it¡­. then do it¡­. Large..."


    Abella sighed as she heard those words.


    ''I really underestimated that man; he really is much crazier than I was originally expecting him to be¡­''


    Thinking this far, Abella glanced at the death knight and asked in a doubtful tone,


    "How big does he want it to be then?"


    The death knight nodded his head and replied,


    "Ten thousand¡­ summon an incarnation¡­"


    Hearing those words, Abella''s eyes widened in shock,


    "Ten thousand!? Do you even know what you''re saying?! If we kill that many people, we will attract the attention of that monstrous guy, you know!"


    (She is referring to King Reynald, as he is considered the strongest man under the heavens in this world¡­)


    Reynald typically avoids addressing the empire''s issues due to his lack of obligation, but a significant massacre like this one would infuriate him and the entire empire.


    (Yeah, he has no other choice but to come forward when a massive amount of people start pestering him¡­ Otherwise, he won''t even care¡­)


    The death knight shook his head and replied,


    "Orders¡­ have to follow¡­"


    The death knight Norton is extremely loyal to his master, and he won''t refuse any order from the leader of the cult, but Abella is different.


    She doesn''t want to die, and she doesn''t want to get involved in a situation in which her death is certain.


    "This is such a big event; who else is going to be here? We need more firepower if we want to go against the whole nation¡­."


    The death knight pointed to himself and replied in his usual hoarse voice,


    "Me, you, and¡­. a death squad member¡­ we need only¡­ summon the incarnation¡­ then we can retreat¡­"


    Hearing Norton''s words, Abella heaved a sigh of relief.


    If she had to do such a big massacre all alone, she certainly wouldn''t agree, but now that she knows the ins and outs of this plan, she has decided to give it a chance.


    ''I will retreat immediately after the incarnation of the demon god is summoned, and then I will watch the massacre from afar keheheke¡­''


    Abella knew about how powerful an incarnation of the demon gods usually is, and she also knew that this was an amazing opportunity.


    Although there were many risks in this plan, if it succeeds, not only will she get to watch thousands of people howl in fear and pain, she will also get to collect an immense number of souls to use.


    Recently, she discovered a new method to enhance her minions, which is to imbue the souls of five or more people into their bodies.


    This way, the minion becomes much stronger after consuming those five weaker souls.


    (Fun fact: If for some reason your soul gets destroyed or consumed, you will have no chance to return to the natural samsara, and you won''t be born ever again¡­ you existence will cease to exist¡­)


    Abella clearly didn''t care that this plan would destroy the lives of countless innocent people; all she wanted was to profit greatly from this troubled situation.


    Moreover, the most unfortunate aspect is that we cannot hold her accountable for her actions.


    Neither Reynald nor Nathan will stop her out of chivalry or concern for the innocent people; even if they stop her, they will be doing so in a situation where they get some profit out of it.


    Both of them are ''wizards'' in the truest sense.


    Despite their strength, they have no obligation to protect anyone.


    The wizards are considered ''selfish'' and ''profiteers'' in this world, and this fact is not really wrong either.


    {Being weak is the original sin in this cruel world¡­}


    ¡­


    The banquet of stars ended late at night; the head of the Blaze family had already sneaked away for fear that Jareth might kill him.


    Seeing that people were leaving one by one, Jareth also got up from his seat and decided to head home early.


    He didn''t really have any friends to talk with, so he didn''t need to stay here for too long.


    He had already completed his task of attending the banquet at the principal''s request; there was no need to stay here any longer.


    Moreover, he now has an amazing piece of information with him.


    Many plans were already formulating in his head, and he was thinking about his future steps beforehand. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Before going to Artavia, I need to do some preparations¡­ Rushing ahead in the enemy camp without any preparation is a bad idea¡­''


    Just when Jareth was about to leave, Mark''s younger sister, Alice, came running towards him.


    She caught the hem of Jareth''s coat and said it in an excited tone.


    "Professor! Take big bro Mark as your son!"


    Jareth was momentarily confused upon hearing her words.


    He stretched out his hand and patted her small head.


    "Why does the princess want me to take Mark away? Don''t you like your brother?"


    Although Jareth was trying to speak in a much softer tone, his voice still came out cold.


    Fortunately, the bold princess was not intimidated by his cold tone.


    At Jareth''s question, the princess widened her arms and said it excitedly.


    "If big bro Mark leaves, then all of the candies and pastries that the maids make will be mine alone!!"


    The corners of Jareth''s eyes twitched at her words.


    ''This girl really is Reynald''s daughter; she''s also a profiteer like her father! The entire Royal family consists of eccentric individuals!


    ''Even this little princess got affected by this weirdo syndrome!''


    After a few seconds of contemplation, Jareth replied to Alice''s words:


    "Let me tell you a trick, then: you should directly steal all of his share of candies and pastries and put the blame on Risa¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Alice''s eyes shone with excitement.


    "Th-this! This is an amazing idea! Thank you, Professor!"


    After giving that advice, Jareth waved his head at her and left.


    Once he was out of the banquet hall, his thoughts wandered once again.


    ''Alice.... the NPC who got turned into a ''human chimera'' and became the reason for Mark''s downfall¡­ I hope she doesn''t end up like that this time¡­''


    Although Jareth had seen the horrific ending of this little girl, he didn''t want her to end up like that in this timeline.


    ''Not even the worst criminals deserve that horrifying end...''

 Chapter 59 - 59: Chaos and plans... Part-1.

    Jareth''s training room. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel and stretched his body to relax a bit.


    ''Sitting on one spot for continuous meditation is really a difficult task¡­ My legs are feeling quite sore from this five-hour continuous training session¡­''


    [Active Heal!]


    To get rid of the soreness in his legs, Jareth used Active Healing once again. (Bro is literally spamming the forbidden technique on random things¡­)


    For other''s, using ''active heal'' is a last-ditch effort for survival, but for Jareth, this was merely an auxiliary skill that he could use at any moment, without worrying about the consequences.


    Ignoring his own extravagant usage of ''active heal'', Jareth opened the lottery panel.


    ''Now that I have ten thousand CP, I can do two silver lotteries, but¡­''


    Jareth''s eyes fell on the golden lottery,


    [3. Gold Lottery: 25000 Cp]


    ''No matter how I look at it, this thing is so expensive¡­''


    Right now, Jareth was facing a dilemma: he wanted to immediately spend his CP on the silver lottery, but he also wanted to save the CP to do a gold lottery.


    His brain was telling him to save the CP, and his heart was saying,


    ''Just one pull won''t hurt¡­'' (Ah, those days of splurging on one-pulls in gacha games, How nostalgic! Never touching grass and never seeing the sun for two years, how nostalgic~)


    Just when Jareth was still contemplating in his mind, his phone suddenly rang and woke him from his imaginary world.


    ''Hmm, who is it now¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand in the air, and the phone flew at him on its own.


    [Basic Magic: Telekinesis!]


    ''Telekinesis is so convenient¡­''


    (Fun fact: A lazy mage invented telekinesis because he wanted to grab the TV remote without moving from the bed¡­)


    Once the phone landed in Jareth''s hand, he accepted the call, and a familiar voice rang out in his ears.


    "Hey, check the official chat group; things are going crazy there!"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Jareth felt quite weird.


    He ended the call and then opened the chat app to take a look.


    There was already a sign of 99+ messages in the chatgroup.


    With a frown over his head, Jareth opened the group, and what he saw was that a huge number of ''shorts'' were being spammed in the group by all of the professors.


    ''The f*ck are these guys doing? Do they not have anything better to do?''


    Jareth was about to close the app in disappointment, but then he noticed a video with his own photo on it.


    ''What''s this..''


    Curious, he tapped at the video reel, which began with a gigantic Cyclops standing with a stern look on his face.


    A text column appeared beside the Cyclops, as if the Cyclops were saying those words.


    The words were: ''Nah, I would win!''


    And then the scene changed; Jareth was shown unharmed while the Cyclops were split in two, and half of his body was splattered on the ground.


    The scene changed as deep phonk music began to blast, depicting Jareth in a Buddha pose while speaking.


    ''Stand proud; you are strong, but nah~~, because throughout the spell and theories, I alone am the speed-runner one!''


    Seeing that weird reel, a black line appeared over Jareth''s face.


    Then he noticed that nearly all of the memes that the professors were spamming appeared to be similar.


    The other one started with a wyvern glaring at Jareth, while Jareth simply placed one of his fingers on his face, and the music started.


    *Bye-bye~*


    Then it showed Jareth ''Mewing'' at the wyvern.


    Jareth rubbed his forehead while watching this brain rot to stop the headache.


    He immediately closed his phone and went back to training in order to forget about it all.


    ''Forget it; I will gather more Cp first and then do a gold lottery¡­''


    That brain rot affected him, so he wasn''t in the mood to do anything else right now aside from staring at his own status panel.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 2580/2580] [MP: 1469/1469]


    [Titles: Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat, Speed-runner]


    [STR: 30] [AGI: 21] [SPE:23] [DEF: 35] [INT: 65]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: 5]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 4)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 10100]


    [Evaluation: The source of disturbance in the threads of fate, you have defied your destined Fate¡­]


    Seeing that ''Speed-runner'' title, Jareth shook his head and sighed continuously.


    ''People do random bulsh*t outta nowhere!''


    Then Jareth''s eyes fell on his ''Defense'' stat, and the frown on his face deepened.


    ''Ugh, spamming active heal so many times caused my stats to rise fast, but¡­ I didn''t think that I would end up becoming so ''tanky'' all of a sudden¡­''


    At that moment, Jareth remembered a quote from a famous work.


    ''Mages without a strong body don''t have a soul!'' (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    Artavia, A medium-sized city.


    *yawnnn~*


    One of the patrol squad members yawned loudly and spoke in an exhausted voice.


    "Sigh, why do we have to patrol in such hot weather¡­ Ugh, I just ate, and now I feel so sleepy¡­"


    The taller patrol guard punched the shorter guy lightly and laughed a bit.


    "Haha, lucky you! Your wife makes such good food for you after all! I am quite jealous of you, man¡­"


    The shorter guy waved his hand at those words and spoke them in a complex tone.


    "You''re not married, so you still don''t understand, man; marriage is a struggle!" My wife scolds me every time I drink even a little bit of wine! Ugh!"


    "The other day she kicked me out of the house for drinking too much, and I had to sleep on the footpath, ugh¡­ My back still hurts from sleeping on that cold floor¡­"


    Upon hearing his friends'' words, the tall guard shook his head and spoke.


    "Well, that''s your fault; if you keep doing that all the time, I won''t be surprised if she beat you''re a*s one day¡­"


    The short guard was about to continue his complaints when a stone spike suddenly flew into the air, blasting the man''s head off in an instant.


    Before the other guard could react, another spike came flying, which blasted off a massive hole in his chest, killing him instantly too.


    Just a few seconds ago, the two of them were still chatting happily about their lives, and now they lay there as corpses. (As they say, life is strange and unpredictable¡­ enjoy it to the fullest when you still have the time...)


    *kahhaaahaaakkkkkkk*


    A huge swarm of demonized bees came flying from the forest area and rushed inside the city to massacre people without wasting a single second.


    The city guards stared at the sky in horror and shouted.


    "What happened to the magic barrier! How are there monsters here-"


    As more and more people began to die immediately, chaos ensued.


    *kekekekehhehehehe*


    Abella, the ''Nightmare'', appeared in the sky and began to laugh at the misery of the people below.


    "Yeah! This is it! Kill them all! Harvest all of the souls here!"


    Abella summoned a large number of demonized worms to mummify the dead bodies and suck their souls out of them.


    No one was spared, not even children and newborns.


    The demon spiders transformed the city''s government officials into a liquefied, acidic substance before they could even send an SOS.


    Abella laughed wholeheartedly at that senseless slaughter and shouted in a happy tone.


    "Yeah! Die, you pathetic ants! I am stronger, so I can rule those below me!.... I am stronger, I am smarter, I am better! I am better than you all!!"


    At Abella''s words, the whole populace was terrified, but a bold young man still dared to look Abella in the eyes.


    The young man mustered his courage and shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "Can you beat G*ku, though?"


    Abella was momentarily stunned upon hearing the young man''s words.


    She was not some ancient witch; she knew all too well about modern shows and other things, so she was shocked at the boldness of that young man.


    *Dead Silence~*


    The terrified people and the monsters all stopped to look at the young man for a second.


    Abella cleared her throat and said,


    "Cough, Ahem¡­ W-we don''t talk about that...."


    As if he understood her words, the young man nodded his head,


    "Understandable¡­ very relatable¡­"


    The young man, along with the others, began to flee. (He was trying to buy time, actually¡­ it may seem strange but it was an excellent move...)


    Abella waved her hand and shouted at her minions.


    "Kill them all!"


    And the carnival of death continued in an instant.


    The affected person moaned in excruciating pain as the parasitic worms forcefully entered their bodies through their mouths or ears and ate them up from the inside.


    Gigantic bees blew holes into people''s bodies.


    Internal organs, guts, and blood splattered everywhere. Blood flowed through the streets like water, and dense miasma covered the whole city in its grasp.


    (Fun fact: The only survivor of this incident was the guy who questioned Abella as he got buried under the rubble and made it out alive later¡­)


    Eventually, the news about this incident reached the ears of the Blaze family that ruled over this territory, and chaos ensued right after.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s note


    People were complaining about the question, so I have shifted the questions into the ''author''s thought'' below, so check them out if you miss them.


    From now on, this will not affect the chapter''s word count.

 Chapter 60 - 60: Chaos and Plans... Part-2.

    Abella slaughtered a whole city overnight, and the entire nation became active.


    All of the government''s higher-ranking officials received emergency messages.


    Every registered Grade 3 or higher level individual received an emergency message from the government.


    Abella''s unrestrained murder of thousands of civilians was a slap in the face of the nation''s guardians.


    The media immediately covered this shocking news, and people organized massive protest groups to wake up the government and ask them for an explanation.


    The Blaze family was the first to bear the brunt of this incident, as Artavia was their territory, and so many casualties happened under their surveillance.


    The government immediately organized a meeting with Nathan and promised him a lot of benefits in exchange for hiring him to deal with this problem.


    The government certainly possesses weapons such as mana-powered nuclear bombs, but they prefer to use them as last resort methods.


    These weapons not only create chaos in the area but also pollute it with radiation, rendering the area uninhabitable for hundreds of years.


    Thus, it''s better to hire a grade-1 mage instead of using such destructive weapons on fertile land.


    Nathan was happy to accept the request.


    Although he got enough resources from Reynald, who will deny more free resources?


    He was already planning to defeat Abella, as she had been the main reason he had to sell his secret spell, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.


    The government representatives also sent their ministers to ask Reynald for help, but Reynald simply declined the offers.


    The royal family itself controls half the ''GDP'' of this entire nation, so there''s no way that Reynald could be swayed by money.


    Unless Abella directly attacks the vassals of the royal family, Reynald won''t take any action against her, as there''s no profit in it for him.


    In fact, his weapon-making factories will profit if a full-scale war happens, so he wasn''t going to interfere at all.


    ¡­


    Official Chatgroup.


    Principal: "I have accepted a commission from the government to enter the battle against Abella the ''Nightmare''; all of the willing professors can accompany me to the battle."


    Shin_Isaz: "No way, I am not going; my favorite anime, ''Doki Doki Moe'', is going to release soon."


    Principal: "Those who will participate in this battle will get a massive bonus and a free vacation trip to the beach!"


    Shin_Isaz: "Count me in!!"


    Thomas: "I am in¡­"


    Aria: "I will go too!"


    Aside from the three, other professors were still hesitating to choose, but then another message came.


    Jareth_the_Goat: "I shall accompany you in this battle too, then¡­ By the way, who changed my nickname?"


    Everyone ignored Jareth''s complaint about someone changing his nickname and decided to join the battle as soon as they saw Jareth enter it.


    Not all of them are strong; some, like Aria, are on the weaker side, but as long as Jareth is leading their group, they have nothing to fear.


    (They are misunderstanding that he is extremely strong and can protect them all¡­)


    Principal: "All students who want to experience real military combat can also tag along!"


    The government will fund this battle, deploy the army, and allow students to accompany the soldiers if they wish to experience real combat in the army.


    This is an excellent opportunity for those who want to improve their combat knowledge.


    Allen: "I will go!"


    How can the protagonist stay out of such a high-profile event? Of course, Allen will be going.


    And with Allen, his future harem will also tag along.


    Mark and Risa also agreed to participate in this battle because they knew Jareth would be there and didn''t need to worry about safety.


    (Everyone is placing their trust in a real fraud¡­ how ironic¡­)


    Aside from these few students, not many agreed to join this battle, as they all knew how dangerous things could become.


    Only talented and strong people like Mark could jump into battle without worrying; others don''t have the same amount of courage as them.


    ¡­


    Artavia, destroyed city, central area.


    Norton got up from the meditative state and nodded his head towards Abella, who was sitting on her repaired magic broom.


    "They have started to move¡­ I hacked into the government servers¡­. I have figured out all of their plans¡­"


    Norton''s abilities are not limited to combat only, he has special skills that can interfere with the internet on a deeper level.


    Not only did he figure out the secret military plans beforehand, he also saw the conversations in Ivan''s official chat group at the higher arcane university.


    "I can take care¡­ of the grade 2... But I am not¡­ sure about, Jareth Blaze¡­"


    Norton might be undead, but even he has a basic thought process.


    Not only is fire magic a big weakness of all undead-type monsters, but Jareth himself is quite strong.


    Thus, even Norton was not sure if he could deal with him.


    Abella will be busy with the principal, so she also doesn''t have the time to deal with others.


    Just as the two of them were contemplating in their minds, a young girl wearing an assassin''s robe walked out of the shadows and spoke in a calm voice.


    "Leave him to me¡­ I am proficient in assassinating grade 2 or below-level mages¡­"


    Upon hearing the girl''s words, Abella nodded her head in agreement.


    "I see, so you want to take revenge for those two other members of your squad?"


    The girl nodded her head.


    "Yeah, he killed my younger brothers¡­. He must pay for what he did to them¡­"


    Norton shook his head and said, in his usual hoarse voice,


    "If you use¡­ ''that'' ability on him, you will also die¡­"


    The assassin girl nodded her head and replied with a determined tone.


    "It doesn''t matter¡­ As a member of the death squad, I don''t fear death¡­"


    Unlike other Death Squad members, she has always been the sanest of them all.


    And she has always tried to protect the other members of her squad, but now that they are all dead, it is her duty to avenge them.


    ¡­


    In an unknown location, a hidden church.


    The eyes of the gigantic demonic statue shone, and an evil and beastly voice resounded throughout the church.


    "How are things progressing¡­ I have limited patience; if you take too long, I will leave this place¡­"


    Hearing his benevolent god''s voice, the cult leader kowtowed to the statue and replied in an excited tone.


    "Everything is going as planned! All pieces are in place! Soon you can manifest your incarnation on this land!"


    Hearing those words, the devilish whisper resounded in the church once again. This time, the other party seemed in a much better mood.


    "HAHA, GOOD! GOOD!, Once my incarnation manifests, I will be able to pinpoint the weak spots of this seal accurately!"


    The cult leader nodded his head and replied,


    "Yes! Then we won''t need to worry about the records in the hidden library of the university¡­ We can open the seal without them!"


    Upon hearing the cult leader''s words, the devilish whisper spoke.


    "FOOL! Don''t underestimate this seal! The ''Bearer of the Promised Destiny'' himself cast this seal! The only way to open this seal is to find the ''key'' and open it from inside!"


    After receiving a reprimand from his god, the cult leader bowed once more to acknowledge his error.


    In an instant, the demonic statue''s glow vanished, leaving behind only a rough voice.


    "Just keep going with the current plan; there is no need to rush."


    The cult leader got up from the ground, and his dark, mist-covered body disappeared in the darkness once again.


    ¡­


    Royal Palace, Throne Room.


    Reynald suddenly glanced in a certain direction and frowned a bit.


    ''Hmm¡­ this sudden disturbance in the ''flow'' of the world''s space-time fabric?... Something''s not right¡­ Something just interfered with the ''flow''¡­''


    Reynald was the only person who was able to sense the sudden disturbance in the space-time fabric. (It was created by the astral projection of the demon god¡­.) S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But what he sensed was too vague, he even mistook it to be a regular fluctuation created by someone''s teleportation magic for a moment.


    ''Strange¡­''


    Although Reynald was unaware of what was happening, he had a bad premonition about all this.


    And the premonition of a grade 1 mage is usually very accurate.


    Reynald shook his head and thought to himself.


    ''Mark, grow up soon; I have a bad feeling about this¡­ The human race can''t always remain in a state of degradation like this¡­ We need someone who can forge the path ahead¡­''


    Reynald knew about the seals of ''False and Hidden Dome''; he also knew the true nature of this world.


    All first-grade individuals in this world are aware of how fickle the existence of the human race actually is.


    ''Our only salvation is the new realm¡­ Without that, there''s no future for the human race¡­''


    Reynald shook his head and got up from his throne, and decided to take a walk outside to lighten his heavy mood.


    ''In the face of the ''authority'' of the gods¡­ mortals are just weak ants in the end¡­''


    Reynald walked towards the back garden of the palace and admired the flowers that were blooming in the garden with a relaxed look on his face.


    Seeing the gardeners working peacefully with smiles on their faces, Reynald could feel both the ''simplicity and complexity'' of life at the same time.


    Staring at the setting sun, a thought came to Reynald''s mind.


    {Sometimes ignorance of certain truths is the best way to live a happy life. Some truths are never meant to be known by the world of mortals, as they do more harm than good¡­}

 Chapter 61 - 61: To Artavia! Part-1.

    Artavia, Central City, Blaze Mansion.


    "Why do we have to hide from that incompetent fool!? I can''t believe it dad! How can you let that rat slip away!?"


    A young man''s annoyed voice rang out in the dining room of the mansion.


    Although it was quite rude to speak to the head of the Blaze family in such a loud voice, nobody reprimanded the young man for his behavior.


    The young man didn''t stop there; he took the food plate and threw it on the ground along with the food, frightening all of the maids nearby.


    "I can''t believe it! You''re a Grade 2 Mage father! You always told us to be decisive and straightforward! And yet! You didn''t kill that rat right away!"


    Hearing the tantrums of his son, the family head, Kaiden Blaze could only shake his head and sigh.


    "I always considered him to be nothing more than a rat that I could kill off whenever the opportunity came, but... I had no idea how much strength he was hiding¡­"


    From the start, Jareth has always been doing his best to survive.


    He entered a prestigious academy and survived the massacre at his adoptive parents''s house.


    Then, as a student, he entered the university and spent his time under the protection of the university''s professors.


    And later, he worked on his theories while staying in a place near the royal library.


    Kaiden couldn''t send his lackey to that area.


    Eventually, Jareth entered the university as a professor, thus saving his life again.


    Overall, Jareth had been planning everything from the start.


    He knew his own weakness, so he prepared accordingly. To survive the pursuit of the Blaze family, he worked hard to become a professor.


    "That guy has always had a shrewd mind; he hid his strength from¡­ He knew that I would go to any lengths to kill him if he had shown his magical talent beforehand¡­"


    Kaiden''s words were filled with regret.


    He lamented the fact that he didn''t personally go to assassinate Jareth in his childhood.


    If he had done so, then he wouldn''t have had to face the humiliation that he is facing today.


    Not only has Jareth become strong enough to kill him, but he likely has no intentions of sparing the Blaze family either.


    Just when Kaiden was feeling depressed and regretful, his wife also took the side of his son and said it in an angry tone.


    "See! I had already told you beforehand! I told you years ago that this calamity will certainly come to bite you back if you don''t deal with it now!"


    The woman''s tone was filled with immense anger and hatred.


    "I had told you to get rid of that filthy rat before he grows up! And you! You didn''t agree at all!! You kept delaying it again and again!!"


    "Your carelessness has brought this calamity upon us now!"


    Kaiden''s wife glared at him with eyes full of anger and disappointment, and his son also shouted at him disrespectfully.


    This showed just how little respect his family has for him.


    (Fun fact: If Kaiden had raised Jareth with love and care, Jareth would have respected Kaiden greatly¡­ Moreover, with his amazing brain, Jareth would have taken the whole Blaze family to a new level by improving their earnings!)


    Even though his own family members were disrespecting him, Kaiden dared not refute their words, as he was feeling regret for not dealing with Jareth early.


    Only Aiza was sitting with a relaxed look on her face, as if she had nothing to do with whatever was happening near the dining table.


    She was slowly eating the food and watching the drama unfold with a calm look on her face.


    ''I knew it¡­ The moment he killed that cyclops, I already knew how strong he was¡­.''


    Aiza had witnessed the horror of Jareth''s capabilities with her own eyes. She had seen how he blasted off that grade-2 monster from the face of Earth.


    After that attack, not even the ashes of the cyclops''s dead body remained.


    Moreover, Jareth had already given her a straightforward answer.


    ''He said I have nothing to do with the sins committed by my father, so I shouldn''t get involved¡­''


    Aiza is a smart girl; she knows her limits.


    She''s barely a grade-5 mage right now, and reaching Jareth''s level of strength will take her nearly 7-8 years at least, which is a long time.


    Even if she tried to protect her father from him, she wouldn''t last a single second against him if he really became serious; thus, it was pointless to try to defend his wrongdoings.


    In the end, Aiza chose the most obvious choice.


    She decided to take a ''neutral'' stance in this conflict.


    She did not accuse her father of his obvious wrongdoings, nor did she attempt to obstruct Jareth''s path.


    This way, she could ensure her own safety.


    Aiza shook her head, glanced at her older brother, and said in a calm tone,


    "Brother¡­ Prof. Jareth said that his grudges are against Father and Mother¡­ It has nothing to do with us both, so it''s better to stay out of this matter¡­"


    "Let the elders take care of it themselves¡­ You don''t need to stress yourself with it-"


    Before Aiza could complete her words, the young man punched the dining table and retorted in a loud voice.


    "I don''t care! If something happens to our father, it will cause a significant disruption to our family industries! We will lose money!"


    "I don''t want to lose a single coin from my inheritance because of that rat! We must deal with that rat as early as possible!"


    Hearing those words, Aiza shook her head and got up from her seat.


    Now that her brother had rejected her proposal, she had no reason to stay here at all.


    "Okay, then, you guys do what you want to do with this¡­ I am not getting involved in this plan; in the first place, all of this was started by my father¡­ I have nothing to do with it¡­"


    Kaiden is certainly guilty of the crimes that he committed against Jareth, but his children have nothing to do with them.


    {As the saying goes: a criminal''s child is not born as a criminal; the punishment for a father''s sins shouldn''t be given to the children, as they don''t deserve it¡­} (Source: Trust the homie!¡­)


    Jareth is not a bloodthirsty murderer; he won''t kill children for the sake of revenge, which will make him no different than Kaiden after all.


    Jareth is 28 years old, and Aiza, Mark, Allen, Risa, etc. are all only 18 years old this year. Therefore, Jareth considers them to be children.


    He would like to avoid killing children, but if they really came in his way, then he would have no other choice.


    Working for a shady company has taught him many things. He isn''t a soft-hearted person either, and this isn''t the first time he has killed a human.


    (He has killed people in his past life too; he isn''t an innocent guy¡­ (He is a villain for quite a few¡­)


    ¡­


    Ignoring the stares of her family, Aiza left the Blaze mansion in her car and went back to the university dorms.


    While on the way, she received the principal''s message in the official chat group, in which he asked for the students who wanted to join the army for an early trial.


    Aiza thought for a few moments and then sent a message of approval.


    She wanted to distract her mind with something else, and this military training camp was the best way to do that.


    Not only will several of the professors be protecting the students, but it will also be a good way to get some real-life combat experience.


    ''Allen is also going¡­ I should go too¡­''


    As a future member of Allen''s harem, how could she not have some good thoughts about him?


    Just the other day, Allen was the one who carried their team to the potion-making event.


    (She totally ignored the fact that Allen was also the one who messed up their potion in the end too¡­)


    Allen is good at sweet talking and has a way with words; he knows how to impress people and raise his favorability; even Aiza has started to notice him nowadays.


    Airin is already in love with Allen, and his journey to become a harem king has already started.


    On the other hand, Mark has yet to make any significant progress in his love life. He''s still obsessed with becoming strong and getting Jareth''s recognition.


    Jareth''s attempts at helping Mark and Risa get together are all going down the drain, it seems.


    ¡­


    Jareth''s training room.


    ''Phew~ I got it on time!''


    [Ding! Congratulations! Your skill ''Active Heal'' has been upgraded to grade 3!]


    [Ding! From now on, you can regenerate all of your limbs and body parts, except for your brain!]


    Looking at that notification, Jareth wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed.


    After the hard work of several days of continuous usage of ''Active Heal'', Jareth has finally upgraded it to the level where he doesn''t need to be afraid of losing any limbs at all.


    Unless the opponent destroys his brain in one massive attack, there''s no other easier way to kill Jareth now. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With cells that can divide without side effects, Jareth is now a walking tank! His endurance is off the charts now!


    Even if he stands there and lets people attack his body, he still won''t die!


    ''Once again, it has been proved¡­ Mana singularity is just too broken; nothing comes close to it¡­''

 Chapter 62 - 62: To Artavia! Part-2.

    Artavia, Military Airport.


    A private airplane landed at the airport, and its door slowly opened when it stopped.


    Nathan led the way, and the professors and students followed behind him and exited the airplane.


    Soldiers formed two lines on either side of the red carpet as the general in charge of this operation came in person to welcome Nathan and the others.


    Not only Nathan himself is a Grade 1 mage, he also brought a large group of strong people with him, so the general was more than happy to welcome this much-needed help with open arms.


    "Principal Nathan, I have heard a lot about your achievements! I have no doubts that with your help, this mission will definitely succeed!"


    While saying those words, the general smiled and raised his hand to do a handshake with the principal.


    Nathan nodded at the general and shook his hand in return.


    "You praise me too much, general Ferdid Kheihran; it''s an honor to meet an excellent person like you actually¡­"


    Nathan returned the compliment to the general without showing the slightest hint of embarrassment.


    After exchanging basic words of flattery, the general shook hands with each professor individually.


    "Prof. Shin! It''s been a while! The last time I saw you was when you won the national level dueling tournament!"


    Shin scratched the back of his head and smiled a bit,


    "Haha, I didn''t expect you to remember my face from that time, General. You came over as a chief guest at that time, and I thought you might not remember me¡­"


    The general shook his head at those words and replied in a confident tone.


    "No way, I never forget the name of the brilliant people whom I have rewarded with medals with my own hands¡­"


    "I already knew that you would have a bright future when I first noticed your talents¡­ and see! You''ve achieved the same grade as me in such a short time!"


    After a few more seconds of chatting with Shin, the general stretched out his hand towards Jareth too.


    Jareth nodded his head and shook hands politely.


    "Pleased to meet you, General Ferdid¡­"


    "Y-yeah, I am happy to meet you too¡­"


    Although Jareth was speaking politely, his overwhelming gaze was enough to easily scare an old man like Ferdid.


    Ferdid didn''t talk too much with Jareth and moved on to the next professor, as he wasn''t ready to withstand Jareth''s intense stares.


    Ferdid is already in his late 80s; although grade-2 mages have longer lifespans than ordinary humans, that too has a limit.


    Grade 2 individuals can live for 150¨C180 years if they haven''t suffered any severe injuries in their lives.


    But usually, most people die before making it past 120.


    After all, throughout their lifespan, a mage goes through many battles and suffers many fatal injuries.


    They might heal over time, but their lifespan will shorten in the end.


    Rarely does a grade 2 mage live more than 125 years.


    The average age of a Grade-1 mage is 300 years.


    Nathan himself is past the age of 120 by now. The reason he looks old is because he has shortened his life span by going through many intense fights and battles.


    It would be challenging for him to survive beyond the age of 125 years at most.


    Moreover, he has sacrificed quite a bit of his own life span to gain more knowledge; now he is already too old to even wear his own clothes.


    He uses magic to keep himself functional every single day. (There is a reason why Jareth has saved his name as ''old fossil'' in his contacts¡­)


    The general personally escorted everyone after the introductions.


    Several luxurious cars were already waiting for the group, so Jareth and others immediately entered.


    A huge number of military vehicles surrounded the luxurious cars, and the whole convoy started to move towards a nearby hotel.


    The principal and the general occupied the front car, the professor occupied the middle car, and the students occupied the third car.


    Looking at this arrangement, Nathan nodded his head at the general and said it with a smile.


    "You seem to have arranged everything quite well! I wasn''t expecting such a warm welcome from a territory attacked by a monster like Abella.


    The general smiled awkwardly at those words and replied,


    "Well, we wouldn''t have been here to receive you all if you had arrived one day later¡­"


    The general pondered for a moment before continuing,


    "We have already prepared everything; we will leave for the battle tomorrow morning¡­"


    Upon hearing those words, Nathan nodded his head in inquiry.


    "By the way, what''s the situation on the frontlines now?"


    At Nathan''s question, the general shook his head and sighed,


    "That monstrous witch has already destroyed a small town and a medium-sized city; nearly ten thousand deaths are expected¡­"


    "Fortunately, she has stopped moving forward and is staying in one place now¡­"


    The general sighed again before continuing.


    "Our soldiers are monitoring her movements; if the monster army advances, we will receive immediate notification!"


    Nathan nodded his head in response to those words.


    "Good, I wouldn''t want there to be any delays¡­ "Too many lives are lost by now¡­"


    Nathan glanced outside the window and glanced in a certain direction,


    "What about the ''Blaze Family''¡­ Are they going to join or not?"


    Hearing that question, the general shook his head,


    "They have yet to give us a proper answer¡­ We sent them the emergency summons two days ago, but they haven''t responded yet¡­"


    The smile on Nathan''s face vanished after hearing those words.


    "Tch! They are behaving as if all this has nothing to do with them¡­ This territory belongs to them, yet they didn''t find out about this incident until things went out of hand¡­"


    "How inefficient¡­ It would have been better if someone else took over the command of this area¡­"


    The general sighed and shook his head.


    "We can''t blame them either, actually¡­. The Blaze family has ruled over this land since the time of kings and emperors¡­ but now that the government is the ruling body¡­"


    "The Blaze family is not responsible for whatever happens to the common populace¡­"


    Nathan sighed at those words.


    "Still, their major industries and business headquarters are located in this territory; after all, they should consider basic aspects like ''safety''¡­ sigh~ forget it¡­"


    "It''s all the work of my own brother anyway¡­ He was the one who ended the rule of the king and allowed the formation of a government¡­"


    "If not for that, the king would have punished the Blaze family for neglecting their duties¡­"


    The general could only smile at those words.


    Due to his affiliation with the government, he is unable to express his opinions in the same open manner as Nathan. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thus, he refrained from talking about the problems in today''s government structure.


    Instead, he decided to change the topic.


    "By the way, isn''t Prof. Jareth here¡­ Can''t he represent the ''Blaze'' family?"


    Upon hearing those words, the principal chuckled a little before continuing,


    "No, he can''t represent the Blaze family¡­"


    "In the first place, he isn''t a member of that family at all; they have erased his name from the family records; he had been disowned by them at a very young age¡­"


    Few people are aware of Jareth''s true past, so the general was taken aback when he discovered that some individuals had the audacity to discard such a remarkable talent as Jareth without any compassion.


    Today, Jareth is famous all over the nation for his amazing strength.


    Parents use his name to soothe their misbehaving children to sleep.


    {Good children should sleep on time; otherwise, the demonic eyes of the Wyvern killer will turn you into stone!!}


    Making an enemy of someone who can one-shot a wyvern is definitely the biggest mistake the Blaze family made.


    The general himself is a grade-2, yet he was unable to detect Jareth''s mana fluctuations at all.


    This demonstrated Jareth''s superior mana control over the general.


    ''I would rather fight three grade-2 mages instead of fighting a monster like Jareth Blaze¡­''


    Suddenly, a thought came to the general''s mind.


    "Oh wait¡­ If he''s not a member of the Blaze family, can we still add ''Blaze'' at the end of his name?"


    Hearing that question, even the principal was taken aback for a second,


    "Oh right¡­ Now that I think about it¡­ I have never heard him say that he is Jareth Blaze, by his own mouth¡­"


    While looking at the sky outside from the window, Nathan said,


    "I guess I will need to ask him about it when I get the chance¡­"


    The principal''s voice sounded calm, but he was actually quite excited in his mind, as he had found this fact quite interesting.


    He couldn''t wait to ask Jareth about this now.


    ¡­


    (Random fun facts¡­)


    The principal has a peculiar habit of making fun of others'' sensitive thoughts, as he is doing now.


    He knows that Jareth will be irritated if he asks what he uses as his surname, but he still dares to ask because he has an interest in these kinds of things.


    .


    Jareth has learned active healing, so his body can''t age anymore, but this skill isn''t too effective on the brain yet, so his brain will continue to age¡­


    This is quite a strange phenomenon indeed; maybe Jareth will overcome this limitation in the future too¡­


    .


    Shin accepted to enter this battle because he wanted to enjoy the free vacation with his beloved wife.


    If not for this, he wouldn''t have bothered to come here¡­


    ¡­


    (People were complaining that the fun facts were breaking immersion, so I have placed them here, instead of adding them in this ch¡­)

 Chapter 63 - 63: The Battle of Artavia, starts! Part-1.

    Frontline, a small hill.


    "So¡­ all of them got killed, and we didn''t get a single message at all?"


    While looking at the piles of skulls and bones scattered all around the area outside the city walls, Nathan questioned the general.


    "T-this!?"


    Even the general was shocked at this sight.


    In order to avoid drawing Abella''s attention, he had stationed a small battalion of soldiers nearby to monitor the city.


    However, it turned out that all of those soldiers had not only died, but also had their corpses completely consumed, leaving only their bones.


    They didn''t even get the time to send an emergency signal back.


    Upon witnessing this devastating scenery, all the soldiers accompanying the group this time felt immense fear.


    The only reason they haven''t run off yet is because strong people like Nathan and Jareth are standing in front of them right now.


    With their protection, they didn''t need to worry about ending in the same way.


    In addition to receiving the standard equipment that all soldiers receive, Mark and the others also received a soldier''s uniform with excellent defensive capabilities.


    ¡­


    (Sudden info dump)


    The army of today uses guns made of rare metals enhanced by magic circuits.


    These guns can do damage equivalent to a fifth-grade spell.


    Even though most soldiers are low-grade warriors, they still have the attacking ability of a grade-5 mage.


    You can''t achieve the versatility of a real mage with guns, but at least you can spread ''freedom'' with them, and that''s all that matters.


    There are many other weapons in the arsenal of the military, but the reason why mages are preferred more is because of their versatility.


    Mages are great killing machines; they can turn the tide of a war in an instant.


    With his mana shield, a single grade-2 mage can easily tank the most powerful nuke and continue to fight without much trouble.


    And grade-1 individuals rarely ever enter the battlefield themselves; they are simply overkill.


    Currently, there are no technologies available that can kill a grade 1 mage.


    Still, technology advances extremely fast; the day when the era of mages ends might not be that far away.


    ¡­


    "So, what to do now? Do we rush straight in? Or should we try to scout it out first?"


    Shin simply ignored the pile of bones and asked the question, as he was in a hurry to end this battle and go back.


    He had nothing to do with the deaths of these soldiers, as they were unrelated to him; all he wanted was to end this all fast enough.


    The general shook his head at those words and then glanced at Nathan,


    "Well, I think we should rush in. What do you think, principal?"


    Just when Nathan was about to give his opinion, Jareth suddenly intervened and said,.


    "The overlord-class magic barrier of this city is still intact¡­ You can''t rush in even if you want to¡­"


    At Jareth''s words, everyone was quite surprised, except for Nathan.


    Aside from Jareth, only Nathan could sense the presence of the magic barrier; others couldn''t do so.


    Nathan nodded his head at Jareth''s words and said in a solemn tone,


    "Things seem to have become a lot more complicated¡­. The magical barrier of this city is intact, which shows that Abella came here with a proper plan¡­"


    Usually, all medium-sized cities have an "overlord" class barrier protecting them from monster attacks.


    It can easily stop any monster in grade 3 or below for several days without breaking.


    On the other hand, the capital city is equipped with a king-class magic barrier that can stop grade-2 or below-level individuals.


    No matter the type of barrier, they all have one thing in common.


    These barriers can detect the presence of monsters, and if a monster tries to enter the city, they will activate in an instant and stop it from getting inside.


    The only way to break through this barrier is to use the secret code that the government officials in charge of that particular city have received.


    You need to use this secret code and enter it into a high-end computer that''s located in the control room at the center of each city.


    Reaching that hidden room requires permission and a high-ranking official''s biometric information. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This means that security is as tight as it can be.


    Moreover, you need permission from the parliament situated in the capital city if you want to shut down the barrier to your city.


    Without their permission, the super computer that controls the barrier won''t open.


    As Nathan contemplated all of this, a thought occurred to him.


    ''They used some way to mind-control a government official and then hacked into the main system¡­ Thus, they didn''t even need the permission of the parliament members¡­''


    Nathan raised his head and stared at the barrier.


    "They likely shut the barrier down from the inside when they attacked, and after they were done killing everyone, they redeployed the barrier to defend against us¡­"


    After hearing Nathan''s words, Shin inquired in a tone filled with confusion.


    "But doesn''t this barrier only restrict monsters? We shouldn''t face any trouble entering through it, right?"


    At Shin''s question, Nathan shook his head and said in a solemn voice,


    "I can sense the power of souls¡­ Abella likely used some forbidden magic to torture the civilians and harvested their souls when they were filled with the most amount of fear and pain¡­"


    "Using that kind of tormented soul, she likely corrupted the core functionality of this barrier¡­ Its properties have been forcefully changed¡­ Monsters can enter and exit it without worries, but humans can''t¡­"


    Nathan has studied about barriers a lot in his long life, he easily saw through what was going on in front of him.


    He wasn''t the least bit surprised at how inhumane Abella was, as he was aware of her personality all too well.


    But the others weren''t like him.


    The idea of using tortured souls as energy to corrupt the barrier even caused some of the nearby soldiers to start vomiting.


    It''s a cruel and forbidden process; you wouldn''t even wish such torture on your enemies.


    Nathan mumbled in a quiet voice, ignoring the soldiers'' situation.


    "But what is she trying to achieve with this?Didn''t she know that I can destroy this barrier with a single attack, no matter what¡­."


    "No, she isn''t that foolish¡­ There''s definitely something else to this¡­"


    Just when the principal was contemplating everything in his mind, Abella exited the barrier and flew into the sky.


    Her eyes locked with Nathan''s in an instant.


    Nathan also didn''t cower; he soared into the air as he spoke.


    "So you finally decided to come out of your fickle tortoise shell?"


    Hearing Nathan''s mocking tone, Abella smiled a bit and replied,


    "Kehehe, I knew you would come here, old fox! I knew it! I could feel it in my bones! This is it!"


    "Today''s the day you will die."


    Nathan abruptly interrupted her.


    "Oh, come on, how many times are you going to say that? I am already bored of that statement. Use something new!"


    While saying that, Nathan brought out his staff, but just as he was about to get ready to fight, a massive teleportation circle appeared in the sky.


    The teleportation circle manifested without any chanting or even the use of mana.


    It was purely powered by the soul energy that Abella collected by torturing innocent people.


    Even Nathan was taken aback by the sudden appearance of that teleportation circle.


    Abella grinned slightly and spoke loudly.


    "You underestimated the power of souls, old fox! You will regret it now!"


    Before Nathan could do anything, the teleportation circle activated and teleported Abella and Nathan away from the area in an instant.


    No one was able to react to that amazing speed.


    Jareth pulled his hand back.


    ''Tch, that magic circle wasn''t made of mana; otherwise, I could have easily broken it with my ''mana singularity'', but to make such a massive teleportation circle purely out of soul energy...''


    ''She really killed a lot of people.''


    Abella was given the title ''Nightmare'' exactly because she is the greatest nightmare for innocent people.


    Not only does she enjoy torturing people to death, but she also enjoys manipulating their souls even after they have passed away.


    She has thousands of enemies, but no one dares to take revenge on her because she is too strong for them.


    ¡­


    Upon noticing the principal''s absence, Shin let out a sigh and expressed his frustration.


    "Ugh, now we will have to deal with that barrier on our own¡­ Ugh, how will we break that strange barrier?"


    Before Shin could continue, Jareth moved forward and said, in his usual cold tone,


    "It doesn''t matter; I will break it off myself¡­ You guys deal with her summons in the meantime¡­"


    A massive number of monsters started to rush out of the city in an instant.


    All of them had bloodshot eyes, and they looked extremely hungry and crazy. Getting caught up in this massive monster tide will definitely cause a lot of trouble.


    But they had no other choice but to fight it head on.


    Seeing so many high grade monsters rush out of the city, the soldiers felt their legs tremble in fear.


    They wanted to run away this instant, and now that the principal has disappeared, their cause for worry has increased even more.


    But Jareth and the other professors didn''t care about that at all, they took out their respective wands and got ready to fight.


    None of them wanted to be held responsible for the death of the students, thus, they covered Mark and the others behind them.

 Chapter 64 - 64: The Battle of Artavia, Starts! Part-2.

    It is common knowledge that basic magic is not supposed to be lethal.


    It''s used for daily life purposes and doesn''t play a major role in battles. Most mages don''t even bother to learn too many basic magic spells.


    Still, every mage starts their journey by learning basic magic.


    That''s because basic magic is easy to learn and control, making it an excellent way for novice mage to improve their mana control.


    Barely any mage learns more than ten basic magic spells, and then they move on to focus on their own attribute magic.


    The same is true for Thomas.


    He grew up in a family of ordinary people and worked his way up to the peak of grade 2.


    In terms of barrier magic, he''s only second to grade-1 individuals, and his wind magic is heavily focused on defense.


    But as a child, he was fascinated by the basic magic spells.


    His favorite basic-grade spell was ''Rotating Mana Beams'', which is an advanced version of another basic spell called ''Mana Beam''.


    This spell created multiple small magic circles that fire mana beams, and these magic circles rotate at a high speed like a motor.


    As a result, the mana beams appear to fire in all directions in a circular motion.


    This spell was created as a joke by a bored mage.


    In the early stages of your journey as a magician, you can use this type of spell to train mana control, but as you learn stronger spells, this spell quickly becomes obsolete.


    Thomas enjoyed this spell so much that he didn''t want to learn anything else after it.


    But as he had high ambitions, he had to move on eventually.


    He wanted to master this spell to its full potential, but he didn''t have the luxury to do so.


    But today was different.


    When Jareth said that he would break the mana barrier in the town, a massive number of monsters started to rush at them.


    In response to their actions, Jareth cast his mana barrier before jumping down.


    He took a step forward, and ten massive magic circles the size of two-story buildings appeared around him in all directions.


    Without a doubt, that spell was


    [Basic Magic: Rotating mana beams!]


    Once the spell was cast, what followed was an absolute massacre.


    Jareth walked unharmed through the chaos, but the ten gigantic magic circles rotated around him five times faster than sound itself.


    All those magic circles spewed out gigantic mana beams in all directions, blasting off all the monsters that dared come near Jareth into smithereens.


    Jareth used ''Mana Singularity'' to enhance the range and power of that basic grade spell by more than a hundred times.


    With those massive rotating mana beams, Jareth became a walking disaster for the monster.


    He kept walking towards the city walls at a steady and slow pace, mowing down hundreds of monsters in a single second, as if he were chopping some vegetables with ease.


    Seeing the insanity that Jareth was creating, Thomas''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    He knew all too well what spell Jareth was using, but the power difference was just too big.


    "What the actual f*ck!? Is that really the same ''rotating mana beams'' spell that I know of!? Why does it have the power of grade 2 magic!?"


    Hearing Thomas''s shocked words, all of the people nearby were equally bewildered.


    Black lines appeared all over their faces as they had all learned that same spell in their childhood, but none of them could use it as efficiently as Jareth was.


    Shin was the only one who wasn''t surprised at all; he just shook his head and said, in a complicated tone,


    "uh¡­ well¡­ I think this guy is obsessed with low-grade spells; all of his low-grade spells have immense power¡­ I have yet to see him use a high-grade spell¡­"


    Shin had seen Jareth kill a cyclops with a grade-5 fire magic, so he wasn''t surprised by the fact that Jareth was good at basic magic too.


    "Those mana beams seem huge, but Jareth is barely using any mana, in my opinion¡­ After all, his mana control is insanely good¡­"


    Thomas and others also nodded their heads in acknowledgement of Shin''s words; they also knew how amazing Jareth''s control over Mana was.


    "He''s just walking there¡­ Menacingly!!"


    Hearing Thomas''s words, Shin nodded his head, and his tone became serious as he stared at Jareth''s back,


    "What is more insane about all this is¡­ Fire magic is his main magic, and he isn''t even using it right now, which means he is still holding back¡­"


    The expressions of all the professors turned serious as they witnessed Jareth''s immense magic capabilities with their own eyes.


    Shin was the first to break out of this stalemate; he immediately waved his wand and said it with an excited look on his face.


    "Let''s go! We can''t let him steal the whole show! We must not get outdone by him!"


    With that said, all of them nodded their heads and entered the battlefield one by one.


    Unaware of the thoughts of the professors behind him, Jareth simply walked towards the mana barrier as if he was taking a walk in a park.


    The professors misunderstood that Jareth must be exceptionally skilled at fire magic, given the strength of his basic magic, when in fact, Jareth''s fire magic is not yet exceptional.


    Even though mana singularity enhances his magic, its effect on attribute magic is significantly lower.


    Moreover, Jareth hasn''t yet learned any fire spells above grade 5, so he can''t use them even if he wanted to.


    Which means he still has a long way to go.


    ¡­


    As he walked, his face remained as cold as always, and his mind remained relaxed.


    ''Hmm, I think I can break the barrier¡­ With''mana singularity'' I have the cheat that can deal with most of the situations in this world¡­''


    After half an hour of leisurely walking, Jareth crossed the whole battlefield without any trouble.


    He killed thousands of monsters in the past thirty minutes as he walked straight through the monster siege.


    Anything that came in his way was obliterated and killed automatically by those mana beams.


    Jareth didn''t even have to bother targeting monsters one by one; his magic did all the work for him.


    ''Finally here, it was a long walk¡­ If I had used float magic, I would have been faster, but then I would have consumed more mana as it would have been triple-casting¡­''


    Not only was Jareth using ''Mana Shield'', he was also using ''Rotating Mana Beams'' both at the same time, which means he was dual-cast continuously for half an hour, and that consumed a lot of his mana. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He doesn''t have the massive mana reserve of a genuine grade-2 mage, so he can''t keep stacking more spells on another.


    If he had more mana, he could have used triple-casting instead.


    ''Forget it; I will improve my mana quality and capacity more lately¡­. I guess there will be some peace after this battle ends.... I will use that time to improve¡­''


    While thinking about that, Jareth placed his right hand on the city wall, which was covered with a mana barrier.


    The barrier seemed to reject Jareth strongly and was pushing him away.


    But Jareth remained unfazed by all this.


    ''Here we go¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Mana interruption!]


    Mana Interruption is a spell that is compulsory for every mage to learn.


    It can be used to deactivate mana bombs or other types of harmful mana powered equipment.


    People who are skilled in this magic usually join the anti-terrorist military squads and work for the government to ensure the safety of the common people.


    Disarming mana bombs is one of their most basic tasks.


    And that''s not all; ''Mana interruption'' can also be used to break mana barriers and magic circles cast by others.


    Mana interruption is a handy spell that is particularly useful in emergency situations.


    However, like other basic magic spells, its output is simply too weak.


    It''s useless against high-grade mana bombs and mana barriers, and it is ineffective against mages in grades 4 or above, so it can''t be used in combat either.


    But that''s only true for others.


    Jareth has ''Mana Singularity''; his mana interruption is at an insane level, and he can analyze and destroy high-grade mana barriers easily if given enough time.


    And that''s exactly what he''s doing right now.


    ''Although Abella used soul power to change the properties of this barrier, its core magic circuit remains the same¡­ It''s still primarily made up of mana; I can interfere with it¡­''


    After a few seconds of analysis, Jareth had already figured out everything.


    Jareth had stopped using the ''rotating mana beams'' at this point, and he used his mana barrier to defend against the endless monsters that were swarming out of the city.


    He increased his mana output and focused himself on the barrier.


    *Crack**Crack*


    ''This is it!''


    Massive cracks appeared on the mana barrier, and it slowly started to collapse and dissipate into nothingness.


    Jareth''s relentless mana interruptions caused the core of the magic barrier to collapse, opening the way for the army to enter the city.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth flew into the air and glanced inside the city from above.


    His face turned even colder when he saw what was going on inside.


    ''This is¡­ forbidden magic!? They are summoning a demon''s incarnation!?''


    Jareth''s face remained as cold as ever, but he was truly shocked in his mind.


    ''I have to stop this right now! If the demon''s incarnation gets summoned, millions will die!''

 Chapter 65 - 65: The Battle of Artavia, Starts! Part-3.

    Magic that results in extremely cruel and horrible results is called forbidden magic.


    For example, the ''T*sticular torsion'' spell that Jareth got from the system is one of the cruelest methods of torture.


    It was especially designed to torture people and give them as much pain as possible with minimal effort.


    Every type of magic, may it be fire, water, earth, etc., has one or two forbidden spells that always result in dangerous results.


    However, of all the forbidden magic, the magic associated with miasma and corruption poses the greatest threat.


    It not only gives birth to demonized beasts, but it also corrupts the surrounding area and kills all vegetation.


    Since ancient times, demons have always tried to infiltrate this world via various methods.


    The most effective method, however, is to create loyal believers and brainwash them to carry out the forbidden magic that summons the demon''s incarnation.


    The incarnation of a demon is usually at the peak of Rank-1 from the moment it appears.


    This implies that it possesses unfathomable strength and extraordinary magical abilities.


    The last time a demon succeeded in creating his incarnation was more than a thousand years ago.


    It took three grade 1 mages'' sacrifices to finally destroy that incarnation.


    Humanity has learned from these past mistakes.


    Whenever a new group of demon worshippers appears, they are hunted down by the whole empire.


    Due to this, in the past thousand years, a new demon incarnation has never appeared again.


    But that is not the case now.


    ''False Dome'' is a cult filled with strong individuals, so it''s very possible for them to summon a demon incarnation without much trouble.


    To summon a demon, you must build an altar out of human bones, and then you must use the power of ten thousand souls to cast a forbidden spell on the altar.


    The altar then absorbs the life force of all the ten thousand corpses that had lost their souls, eventually condensing that life force and soul power into the form of a demon.


    This is the process of creating a demon''s incarnation.


    The cruelty of this whole magic is the reason why it is called a forbidden magic.


    Killing thousands of people and harvesting their souls and life force is no small matter.


    If you do so, you''re bound to attract the attention of the strongest people.


    ¡­


    Just as Jareth was contemplating what to do next, the other professors came flying and stood beside him.


    Unlike Jareth, who couldn''t do triple casting yet, it was not a problem for them to do ''triple casting or quad casting'', as they all had immense amounts of mana.


    After eliminating all high-grade monsters, they left the low-grade monster to the army and rushed to support Jareth.


    But even they couldn''t help but feel shocked when they saw what was inside.


    Broken houses, shattered roads, monsters wandering everywhere, and at the center of it all, a huge altar was under construction.


    Demon spiders were using human bones to create that altar, and gigantic worms were wriggling around in the gigantic hills made of mummified bodies near the altar.


    That scene looked like something straight out of hell.


    If it were a novice mage who saw this scene, they would have vomited instantly.


    The professors are all grade-2 mages and have been through quite a few battles before, but even they were shocked after seeing this insanity.


    "I kind of know why the sky in this place is shrouded in dark clouds... Even the ''nature'' can feel the sheer resentment condensed in this place¡­"


    Shin''s voice was solemn, and it carried a faint hint of worry.


    "They are trying to summon a demon''s incarnation here; this is a big deal; we should send this information back to the capital¡­"


    Thomas and the others nodded their heads in approval of Shin''s words.


    Shin quickly grabbed his smartphone and began taking pictures of the scene. However, just as he was about to send them back to the capital, Jareth abruptly interrupted and said,


    "Wait, send it to Mark, and tell him to forward this message to his father¡­ Even the king won''t be able to stay out of this matter if a demon is being summoned here¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Shin''s eyes shined, and he immediately did exactly that.


    Although Reynald doesn''t like doing favors for free, he still has a bottom line.


    If too many people die and the empire''s economy suffers, it will also impact his own family''s business.


    To protect his interests, Reynald would have no choice but to come here when he saw that a demon''s incarnation was getting involved.


    Once the message had been successfully sent,


    All five of them nodded their heads and started to formulate a plan.


    Just like Aria, others were too afraid to come here, so only five of them are here right now.


    Jareth, Thomas, Shin, and two others were the only people here right now.


    Just when Jareth and others were still thinking about their next action, a death knight in pitch black armor came flying at them at an insanely fast speed.


    Jareth had already sensed his arrival with the help of mana disturbances created by him in the air, and he immediately signaled the other professors with a hand sign to disperse.


    The others immediately noticed Jareth''s signal, as they were all well versed in this code language.


    None of them is a fool; they have trained for so many years, and they all have some trump cards of their own.


    Only Shin and Aria are the same age as Jareth; the others are several years older than him, and each one of them has a vast amount of combat experience.


    [Miasmic Sword Style: Ray of Miasma!]


    Immediately recognizing the lethality of that attack with his mana singularity, Jareth said,


    "Dodge, corruption type!" (It''s a corruption-type attack; mana barriers can''t stop it, so dodge it immediately!)


    The information transfer between professionals is fast and efficient. Jareth only said three words, and the others understood him immediately.


    Jareth himself poured more mana into his ''float'' magic and dodged the attack by leaving the attack range before it could even hit him.


    Due to his mana singularity, his flying speed is insanely fast, making it quite easy for him to dodge such attacks.


    After successfully dodging the attack, Jareth glanced at the death knight with a serious look on his face.


    ''The f*ck is this guy doing here!? Isn''t he one of the late-stage bosses of the game!? The Death Knight Norton¡­ this guy is trouble!''


    When Jareth was still bewildered by Norton''s sudden appearance, Norton also glanced at him and gave him a proper knight salute.


    "Jareth Blaze, the Wyvern Killer.. the Cyclops destroyer¡­ I have heard a lot¡­ about your strength¡­ Alas, I can''t fight¡­ you right now¡­"


    "If you survive today, I will be¡­. Happy to fight¡­ you one day¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth''s arrogant self couldn''t hold back.


    "Hoh, you speak as though you are certain that I will perish; do you truly believe that you will be able to escape after having appeared in front of me?"


    Norton shook his head, and his dark black armor made clattering sounds.


    "No¡­ I am not¡­ your opponent today¡­ I shall deal with your¡­. comrades first¡­"


    Before Jareth could reply, he sensed a sudden disturbance in the mana flow from behind, and he immediately dodged the incoming attack by flying away.


    When he looked back, a girl was standing in his previous spot with a dagger in her hand.


    Her dagger was covered in condensed miasma, which means it was a very lethal attack.


    If Jareth hadn''t dodged it, she would have used miasma to corrupt his mana barrier and injure him in an instant.


    But Jareth wasn''t worried about that.


    ''Ugh, it''s this troublesome woman! Why the f*ck are these high-grade characters appearing one after another? Tch, it seems I have really caused a massive butterfly effect this time¡­''


    Although Jareth was quite unhappy in his mind, his face remained the same as usual.


    The eyes of the woman had already turned bloodshot when she first laid her eyes on Jareth.


    She was already determined to kill him at any cost, just as he had killed her brothers.


    "You b*stard! You killed my brothers! I will avenge them today!" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hearing those words, Jareth sneered and replied.


    "Brothers? Are you referring to those sewer rats who infiltrated the academy when I was enjoying tea?"


    Seeing the arrogant look on Jareth''s face as she insulted her brothers, the girl became even angrier in an instant.


    A crazed look appeared on her face.


    But Jareth was actually quite happy to see this.


    ''Good, it''s working just like in the game¡­ Taunting her with such words will make her lose her sanity much faster¡­ and that will be in my favor¡­''


    Jareth might not have been a hardcore gamer, but he certainly played this game quite a few times.


    He knew one or two tricks of his own; there was no way a veteran player like him wouldn''t take advantage of these tricks now that he has the ability to use them more freely than ever before.


    In the game, you can only click on certain pre-determined dialogues to anger and taunt the other party, which is very inefficient.


    However, he is currently free from the limitations imposed by the game mechanics in the real world.


    He can use crueler words to taunt her and make her lose her sanity faster.


    While Jareth was scheming all this in his mind, the woman rushed at Jareth with her dagger at an immense speed.


    [Dread bee style: Thousand miasmic rains!]


    She immediately swung her dagger toward Jareth and fired a thousand small needles made of condensed miasma at him.


    "DIE!! YOU FIEND!!"

 Chapter 66 - 66: Zero and the ultimate rank skill!

    Test subject number ''0'' is the girl who became the first victim of the cult leader''s cruel experiments.


    She has been working for the ''False Dome'' cult for a long time under the name ''Zero''.


    She has always succeeded in her missions and is considered a highly successful assassin.


    Players had to fight her in the late stages of the game, where she would assassinate one of your heroines.


    It''s a cannon event; you can''t stop it.


    This assassination is bound to kill at least one of the heroines.


    There are three endings in this game; each one of them ends well for the protagonist but has a bad ending for the rest of the world.


    Although the protagonist lives happily with his harem, the fundamental issues facing this world remain unresolved.


    The protagonist never ascended past grade 1, and things remained in the same stalemate as before until the end of this game.


    But things have changed a lot now.


    Zero has personally come forward to kill Jareth, as she blames him for killing his younger brothers.


    She doesn''t have her past memories, so she considered the members of the death squad to be her true siblings.


    Now that they are dead, she is hell-bent on getting revenge for them.


    ...


    But clearly, Jareth wasn''t going to let her outdo him so easily.


    ''Her ultimate skill is the most dangerous; I need to make her go insane if I want her to avoid using ''that'' skill...''


    Jareth is not a good person, either.


    He is aware of Zero''s hardships, including the deaths of her two younger brothers, but he won''t allow her to kill him so easily.


    Although he clearly doesn''t have any purpose to live, he doesn''t have any reason to die so easily either.


    He is a selfish person who cares about himself a lot; he won''t let Zero kill him, even if she has a legitimate reason to do so.


    In response to her thousand miasmic needles, Jareth waved his hand, and a gigantic magic circle appeared in front of him.


    [Basic Magic: Rotating Mana Beams!]


    Jareth instantly cast the spell, eliminating all miasma-covered needles with concentrated mana beams rotating all around him.


    His attack also damaged the ground and city walls, but he didn''t care about them, as there were no civilians alive in the whole city anyway.


    "Heh, is that all? You were rambling a lot, but that''s all you could do?"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Zero''s eyes became even more bloodshot.


    She brought out another dagger and held it in her other hand.


    [Dual-Dagger style: Miasma type: Twin charge!]


    Zero launched at Jareth at an incredible speed; her speed was so fast that Jareth wasn''t able to react properly to her.


    Although he has the mana singularity to do detection, his body moves slower as he is a mage, not a warrior.


    Zero''s daggers pierced Jareth''s mana barrier as they were covered in condensed miasma and directly cut off Jareth''s right arm in an instant.


    If not for the fact that Jareth was able to dodge due to the early warning he got from the mana singularity''s detection, he would have lost his heart in that attack.


    "heh! See! You are wea-"


    Before Zero could laugh for too long, a condensed mana beam hit her directly and blew her away at an immense speed.


    Her body went right through the city walls and fell outside of it in an instant.


    She misunderstood the fact that Jareth would stop attacking for a few seconds after losing his arm.


    She was unaware that Jareth possesses ''Active Heal'' and is indifferent to losing an arm or two.


    When she cut his arm off, Jareth immediately ignored his own injury and fired a lethal blow towards her, which caught her off guard.


    Immediately, Jareth flew out to finish her off.


    Jareth''s hand regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Zero''s bloodshot eyes nearly popped out of their socket from shock.


    "Y-you aren''t human! You are a monster!! I will kill you!!"


    Jareth shook his head in response to those words.


    "Heh, me? A monster? You are mistaken¡­ I am more evil than that!"


    [Basic Magic: Concentrated Mana Rays!]


    A gigantic magic circle the size of a five-story building appeared in the sky in an instant.


    Thousands of condensed mana needles shot out of the gigantic magic circle, raining down at a speed five times faster than sound.


    The ground shattered from their impact, and the shockwaves created by their immense speed spread far and wide, making all the nearby monsters feel fear on a cellular level.


    Jareth''s magic instantly transformed all nearby monsters into sieves, and debris flew everywhere.


    Jareth single-handedly cleared half the battlefield immediately. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The soldiers who were fighting the monsters were shocked to see this overwhelming scene.


    Zero''s situation was the most severe of them all.


    Those magic needles stuck in her entire body and caused her immense pain, despite not turning her into a sieve like the other monster did.


    Such immense pain caused her to lose her sanity even further.


    When she looked at Jareth''s figure standing in the sky like a god, she felt immense hatred in her heart.


    She could help but loathe those dark purple eyes that looked down at her as if she were a pathetic worm in front of him.


    She lost her mind after witnessing such blatant mockery.


    As Jareth raised his hand to fire a massive mana beam to finish her off in one go, tears appeared in Zero''s eyes.


    ¡­


    (Sudden Flashback)


    "Big sis! Here! Take this bread! I sneaked into the storeroom and stole it!"


    Seeing the happy smile on her little brother''s face, Zero smiled a bit and slowly sat up.


    She has been ill for a week due to an injury she sustained during a mission, and Jacob was concerned about her.


    All the members of the false dome cult are strong people; they either eat human flesh or don''t even bother eating.


    So for the three of them, who were still quite weak, it was common to starve because they had no food to eat.


    They slept on the cold floor regardless of whether it was winter or summer, and they lived to die for their master.


    For them, it was not that unusual to fill their stomachs by eating mice or cockroaches; getting to eat bread was a rare luxury.


    "What if Master finds out?"


    Upon hearing Zero''s worried voice, Lucas, who was standing on the side, placed his finger on his mouth and spoke quietly.


    "If you don''t tell him, no one will know hehe¡­"


    Zero was still concerned, but greed took hold of her.


    "Okay, then, if something happens, I will protect you two!"


    She divided the half-rotten bread into three pieces, and each of them ate a piece.


    The conditions in which they lived were not good, but for Zero, that was the happiest time of her life.


    As long as she could enjoy food with her two brothers, there was nothing more blissful for her in this world.


    But that happiness didn''t last long.


    Jareth killed Jacob and Lucas just a few months later, and Zero was heartbroken.


    They were her last family members in this world, and their deaths were a great blow to her mind.


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    In that moment of life and death, Zero suddenly remembered her oath to protect her younger brothers, and her sanity returned in those last few seconds.


    "I broke my promise to protect them¡­ but I won''t break the promise to avenge them!! I will be your death, Jareth Blaze!!!"


    [Ultimate Skill: Sacrifice Type: Field of Absolute Null!]


    That skill seemingly altered the space-time fabric itself, as the mana within a 100-meter radius instantly solidified.


    Jareth''s mana stopped responding, and he landed on the ground.


    Fortunately, he was not flying too high; otherwise, he would have broken his leg.


    The look on his face remained as cold as ever, but he was already panicking in his mind.


    ''Sh*t! I underestimated the power of ''reality''¡­ This isn''t a game anymore; anything could happen at any moment''


    ''My plan to make her insane was successful, but she suddenly gained clarity out of nowhere! And the thing that I didn''t want to see still happened! Sh*t!''


    Jareth knew about Zero''s ''Ultimate skill'' all too well.


    Her ultimate skill is her last resort attack.


    She sacrifices her soul, mana, and life force in this one attack, and forcefully nullifies all mana in a hundred-meter radius for a minute!


    When she unleashes this ultimate skill, the entire space-time fabric warps, preventing her enemy from using even a small amount of mana or leaving this ''field''.


    Seeing that Jareth fell from the sky and his mana circle dissipated mid-attack, a creepy smirk appeared on Zero''s head.


    "Like I said, I am your death, Jareth Blaze! You took everything from me! And now I will kill you with my own hands!!"


    "No matter what grade, a mage is still a mage after all; they can''t fight melee battles!! You are dead meat now!!"


    Skills have their own rankings.


    The first category includes ordinary skills such as body strengthening, basic magic, and attribute magic. Above these are the ultimate skills that can influence specific phenomena, and only a select few exceptional individuals possess them.


    The legendary rank skills like ''Sword Intent'', ''Dao Rhythm'', or ''Mana Singularity'' hold the highest rank.


    However, the impact of each skill varies depending on the user''s proficiency.


    Jareth has barely been using ''mana singularity'' for less than two months now, but Zero has been using her skill for years now!!


    Usually she only sacrifices a limb or two to improve her attack, but today she sacrificed her whole existence to kill Jareth.


    Clearly, the effectiveness of her skill far exceeded Jareth''s capabilities; despite his mana singularity, he was still unable to use mana against her ultimate skill.


    ''Sh*t! Why does these sudden changes happen outta nowhere!?''

 Chapter 67 - 67: Out of mana? Catch these hands then!!

    On the other side of the city.


    "Master''s order¡­ I must fulfill¡­"


    [Miasmic Sword Style: Corruption of Hell!]


    Norton stood in the air without the use of any spells and swung his sword towards the four professors without any hesitation. This sword fired a massive amount of miasma, and the professors had no choice but to dodge it.


    The mana barrier can''t protect them from Miasma''s corruption.


    Fortunately, they were good at using flight magic, so dodging the attack was possible.


    Mages generally use ''float'' or ''fly'' magic to stand in the air or travel through it, but warriors have it differently.


    Warriors in Grade 2 or above can use their ''body strengthening'' skill and walk on air, making temporary mana platforms under their feet.


    Still, Mages has an advantage in this field.


    Even the most talentless mage on earth can learn basic magic, which means that learning ''float'' ability is not that big of a deal for a mage.


    With the ability to fly, mages are always in an advantageous position against warriors of the same rank.


    Warriors need to reach grade 2 before they can eliminate this disadvantage.


    However, reaching grade 2 is already a daunting task in the first place, let alone trying to compete with mages who have been using flight magic since the novice stage.


    ¡­


    The miasma produced by Norton''s attack fell on the ground after it missed its target.


    The miasma was so strong and condensed that it instantly dissolved and killed all the monsters that were wandering in the city below.


    Seeing the lethality of that condensed mana, even Shin felt a chill run down his spine.


    ''If I get touched by it, it will be dangerous!''


    Although Shin can use his mana to forcibly remove miasma from his body, this requires a significant amount of mana. If he runs out of mana, it will be impossible to fight the death knight.


    Other professors were not fools either; they also figured out the things that Shin had, and all four of them split apart to make ample room for dodging.


    Shin raised his wand and pointed it towards the sky.


    [Grade-3 Frost Magic: Benevolent Frost confinement!]


    Two gigantic magic circles appeared in the sky, and gigantic hands made of condensed ice rushed out of those two magic circles.


    The two ice hands immediately caught Norton between their palms and started to crush him with full force.


    Shin added a lot of mana to increase the spell''s crushing power.


    But still, it was impossible to stop Norton so easily.


    [Miasmic Sword Style: Tenth Miasmic Arc!]


    Norton twisted his sword and fired ten arcs made of condensed miasma, instantly destroying the two ice hands that were confining him.


    But before he could do anything else, Thomas was already prepared to take action.


    [Grade-2 Wind Magic: Condensed Arrow of Rotating Winds!]


    Beside Thomas, a magic circle the size of a three-story building appeared, and a massive condensed wind arrow fired at Norton at a speed much faster than the speed of sound.


    The arrow struck Norton directly, causing him to fly away like a cannonball.


    Norton''s body collided with the ground and continued to slide away for quite a few meters before he hit a broken house wall, and the wall fell on him instantly.


    Shin cast a weaker spell first because he wanted to buy some time.


    He poured a lot of mana into that spell to keep Norton in place for as long as possible.


    It was all up to Thomas and others to cast their grade 2 magic spells.


    A mage can cast lower-grade spells much faster, but it takes some time to cast spells of the same grade.


    Shin has been through many battles before, and the same is true for the other professors.


    Shin took the initiative to restrain the death knight, and the others immediately understood what they had to do next.


    There wasn''t even a need for any communication or planning; veteran battle mages like them have good knowledge about how and when to use their spells more effectively.


    The four of them haven''t cooperated in a real fight together before, but each of them is a veteran, and none is a fool.


    And with the instinct of a veteran, they all assumed their roles in an instant, without wasting a single second doubting each other.


    After Thomas finished his attack, the other two professors simultaneously launched their own attack. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Grade-2 Earth Magic: Meteor Blast!]


    [Grade 2 Water Magic: Fist of dominating waters!]


    They both cast magic at the exact same time, as if they were in sync with each other and could read each other''s minds.


    A gigantic meteor appeared in the sky and rushed towards Norton at a crazy speed.


    Norton knew that it was dangerous and wanted to dodge this attack, but before he could do so, the gigantic water fist instantly hit the meteor in the back and accelerated its speed by many times.


    Seeing this insane cooperation between the two, Norton was really taken aback.


    This is the difference between those who follow the evil path and those who follow the righteous path.


    Those with evil schemes in their hearts can never trust others and can never truly cooperate with others on the spur of the moment.


    However, individuals such as Shin, Thomas, and others have consistently upheld their own strength while also never undervaluing others.


    They know how to cooperate with others and how to trust their colleagues.


    This is also the reason why none of the four professors tried to go and help Jareth.


    They all have faith in their hearts that Jareth will not be defeated.


    Although too much trust can sometimes backfire, without trust, society won''t be able to function at all.


    When you go to a doctor, you will trust him sincerely, or when you ask a mechanic to fix your car, you will trust him. In other words, the world works properly on mutual trust.


    Those who walk the path of evil end up losing this crucial factor in their hearts, and trying to resolve everything on your own often leads to defeats.


    (Perhaps this is the reason why protagonists usually win with the power of friendship and love¡­ Perhaps the protagonist gets blessed by the laws of the world when they purge those who have lost faith in the world¡­)


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, on Jareth''s side,.


    "Die!!"


    With daggers in her hand, Zero rushed at Jareth and immediately aimed at his heart.


    Although this manaless field has caused her to lose control over mana, she is still an assassin.


    Her physique is naturally much stronger than Jareth''s, as she has fought many battles. She has already honed her reaction time and combat skills to the extreme.


    Even though Jareth had already improved his physique quite a bit by using ''active heal'', he still wasn''t an opponent to a real veteran in close combat.


    Jareth doesn''t know martial arts or anything else, and he hasn''t fought anyone without his magic.


    This implies that his options against Zero are limited now that he is unable to use magic.


    Since Zero has already sacrificed her life, she won''t be able to live after this short duration of her skill expires.


    She wanted to finish everything in one shot.


    Her best choice was to aim for Jareth''s heart. As she ran towards him, she easily dodged the desperate punch he threw at her, and then she stabbed straight through his heart.


    Her attack was successful; a smile appeared on her face, but before she could be happy for long, a sinister smile appeared on Jareth''s face.


    "You think I can''t fight without mana? The hands are rated E for everyone!!"


    Jareth immediately caught Zero''s right hand, which was holding the knife, and then raised his other hand to form a fist.


    [Ding! [Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack Enhancement card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    Although it was like using a nuke to kill a chicken, Jareth had no other choice left at the moment.


    Zero had forced him into a corner; not only had she completely sealed his magic, she was also aiming to kill him.


    Right now, she has only stabbed his heart, but the next attack could be on his brain, which will be fatal.


    Jareth didn''t dare take chances.


    He wasn''t her opponent in close combat; even if his fist struck her, it wouldn''t have any effect on her.


    Even without their mana, a grade-2 warrior still has the strength to kill a grade-4 warrior at his peak.


    Right now, Zero had let her guard down after successfully stabbing Jareth''s heart. She had no reason to fear Jareth''s punch, as it was not even as strong as that of the lowest-grade warrior.


    Jareth also had only one chance; with his sharp mind, he could easily see that if he let this chance go, he would die here.


    [Ding! You have used the ''Attack Enhancement card (Advanced)!]


    [Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    "Let me reunite you with your brothers¡­"


    *Bam!!!* *Crack!*


    When Jareth''s punch hit Zero right on her face, the space-time fabric began to tremble.


    In that moment, Jareth''s punch was so strong that a broken glass-like crack appeared in the space-time fabric itself.


    Jareth directly destroyed Zero''s whole upper torso, along with the space-time fabric itself.


    Even Jareth lost his hand when it became entangled in that shattered void.


    Thankfully, the crack in the void didn''t continue to spread for too long and disappeared in a few seconds without leaving any trace behind.


    Jareth could feel his consciousness start to blur, as he had already lost too much blood in this fight.


    Not only was his heart destroyed, but even his arm was bleeding now.


    Fortunately for him, Zero''s destroyed body immediately turned into fine dust after he blew her whole upper torso along with the space-time fabric.


    And since she had died, the mana-less field collapsed instantly, and Jareth regained control over his mana.


    [Active Heal!]


    Jareth poured a lot of his mana to repair his broken heart and stop the bleeding further.


    This fight was the most difficult one he has faced until now.

 Chapter 68 - 68: The Calm Before a storm...

    Above the city.


    "Hmm¡­ I don''t know why he would try to attack four grade-2 mages all alone¡­ Could it be that he has more friends nearby?"


    Seeing that the death knight was buried under the gigantic meteor, Shin glanced all around but couldn''t find any other strong individuals.


    Even with his detection, he wasn''t able to find anyone who could help the death knight.


    Aside from Abella, Norton, and Zero, there are no high-ranking individuals on the other side.


    Most of them are just mindless summoned beasts of grade 3 or lower.


    These weak monsters were not in Shin''s consideration at all.


    He didn''t think that these weak monsters could help Norton in any way during this fight.


    (Grade-3 monsters aren''t weak; it''s just Shin, and others are too strong¡­)


    "Keke¡­ If things are done here, then how about I take a few monsters for myself¡­ Kekeke, I have a lot of new methods that I need to test on the monsters¡­"


    The grade-2 earth magic user, Gazid Bultak, has always had a creepy and weird personality.


    His words caused Shin to frown a bit, but he didn''t say anything.


    He didn''t want to interfere in others'' business, and he had no reason to try to protect these human-eating monsters from Gazid''s hands.


    In excitement, Gazid raised his wand and licked the gem above it. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Kehekeheheh¡­ I will skin them and bisect all muscles one by one¡­ How exciting would it be!!"


    At the university, Gazid teaches earth magic and monster physiology.


    He has vast knowledge of the weaknesses and strengths of monsters, as he has encountered and experimented with thousands of monsters in his career.


    Instead of a dorm room, he lives in a lab, where all of his test subjects are kept locked in enchanted cages.


    Gazid is also responsible for teaching interrogation and threatening methods to the students, as he has amazing mastery over these things.


    He knows many horrible torturing methods, and it''s his hobby to read books related to ancient tortures and punishments.


    He''s definitely crazy in his head.


    Just like Jareth is Mark''s idol, Gazid is Risa''s idol!


    Moreover, he favors her a lot, as he can see her talent and crazy personality.


    Risa gets full marks in her subjects, as she is just as crazy about learning these things.


    This is the only subject in which her grades are better than Mark''s.


    Risa frequently borrows torture-related books from Gazid to read and pass time. (There''s a reason why Jareth doesn''t want to get involved with this crazy girl¡­)


    ¡­


    Just when Gazid was smiling like a villain, the grade-2 water mage, Yoseh Uneme, clicked her tongue and said,


    "You never learn; last time you nearly ended up getting sued by government officials for conducting dangerous and cruel experiments¡­"


    "If you get caught, then don''t beg me to help you again like the last time!"


    Yoseh is a member of the Uneme family, which is famous for its devotion to the army.


    Most of her family members are either in the army or in the police.


    She has a lot of connections; that''s why she was able to keep Gazid from being sent to jail.


    (The government only asks for compensation; they don''t dare send a grade 2 mage into jail as they don''t want them to turn into terrorists..)


    Hearing Yoseh''s words, the excitement on Gazid''s face vanished in an instant, and he smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck.


    "Haha¡­ no, no, I don''t do any illegal things, Ms. Yoseh; believe me, I am innocent and pure like milk!!"


    When Shin heard those words, he frowned and said,


    "Innocent and pure, my A*s! You b*stard like to trick students into buying your heinous research papers that contain horrible torture methods! You are corrupting the children!!"


    Gazid also had thick skin; he wasn''t going to admit his wrongdoings at all. He smiled shamelessly and said,


    "Cough¡­ Mr. Shin, you misunderstood me! I just sell those things for ''research purposes''! Reading them can help the students understand the anatomy of monsters in a much better way!!"


    Gazid immediately began to act as though someone had wronged him.


    "I even give refunds if the students want to return them, but the students like those research papers so much that they never return them¡­ You can''t blame me for it¡­"


    He wiped away the non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes and shook his head, as if he were truly experiencing mistreatment.


    Yoseh couldn''t stand it anymore, and she kicked the guy in the back.


    "F*ck off! Your skin is as thick as a city wall! How can someone be so shameless! Ugh¡­"


    Gazid then started to pretend to be hurt.


    "Ugh! You broke my spine! Ms. Yoseh, no man will marry you if you are so aggressive!"


    Blood veins appeared on Yoseh''s forehead after hearing that shameless guy''s words.


    "Whatever! It''s not like I want to marry so soon!"


    Gazid wasn''t going to stop there thought; he continued talking while maintaining that harmless smile on his face.


    "So soon, you say? You are already past 30! Children will start calling you grandma soon-"


    Before Gazid could finish his words, Yoseh punched him in the face as her expression twisted in anger.


    "Who are you calling a grandma!!"


    As the two were arguing, Shin shook his head,


    "Tch, how childish¡­"


    Thomas looked at Shin with complicated emotions after hearing those words.


    ''You bicker with Jareth like children too, you know¡­''


    Thomas wanted to say that out loud, but he didn''t want to get in unnecessary trouble, so he didn''t say it.


    ¡­


    An underground church, location unknown


    In the center, a small magic circle appeared, and Norton instantly teleported above it.


    Without wasting a single second, Norton bent his knee and saluted the cult leader, whose figure was hidden behind a black mist.


    "Master¡­ I have returned¡­"


    The cult leader nodded his head and said,


    "Good¡­ It seems you have succeeded¡­"


    Norton nodded his head at those words and replied,


    "Yes¡­ I did as you ordered¡­. Bought enough time, the plan has succeeded¡­"


    Indeed, Norton was ordered to just buy some time if things went south, but when he was buried under the massive meteor, he sensed that the altar was already complete and there was no need to stay there any longer.


    He used a teleportation magic scroll to leave the area, and his presence disappeared.


    Shin and others misunderstood the disappearance of his presence and thought that Norton had died after being hit by that massive meteor.


    Yoseh''s water magic enhanced the meteor''s speed, resulting in a massive impact that created massive shockwaves and even cracked the ground far and wide.


    "Good¡­ Did you add ''that'' to the altar?"


    Norton nodded his head and replied,


    "Yes, I did it¡­. without alerting Abella¡­"


    Hearing Norton''s answer, the cult leader burst into hearty laughter.


    "hahahaha¡­. Good good!Now we can move forward to the next step! It''s our victory!!"


    The cult leader then waved his hand at Norton.


    "You have completed your mission; you can go¡­"


    Norton gave a salute to his master before departing.


    "Understood!"


    ¡­


    Above the city.


    "Hmm¡­ why do I feel that I am forgetting about something¡­"


    Shin rubbed his chin and tried to remember what he was forgetting about.


    At that moment, Thomas said,


    "It''s Jareth¡­ He got separated from us, and we don''t know what happened to him¡­"


    Shin waved his hand at Thomas''s words and said,


    "No, not him¡­ You don''t really think that he will be in trouble, do you?"


    Even Gazid and Yoseh nodded their heads.


    "Yeah, he is strong; we don''t need to worry about him..."


    (These guys are literally misunderstanding him to be a super strong guy who can deal with any difficulties that might come his way¡­ so they aren''t planning on going to his side¡­)


    Just then, Shin noticed the altar in the corner of his eyes and immediately remembered what he had forgotten.


    "Ah yes! We have to destroy that altar!"


    Shin glanced at Gazid and Yoseh and said,


    "You two go and deal with the rest of the monsters that are left in the city; me and Thomas will go and deal with that altar¡­"


    Gazid and Yoseh both nodded their heads and flew away in two different directions to deal with the monsters.


    Thomas and Shin instantly increased their flying speed and arrived near the gigantic altar.


    "Ugh¡­ Fortunately, I am using a mana barrier; otherwise, I think the smell in this place must be horrible¡­"


    Thomas also nodded his head at those words.


    Thousands of human skulls decorated the altar, and he could see muffified bodies piled up everywhere.


    "This place is horrible¡­"


    [Grade 3 Frost Magic: Ice Rain!]


    Shin used his frost magic, and gigantic icicles fired at all of the monsters nearby, killing them in an instant.


    Shin cleared all of the monsters from the central area with a single spell.


    But what surprised him the most was that his attack had no effect on the altar.


    When the frost icicles were about to hit the altar, a barrier made of pure soul energy appeared and protected the altar from Shin''s magic.


    "Ugh¡­ It''s this type of restriction¡­"


    After Nathan, Thomas is the most knowledgeable about barriers in the entire university.


    He quickly identified the type of barrier on the altar.


    "Ugh¡­ This barrier is the self-repair type; it won''t break unless the energy stored inside the altar runs out¡­ but I am sure the energy reserve of this altar is definitely massive!"


    Ten thousand souls are being used to generate energy for this altar; obviously, it has a massive energy reserve.


    "Breaking this altar is going to be troublesome¡­"


    Thomas and Shin couldn''t help but frown at this situation now, as they were both out of options.

 Chapter 69 - 69: A Tarnished hero... Part-1.

    An unknown space.


    "This is the place I prepared for your death¡­"


    Hearing Abella''s mocking tone, Nathan glanced all around him, and no matter where he looked, he could only see a never-ending space loop.


    The floor and surroundings in this place are pure white, and no matter what direction you look, the place seems to have no end.


    Nathan is a spatial magic user; he easily figured out what kind of place this is, and his expression turned sour in an instant.


    "A Death cage¡­"


    Seeing the solemn look on Nathan''s face, Abella laughed loudly.


    "HAHAHA, So, you still have some wisdom in that senile brain of yours! Yes! This is a death cage! Unless you die! Or I break the spell myself; you can never escape this place! Ahahhaha!"


    The look on Nathan''s face turned even more solemn when he heard her mocking voice.


    As a spatial magic user, he knew all too well just what kind of sinister place this ''death cage'' is.


    ¡­


    (Spell intro)


    [Forbidden spell: corruption/spatial type: cage of unavoidable death]


    [Spell description: A forbidden spell that was taught to humans by the demons to create chaos in the world.


    It is one of the most twisted and dangerous forbidden spells in existence. To use this spell, you need the power of more than twenty-five thousand souls, or the souls of ten grade 1 mages.


    This spell is used to deal with ''obstacles'' that stand in the way of the demon worshippers.]


    [Spell Effects:


    1. Create a looped sub-space.


    2. Trap the opponent for eternity.


    3. It can gradually erode the trapped entity''s sanity.


    4. It can function even after the user dies.]


    ...


    The concept of time doesn''t exist in this small sub-space, as it''s not a perfect ''space'' with proper ''laws and rules''.


    If someone gets trapped in this place, they get stuck in a loop.


    The person never ages in this place as time doesn''t exist, and if the trapped person''s magic control is below grade 1, then they can''t even move freely in this place.


    You need at least grade 1-level mana control to resist the non-existence of the ''rule of time'' in this place; otherwise, your body will freeze as time doesn''t exist here, and you can''t move in a place where time itself is non-existent.


    In this place, even photon particles stop moving, making it impossible to see. If you don''t have grade-1 mana control to forcefully keep your body functional, you become blind.


    (Nathan and Abella are both using their mana to work like photon particles and detect everything around them¡­. Otherwise, they couldn''t even see¡­)


    But this is not even the worst part of it all.


    ''The biggest problem is¡­ that even if I kill Abella here, I will still remain trapped, as it''s near impossible to break out of here so easily¡­''


    Unless your grasp of mana and space-time fabric is at a level above grade 1, you can''t break out of this place by sheer force.


    Either you need to make this space run out of energy, or you need to force Abella to cancel this spell.


    But both of these conditions are difficult.


    This spell can only be cast with the help of an immense energy source, and Abella used 25 thousand souls as the energy source of this space, which means it will take hundreds of years for this spell to run out of power.


    Moreover, there''s no mana in the surroundings; thus, Nathan only has the mana contained in his body; he can''t replenish his mana after he runs out of mana.


    This implies that if he runs out of mana, he won''t be able to withstand the absence of the ''time rule'' and will immediately freeze.


    If he froze here, then no one knows how long he will have to stay in this space. He might really go insane from being stuck in a place like this. (White rooms are a mental torture method, actually¡­)


    Nathan glanced at Abella and said it in a serious tone.


    "You know, even you can''t leave this space as long as I am alive¡­. Are you preparing for your death too?"


    Hearing Nathan''s words, Abella laughed like a maniac who had lost her brain.


    "Kehehehehe, who cares! I don''t care about my death at all!! My life''s goal was to take revenge on you! And I have finally completed it!!"


    "Kekekeekke now even if I die, you will suffer in this place for hundreds of years! No one can save you!!"


    Hearing that maniacal laughter, Nathan''s mood became sour, and he asked,


    "Why go this far? You used to be one of my favorite disciples! Why are you putting me in this tough spot, Abella-"


    Before Nathan could finish his sentence, Abella gritted her teeth and shouted at him,


    "Don''t you dare take my name with your filthy tongue!! You were the reason for Rahnan''s death!! Had you not sent him to investigate the ''fifth seal of the false dome,'' he would still be alive!"


    Tears appeared in Abella''s eyes as she shouted at Nathan at the top of his lungs.


    Her eyes were already bloodshot, and she was already losing her sanity to the darkness that she had consumed to forcefully become stronger.


    Nathan immediately refuted Abella''s words and said,


    "You are mistaken! I only assigned him that mission! I never said that he couldn''t reject the mission! He went there on his own! It was his fault that he died-"


    Before Nathan could continue, Abella raised her magic brook and shot a massive beam of condensed miasma in Nathan''s direction.


    [Grade 2 Dark Magic: Ray of Absolute Corruption!]


    That ray of miasma and corruption was so dense and strong that even the space became a bit distorted around it.


    But Nathan didn''t let her outdo him; he used his spatial magic right away.


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Portal of Misdirection''s!]


    The space in front of Nathan distorted, and the beam of miasma got caught in that spatial portal.


    The other end of the portal opened right above Abella''s head, and her attack nearly hit her own body.


    [Grade-5 Dark Magic: Wings of Miasma!]


    Two bat-like wings made of condensed miasma appeared behind Abella''s back, helping her dodge the miasma beam.


    But Nathan wasn''t going to stop there; another portal appeared on the ground and absorbed the beam of miasma in it, and the other side of the portal opened above Abella''s head once again.


    This series of dodging and portal openings continued on and on for five hundred times before Abella finally came up with a counter.


    [Grade 1 Dark Magic: The Insatiable Maw of Corruption!]


    A gigantic gate made up of condensed miasma appeared in front of Abella, and the chains on the gate broke apart in an instant.


    A monstrously huge mouth appeared from those gates of corruption, and the mouth directly absorbed the beam of miasma, eliminating it in an instant.


    The gate teleported as the giant mouth finished devouring the beam of miasma, attempting to engulf Nathan in its razor-sharp jaws.


    [Grade 1 Space Magic: Spatial Distortion!] S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Nathan didn''t even flinch when he saw that gigantic mouth trying to eat him; he pointed his staff directly at the gate of corruption and cast his spell.


    In an instant, the space-time fabric trembled and became distorted, destroying the corruption gate.


    Abella had to board her magic broom and fly away to avoid the spell''s effect due to its extremely wide effective range.


    Nathan wasn''t going to let her leave so easily; he immediately opened a portal to appear in front of Abella and then cast another spell to attack her.


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Spatial Crush!]


    He pointed his wand towards the space beside Abella and forced it to collapse on its own in an attempt to crush Abella under the pressure of that compressed space.


    But Abella has always been on guard; she immediately countered Nathan''s move.


    [Grade-1 Dark Magic: Miasmic expansion!]


    A magic circle appeared above her head, and the space near her got covered in darkness and miasma, thus getting rid of Nathan''s spatial magic effect by expanding the space forcefully by using too much miasma.


    Her moves surprised even Nathan, as he didn''t anticipate her to perfectly counter his attacks.


    "You are strong, Abella! How about you stop doing the wrong things and turn over a new leaf! If you decide to apologize for your actions, then I will personally help you restore a safe identity in the human nation!!"


    Nathan doesn''t really care about how many humans Abella killed to achieve her current strength.


    Her strength was all that mattered, and if she could join the human race, she would be of great assistance.


    Those at the top of the world, like Nathan, don''t really care about the life or death of ants that can''t even defend themselves.


    Most grade 1 mages are arrogant people, and they think of ordinary people as mere ants. Wizards are selfish beings; there''s no point in trying to correct their mindsets.


    Hearing Nathan''s words, Abella laughed mockingly.


    "BAHAHAHAHA, how pathetic can you be! I knew all along that you were nothing but a f*cking leech! You enjoy immense benefits and gain an amazing reputation from others!"


    "Yet you still dare to ask someone who has killed more than fifty thousand people over the past night to enter the human world and start over as a good person!?"


    Nathan''s expression turned cold at those words.


    "I am just trying to stop you from further doing harm-"


    Abella''s eyes started weeping tears of blood, and as she shouted,


    "Shut up!! Your hypocrisy makes me sick!! If not for a hypocrite like you, Rahnan would have been alive!! Die, you piece of sh*t!!"


    Abella wasn''t going to listen to Nathan''s words, and she had already lost her sanity by now.

 Chapter 70 - 70: A Tarnished Hero... Part-2.

    Rahnan was a grade-4 mage and was one of the few disciples of Nathan.


    Unlike most mages, he had a kind and compassionate personality; he was like a bright light shining in the dark.


    Abella studied under Nathan, and she frequently encountered Rahnan due to his frequent visits to Nathan.


    Nathan favored Abella because of her extraordinary talent for summoning magic, but she was completely preoccupied with Rahnan because she had fallen in love with him.


    Nathan wanted Abella to reach great heights and provide benefits to him when she grows up to be a strong wizard in return for his tutoring, but Abella wasn''t making much progress as she was thinking about Rahnan all day long.


    This was intolerable for Nathan.


    Not only was Rahnan a great disappointment for Nathan, he was also stopping his other students from making progress.


    Nathan took Rahnan as a disciple because he had the extremely rare ''light magic'' aptitude.


    But later, Nathan figured out that Rahnan didn''t have much talent at all; he was barely progressing at all, so Nathan sent Rahnan to travel around the nation and improve his skills.


    But even after years of training, Rahnan barely reached grade 4.


    Nathan''s previous disciples had reached grade 2 at the least, and Rahnan became the greatest stain on his reputation as a great teacher.


    But Abella didn''t care about all that; she was a young girl with an innocent mind that was still untainted by the cruelty of the real world.


    She had fallen in love with Rahnan because of his ''personality'', and his magic skills had nothing to do with that.


    Abella simply accepted him as he was and didn''t care if his magical talent was weak or not.


    Nathan noticed everything, and he figured out that he would need to get rid of Rahnan if he wanted Abella to make progress.


    A disciple who can''t grow up and provide benefits to him is of no use to Nathan.


    This may sound harsh, but that''s how a master-disciple relationship works in this world.


    Any wizard who teaches a disciple does so out of a desire to get something in return from them.


    Nathan wanted an inexhaustible supply of monsters for his experiments at a cheap price, and Abella''s summoning talent was perfect for that.


    But if she couldn''t meet his requirements, then it would have been a great loss.


    So Nathan made an easy plan.


    He took Rahnan to the secret library and explained to him the "reality" of this world.


    Usually, only Grade 1 mages are supposed to know about all this, but in rare cases, a Grade 1 mage can tell his disciples about ''it'' to his disciples through a magic contract.


    Rahnan signed the magic contract and swore not to leak the secret, even if he died.


    Nathan had always been good at manipulating others.


    He brainwashed Rahnan into thinking that the ''fifth seal'' of the ''False Dome'' was about to be broken and needed immediate repair, and only ''light magic'' could do that.


    Although that was only half true, Rahnan believed Nathan without any suspicions, as he had great trust in his master.


    Nathan had always helped him, and now it was his turn to return the favor.


    Without any hesitation, he left after saying goodbye to Abella.


    Years went by, and Rahnan never came back.


    Abella urged Nathan to search for Rahnan, but Nathan refused to do so and said that if Abella became a grade 1, then he would help her out.


    But that was all a fa?ade.


    Abella didn''t have the talent to reach grade 1 in this lifetime, and Nathan knew this all too well.


    He knew that Abella could barely make it to grade 2, but it was impossible for her to reach grade 1 in this lifetime; in other words, he wasn''t going to lend her a hand in searching for Rahnan.


    As time passed, Abella worked hard to improve, but she was never able to go past grade 2.


    She had hit a wall.


    Years of hard work and struggles made Abella mature, and she was no longer a na?ve girl.


    She figured out the truth behind Nathan''s words when she failed to ascend to grade 1, even after years of hard work.


    She went to confront Nathan, but he simply denied everything without feeling even a little bit of shame.


    Abella was helpless; she had already signed a mana contract to deliver the summoned beast to Nathan for five years, and there were still two more years left for that contract to end.


    Nathan is a shrewd and smart person; he squeezed all of the benefits from Abella until the end date of the contract, forced her to keep summoning more and more beasts for him, and even sold some of those beasts for his own profit.


    Nathan calculated everything and planned it meticulously.


    He had been planning this since the day he accepted Abella as his student.


    Nathan is the true embodiment of a selfish and shrewd wizard; he can go to any lengths for his own benefits.


    Manipulating and brainwashing children is child''s play for him.


    (He may sound like a villain, but he''s literally the most beloved mentor of the protagonist of this game.)


    ¡­


    Abella cut off all contact with Nathan after the contract ended and left her wand, which Nathan had gifted her at her graduation ceremony, behind in her temporary house.


    She didn''t have the courage to fight Nathan one-on-one, as she also knew the difference between a grade 1 and a grade 2 mage.


    If she fought him, she would have died in a single attack.


    But Abella wasn''t going to sit back and sigh in sadness. Her love was immense; she followed her heart and started to look for ways to find Rahnan''s location.


    Nathan refused to tell her the location, but she wasn''t going to stop.


    She traveled to all the hidden places in search of clues, but aside from Nathan''s secret library, she didn''t find any other clues at all.


    There was no way for her to be able to sneak into Nathan''s secret library so easily, and she was already starting to lose all hope.


    But then she met the cult leader of the ''False Dome'' cult.


    She was resting near a bonfire at night in a forest outside the human empire''s borders.


    The cult leader stretched out his hand and made an offer to her. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Become a demon believer, Abella¡­ Do so, and you will be able to reach the next realm¡­"


    If it were usual, Abella would have rejected that offer right away, but she was already desperate at that moment.


    Her year''s long search didn''t bear any fruit, and she was at the end of her patience.


    And the cult leader had promised that if she accepted ''darkness,'' she would ascend to grade 1 and be able to find the ''truth'' of this world on her own.


    Abella hesitated for a long time, but then she sighed and accepted the offer with a heavy heart.


    She already had no family or relatives in the world, and her master was merely a profiteer who harbored no affection for her talents.


    Even Rahnan, the only person she loved, was missing.


    So, to pursue her goal of finding Rahnan, Abella accepted the ''darkness'' and became a demon believer after joining the cult of ''False Dome''.


    Soon after accepting the darkness, she ascended to grade 1 with the blessing of the demon god and became capable of sensing the world''s laws.


    {Once you are able to sense the ''laws'' of the world, you end up finding out the truth of the world itself¡­}


    Abella found out the horrifying truth of this world, and she figured out how worthless her existence was in the face of ''reality''.


    Despite facing existential crises, she remained committed to her goals, maintaining her sanity despite the darkness''s heavy corruption.


    Miasma took over her mind bit by bit, and she became a cruel sadist who took pleasure in other people''s suffering.


    With the power of the forbidden spells the demon god himself bestowed upon her, she killed many and extracted their souls.


    There was now only one obstacle in her way of finding Rahnan, and that was Nathan himself.


    If Abella gets rid of Nathan, she can access the secret library and find Rahnan''s location, as well as the location of all seven seals that hold the ''False Dome'' in place.


    This was also the reason Abella went to such great lengths to split a small part of her own soul in order to sneak into the secret library.


    Which ultimately failed in the end because of Jareth''s interference; if he hadn''t interfered with that massive glowing mana orb, Abella would have killed Nathan that day.


    Still, even though she lost, she got another chance.


    Now that she has decimated an entire city, she has not only constructed an altar capable of summoning the incarnation of a demon god, but she has also repaired her magic broom and constructed a ''death cage'' with the sole purpose of trapping and killing Nathan.


    Abella''s plan is extremely thorough; even if she dies here, her soul will escape and enter a pre-prepared body that she placed in a hidden cave.


    This way, not only will Nathan remain stuck in that spatial loop forever, but she will also be able to exit that place without any problems.


    And once she takes over her new body, she will immediately rush to the university and find out the seal''s location via the secret library.


    She isn''t going to depend on the demon god''s incarnation for that; she wants to find Rahnan with her own ability, as she doesn''t trust others with this important task.


    For the sake of her love, Abella killed thousands of innocent people and murdered them without regard for the world.


    Her actions are indeed wrong and punishable, but in her mind, she has already devoted her whole existence to Rahnan; there''s no point in reasoning with her anymore.


    She has lost her sanity, except for one simple goal.


    And that goal is to find her loved one.


    {Corrupted by Miasma, Abella has become a ''tarnished hero'' of her own ''broken path''¡­ She has lost her ''humanity'' and her ''existence'' in the pursuit of ''Love''¡­ That was already long gone¡­}

 Chapter 71 - 71: Nothing more than a Pawn...

    "I will make sure that you die here today..."


    Tears of blood flowed from Abella''s eyes as her hatred for Nathan was so strong that even the space-time fabric was trembling due to her anger.


    Abella waved her hand, and just when she was about to cast another spell, something unexpected happened.


    Abella suddenly found herself standing on the same altar that she had asked her summoned beasts to build.


    "What?"


    The magic circle on the altar began to glow dark red, as if made of blood, before Abella could understand what was happening.


    Abella glanced all around her, and she also saw Shin and Thomas, who were standing right outside the altar''s protective barrier.


    She glanced at the sky and sensed that the death cage was still intact.


    ''What''s going on? I clearly planned that I was going to die in that cage, and then I would have escaped with my soul. But right now I am outside the death cage with my real body?''


    Abella was the one who cast the death cage, so she can sense that the cage is still intact. She can also sense that Nathan is still trapped in there, but only she exited that place without dying.


    ''How is this even possible-''


    Before Abella could understand what was going on, she felt an immense gravitational force weigh down on her.


    Abella was caught off-guard, and even her mana barrier broke apart under that immense gravitational force.


    She collapsed on the ground, and even moving her fingers became impossible.


    ''M-my magic¡­ my magic isn''t working!? Wh-what the heck!?''


    Not only wasn''t Abella able to move her body, she wasn''t able to control her mana either.


    As if something were interrupting her mana, Abella had lost the ability to use magic, and now she was nothing more than a helpless ordinary girl who was stuck at the center of the altar. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *Step**Step*


    A humanoid figure made of dark mist and miasma appeared on the altar and walked slowly over to Abella''s side slowly.


    The voice of that being''s steps felt so heavy and intimidating that even Thomas and Shin could feel it from outside the barrier.


    As a result, they both backed away from the altar, ready to run away at any time.


    The humanoid figure made out of dark mist didn''t seem to care about the two thoughts; it was only interested in Abella.


    Abella knew that figure all too well, as she had seen him countless times by now.


    This entity is none other than the cult leader of the False Dome himself.


    ''No this is just a shadow of his¡­ His real body isn''t here¡­''


    Abella had many questions in her mind, but due to that immense gravitational force, she was having difficulty even breathing; there was no way to speak.


    The cult leader squatted down near Abella, and a sweet yet creepy voice rang out from the dark mist.


    "Ah, my sweet and silly Abella¡­ You fell for this silly trap¡­ But, oh well, you haven''t been very smart since childhood; you were always like this¡­"


    "You focused on your goals so much that you forgot about the things around you¡­"


    Hearing that familiar yet intimidating voice, Abella''s eyes widened in sheer shock, and she uttered it with great difficulty.


    "R-Rahnan? H-how can this be!? T-this is impossible!!"


    Despair, shock, etc.¡ªmany complicated emotions appeared on Abella''s face at that moment.


    She couldn''t accept the fact that what she had been chasing for so long was already so close to her, yet she never noticed it.


    Not only did Rahnan make her accept the darkness, but he also sent her on various death missions when he knew all along that all she wanted was to meet him and confess her love to him.


    But Rahnan kept watching her go down the path of darkness silently, never doing anything to save her.


    Many questions flashed through Abella''s mind in that one moment, but all she could say was,


    "W-why!?"


    Rahnan stretched out his hand and wiped the tears from Abella''s eyes.


    The dark mist over his face condensed, and a humanoid face that resembled Rahnan appeared.


    But unlike the Rahnan that Abella knew, the current one had a creepy smile hanging over his face while he was wiping her tears.


    "Well, you see¡­ I have hated you for a very long time, Abella. A very long time¡­"


    At that moment, Rahnan told Abella the real truth¡­


    Not only was Abella favored heavily by Nathan, but she was getting a lot of resources from him for free, and Rahnan was jealous of it all.


    He had to always put on a good senior fa?ade whenever she came looking for him.


    Nathan even warned Rahnan several times to keep his lowly talent in mind and stay away from Abella.


    "Every time I looked at your face, I felt like skinning you alive and boiling you in hot oil! I hated you to the core!!"


    But Rahnan didn''t have the power to go against Nathan, and he didn''t dare harm Abella under Nathan''s watch.


    When Nathan finally carried out his sinister plan to send Rahnan away to the fifth seal.


    Rahnan found his chance, and he left his human identity behind.


    He worshipped the demon god and established the cult that became famous as the ''False Dome Cult''.


    The demon god gave him immense power, and the very first person that Rahnan chose to corrupt was Abella herself.


    He waited till Abella became mentally weak from searching for him, and then he seized the moment and corrupted her with miasma.


    "I was gloating at your misfortune! I took great pleasure in destroying the talent that the old fox held so dear!


    But Abella still had some use.


    She became a Grade 1 mage, and Rahnan waited for her soul to get fully corrupted to bring out the full potential of her darkened soul.


    When Rahnan said all this to Abella''s face with the same creepy smile on his face, Abella could only feel immense despair.


    From the start to the end, she was just a mere pawn that was dancing in the palms of others.


    First Nathan exploited her talent to the limit, and then Rahnan gloated on her misery as she searched for him wholeheartedly.


    Rahnan''s words ultimately caused Abella to lose her sanity, as he cruelly stripped her of her life''s sole purpose, causing her soul to become completely tainted with miasma.


    "In the end, all I would say to you is that you were nothing more than a disposable pawn, Abella¡­"


    Rahnan got up and kicked Abella to the side, then placed his hand at the center of the magic circle.


    "The ritual to summon the incarnation of a demon god needs many souls¡­ You worked hard to collect them for me, so I praise you for that¡­"


    "But this ritual still needs the fully corrupted dark soul of a grade 1 individual to fully activate it¡­. And yeah, that''s the real purpose of why I let you wander around freely for so long¡­"


    The creepy smile on Rahnan''s face became even wider.


    "I have waited for a long time¡­ I waited for the perfect opportunity to appear in front of you to finally push you to the depths of corruption¡­ And now you are nothing more than an empty vessel of pure despair¡­"


    Rahnan''s words carried so much cruelty that even Shin and Thomas felt a chill run down their spines after hearing all this.


    They had never thought that such evil schemes were involved in this incident.


    Their foreheads were already covered in sweat while looking at Abella, who was lying down like a dead body with endless despair in her eyes.


    It was clear from a single glance that her ''will'' had already been broken and her existence was already tortured beyond measure.


    ¡­


    Rahnan didn''t care about all that; he imbued a bit of his own mana in the center of the altar, and then the circle finally activated.


    First Abella''s darkened soul was sucked out of her body and used to activate the summoning ritual, and then those ten thousand souls were used to carry out the actual summoning ritual.


    Rahnan glanced at the sky and mumbled.


    "That old fox has been trapped in the death cage by you, Abella. I really appreciate all that you did for me¡­ I will remember you as long as I live¡­ Thanks for working so hard for my sake¡­"


    Now that Nathan was out of the picture, there was no one who could possibly interrupt the summoning ritual.


    Only half an hour is needed now.


    In this half hour of time, the altar will refine all of the ten thousand innocent souls and then turn them into power that will condense into the form of the incarnation of the demon god.


    The incarnation will then take Abella''s soulless body as its vessel and will put it to good use.


    Rahnan wasn''t going to let even Abella''s dead body rest in peace; he had already planned everything out over the years.


    He wanted complete revenge from Nathan and Abella.


    Seeing his revenge turn into reality, Rahnan couldn''t help but smile creepily.


    "Finally, my dreams are turning into reality¡­ All thanks to my benevolent god¡­"


    While the Alter continued to refine those souls, Rahnan brought out a smartphone from his dark, mist-like body and then pressed a few buttons on it.


    "Good, I have sent the details¡­ All I need to do now is wait¡­ Soon, the whole world will find out how big of a hypocrite the person they love actually is¡­"


    Rahnan had already collected a lot of evidence against Nathan, and he was ready to ruin his reputation in the human world.


    If he had only killed Nathan, then people would have still continued to think of him as a great hero, as they already have a statue of him in the national hero memorial.


    But Rahnan knew all this, so he chose the other way.


    Not only did he subtly persuade Abella to trap Nathan in the death cage, but he also made the decision to destroy Nathan''s remarkable reputation.


    ''Calling me ''trash'' and ''talentless'' was your biggest mistake, my dear teacher¡­''


    ...


    ¡­


    Author''s Note.


    Some people were complaining that the story seemed too dark and that everyone seemed like a villain, so let me clarify.


    This novel is tagged ''dark'', and the setting of this world is in a world that is filled with ''cruelty and misery''.


    You can become another''s pawn without even noticing. If this story is too strong for your pure heart, I recommend going to my other novel; that one is more lighthearted.


    But if you like stories that depict the cruelty of a world corrupted with power and demons, then this is for you.

 Chapter 72 - 72: The Small Trick... Part-1.

    Outside the city.


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Mud Lake!]


    Mark stomped his feet, and a magic circle appeared on the ground, turning the sand in a radius of 50 meters around him into mud.


    Only the ground below Mark and the other soldiers remained normal.


    Risa seized that chance in an instant.


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Bind!]


    The shadows of the monsters immediately moved and bound the monsters, preventing them from moving too much in the mud lake.


    Mark smiled at Risa''s timely cooperation and then raised his wand towards the sky.


    [Grade 4 Earth Magic: Stone Arrow Shower!]


    A massive magic circle appeared in the sky, and gigantic stone arrows started to fall from it.


    The speed of those stone arrows was much faster than the speed of a sniper rifle''s bullet.


    This implies that each of those arrows carried a significant amount of momentum.


    In a 50-meter radius, they easily killed all of the grade-five and lower-grade monsters.


    But this also consumed a lot of mana.


    Mark and the other soldier have been fighting for more than two hours non-stop, and nearly all of them are exhausted by now.


    Casualties among the soldiers have piled up to hundreds by now.


    If not for the fact that Mark and the other students are much stronger than these soldiers, they would have also gotten injured by now.


    Still, all this fighting has nearly drained all of the mana from the students.


    However, the horde of monsters is still rushing endlessly.


    Mark and Risa leaned their backs against each other and panted heavily while looking at the monsters that were rushing towards them from all directions.


    "I am impressed; I never expected that you would be able to keep up with me even though you are nearly out of mana."


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa smiled and cast a low-grade shadow condensing spell to create a sword out of her shadow magic.


    "Hehe, you underestimate me too much¡­ I can fight even if I don''t have mana; if you feel like quitting, I won''t mind carrying you out of here¡­"


    A smirk appeared on Mark''s face after hearing those words.


    "Heh, being carried by a girl? No thanks; I would prefer if I were the one to carry you out of here..."


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Stone Spike Graveyard!]


    Spikes made up of condensed stone elements rose from the ground and hit the vitals of the rushing monsters accurately.


    Mark''s precision and amazing mana control have earned the respect of all soldiers, as none of them got hit even when Mark used such wide-area attacks.


    Risa ignored the impressed expressions on the soldiers'' faces nearby and thrust her shadow sword into the ground.


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Support type: Shadow extension!]


    Risa''s shadow magic penetrated into the magic circle that Mark had made, and she enhanced it further with the small amount of mana that she had left.


    Risa''s enhancement turned Mark''s magic circle dark black, and shadows covered the stone spikes.


    The shadows expanded the range of that spell even further and damaged the monsters even more badly.


    Mark and Risa''s teamwork was so efficient that they didn''t even need to use any words to figure out what the other party was going to do.


    Mark had purposely reduced his own control over his magic circle so that Risa''s mana could get into it and enhance it further.


    Although this was a risky move that other mages could have taken advantage of, right now they are fighting monsters, and there are no mages on the opponent''s side.


    So the two of them didn''t need to hold back.


    With their amazing teamwork, Mark and Risa killed nearly 50 low-grade monsters in one attack.


    Still, this wasn''t enough.


    As time passed, more monsters began to rush them.


    Risa had already used the last bits of her mana to enhance Mark''s magic. She ran out of mana, and her legs couldn''t hold her standing any longer.


    Before she could collapse on the ground, Mark caught her and prevented her from falling.


    "Heh¡­ So I lost first¡­ sigh~ okay, you win¡­"


    Risa pouted her cheeks a bit as if she were upset that she lost to Mark, but her eyes were showing that she was happy to be held by him.


    But Mark didn''t have the time to notice all this; he was worried about the monsters that were rushing towards them.


    ''Tch! Is there no end to them?''


    Just when Mark was about to take Risa and retreat, the monsters suddenly stopped.


    *Dead silence~*


    As if they had all suddenly lost their motive to attack, all the monsters stopped mid-battle and stood still.


    Even the soldiers, who had been fighting fiercely up until now, stopped after witnessing this unusual scene.


    Before Mark and others could figure out what was going on, all of the monsters started to turn into magic particles.


    "W-what''s going on?"


    A confused look appeared on Mark''s face as he saw this strange phenomenon.


    When the summoner dies, a magic circle appears, which brings the summoned beasts back to the spirit realm.


    But right now, things are extremely strange.


    As if the summoned beasts were being sucked out by a strange power, all of them were turning into magic particles, and those magic particles were flying towards the inner area of the city together.


    "This is?" S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark wanted to go inside the city and find out what was going on, but before he could move, a hand appeared on his shoulder and held him in place.


    "Stay here; that place isn''t for you to play yet¡­ Also, take all these soldiers and retreat far away from here¡­."


    A familiar voice appeared in Mark''s ears as he glanced at the person who was standing beside him.


    The man looked extremely handsome, and his golden hair was waving in the gentle breeze.


    A calm look hung over his face. His very presence gave people the feeling of ''protection'' and ''hope''.


    "Father¡­"


    King Reynald ignored his son''s voice and flew away instantly.


    That insane speed surprised Mark, but he could only shake his head.


    "Everyone! The monsters are all dead! Let''s retreat now! This place is about to become a playground for the grade mages! We shouldn''t stay here any longer!"


    Hearing Mark''s words, all of the soldiers nodded their heads, and they relayed the message to the general.


    The general immediately gave the retreat order, and the soldier rushed back to the military vehicles instantly.


    Mark glanced at the city walls one last time before leaving with Risa in his arms. (She''s pretending to have fainted; she succeeded in making him carry her princess-style¡­)


    ¡­


    Ignoring the retreating army below, Reynald rushed towards the city and landed on the city wall.


    A solemn look appeared on his face when he saw that all the magic particles were slowly rushing towards the altar in the center.


    His eyes met with Rahnan, who was standing on the altar, and Rahnan smiled at Reynald creepily.


    But Reynald''s face didn''t change much after seeing that creepy smile.


    ''That thing¡­ It''s not his real body; he''s likely using some type of forbidden magic to appear here without his real body¡­''


    Reynald glanced at the altar once, and he figured out everything in an instant.


    ''Destroying that shadow form is pointless; moreover, it likely doesn''t have any combat capabilities either; it''s just for show¡­''


    ''Moreover, the ritual won''t stop even if the altar is destroyed or that vessel is killed¡­''


    Just as Reynald was contemplating in his mind, another person flew down from the sky and landed beside him.


    "What took you so long, your majesty?"


    Reynald glanced at the other party, and his eyes widened a bit,


    "Hmm, you seem quite angry for some reason, Jareth Blaze¡­"


    Blood veins were twitching all over Jareth''s face as he was staring at that altar, and his well-built muscles were on full display as he didn''t have his shirt on at the moment.


    "A certain someone''s minion dared to destroy my favorite shirt¡­ I am quite upset over that¡­"


    Zeros'' attacks tore apart his shirt, revealing a massive hole where she had pierced his heart.


    Jareth wasn''t particularly the type of person to get upset over a torn-up shirt, but the original Jareth liked this shirt a lot, and thus, he is feeling quite upset now that he lost the shirt.


    Ignoring Jareth''s words, Reynald glanced at Jareth''s well-built six-pack abs, then glanced at himself.


    ''This guy¡­ He seems more like a warrior than a mage¡­ Come to think of it, I lost my six-pack abs after I got married. I used to be more well-built in my younger days.


    It''s been two decades since Reynald''s marriage, and he has become so accustomed to his wife''s amazing cooking that he has lost the will to work out like he used to do in his younger years.


    ''Sigh, it''s good to be young¡­''


    (Jareth is ten years younger than Reynald¡­)


    As Reynald continued to contemplate all of this, Jareth abruptly spoke:


    "So¡­ what do you say? Should we go for a combined one?"


    Reynald immediately understood what Jareth was talking about, and a smirk appeared on his face,


    "Would you be able to keep up with my maximum output?"


    After hearing Reynald''s words, Jareth responded in his usual cold tone.


    "What''s your maximum?"


    Reynald smirked and said,


    "Ten layers¡­"


    Even Jareth felt a bit shocked after hearing those words, but then he nodded his head and said,


    "I will manage it somehow; let''s go for a combined one¡­ fully immersion one¡­"


    The smile on Reynald''s face widened even further after hearing those words from Jareth''s mouth.


    "You are really an interesting person, Jareth Blaze¡­ This is the first time someone has said that they can ''manage it'' after hearing about my abilities¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head at those words and thought to himself.


    ''Anyway, I have become a professional fraudster by now¡­ I can do simple tricks like this now¡­''

 Chapter 73 - 73: The Small trick... Part-2.

    "Oi oi¡­ This sh*t is getting outta hand!"


    The expression on Shin''s face turned solemn as he said those words in an annoyed tone.


    He could see that if this altar kept working, then a demon incarnation would likely appear, and the destruction it would cause would be unimaginable. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The demon god''s incarnation can be considered a pseudo-grade-0 existence.


    Its power is unimaginable, and dealing with it requires the sacrifice of many grade 1 wizards.


    Shin and Thomas were aware that they needed to stop this altar, but they were both powerless.


    The barrier around that altar is of the self-repair type, and it won''t break unless the whole altar runs out of power, which is nearly impossible to do for them.


    Thomas glanced at Rahnan''s smiling face with a solemn look and said,


    "There''s nothing we can do here; it''s actually better if we retreat now¡­"


    Hearing Thomas''s words, Shin couldn''t help but rub his forehead in frustration.


    "F*cking bullsh*t! Where will we retreat!? Once fully summoned, the demon incarnation will likely attack the human race! A war for survival will start at that point!"


    Demon incarnations usually have a single goal in mind, which is to ''destroy the human race'', and the reason for this motive is that the demon gods fear humanity.


    It was a human who once created the seal of ''False Dome'', and the human indomitable human spirit isn''t something that should be underestimated.


    There are many evil people among humans, many of whom are profiteers, but in every era, a ''hope'' also emerges amidst this worldly filth.


    A ''Being'' that carries the ''hope'' of humanity itself.


    In peaceful times, this ''hope'' doesn''t show up much, but when the need arises, a selfless existence is born.


    An existence whose brilliance can rival the stars, and whose presence can make the demon gods tremble in fear.


    That existence is the reason why the demon gods want to destroy the human race thoroughly.


    If they don''t get rid of the human race, then an existence that rivals them in the future will surely appear if given enough time.


    And that''s not something a demon wants to see.


    They don''t want humans to become their equals, and oppressing the weak is ingrained in the nature of demons, so they want humans to remain weak.


    If not for the seal of ''False Dome'', the demon gods would have directly descended themselves and would have slaughtered the whole human race with their own hands.


    Still, although the real body can''t descend into this world, the incarnation is still strong enough to rival the most powerful people in this world.


    Unless a ''Hope'' finally comes true and conquers the new realm, there''s no redemption for the human race.


    ¡­


    Just when Shin and Thomas were thinking about whether they should retreat or not, they got a message on their smartphones at the exact same time.


    Shin removed his smartphone from the inner pocket of his coat and read the message.


    [From: Arrogant Punk] (That''s the name that Shin used to save Jareth''s contact info¡­)


    [Retreat to the city walls¡­]


    The message that Jareth sent was extremely short; he didn''t even bother explaining the reasons behind that retreat order.


    But Shin and Thomas didn''t dare ignore that message.


    If it was a long message, then they would have thought something was wrong, but such a short message meant that the other party was serious and action must be taken immediately.


    It''s the logic of veterans of this world when in combat, don''t think too deeply about it.


    They have been trained for swift battle communications during their years at the university, so they have mutual understandings on some things.


    Seeing the message, Shin and Thomas both nodded their heads and immediately flew away from the central area of the city, retreating towards the city walls.


    While flying away, Shin said,


    "What plan do you think he has?"


    To that, Thomas only shook his head, indicating he had no idea about it; he was just as clueless as Shin was.


    When the two of them arrived at the city walls, they noticed Reynald and Jareth standing nearby, so they flew down towards them.


    Gazid and Yoseh also arrived at the same time.


    "D*amn! Why are you flexing your muscles like that? But you look cool, I guess¡­"


    Shin gave a thumbs up to Jareth when he saw him standing there shirtless.


    Jareth sneered at those words and replied in his usual cold tone.


    "If you dare to say anything else, I will burn your clothes too¡­"


    Jareth was already feeling annoyed after his shirt got torn, and now that Shin was making fun of it, he felt even more irritated.


    Thomas brought out a coat from his space ring and gave it to Jareth.


    "Well, I keep ten of them in my space ring just in case I need to change¡­ You can have one¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and accepted that gift without hesitating.


    Yoseh was also there, and Jareth didn''t feel comfortable that a woman other than Shiina was looking at him, so he accepted that coat.


    (Bro used to get anxiety attacks in his past life when a beautiful woman stared at him; Shiina cured that habit¡­)


    Gazid glanced at Jareth and said,


    "KEKEKEKE, those well-built muscles! I WONDER how it will feel to dissect them! KEKEKEKE"


    All of the professors looked at Gazid with strange eyes.


    Even Shin shook his head and thought to himself.


    ''The heck is he on about? Don''t he know that Jareth will blast him off the face of the earth if he dares to attack him?... well whatever¡­''


    Jareth ignored Gazid''s weird way of talking, as he knew that was just how his character was; there''s no point in correcting him.


    That guy sounds and acts like a mad scientist-type villain, but he isn''t actually a villain; he''s just a random character with a weird personality who sells information about monster weaknesses in the game.


    Simply put, he used to be a friendly NPC in the game, so Jareth didn''t take much offense from his words, as they were just empty words, spoken due to his peculiar personality.


    He''s just like Jareth in that essence; Jareth can''t speak kind words and always ends up speaking coldly. The same is true for Gazid, who can''t talk normally and ends up saying weird and creepy things.


    ¡­


    Just when all of them were busy chatting with each other, the altar was working at full capacity to digest the souls.


    Why are they doing nothing about that alter, you ask?


    It''s because they can''t do anything about it, even if they wanted to!!


    Rahnan''s shadow is laughing at them while watching them from far away, and all of the professors can sense the mockery in his eyes.


    However, they are all powerless against it.


    They can''t break that barrier, and there''s no point in getting angry over that mere shadow''s infuriating acts.


    Even Jareth can''t break that barrier, as it''s made out of souls, not mana.


    If it was made from mana, then he could have destroyed that barrier easily, but things are different now.


    Ten thousand souls are powering that barrier; it won''t break so easily.


    Reynald glanced at the altar and said it in a calm voice.


    "So, what is the plan then?"


    Jareth buttoned his coat and replied.


    "We will do a perfect combination spell¡­ We five grade-2 mages can make up for one grade-1 if we do a ''perfect combination''¡­''


    Reynald shook his head and replied.


    "Syncing the mana of five grade-2 mages with a grade-1''s mana is impossible; a perfect combination is only possible in theories¡­ It''s not achievable, unless¡­"


    Reynald''s eyes widened as if he had thought of something.


    He looked into Jareth''s eyes and said,


    "You have awakened the legendary rank skill ''Mana Singularity''?"


    Reynald is not a fool; he has immense knowledge, and he certainly knows all about Mana singularity too.


    But even he hasn''t been able to achieve that skill in his lifetime.


    Even though he''s a grade-1 mage, his magic control can''t match up to the control that the skill ''Mana singularity'' gives to its user.


    Hearing Reynald''s words, Jareth simply nodded his head.


    Now that things have come to this, there is no denying it.


    "I was born with it¡­ That''s why I was able to hide my talents from the prying eyes of the hyena''s¡­"


    Reynald knew who Jareth meant by ''hyena'' and he also knew what Jareth was talking about.


    But even then, Reynald was quite surprised.


    ''I see¡­ That explains everything! I was also thinking how a person who was rumored to be talentless could have reached grade 2, but it turns out¡­ this guy was hiding his talent all along¡­''


    ''Truly an amazing move! As I thought, you truly are a remarkable person, Jareth Blaze¡­''


    A smile appeared on Reynald''s face, and he walked towards the edge of the city wall.


    "Well, if that''s the case, then let''s do this¡­ I also want to see the results that can be achieved through the perfect combination of different magic''s¡­ It is rare to see such a phenomenon in a life time¡­"


    The appearance of a person who can awaken ''Mana Singularity'' is extremely rare; thus, being able to see a perfect combination spell is extremely rare.


    Reynald certainly didn''t want to miss this amazing opportunity, and the other professors were also just as excited as him.


    In the hands of ordinary mages, ''combination spell'' is just a small trick to improve damage.


    But in the hands of a person blessed with a ''Mana singularity'' combination, it can perfectly shine brightly.


    As the saying goes, only a true professional can bring out the real value of an asset. (Source: Trust me bro¡­)

 Chapter 74 - 74: Mortals cant kill god? Thats skill issue!!

    ''Combination magic'' is generally used when wizards cast large-scale magic.


    Like creating a giant altar or a massive seal.


    But sometimes these types of magic are also used to fight extremely strong enemies.


    Combination magic is always unstable due to the conflicting nature of different wizards'' mana''s, and if even one mage in the group stops releasing their mana, the entire group becomes unstable.


    Then the whole magic will collapse, as it is quite unstable.


    But in the history books, there is a mention of an existence that can make the combination magic stable.


    Every mage in the world wants to reach perfect control over mana, but it is not possible unless you awaken the legendary rank skill, mana singularity.


    Mana singularity can not only stabilize combination magic; it can even amplify its effects.


    {The one who holds mana singularity can rule over the law of mana itself¡­}


    Mana singularity has only appeared a few times in the long annals of history, but each time it appears, it gives immense power to its user.


    In his whole life, Reynald had always believed in himself the most, but today, he believed in someone else''s words and decided to place his trust on Jareth''s shoulder.


    A thought came to Reynald''s mind.


    ''Father¡­ You once said that a mortal cannot kill a god¡­ But father, I will prove you wrong!''


    Reynald stretched out his hand and extracted his wand from his space ring.


    He pointed his wand towards the altar and cast his magic.


    A gigantic magic circle appeared in front of the city wall.


    Following Reynald''s lead, Shin and others also poured their mana into the giant magic circle and enhanced it with their own mana.


    The more mana they poured, the more unstable the magic circle became, and just as it was about to reach its limit,


    Jareth also stretched out his hand and instantly stabilized the whole magic circle with his own mana.


    [Mana Command: Law of Mana Stability!]


    With the help of mana singularity, Jareth commanded mana to do as he wanted.


    And as if Mana had really acknowledged his words, it stopped resisting, and the chaos in the magic circle ended.


    Seeing Jareth''s success, Reynald and others were pleasantly surprised, and they all started to pour their mana into the magic circle without any worries in the world.


    Reynald''s Earth magic became the core, while the other four''s magic worked as support to boost the spell''s power.


    Even the soldiers that were retreating far away could feel the immense might of that magic.


    ¡­


    Rahnan''s smirk didn''t change even after all that.


    While standing on the altar, Rahnan''s sneered at Jareth and others who were attempting to destroy the altar.


    "How pathetic; they really have no idea how much power is held within ten thousand innocent souls¡­ They really don''t know that their attempts are all futile¡­"


    Rahnan shook his head in disappointment.


    ''It won''t be long¡­ Once their attack shows no results, they will find out how powerless they are.


    While Rahnan was feeling amused in his mind, an old and sinister voice rang out from Abella''s lifeless body.


    "I have already projected my ''will'' here; the refinement of souls is nearly complete; now I will start taking over this vessel¡­"


    Abella, no¡­ The vessel rose from the ground slowly and walked over to the center of the altar.


    Rahnan saluted his god, but the vessel ignored him and stood directly at the altar''s center.


    The refined soul power started to pour into the vessel, and its transformation began.


    The vessel started to increase in size, and its nails became sharper.


    Its eyes went pitch black, and its pupils became dark red. A sinister aura started to appear on the vessel as its body slowly transformed into that of a demon.


    The vessel lost its feminine features and transformed into a deformed amalgamation of flesh and meat.


    "Hmm, it will take some time to get into a proper combat form¡­"


    A giant eye appeared on that blob of flesh and miasma.


    As more and more soul power entered its body, it kept becoming more and more sinister and eerie-looking.


    Rahnan glanced at the city wall and saw that Jareth and others were still crazily putting their mana into that magic circle.


    ''Hmph, idiots, once my god''s incarnation descends, you guys will become his food-''


    Before Rahnan could laugh at them, he noticed a sudden change.


    The magic circle started to change in form, and it became even bigger.


    Originally, it was just the size of a five-story building, but now it has become nearly as big as a skyscraper.


    ''W-what''s going on¡­ How are they able to keep such a massive magic circle stable!? This is impossible!''


    The magic circle grew to such a size that it could dwarf a mountain.


    "Impossible! This is insanity! No mortal can use magic of that level!"


    Even the gigantic blob of flesh trembled at the sight of that massive magic circle.


    Although only a small portion of the demon god''s ''will'' had descended on the vessel, it was still possible to see that the magic aimed at him was not so simple.


    The giant eye opened wide, as if it were shocked at that insane sight.


    ¡­


    Above the city walls, a few seconds ago.


    Except for Reynald, everyone else was already out of mana, and they had already stopped pouring mana by now.


    Only Reynald was still pouring mana, and Jareth was keeping the magic circle stable.


    Reynald ignored the sweat on his forehead and said it in a solemn tone.


    "Can you feel it too?"


    Jareth nodded his head at Reynald''s words and replied.


    "Yeah, even though we have poured all the mana we have, this is likely still not enough¡­"


    Reynald had sensed that the soul barrier around the altar was extremely powerful, and it was impossible to break it with only this much.


    He didn''t want to admit it, but the truth was that he could feel his defeat at that moment.


    "Should we start saying our last words then?"


    A smirk appeared on Reynald''s face as he said those words.


    In his whole life, he had never lost so badly before, but today he could feel powerless against the might of a demon god.


    He could sense that once they initiate this attack, they likely won''t see any results.


    And after they run out of mana, they will be the first target of the demon god''s incarnation.


    Which means it was time to tell each other their last words.


    But Jareth shook his head and denied Reynald''s question.


    "No¡­ Every one of us will die eventually¡­ but not today at least¡­"


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack enhancement card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    After Jareth used his only attack enhancement card on Zero, one more appeared in the shop.


    This proved Jareth''s previous hypothesis correct.


    Jareth can only keep one attack card at a time, and the shop will only be refreshed after he has already used the attack card in his inventory.


    After the refresh of the attack card, Jareth immediately purchased it for ''4000 Cp'' and proceeded to fly towards the city wall.


    In other words, from the start, Jareth was already planning on using this attack card to settle things with that demon incarnation.


    Jareth has always liked to plan thoroughly; he knew that if he enhanced his own attack, it wouldn''t have enough firepower to destroy the demon god''s incarnation.


    But if he works with Reynald and others to create a combination spell, then the attack enhancement card will shine even brighter than before.


    With that enhancement card, Jareth can''t improve others'' attacks. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But he has also poured his own mana into that combination spell, so it is also technically an attack of his own, so the attack card will work on it.


    [Ding! You have used ''Attack enhancement card (Advanced)''!]


    [Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    Jareth''s fire magic seized the core part of the magic and pushed Reynald''s magic to be a support.


    Then the whole magic circle burned bright red, as if it were made of condensed flames.


    Reynald ran out of mana and stepped back a bit to lean his back against the nearby wall.


    But the smile on his face widened more and more.


    Jareth alone was controlling that massive magic circle at that moment, but Reynald could feel immense trust when looking at that capable back.


    A rare smirk appeared on Jareth''s face when he noticed the shocked expression on Rahnan''s face.


    ''A mortal can''t kill a god? Hold my beer~''


    [Semi-grade-0 Combination Magic: Flame of Heavenly Punishment!]


    A gigantic arrow made of condensed flames and other elements combined in it appeared out of the gigantic magic circle.


    The inexhaustible flames surrounded instantly evaporated all of the moisture in the air in a thirty-kilometer area.


    ''Farewell¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand, and the giant flame arrow launched towards the altar at a speed of Mach 100!


    It was so quick that no one could even sense it coming.


    The air pressure created by that insane speed split the clouds in the sky and destroyed the buildings below.


    The arrow obliterated everything in its path, ultimately striking the soul barrier.


    Even the soul barrier wasn''t able to withstand that insane power, and it broke apart like glass in an instant.


    The flame arrow landed on the altar, causing a massive explosion of unimaginable magnitude.


    In an instant, a mushroom cloud rose into the sky, turning everything within a twenty-kilometer radius into molten lava.


    Fortunately, all of the soldiers had already retreated far away with the help of mana-powered vehicles, but even they felt the massive shockwave created by that attack.


    Some of the soldiers even lost their hearing for quite a few hours after facing that shockwave.


    The shockwave from that attack spread far and wide; it traveled nearly 500 kilometers before fully dissipating.


    All of the forests and hills in a 100-kilometer radius were destroyed by a massive earthquake.


    That one attack changed the geography of half of Artavia in a single instant.

 Chapter 75 - 75: Partial Success?

    [Ding! You have affected the plotline greatly! Subtle changes have happened in the world..]


    [Ding! You received 15,000 CP!]


    Although Jareth heard the sound of the system notifications, his attention wasn''t on them at that moment.


    His eyes were fixed on the location where the attack had landed.


    Jareth had used a mana shield to protect himself and the others from the effects of that attack.


    That attack not only wiped out the whole city; it even destroyed the city walls, turning them into broken rubble or molten lava.


    The earth had already cracked in the area where the attack had landed, and everything in the city had turned into a massive lava lake.


    But that wasn''t all; the most terrifying part of it all was that a massive crack in the space-time fabric had been created due to that attack.


    Jareth and others were aiming to destroy the altar and the incarnation of the demon god, but they ended up destroying the space-time fabric itself.


    Which automatically turned the demon god''s incarnation into nothingness.


    Jareth landed on a massive boulder while carrying the others in his mana shield, and he said it in a solemn tone.


    "Uh¡­ it seems we overdid it¡­"


    Although Jareth and others came here to save people, they ended up turning this whole area into a destroyed wasteland.


    The mana in this place has become chaotic, and the geography of the whole area has changed.


    If left unattended, it will take at least a hundred years for this place to become habitable again.


    Hearing Jareth''s words, others couldn''t help but look at each other with complicated emotions on their faces.


    None of them thought that they would end up creating such a big scene here.


    Fortunately, that massive spatial crack was healing at an extremely fast speed; if it had become a permanent crack, then things would have become extremely bad.


    Reynald got up from the ground and heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that the spatial crack was closing on its own.


    "Okay¡­ There is no need to think too much about it; we still prevented a lot of casualties by destroying the demon incarnation right here¡­"


    "Also, if others blame you for this mess, just say that I was the one who caused it¡­ No one will dare blame me for what I did¡­"


    Reynald''s words were filled with unwavering confidence.


    He didn''t care about what others said about him, and he wasn''t worried about taking the blame.


    Rather, this could potentially enhance his reputation even more, making it a fortunate coincidence.


    Reynald glanced at Jareth and said,


    "Of course, I will give you some credit too, I will hold a press conference about this matter and will also mention all of you¡­"


    The others were pleased after hearing those words.


    Not only did Reynald take responsibility for this place getting destroyed, he also took the promised benefits for them too.


    This means that the trip to this place was a huge success for all of the professors.


    At that moment, Jareth suddenly pointed to the sky and said,


    "All that aside¡­ What''re we going to do about ''that''?"


    Shin and others couldn''t see what Jareth was pointing to, as they couldn''t sense the existence of that ''death cage'' with their mana detection, but Reynald understood what Jareth was talking about.


    "Erm¡­ Even I don''t know how to break that thing¡­ It''s a death cage¡­ Moreover, I can feel it¡­ that the death cage is infused with more souls than the altar was!"


    "Which means its defensive power is much stronger than that altar¡­ We likely can''t destroy it at all¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at Reynald''s words.


    The altar required significant effort to manage, and the death cage has more than twice as many souls as the altar.


    To deal with that death cage, Jareth would require an attack that is at least 2.5 times more powerful than his current one.


    But currently, there''s no way to do that.


    After hearing Reynald and Jareth''s statements, Thomas understood what they were talking about, and he figured out that the principal is likely trapped in a mysterious space.


    He glanced at the sky and said in a solemn tone,


    "I guess we should retreat for now. I will look into the ancient records and try to find a way out for the principal¡­"


    Jareth and others have not been in contact with the online world for a while now, so they don''t know that there is currently massive chaos going on on the internet, and Nathan has become a public enemy by now.


    Rahnan revealed a lot of dark secrets about Nathan, and all of that is circulating on social media like wildfire.


    Nathan''s reputation as a war hero has already started to crumble!


    ¡­


    Jareth and others brought out their mana potions and mediated for a few minutes before flying into the air.


    The area surrounding this place has become hell on earth, and the temperature here is unbearably hot. Staying here for long is not a good idea.


    Thus, all of them took off almost instantly after they recovered enough mana to fly.


    While flying, Shin glanced at Jareth and asked,


    "What to do next? Should we go back to the university or should we stay at the hotel prepared in the capital city of Artavia?"


    Nathan was gone, and there was no one here to decide what to do next, so Shin simply asked Jareth for advice.


    Now that all of them know Jareth''s amazing ability to control mana, they have already regarded Jareth as a senior, and they won''t mind going along with what Jareth has in mind.


    Seeing that all of them were staring at him so intently, Jareth nodded his head and replied in his usual cold tone.


    "Let''s go back to the hotel¡­ You guys can take some rest before we head back¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, Shin inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "We should take a rest? What about you, then? Where are you going?"


    Jareth shook his head in response to Shin''s words.


    "I still have some unfinished business left¡­ I will meet you guys tomorrow morning¡­"


    Before others could say anything, Jareth waved his hand and flew away in the direction of a barren plain, which was exactly opposite Artavia''s capital city.


    Shin wanted to follow behind Jareth, but Reynald stopped him from doing so.


    "Don''t go; he has to deal with some personal matters¡­ You guys should focus on recovering your mana; you need to take care of the students too¡­"


    Reynald said goodbye and left, heading for his royal palace.


    He didn''t want to stay in this place, and he also promised his wife that he would return before dawn, so he was in a hurry to go back.


    Reynald''s hasty retreat surprised Shin and the others, but they had no choice but to shake their heads and search for the students who were returning with the soldiers.


    They can afford to lose a professor, but the university will suffer greatly if a student passes away.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in an underground church, the location unknown.


    Rahnan fell on his knees and pleaded for mercy.


    "Forgive me! My benevolent protector, I have failed you! I am unworthy! I have brought disgrace to your great name!"


    Hearing Rahnan''s self-blaming words, the statue of the demon god didn''t react much, but its eyes turned red, and a creepy and sinister voice rang out in the church.


    "I am letting you live because this is the first time you have made such a mistake; if something like this happens again, I won''t mind taking all the power back that I gave you¡­"


    Hearing those words from the demon god, Rahnan begged for mercy.


    "Forgive me, my benevolent god; I will not make the same mistake again! I swear!"


    After quite a while, the demon god replied to Rahnan''s desperate pleas for mercy. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "My power''s influence in the world has become significantly weaker after that incarnation got destroyed¡­ It will take a lot of time to infuse my ''will'' in here again¡­"


    "But¡­ not everything is lost¡­ Before the incarnation got destroyed, it still was able to manifest my ''will'' partially, and thus, I was able to use my power to vaguely detect the seven seals of the false dome¡­"


    A bright red light radiated from the eyes of the demon god''s statue and fell on Rahnan''s body.


    That bright red light gave a lot of information to Rahnan, directly via his brain.


    Rahnan kowtowed to the statue again and again.


    "I thank the benevolent god for forgiving this sinful lamb! I will definitely complete the missions given by you!"


    The light in the statue''s eyes slowly dissipated after giving all the information to Rahnan.


    Only a few words were left by the demon god before he disappeared.


    "Although the incarnation didn''t cause as much chaos as I was expecting it to, it still fulfilled its primary purpose of providing information about the seals¡­ It can be considered a partial success..."


    "Hurry up and deal with the seals; once I descend into the world with my real body, I will reward you greatly!"


    Hearing the promise of the demon god, Rahnan felt extremely happy.


    Although he has grown stronger since receiving the power of the demon god, he still wants to live a long life.


    He wants to avoid getting old and wants to live eternally.


    Originally, his goals were to destroy Abella and Nathan''s lives thoroughly, but now that they have already been completed, his new goal is to pursue immortality.


    Although it sounds quite clich¨¦ and something that a fool would want, Rahnan still wanted to pursue it as he had no other goals left in life.


    Now that he has tasted the delicacy of immense power, he wants more!


    As they say, Human greed knows no bounds¡­

 Chapter 76 - 76: A Dark Night... Part-1.

    "So, you are here after all¡­"


    Standing on the vast barren plain, Kaiden Blaze smirked a bit as he saw Jareth land on the ground.


    Jareth simply nodded his head and said,


    "I know your shrewd personality¡­ You won''t let that incompetent son of yours get harmed; you left the Blaze household to come here so that I don''t target your loved ones¡­"


    Jareth had received a message from Kaiden earlier as he was flying back to the capital city of Artavia.


    Kaiden had invited him to the barren plains for his final talk.


    ''He likely must have thought that I would get weaker after fighting monsters in that border city...''


    Jareth was already well versed in Kaiden''s shrewd thinking methods, so he could figure out what Kaiden must have planned.


    Kaiden nodded his head at Jareth''s words.


    "Yeah, I have already cleared up things with my son and wife¡­ I have told them that no matter what happens, they don''t need to take action¡­"


    "Even if I die, they don''t need to take revenge for me, as I have already given the position of head to my son¡­"


    Kaiden stretched out his hands and said it in a playful tone.


    "Even if you kill me here, the Blaze family won''t be affected, and my son will continue it as I have given all of my properties and everything to him¡­"


    Kaiden shook his head and said it in a calm voice.


    "Just like you know me well, I know you too¡­ I have been in politics for a long time¡­ I know the hearts of people¡­ You won''t attack unrelated people; that''s why I have brought a gift for you¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and stretched his hand out.


    "No point talking to me; you are bound to die today¡­ I will think about what to do with the Blaze family later-"


    Just as Jareth was about to start attacking, Kaiden pulled out a gift box from his space ring and opened it in front of him.


    "Before doing anything else, you should see this first¡­"


    Kaiden flipped the gift box, and a head fell out of the box.


    It was the head of a woman.


    Although the skin on the face had dried up a lot, it was still easy to distinguish who''s head it was.


    A mocking smile appeared on Kaiden''s face after seeing the shocked look on Jareth''s face.


    "Hahahaha! Yes! This is the head of your mother!! Yes!! I preserved her dead body in cold preservation!!"


    When he heard that mocking laugh, veins appeared on Jareth''s forehead from sheer anger, and he said it in an extremely cold tone.


    "Do you think I will let you live after you show me this? Have you gone insane, Kaiden Blaze?"


    Hearing Jareth take his name without any respect, Kaiden frowned a bit before speaking.


    "You have lost your manners, it seems¡­ However, it''s reasonable to anticipate such behavior from a humble maid''s son!


    At this point, Jareth was already very irritated by Kaiden''s mocking voice; he couldn''t understand why Kaiden was still laughing even though his death was standing right in front of him.


    Jareth titled his head, and his eyes looked at Kaiden as if he were staring at dead meat.


    "You really have the nerves of steel, Kaiden Blaze¡­ You still dare to mock me? Even though you are going to get killed by me soon? Has the stress caused you to lose your mind?"


    At Jareth''s cold and chilling words, Kaiden didn''t back down at all.


    He smiled slightly before speaking.


    "Jareth, you are still a na?ve guy; you don''t know the world of shrewd people too well¡­ You see, I still have the rest of the corpse of your mother, preserved in the basement of the blaze household¡­"


    "And I have cast a simple spell on the basement¡­ If I die here, then the whole basement will self-destruct, and the corpse of your mother will be lost forever¡­ This means you won''t be able to give her a proper funeral¡­"


    After saying this, Kaiden looked at Jareth from head to toe and said,


    "Although you are showing a cold appearance to the world, I know you well¡­ You loved your mother a lot; you surely don''t want me to destroy her corpse, right?" S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Think about it, Jareth; if you kill me now, you will never get the chance to properly put her body to rest¡­ Her soul may never be able to get peace!"


    At Kaiden''s words, Jareth replied in an increasingly cold tone:


    "So? You want to bargain for your life with a corpse? How much lower can you fall, Kaiden Blaze¡­ I am simply too ashamed of the fact that I once even considered you a decent human being¡­ You are worthless garbage in the human body¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s criticism, Kaiden was unfazed.


    "Hahaha, no, no~ that won''t do. You better not show that attitude to me boy¡­ or I will really detonate the basement¡­"


    Even though the basement is directly beneath the Blaze mansion, its construction ensures that the Blaze mansion above it remains unaffected.


    Which means, in all of this, only Jareth will be on the losing side.


    If he hadn''t known about his mother''s corpse, he still could have rushed at Kaiden without any worries.


    But now that he knows about it, he has a chance to put his mother''s corpse at rest and give her soul peace.


    If that corpse gets destroyed, this last chance of bringing her soul to peace will also be lost.


    Her soul will likely not be able to enter the cycle of Samsara, as she has died with lingering hatred and worries.


    If her soul is not put to rest, it will continue to linger around until some necromancer gets their hand on it.


    And that''s not the outcome that Jareth would like to see.


    If a person dies with peace and no remaining desires for the world, then they enter the natural cycle of samsara and get a new life after forgetting the past memories.


    But if they still have some lingering hatred or desire, then the soul will find it difficult to move on to its new life.


    If not for the existence of these wandering souls, the necromancers wouldn''t have any familiars at all.


    But even then, a remnant soul can only linger for a few months or so before it dissipates into nothingness, but if you use some forbidden methods, the soul can be maintained.


    If you preserve the corpse of the dead person and cast forbidden magic to feel life force in their soul, then you can maintain the soul for a long time.


    "I preserved that corpse to one day show it to you and push in despair, but who could have thought that my decision to save that corpse would end up becoming a lifesaving factor for me¡­"


    "Hahahaha! Although your mother was useless in her life, her corpse still has some use, right? Ahahaha!"


    Jareth wanted to just go ahead and kill this guy right here and right now, but his body refused to move.


    It was likely because the original Jareth still hoped to ask for forgiveness from his mother, and thus his body was refusing to move.


    That day, Jareth figured out that anything can happen in this cruel and degrading world.


    People are corrupted by power and like toying with the weak.


    Although Jareth could just ignore that long-gone corpse, it held sentimental value to the original Jareth, and thus¡­. He retracted his hand.


    Jareth retracted his hand and decided not to attack.


    At that point, Jareth was already disgusted by Kaiden; thus, he didn''t bother with beating around the bush and asked,


    "What do you want to achieve with this?"


    A satisfied smirk appeared on Kaiden''s face as he knew that his plan had worked. He knew that he had finally secured his life.


    "Hahaha, I KNEW YOU WOULD SAY THAT!!! AHAHAHAHA¡­ GOOD good!!"


    "Okay, then, let''s sign a contract!!"


    Kaiden brought out a contract from his space ring and threw it at Jareth''s feet.


    "Sign it! Acknowledge that you will become my slave!! You will work for me!! From now on!! And you won''t threaten the Blaze family!!"


    "You only deserve to work like a slave!! You are nothing more than a maid''s son!! Sign this contract if you want your mother''s soul!!"


    *Dead Silence~*


    A heavy silence appeared in an instant.


    Everything went silent, and dark clouds slowly covered the sky over the barren plains.


    Only Kaiden''s maniacal voice resounded throughout the area.


    "What are you waiting for!? You worthless scum!! Know your place and sign this contract, or I will really destroy your mother''s corpse!!"


    Kaiden was extremely confident at that moment.


    He knew that Jareth loved his mother, and he would do anything to preserve her corpse.


    Everything was going according to his plan¡­ But what he didn''t know was that the Jareth that was standing in front of him was not the same person anymore.


    There is a more ruthless person''s soul in that body now.


    After hearing Kaiden mention that Jareth needed to become a slave for him to save that corpse, the hesitation in his eyes disappeared in an instant.


    His trembling hands became firm again, and his heart went cold once again as he raised his hand once again.


    [Basic Magic: Mana interruption!]


    With the help of ''Mana Singularity'' Jareth figured out the mana fluctuation of Kaiden''s magic.


    He easily interrupted with his magic and cut off the mana connections that Kaiden was using to manipulate the detonation magic in his basement.


    At that point, Kaiden not only lost that last bit of lifeline, but his mana shield was also destroyed by Jareth''s mana interruption.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam: Heavenly Bombardment!]


    Hundreds of magic circles appeared in the sky, and all of them faced toward Kaiden.


    Each magic circle was the size of a two-story building, and the momentum they carried was insane.


    But Kaiden was unfazed, even after all that.


    "Hahaha, you think I didn''t know that you could cut off my connection to it!! Jareth, you are na?ve! Once that connection is broken, my son will sense it immediately! And will destroy that basement!"


    "You still have a few seconds to choose, Jareth! Become my slave, and I will send a signal to my son to stop him!"


    A crazed smile appeared on Kaiden''s face as he said that, but all that had no effect on Jareth anymore.


    ''The Jareth you are trying to swindle is already gone¡­. And I''m not as soft as that guy!''


    Jareth didn''t care about anything anymore; the mana beams rained down in an instant, and the bombardment was so powerful that it created a massive earthquake.


    Kaiden saw that Jareth wasn''t going to stop, so he grabbed the severed head and used his magic to crush it in front of Jareth.


    "Stop right now, or I will crush this head!"


    But Jareth didn''t care one bit!


    *Boom!*


    Finally, the mana beams landed directly on Kaiden.


    It rained from all directions, so he had nowhere to run; moreover, Jareth''s mana interruption was interfering with his magic, so he could not use magic either.


    In other words, Jareth cornered Kaiden and bombarded him with mana beams for ten minutes straight.


    "AAAHHH!!! AHHHHH!! AHHHHHH!!!"


    "STOPP!! AAAHHHHHHHHH!!! IT HURRRRTSSS!!! STOP!! I BEG YOU STOP!!"


    The direct hits from that endless bombardment were so heavy that Kaiden screamed in pain endlessly till he died miserably.


    Not even his ashes were left and Jareth tortured him to death with those powerful mana beams.


    The dark clouds in the sky started to rain water as Jareth stopped firing mana beams after killing Kaiden thoroughly.


    Although he had killed Kaiden, it was a sure thing that his mother''s corpse was also gone by now.


    Rain fell on Jareth''s face, hiding the sorrow that he was holding back.


    No one knew if the water that fell from his face was rain or his tears of sadness.

 Chapter 77 - 77: A Dark Night... Part-2.

    Artavia, Capital City, Blaze Mansion.


    Main Gate.


    Dark clouds hung in the sky, and it rained heavily on that moonless dark night.


    *Step**step*


    A sound of heavy footsteps rang out in front of the main gates.


    The security guard hurriedly rushed out of his small resting room with an umbrella in his hand.


    The old guard had a disapproving expression on his face as he had to go out in this heavy rain to open the door.


    He opened a small window in the giant metal door to look outside, but he saw no one standing there.


    "Who''s there? State your business! The Blaze family is closed to visitors right now-"


    *rumble*


    Before the old guard could finish speaking, a violent tremble shook the massive metal gate, crushing it into a small ball.


    Even the walls that were holding the gate in place got destroyed in an instant, as if they were made of paper.


    The old guard was horrified after seeing this scene.


    "S-such insane telekinesis!?"


    As the old guard has been a warrior all his life, his experience is vast.


    He immediately knew that the other party had used telekinesis, but this is the first time he has seen such an insanely strong telekinesis ability in person.


    Before the old guard could think about anything, a man with an extremely cold expression on his face walked inside, throwing away the crushed metal door with his telekinesis.


    Rainwater soaked the man''s dark purple hair, giving the impression that he had been wandering in the rain for a long time.


    Not only was that man''s aura extremely suffocating, but even his dark purple eyes carried immense indifference and coldness in them.


    The old guard wanted to shout and alert the people, but the man only glanced at him for a moment, making it difficult for him to breathe.


    He dared not even move a little bit from his spot.


    The man stopped for a second after seeing the old guard''s face, and he suddenly stretched out his hand to pat the old guard''s shoulder.


    "Old man Olin¡­ You should go home early today¡­"


    The guard was taken aback after hearing that unknown man say his name, but as if a sudden memory came back to his head, he immediately understood who that unknown man was.


    But before the old guard could say anything else, the man had already walked away inside the mansion. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "N-no way¡­ t-that was¡­ that was¡­"


    The old man didn''t delay; he immediately packed his stuff and left for home.


    He took Jareth''s words seriously and didn''t stay there for long. He has his grandchildren waiting for him at home; he can''t risk his life here.


    ¡­


    Jareth ignored the elderly guard''s retreating figure and pushed his mana into the ground.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Detection!]


    ''Ten grade-4 warriors patrolling the area¡­ thirty ordinary guards, and then there is a grade-3 mage inside the mansion¡­ likely that old butler¡­''


    Jareth''s mana control is at an extreme level due to his mana singularity; thus, when he uses mana detection, none can sense his prying eyes and none can dodge his perception.


    He''s like an unstoppable force that you can''t guard against if he tries to spy on you.


    ''As for that basement¡­''


    After determining the strength of the entire mansion, Jareth used his detection skills to bypass all protective magic barriers and search the mansion''s underground area.


    He immediately found the hidden basement, and sure enough, it had already collapsed.


    ''Even with legendary rank skills¡­ even with the power of a system, I still couldn''t save a corpse?... Sigh¡­ This world really is something; if you aren''t careful for one moment, you lose things that are dear to you¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and removed the night witch''s grimoire from his space ring.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Constraints!]


    Jareth''s spells have an extremely wide effective range due to mana singularity.


    Thus, he easily pin-pointed the location of all guards and warriors with his mana detection and then accurately bound them on the spot in an instant.


    ''The useless distractions are gone; let''s move on to the main course¡­''


    With a cold expression on his face, Jareth walked towards the main door of the mansion and crushed the door with his telekinesis, just like how he did with the outer main gate.


    "You are finally here! I almost dozed off while waiting for you! Your rat-"


    [Basic Magic: Silence!]


    Jareth didn''t even bother listening to the ranting of a spoiled brat; he simply used the silence spell on his half-brother and made him silent.


    He then glanced around and found that quite a few grade-3 warriors and mages were standing in ambush.


    But Jareth already knew about them all from his earlier detection, so he wasn''t much surprised.


    Those warriors and wizards were recruited by Kaiden because he wanted to add extra protection for his son.


    Although he was already very sure that Jareth wouldn''t deny his offer to save his mother''s corpse, he still wanted to plan ahead.


    Kaiden never expected that Jareth would neglect his mother''s corpse in the end and will attack him indiscriminately.


    After Kaiden''s death, his son immediately destroyed Jareth''s mother''s corpse before assembling his minions to fight Jareth.


    But, unlike Kaiden, this new head of the family is still quite inexperienced, and he thinks that many grade-3 mages and warriors can deal with a grade-2 mage if they attack together.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Suppression!]


    Mana suppression is a very weak and useless spell in the basic magic category; its only use is to suppress weak creatures like insects into a confined box by forcefully suppressing their mana.


    Although this spell is weak in the hands of others, it''s extremely powerful in Jareth''s hands as he holds ''Mana Singularity''.


    Once Jareth cast that spell, all of the wizards and mages that were about to attack Jareth immediately fell to the ground, and their heads were directly pressed against the floor.


    A massive mana pressure forced them all to kneel in Jareth''s direction as if he were the Supreme Being here, and they had to pray to him for their survival.


    Jareth didn''t care about the panicked look on his half-brother''s face when he got pressed to the ground by Jareth''s mana suppression magic, and he directly walked over towards him and placed his feet on his head.


    "Rat, you say? I think that word suits you better, no?... oh wait, calling you a rat will be a huge disrespect to the rats of this world¡­ You are a mistake born from the pathetic genes of your trash parents¡­"


    *Bam!*


    With all his strength, Jareth raised his feet and kicked his half-brother''s head, causing the floor to shatter, his nose to break, and small pieces of broken floor tile to pierce his right eye, destroying his eyeball.


    Blood flowed out of his nose and shattered his eyeball. Instantaneously, a look of pain appeared on the guy''s face.


    But he couldn''t do anything at all; he couldn''t even dodge Jareth''s attack as his mana suppression spell was forcefully making him kneel.


    Moreover, Jareth has used ''Active Heal'' continuously in the past few days, due to which his body has become extremely strong recently.


    Thus, the damage his kicks can do to a defenseless mage like this guy is very high.


    "Aleid! My son, Aleid! Stop!! Stop you trash-"


    Jareth waved his hand and made that woman shut up with his ''silence'' spell in an instant.


    After witnessing her son''s injuries, the woman hurriedly descended from the upper floor.


    Jareth wasn''t going to let her go once she showed her face in front of him.


    He used his telekinesis to make her float, and then he immediately made her face collide with the floor at an immense speed.


    *Crack!*


    Her jaw broke apart in an instant from that strong attack, and tears appeared in her old eyes.


    But Jareth remained indifferent to it all.


    He squatted down, grabbed Aleid''s hair, and forcefully made him look at his mother.


    "As an older brother, let me demonstrate to you how it feels to see your mother get killed right in front of your eyes¡­ Don''t worry, I have experience in this field¡­"


    Aleid wanted to scream and beg for mercy, but the ''silence'' spell didn''t even let him scream.


    "Yes, exactly! At the time of my mother''s death, I couldn''t even scream for help! That''s exactly it!! You have talent, little guy! You are learning it fast!!"


    A crazed smile appeared on Jareth''s face as he waved his hand once again and caused that woman to hit the floor again and again!


    He did this until she was about to lose consciousness.


    And all this time, he forced Aleid to look at all of this.


    "I had no grudges against you, little guy¡­ but you went ahead and did what you shouldn''t have¡­ If you had left my mother''s corpse intact, I could have spared your life¡­. But yeah, you brought all of this on yourself¡­"


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Slow-burning Flame of Torture!]


    Jareth waved his hand, and a small magic circle appeared below the woman.


    Dark purple flames burst out of the magic circle and started to slowly burn the body of that woman.


    The woman wasn''t even able to scream to express her pain; only her bloodshot and tearful eyes could express the immense torture she was suffering.


    "That slow-burning flame is a torture method¡­ You know what? I learned it just so I could one day use it on you all¡­ Isn''t my magic beautiful?"


    The more Jareth talked, the more crazy his expression became, as if he were possessed by a demon, his face looked like a sadist serial killer at that moment.


    Aleid shed tears of blood when seeing his mother''s face, which was twisting from sheer pain as she wasn''t even able to express it.


    That fire lasted a whole ten minutes; eventually, it burned the woman and turned her into ashes, and it didn''t even leave her bones intact.


    She died an extremely horrible and traumatizing death.


    Aleid was already on the verge of going insane after he was able to do nothing to save his mother''s life.


    His happy memories with his mother flashed by in his eyes as he saw her die in such horrible way.


    "Yeah, that''s the expression, Aleid! Exactly!! That''s exactly how I felt when your father got my mother killed¡­ doesn''t this feeling seem quite overwhelming?"


    Seeing that Aleid had already lost his sanity at that point, Jareth smiled in satisfaction and nodded his head.


    "Yes, any sane person will lose their mind if something like this happened to them¡­ I was a rare one¡­ I pulled through that trauma and came back to haunt you guys¡­"


    A look of satisfaction appeared on Jareth''s face and a rare smile hung on his face.


    He threw another ''slow burning flame at Aleid and burned him to death too.

 Chapter 78 - 78: A Dark Night... Part-3.

    Seeing Jareth treat his own family members in such a cruel manner, all of the recruited warriors and wizards trembled in fear.


    Who could have thought that the famous Jareth Blaze was such a cruel-hearted person, He even tortured his family members to death.


    Just when they were thinking that Jareth was already done with this place and should leave soon, Jareth''s grimoire shone with mana once again as he raised his hand towards the ceiling.


    "You guys have seen too much, and you know a bit too much¡­ I can''t let you guys leave this place just like that¡­"


    When those wizards and mages heard Jareth''s words, desperate looks appeared on their faces.


    They are just innocent people, after all; they didn''t even know who they had to fight before seeing Jareth''s face.


    Originally, they thought that it was just some small family conflict, but who could have thought that Jareth Blaze, the strongest fire mage in the entire nation, would end up becoming their enemy.


    If they had known about this, they wouldn''t have accepted this commission at all.


    Some of them already had the idea of running away when they first laid their eyes on Jareth''s face.


    The pressure that Jareth emits is just too strong for weak people like them; they didn''t want to lose their lives here, but under the overwhelming strength of a grade-2 mage, they were helpless.


    Not to mention fighting back, even breathing felt difficult under Jareth''s intense aura.


    However, in order to survive and grab the last chance of hope, a courageous wizard mustered all of his strength to shout in a loud voice with great difficulty.


    "Mr. Jareth, I''m ready to sign a life-and-death mana contract! If you spare my life today, I will sign the contract and will never reveal what happened here toda-"


    But before the other party could even complete his sentence, Jareth had already completed his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Condensed Mana Bomb!]


    A massive magic circle appeared in the sky above the whole Blaze Mansion, and a gigantic orb the size of a two-story building emerged from the magic circle.


    This orb was made up of condensed mana, and it was descending towards the Blaze mansion at an extremely fast speed.


    All warriors and wizards could feel their ''death'' coming towards them at this moment.


    They wanted to run away, but their bodies refused to move, and their mana refused to react due to Jareth''s mana interruption.


    "The only people who can keep secrets are dead people¡­ So go ahead and keep my secrets with you¡­"


    *Boom!!*


    The massive mana bomb descended on the Blaze mansion, and a gigantic explosion happened.


    Jareth had already encircled the entire Blaze mansion with a massive mana barrier, ensuring that no one outside the barrier suffered harm.


    In fact, no one even heard the sound of an explosion outside the barrier.


    Jareth''s mana control was so precise that he even interfered with the sound and light; thus, no one outside the barrier noticed anything at all.


    Moreover, Jareth''s mana barrier stirred the mana on its surface, thus causing it to get blurry.


    Which means people couldn''t figure out what was going on inside the barrier if they tried to look from outside because the barrier itself was acting like a wall that didn''t let anything out.


    In other words, Jareth caused the disappearance of the whole Blaze Mansion overnight, and not even a single soul found out about it.


    When the barrier finally disappeared, Jareth walked out unharmed and unbothered.


    A smaller mana barrier kept him safe, so he was okay.


    Moreover, he used all of his mana this time, so he was able to do multiple castings at the same time, as he wasn''t intending on saving mana at all.


    During the battle at the border city, Jareth was only doing double-casting because he wanted to save mana, but right now he had no such need.


    He used mana interruption, mana suppression, two mana barriers, and a mana bomb all at the same time.


    Which means he was capable of casting five different spells at the same time.


    Jareth glanced back at the destroyed Blaze Mansion and sighed.


    ''Even a big family can turn into rubble after offending the wrong person¡­ If they hadn''t made me feel so disgusted¡­ I wouldn''t have needed to kill innocent people¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and slowly started to walk away from the scene.


    The whole Blaze mansion was turned into broken rubble by him, and not a single person was left alive inside the whole mansion.


    Except for that old guard who left early due to Jareth''s warning, none had survived this disaster.


    ''If I remember correctly, that old guard is a distant relative of Jareth''s mother¡­ He showed some kindness to Jareth''s mother when she tried to escape with the baby¡­''


    ''I guess¡­ leaving him alive can return this favor¡­ In the first place, even if he revealed the truth to the world, I don''t think I would be much affected¡­''


    Jareth can destroy a Blaze family overnight, so he can also destroy a few ungrateful people too.


    ''But I think he is a sensible person; he won''t reveal it as he doesn''t want his children to get into trouble¡­''


    Although Jareth came here for revenge, he''s not a bloodthirsty murderer who will go and kill every single living being related to the Blaze family.


    ''The main culprits have been dealt with¡­ Next, that assassination organization is left¡­''


    Jareth''s mother and the vassal family that raised him were both assassinated by the same assassination organization on the order of the Blaze family.


    Although they had only been doing their duty and they had no personal grudges with Jareth, how could Jareth let them go after they messed up his life three times in a row!


    Yes! Not only did that organization kill his mother and the Vassal family, but they were likely also involved in turning Jareth into a miasma-infected beast.


    Although this was not a confirmed fact, after meeting Kaiden for the last time, Jareth already has many thoughts in his mind.


    Kaiden has a very shrewd and twisted personality.


    He enjoyed messing up Jareth''s life as much as he could. He even preserved the corpse of Jareth''s mother for more than twenty years!


    This shows how much of a sadist that guy actually was. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It won''t be wrong to assume that he must have hired the assassination to infect Jareth with miasma or something in the original plot of the game.


    This way, Jareth''s already-destroyed reputation would have been completely wiped out, and the Blaze family would also have a legitimate reason for killing Jareth.


    Demons, demon worshippers, and miasma-infected people¡ªall three of them are not tolerated inside the human empire, and they will be killed on the spot if found.


    In other words, Kaiden likely used miasma to deal with the already struggling Jareth in a more cruel and sadistic way.


    ''Not that I have dealt with the Blaze family, I will need to dig up some information about this assassination organization¡­ I will butcher them all after I find out about them¡­''


    Jareth had already killed people in his previous life; he wasn''t an innocent guy at all.


    He''s not affected by the fact that he has to kill some fellow humans.


    While walking through the empty streets of the city, Jareth glanced at the moonless sky and sighed.


    ''Shiina¡­ I think I might have become more corrupted now¡­ I may not be able to look into your eyes after death¡­''


    Although Shiina is not in this world, Jareth thinks of her as an emotional support. To him, she is the reason why he hasn''t become corrupted by the cruel nature of this world.


    With power come arrogance and evil thoughts; great power brings corruption with it, and if your mind is not firm enough, you will end up becoming a bloodthirsty murderer.


    That''s not what Jareth wants to do.


    He wants to keep himself sane even after facing the cruel nature of this world.


    ''I kind of understand the meaning of that quote that showed up in the game menu every time I logged in¡­''


    {A world corrupted with power cannot progress further,


    A genius with an overwhelming ego can''t lift the sky further,


    A stalemate cannot be maintained in front of increasing corruption,


    And in a world where returning to ??r? is impossible,


    Maintaining your sanity is not easy either.}


    -prophecy of the first great king


    ''Although I still don''t know who this ''first great king'' is¡­ The game really has some great quotes in it¡­''


    Jareth did indeed finish that game many times, but he wasn''t a big fan of game lore at all.


    He only played it because of its great combat system; he was uninterested in the rest of it.


    Aside from the menu screen, there are no mentions of the ''First Great King'' in the game''s main story, so Jareth has no idea about him.


    ''It''s likely that the game developers were planning some kind of DLC content, but since the game didn''t earn them much, they must have cancelled it later¡­''


    Jareth was not too worried about it all, though. Although it wasn''t in the game, this world still has various records of history hidden in secret places.


    He may find those records eventually when he goes on some explorations.


    ''I need to improve my grade first¡­ Only then can I have the confidence to go out and explore this vast world¡­''


    Jareth has finally come to a vast magical world; it would be a huge waste to spend the rest of his life teaching students.


    He has decided that he will train a few excellent disciples, and then he will leave the human empire to travel the world.


    ''Let''s stop thinking about it now... This goal is still too far away...''

 Chapter 79 - 79: A new surname?

    Capital City of Artavia, Hotel Sun-Ray.


    To celebrate their victory in this difficult and long battle, Shin and the other professors arranged a small party for themselves and the students.


    "Tch! That guy ran off somewhere on his own; he hasn''t returned until now¡­ "Maybe he is afraid that we will ask him to pay for this party?"


    Shin shook his head in disapproval. Jareth hadn''t returned until now, and the party was already about to end soon.


    It was rare for him to arrange a party, and Jareth''s absence caused considerable dissatisfaction in his mind.


    All of the professors had already decided not to ask Jareth for money, as he was the real star today.


    Without his help, the demon incarnation couldn''t have been destroyed, and they all have been killed by now; not even their corpses would have been left intact.


    This small trip to Artavia has brought them a lot of troubles this time.


    Who could have thought that grade-2 mages like them would nearly end up dying in this battle, which was originally supposed to be just a short battle?


    Abella not only sealed Nathan in the infinite loop, but also destroyed the entire city, leaving no one alive.


    This implies that their mission was only partially successful.


    Although they were able to stop the problems from spreading, the reinforcement arrived too late, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.


    Actually, none of the professors even cared about how many people died or survived.


    In this cruel world, where even grade 2 mages can be defeated so easily within just a few moments, it was already a good outcome that they made it out alive after encountering that demon incarnation.


    The matter of casualties and compensation was left to be handled by the government.


    Soon, the government will put in the military there to close that area, and it will turn into no-man''s land as it''s already suffering from chaotic mana.


    The attack they unleashed on that place utterly destroyed the geography of that area; not even a single plant will grow in that place for more than ten years now.


    ¡­


    Just as everyone was busy eating delicious food and drinking tasty drinks, the main gate of the hotel slowly opened.


    The door gave out a very dramatic horror movie-type gate opening sound effect, which attracted everyone''s attention.


    *Step**Step* Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth walked in with heavy footsteps, his extreme murderous intent still lingering around him, and his facial expressions were even colder than usual.


    Soaked in rainwater, he seemed like a serial killer straight out of a horror movie.


    His entrance seemed so dramatic that the hotel staff hurriedly backed off in fear.


    Shin rolled his eyes and spoke loudly.


    "Where have you been, dude? We have been waiting for you! And what''s going on? You look like you fell into a river!"


    Jareth frowned a bit at his words and then placed his hand on his chest.


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    He had used all of the rest of his mana to fly here, and he was really out of mana now.


    He used the last bit of mana to get rid of the rainwater and clean himself.


    With the help of that spell, he returned to his usual tidy and neat self.


    ''If I had enough mana, I would have kept my mana barrier up, and I wouldn''t have gotten soaked in rainwater at all¡­''


    Ignoring Shin''s questions, Jareth walked in without hesitation.


    He glanced at Mark, who was being hand-fed by Risa, and a complicated look appeared on his face as he said,


    "Don''t mind me, I am just passing by¡­"


    Without waiting for a response, Jareth walked past them and sat on an empty chair near the table where all the professors were sitting.


    Thomas sipped the red colored wine from his glass and asked in a calm voice,


    "So¡­ You seem so serious¡­ How about relaxing a bit? This place has amazing food¡­"


    Jareth didn''t reject the offer and took the knife and fork to eat. The vassal family members who raised him taught him the table manners of large families.


    As a matter of fact, he''s always been good at maintaining these ''noble''-like manners.


    "By the way, what about that army general? He isn''t here?"


    Shin glanced at Thomas and asked in a confused tone, to which Thomas shook his head and replied solemnly.


    "He died¡­ The monsters rushed out of the city like crazy; his elite battalion wasn''t able to stand for too long and got destroyed by the crazy charge of monsters¡­"


    Thomas then glanced at Mark, who had a troubled look on his face as Risa was attempting to forcefully make him drink with her own hands.


    "Student Mark seems to have performed better in that monster tide, though¡­ He was the reason all of the students survived; he single-handedly killed more than three hundred monsters alone¡­"


    Even Jareth was surprised by that statistic.


    Although Mark has already reached grade 4 and is the strongest among his peers, it''s still quite an amazing feat to be able to kill more than three hundred monsters.


    And he did all that while still protecting his fellow classmates and the soldiers behind him.


    On the other hand, the protagonist, hiding behind his harem members, barely managed to kill ten monsters; the gap is simply too large.


    Seeing that the other professors were praising Mark, Gazid sipped the wine and said it in a calm voice.


    "Aside from him, Student Risa is the one who slayed and seized the position of second by defeating nearly a hundred and twenty monsters¡­"


    "Also, she assisted Mark in his fight; she''s an excellent support¡­ If she wasn''t from the Shadowfallen family, I would have taken her as my direct disciple¡­ She has excellent talent for torture and stuff¡­ tch! What a shame~"


    Upon hearing Gazid''s words, Yoseh sneered at him, saying,


    "No need; you will turn her into a weird person like yourself; your illegal research work is already a headache, and we don''t need another of your kind¡­"


    "I think Airin''s contributions are not small either; not only is she an excellent wood mage, she also knows some basic healing magic; she saved the lives of quite a few soldiers by giving first aid healing to them¡­"


    Shin and others also nodded their heads at those words.


    Although she didn''t slay a single monster in the battle, her healing and barrier spells were still praiseworthy.


    Aside from her, Aiza also seized the third position by killing a hundred monsters during the battle.


    He just tagged along with her.


    Aiza and Risa are currently at equal levels of strength, but both of them are extremely far away from Mark''s level.


    Aiza was the reason Allen didn''t have to worry about fighting too much.


    Airin is already in love with Allen, and Aiza has become friends with him too, which means Allen already has a powerful damage dealer and a good healer in his team now.


    He can just sit back and enjoy while his harem members do the bidding for him. (Such an amazing and carefree life¡­ as expected of a protagonist¡­)


    Shin ignored the professors who were gossiping about their favorite students, and asked Jareth something else instead,


    "Before leaving for battle, we stayed at this same hotel¡­ At that time, the principal said that you had long been kicked out of the Blaze family, so I have been meaning to ask if you still use ''Blaze'' as your sir name?"


    Jareth sipped the juice from his glass and looked into Shin''s eyes with a serious look on his face before saying,


    "Hmm¡­ I haven''t thought about it too deeply¡­ but, I indeed don''t use Blaze as my sir name anymore¡­ It''s better if you start calling me Jareth Aadhira from now on¡­"


    Shiina''s surname was ''Aadhira'', which means ''The Moon''. Jareth had no other good name in mind to make it up at the spur of the moment, so he just went with her name.


    ''Although that moon is long gone, I can still keep its last memories with me at least¡­''


    After hearing Jareth''s words, Shin inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "This is the first time I am hearing such a name¡­ quite a unique name you chose¡­"


    At Shin''s words, Jareth simply shook his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "Whatever, I just came up with it at the spur of a moment; there''s no deeper meaning behind it¡­"


    Up until now, Shin was taking Jareth''s words as a joke; he had no idea that Jareth had already exterminated nearly all of the Blaze family members, and only Aiza was the sole survivor of the Blaze family now.


    You can say that Jareth has dealt a heavy blow to the Blaze family.


    It''s very likely that most of its major industries will collapse and the vassal families will run off with the money by the time Aiza is selected as the new head of the family.


    Even though he had killed quite a few people just an hour ago, Jareth was sipping juice without showing the slightest bit of strangeness in him, so none of the professors suspected him at all.


    They just thought that he likely went to do some random thing in the barren plain; none of them expected that he would exterminate a whole family in the span of a few hours without batting an eye.


    While Jareth was still enjoying the juice, Shin glanced at Thomas and asked in an excited voice,


    "When are we going on the vacation trip, by the way? We finally survived this great catastrophe; this is the best time to relax!"


    Although Thomas wanted to agree, he also had no idea what to do.


    The principal had said he would bear the expenses, but now that the principal is gone, he''s not sure if this vacation will still be feasible.


    Thomas sighed and lamented in his mind.


    ''Ugh, my workload has increased¡­''

 Chapter 80 - 80: Anger of the common folk... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, National Airport.


    Jareth and the others got off the plane after a five-hour flight and finally returned to the capital city after dealing with all that trouble in Artavia.


    Yesterday, they partied all night, and then they slept on the plane after boarding it in the early morning.


    All of the students had sleepy looks on their faces, and Risa was even clinging to Mark''s arm as she didn''t want to open her eyes at all.


    For some reason, all of the professors are tacitly not disturbing the students from getting into relationships.


    Their thoughts on this matter are simple: ''Let the children enjoy their lives; why burden them with the cruel world before they are ready for it?''


    If you look at it, all five of the professors have some kind of family issue.


    Putting Jareth aside, Shin''s parents scold him all the time, as they want him to come back to the family and take over the head position.


    Yoseh had fights with her parents before she decided to leave the family and become a professor.


    Thomas comes from humble origins, and his parents were always busy earning money, so they didn''t give him love.


    Gazid''s mental state deteriorated significantly due to the trauma he experienced from his abusive parents.


    In other words, all five of them have always had issues, and none of them has been loved a lot. Now they are fearful of interfering in the love lives of the students, and they don''t want similar things to happen to them.


    Even though they may not have received the love they deserved, the students in their care shouldn''t lose their innocence.


    {When faced with life''s challenges, an individual has two options:


    Either he creates the same difficulties for others so that they can suffer as he did.


    Or that person helps others so that others don''t suffer in the same way as he did.


    It all depends on a small decision, but the outcome of both paths is vastly different.}


    (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    While walking towards the parking area of the airport, Shin''s had a disapproving look.


    "Ugh¡­ I don''t want to go to work now~ I just came back from that sh*thole of a place!! I want to lay on the couch and watch TV all day long!!"


    "Why is life so unfair~ Why can''t society let me sleep peacefully!! I hate work!!"


    Yoseh also nodded her head in support of Shin''s words.


    "Yeah, I would rather try various new clothes or go shopping instead of doing so much work¡­ ugh! I hope we get some raises in our salaries soon¡­"


    Hearing Yoseh''s words, Thomas shook his head and said in a calm tone,


    "Forget about raising wages¡­ The principle is still stuck in that infinite loop, which means we might not even get our salaries and bonuses this time¡­."


    "Worst-case scenario¡­ we will all become unemployed soon!"


    When they heard those words, black lines began to appear all over their faces.


    Raise in salary? They are on the verge of losing their jobs!


    Unless a new principal is chosen and a new contract is formed with the government to continue the funding for the university, the university will go bankrupt soon!!


    Even Gazid shook his head in disappointment.


    "Sigh~ I was thinking of ordering a new type of acid to experiment with it on my test subjects¡­ But without money, I might not be able to produce any results this time, ugh¡­"


    Yoseh gave Gazid a disapproving look and spoke in a disgusted tone.


    "Tch, it''s not like you produce any results anyway¡­ All you do is torture those monsters all year long¡­ If not for me helping you dodge the police, you would have been in jail by now¡­"


    Upon hearing Yoseh''s words, Gazid avoided her gaze.


    "Cough! Cough¡­ ahem! I-I certainly do give some results on monsters anatomy, though¡­ That can''t be denied, Ms. Yoseh¡­"


    Yoseh was even more angered after hearing those words.


    "Shove those weird anatomy books up you''re a*s!! Who the f*ck even reads those types of sh*tty books!"


    (Risa sneezed immediately at those words¡­ and look around to see if someone was talking about her¡­)


    Jareth ignored the useless chatter and looked at Thomas before saying, in a calm tone:


    "The university used to get funding because the principal had an official contract with the government; if a new principal is appointed, we can ask him to sign a new contract with the government¡­"


    Hearing those words, Thomas nodded his head in agreement.


    "Yeah, that right¡­ Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Don''t tell me-"


    Before Thomas could complete his sentence, Jareth placed his hand on his shoulder and patted him twice.


    "I support you; become the principal, Thomas Abrego¡­"


    Before Thomas could refute Jareth''s words, the other professors also nodded their heads in support.


    Shin gave a light punch to Thomas''s back and said, in an excited tone,


    "Well, if Jareth was trying to seize the position of the principal, then I would have definitely objected, but if it''s you, Thomas, then there''s no problem; you will make good decisions, I think¡­"


    At this point, Thomas already has the support of four professors on his side; he only needs to go back and get the support of other professors, and he will be appointed as the principal without any difficulty.


    Thomas is the most senior of them all, at thirteen; he''s been a professor in this academy since even before Jareth and Shin graduated.


    Even Nathan always relied on Thomas for all the work of the principal, and thus Thomas has a vast amount of experience in this aspect.


    That''s why it was the best choice to make Thomas the next principal.


    (In truth, none of the professors want to take on all that excessive work; they are literally pushing Thomas to the position so that they don''t have to do too much work¡­)


    Although Thomas was aware that assuming the role of principal would entail a significant amount of work, he remained open to the idea.


    He rose from a poor family, and he has always strived for a better future.


    Getting the position of principal has always been his greatest dream, and now that it is about to come true, he won''t back away from the difficulties.


    "Thank you everyone for your support; I won''t let you guys down¡­"


    The professors got to avoid excessive work, and Thomas got to complete his dream; it was a win-win situation for all.


    As for the opinion of the students, That doesn''t matter to these grade-2 mages at all.


    ¡­


    The endless chatting continues till all of them reach the parking area.


    However, before they could get into the car, the driver unexpectedly asked,


    "Uh¡­ How about we don''t go back to the university for the time being¡­ You know, with the things going on on the internet, a massive crowd is surrounding the university right now¡­"


    Jareth and others were confused by those words.


    They immediately took out their smartphones and searched the internet to see what was going on.


    And sure enough, they immediately found the news in the headlines.


    [Shocking news! The principal of Ivan''s higher arcane university actually plotted such devious plans against his own students!]


    [Thousands of people died because of the principal''s wrong way of teaching his students!]


    Jareth and others were unaware of the fact that Rahnan had spread a massive amount of evidence against Nathan on the internet.


    Millions of people have currently seen that evidence, and it is rapidly spreading.


    The whole internet is erupting over this news, and people are launching massive protests to demand justice.


    In theory, Nathan''s inadequate teaching of his students led to the death of every individual in that border city, and Nathan''s actions led Abella down a dark path.


    If he hadn''t done all that, Abella wouldn''t have murdered so many innocent people to extract their souls.


    People are furious after learning all of this, and widespread protests are taking place across the country. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Citizens from across the nation have surrounded the university to ask Nathan for an explanation.


    But as Nathan is already trapped in the death cage, there''s no one to clarify this situation, and the anger in the general populace has increased even further.


    Fortunately, all of the students are currently out of the university as it is still under repair.


    The university is still undergoing repairs after Abella caused significant damage not too long ago.


    Students have still not returned to the university, so it''s currently empty, and there''s no danger to the lives of the innocent students.


    However, if the common people''s anger doesn''t subside quickly, they will undoubtedly destroy the university sooner or later.


    Because of the massive crowd of people, the driver advised Jareth and others not to go to the university at this time.


    If they go there right now, they will definitely suffer the wrath of so many people.


    Although Jareth and others are grade 2 mages, they can''t just go and kill people in broad daylight.


    The military will be deployed to deal with them if they dare to massacre innocent people without any reason.


    And if you end up fighting the military, then you will become the enemy of the whole nation at that point.


    Rahnan''s evidence was so strong that not even the government could defend Nathan''s crimes, and not even the most accomplished lawyers could exonerate him from his guilt.


    He''s bound to get a major punishment if he comes out of that death cage.


    People are currently so enraged that they stormed the national hero museum and destroyed his statue with sticks and hammers.

 Chapter 81 - 81: Anger of the Common folk... Part-2.

    Jareth and others finally came to the conclusion that they shouldn''t go back to the university for the time being.


    If they really went there, the frustrated crowd would smash their cars and spit on their faces like crazy.


    Shin and Yoseh went back to their respective families; Gazid went to his shady lab to hide; and the students were also sent back to their homes for the time being.


    Aside from that, Thomas was given the responsibility to contact the government employees who usually came to visit Nathan and were responsible for the funding.


    Although it''s very unlikely that any politician will dare to fund the university under these extreme circumstances, they still had to try it; otherwise, they really will lose their jobs.


    Nathan might have been a wicked person with a twisted personality, but his presence was the reason for the university''s proper functioning.


    Without him, the university is going to face a lot of difficulties soon.


    Moreover, people all over the internet are going crazy and spouting curses at Nathan endlessly.


    ¡­


    (On the internet)


    "D*mn! Who could have thought that the principal was such a scammer!! He took money from the common folk to improve their magic circuits, but all of those people ended up becoming disabled!"


    "Yeah! He cast his space portal spell to divert the river''s water towards a dam, as if he were doing some great work¡­ It turns out that he was the cause of the massive flood in the southern area!"


    "Yes! I live in the southern regions! That d*mned old fox! He caused the deaths of nearly three hundred innocent people with that flood! And the reason was¡­ he wanted to dig an old relic buried under the river!!"


    "It turns out that he was responsible for the outburst in the Mkara dungeon. He taunted the monsters because he wanted to test the effectiveness of his spells! He''s absolute trash!!"


    ¡­


    Rahnan had collected a massive amount of evidence against Nathan; he did all this to one day ruin Nathan''s reputation completely.


    And that''s exactly what''s happening right now.


    Not only were all of Nathan''s crimes making people angry, but they were also making people feel cold towards the university.


    Jareth rubbed his head after looking at the people posting all the evidence and arguing over it again and again.


    ''If this continues, the university is done for¡­''


    He gritted his teeth and signaled for Thomas to stop for a second when he was about to leave.


    Shin and others had already left; only Thomas and Jareth were the ones left on the scene.


    "How about we organize a press conference? If things aren''t cleared soon, they will keep escalating, and even we might become people''s target¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Thomas thought for a moment and then nodded his head.


    "Okay, let me finish my meeting with the government employees first. We will organize the conference in the evening when people will get tired from shouting all day long¡­"


    Thomas''s words made some sense, so Jareth agreed to them.


    He boarded the car and left.


    The driver glanced at Jareth through the rearview mirror and asked in a calm voice.


    "Where should we go, Master Jareth?" Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hearing that question, Jareth contemplated for a moment and then replied.


    "Let''s go to Hotel Supernova for the time being¡­"


    The driver nodded his head and started the car in an instant.


    Although he was afraid that the frustrated crowd of people might spot their car, he still didn''t run away because he knew that a grade-2 mage was sitting in the back of the car.


    If something happens, Jareth will be able to deal with it all easily.


    ¡­


    Evening.


    Reporters from all of the major news channels were invited to a massive press conference.


    Given that the conference took place in the university''s backyard, the reporters encountered significant challenges in maneuvering through the dense crowd to gain entry.


    Eventually, police were stationed to clear the path and control the angry crowd.


    Thomas didn''t dare take a car; he directly cast the ''float'' spell and entered the university through the air.


    A look of sadness hung over Thomas''s face. He had just ended the meeting half an hour ago, and the government has decided to temporarily stop funding for the university.


    If the situation worsens, the university may have to close soon and transfer all of the students to other universities.


    Thomas and others will lose their jobs and will have to find other places to work.


    Although his head was filled with uncertainties, he still decided to follow Jareth''s advice and organized this press conference.


    If a proper explanation is not given today, then there is no saving the university anymore.


    When Thomas landed on the stage and sat in his designated chair, all of the reporter''s eyes became bright in an instant, as if they had found their prey and it was time to feast.


    Although he has been to many press conferences before, Nathan was the one who spoke most of the time, and Thomas had no experience on how to give proper answers.


    ''Ugh¡­ that guy Jareth gave the idea, and he hasn''t arrived yet¡­''


    "Welcome everyone! Today I have arranged this press conference to give a proper explanation to all of the common folk."


    After saying that, Thomas was out of words.


    However, ignoring his difficulties, one of the reporters stood up and immediately asked him a question.


    "Professor Thomas, is it really true that the principal of your university has been doing shady things for years?"


    Before Thomas could even answer the question, another reporter stood up and said,


    "Professor Thomas, is it true that Principal Nathan liked to play with the lives of innocent children? He even laid traps in the university."


    "Professor Thomas, are any of the other professors also involved in the things that Principal Nathan did?"


    Thomas was totally overwhelmed by those endless questions. The reporters were too excited; they wanted Thomas to say some controversial things and increase the ratings of their channels.


    No matter the world, reporters always like to exaggerate the news.


    "Professor Thomas, is it true that the principal is a ped*phile, and he harasses female students?"


    Thomas nearly spit a mouthful of blood after hearing that question.


    He had seen Nathan favor some talented students, but he had never seen him do that kind of thing, so he wasn''t sure, but hearing that question was still shocking.


    Even Thomas himself was confused.


    ''Wait¡­. It might really be possible¡­ d*mn!!''


    Just when the reporters were bombarding Thomas with hundreds of questions, an overwhelming pressure came from the sky, and a man with dark purple hair and pupils landed on the stage.


    His cold eyes emitted a palpitating sense of oppression.


    All of the reporters went silent in an instant and sat down on their seats with straightened backs.


    They dared not make any weird moves after Jareth appeared in front of them.


    The people who were watching the live press conference immediately went crazy.


    "The goat!! The legend!! THE GREAT SAGE HAS APPEARED!!!"


    "Ahhh!!! That cold face!! That overwhelming pressure!! My goat is the best, no doubt about it!!"


    "Let me see!! Why is the camera shaking!? Does the cameraman not know how to take proper videos!? Ahhh!! Let me see the goat a bit more!!"


    (It''s not that the cameraman is shaking the camera on purpose¡­ Jareth''s overwhelming aura is making him tremble!)


    Unlike other professors, Jareth has been quite popular in recent times, and he has a massive fan base now.


    Moreover, the soldiers who came back from the battle of Artavia said that Jareth was a tremendous help in this mission.


    Although the principal''s reputation has been dragged through the sewers, Jareth''s reputation has skyrocketed once again.


    Jareth took the mic from Thomas''s hands and sat down on the empty chair.


    "Everyone, the principal was the one who committed all of the crimes that are being circulated on the news¡­"


    "But the students of the university are innocent. I would like to request that the people stop blaming the university for what the principal did; those crimes are his to shoulder, and others shouldn''t be punished for them¡­"


    When Jareth spoke, his voice was as cold as always, and no one dared to interrupt him at all.


    Everyone misunderstood Jareth''s strength; people are already thinking that Jareth is very close to breaking through grade 1, and no one wants to offend a future grade 1 who has always worked to protect the people!


    Only Jareth himself knows that he is a fraud who isn''t even a Grade 4 mage yet! Even Mark has become a grade-4 mage by now, and Jareth is still stuck in the same realm!


    However, no one suspected Jareth''s tricks, and no one thought that he was a total fraud. They misunderstood that Jareth is likely only a little bit weaker than Nathan and Reynald.


    A courageous reporter raised his hand at Jareth''s words to show that he wanted to ask something.


    Jareth glanced at him and nodded his head, giving his approval to ask the question.


    "Uh, Professor Jareth, could you please tell us where the principal is at the moment?" As you said, he is the one who committed all of the crimes, but we still need to find his location to bring him to justice¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and replied in a calm voice.


    "Everyone, don''t worry, the principal has already been captured; he''s actually imprisoned inside a ''Death Cage'' and he will suffer endless mental torture for hundreds of years inside that place¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, all of the reporters were taken aback, and some of them even sucked cold breath after hearing the word ''Death Cage''.


    The people in this world aren''t ignorant of the ways of magic.


    Many people are knowledgeable about the various types of magic spells.


    The most interesting are those forbidden spells.


    People like to see mysterious and forbidden things; thus, the forbidden spells are quite famous among the people.


    Thus, when the reporters heard about ''Death Cage'' they immediately knew what Jareth was talking about.


    That spell is, after all, designed specifically for torture! If caught in it, even a grade 1 mage will suffer!

 Chapter 82 - 82: Zenobia, A Forgotten Past...

    The reporters went silent in an instant; they all knew what it meant to be caught in a ''death cage''.


    Jareth nodded his head before continuing.


    "In other words, the principal has already been given one of the worst punishments possible; moreover, there''s currently no one who can free him out of that death cage, so the people don''t need to worry about him escaping."


    "The sins he committed have brought him this hellish punishment, but the students of the university are innocent¡­"


    "By blocking the university, you are stopping the students from studying and progressing; that''s a huge loss for the nation, and this act makes you no different than the principal who selfishly manipulated his students¡­"


    Jareth''s words made the people who were angry at the university wake up from their intense emotions.


    His calm and firm voice pierced through people''s minds and made them realize that what they were doing was not good.


    If they really destroy the university, they will be destroying the future of many innocent students with their own hands, which is no different than what the principal did.


    If they had done something similar, they would be just as guilty as him.


    Even the reporters who came to the press conference felt ashamed after hearing Jareth''s words.


    "Also, since so many innocent people died in this incident, we are going to create a memorial for the people in the main garden of our university. All of the people will be allowed to freely visit the memorial¡­"


    "Although we can''t bring the dead back to life, we can still pray for their happiness in the afterlife¡­ I hope that everyone will pray for the sake of those fallen souls¡­"


    Jareth''s solemn voice made people feel guilty for thinking badly about the university, and some even started to cry.


    Jareth glanced at Thomas for a moment before speaking.


    "Also, we have decided to make Professor Thomas the new principle. I assume you all know that Professor Thomas rose from humble origins, and he can represent the common folk the best!"


    "You can place your trust in him; he has been working with the university for a long time, and his talent is known to all!"


    All professors have something unique about them that makes them famous.


    Jareth is famous for one-shotting powerful monsters; Gazid is famous for inventing effective and efficient methods of dealing with monsters; and Yoseh is famous for her amazing water magic.


    Similarly, Thomas is famous for being a commoner who reached the peak with his own talent.


    He is famous for being the idol of people who are born into poverty and want to rise to the top of the world.


    He was born poor, but he carved out his own path to the top of the world with his own talent, which has made him a role model for the youth.


    "I hope that people will not object and will accept him with open arms¡­"


    Jareth continued his speech for a few more minutes and praised Thomas''s achievements to make the people accept him.


    After that small speech, Jareth ended the conference and left the same way he came here. He flew away instantly, leaving Thomas, who had a bewildered look on his face, behind.


    Until the conference ended, Thomas hadn''t recovered from all that praise; this was the first time someone had praised him so much right in front of his face.


    ¡­


    (On the internet)


    "UGH!! Why was I thinking so badly about the university? Clearly, the principal is the only person who is guilty¡­ Ugh, I feel bad for thinking wrong about the university¡­"


    "Waahhhh! I am crying after hearing that speech! My goat is indeed the most knowledgeable! I knew he would not betray us! I knew he would clear up the misunderstanding!"


    "All hail the goat!!"


    "But why are they making Thomas the new principal! I want my goat to become the new principal!!"


    "Yes, make Jareth the new principal!"


    ¡­


    In the sky.


    ''Ugh, I kept spouting random bulsh*t at the spur of the moment¡­ It feels so weird now that I think about it again¡­''


    Jareth had a complicated look on his face while flying in the sky.


    He saw that Thomas was being overwhelmed with questions, and the situation wasn''t good, so he took the situation into his own hands.


    But who could have thought that once his mouth started to speak, it didn''t stop at all.


    He started to spout random bulsh*t out of nowhere, and even he didn''t know what he was saying.


    Thankfully, this body has some automatic filter correction abilities, and his speech turned out to be fine.


    ''I just hope that the university keeps on working fine, just like before¡­ I would want the plotline to twist so much that it gets uncontrollable¡­''


    While thinking about that, Jareth glanced at this status panel.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 2580/2580] [MP: 1469/1469]


    [Titles: Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat, Speed-runner]


    [STR: 30] [AGI: 21] [SPE:23] [DEF: 35] [INT: 65]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: 5]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 25,100]


    [Evaluation: The source of disturbance in the threads of fate, you have defied your destined Fate¡­]


    ''I got another 4000 CP for destroying the Blaze family; now I have enough to do my very first golden lottery¡­''


    Jareth has yet to use a single golden lottery until now; only now does he have enough points to do one.


    Jareth already had 10,100 before going to Artavia, but then he used 4000 to buy an attack card to use on that demon incarnation; thus, after he got 15,000 from that demon incarnation, he only had 21,100 credit points.


    However, destroying the Blaze family caused some minor changes in the game''s plot, giving him more CP.


    Not only was the Blaze Family supposed to act as a villain group for the protagonist, but it was also supposed to be a way for the protagonist to conquer Aiza''s heart.


    In the game, Aiza would have had a fight with her parents, and then the protagonist would help her deal with the pursuit of the Blaze family, thus winning her heart.


    Although the plot is quite clich¨¦, that''s what was supposed to happen. S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    However, Jareth has already decimated the entire Blaze family, and the vassal families are presently squabbling over the money and fleeing frantically, thereby destroying this plot.


    Aiza won''t learn about the Blaze family''s demise for several days, by which time the greedy vassal families will have destroyed most of the family''s industries and funds.


    Kaiden wanted to give all his money to his other son and didn''t want Jareth to have a single coin, but things turned out completely differently.


    Not only the money got looted by the vassal families, but even both of his favorite children didn''t get to enjoy the family wealth.


    A fitting end for a corrupted family, right?


    ''I should find a secluded place to use this lottery¡­ The university is currently under the watch of too many people. I don''t want to attract too much attention¡­''


    Thinking about a secluded place, Jareth suddenly remembered something important, and he changed his flight direction.


    He flew towards the outskirts of the capital city with a solemn look on his face.


    ¡­


    Capital City Delta, Outskirts.


    A dilapidated cemetery.


    Jareth landed inside the cemetery with a solemn look on his face.


    This place has fallen into disrepair, and no one even comes here anymore. There are no guards to keep watch in this place, and no one comes to clean the area.


    This is, in essence, an abandoned place that the government has ignored for years.


    However, for Jareth, this place holds some special memories.


    He slowly walked towards the corner area and stood in front of the tombstone. The tombstone''s crude markings looked child-made.


    [Here lies the best mother, Zenobia Ayad.]


    Looking at that tombstone, memories came rushing through his mind and made him feel sad.


    A rare look of sadness appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''I had the chance to bury your real body¡­ But in the end, I was too powerless once again¡­ Forgive this useless child, Mother¡­''


    Although he wasn''t the real Jareth and another soul has come to this body, he still has all the emotions that the original Jareth had.


    He knows the pain of losing your parents all too well.


    His parents died early in his previous life, and in this life, he was not even able to save his mother''s corpse.


    Jareth stretched out his hand and used the spells.


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    The whole tombstone became as clean as new.


    Actually, it would be wrong to call it a tombstone; it''s just a random slab of stone that the young Jareth bought for a few coins and then carved the letters on it with his own hands.


    He had to sneak into this cemetery at night to place this tombstone because he didn''t have the money to pay the cemetery owners properly.


    They wouldn''t have allowed him to place this tombstone here without paying fees, so he had to sneak into the cemetery at mid-night to do so.


    Surviving without money had taught him a lot about the cruel world, and he matured earlier than other children.


    Fortunately, he was able to complete his revenge; otherwise, he couldn''t have come here, as he would have been too ashamed to stand in front of the tombstone knowing that his mother''s killers were still alive.


    ''Only that assassination organization is left now¡­ I will send them to hell soon too¡­''

 Chapter 83 - 83: Ruler of Mana! Part-1.

    Outside the capital city, Delta.


    A man with dark purple hair stood above a mountaintop; his eyes shone with coldness, and the look on his face remained cold.


    If someone had been nearby, they would have mistook his intense aura as if he were going to fight something.


    However, Jareth is actually feeling quite nervous right now.


    He glanced at the gold lottery, and his eyes shook a bit in nervousness.


    [3. Gold Lottery: 25000 Cp.]


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to buy the gold lottery?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    This is the first time that Jareth is trying out the golden lottery, and this is no small matter.


    He''s using twenty-five thousand credit points for this single lottery; after using this, he won''t even have enough points left to buy another ''attack enhancement card''.


    So the outcome of this lottery will be critical to his future progress.


    If something strange and insignificant emerges from it, Jareth will encounter numerous challenges in the future, and without an attack enhancement card, he might not even be able to survive long enough.


    However, a lottery is always about betting on your luck.


    Currently, Jareth is gambling his life on this lottery; if he loses, he won''t have enough left to buy a new ''attack enhancement card'', which would make his survival chances go down a lot in this cruel world.


    Although he has ''mana singularity'', he can''t always rely on just that trick to deal with all of his enemies.


    Just like how Zero caused his ''mana'' to become ineffective, if something similar happened, he would be left at the mercy of others.


    Ever since he was a kid, he has always tried his best to learn from his past mistakes and never repeat those mistakes again.


    So, he doesn''t want to find himself in a dangerous situation similar to the one he was in with Zero.


    And to do that, he must become stronger.


    In this world, the person with the biggest fist decides the rules. If you are weak, you can only accept others ruling over you. Only true strength can make the world work the way you want it to.


    ''Although active heal can help me a lot when injured, that alone can''t guarantee my life¡­''


    The best example of why ''Active Heal'' is not as powerful as one might expect is that demon incarnations eventual death.


    Jareth and others worked together to destroy the space-time fabric itself in order to kill that demon incarnation before it could take a proper shape.


    If Jareth had been in the place of that demon incarnation, he would have no doubt died too.


    His mana shield is unable to fend off attacks that could disrupt the space-time fabric itself, and his active heal won''t be able to heal him if all of his body''s atoms are blasted into nothingness, as was the case with that demon incarnation. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth added the attack enhancement card to make that attack so powerful, but it also served as a wake-up call for Jareth.


    He was frightened by how powerful his own attack was.


    To counter such an attack, he needs to get stronger, or he might not be able to survive past the mid-stage of the game.


    ''The leader of the false dome cult¡­ That guy is strong enough to influence the space-time fabric, and also, a whole demon god is staring at this world with his eyes wide open.''


    Even if Jareth dies, it is very likely that the demon god will find a way to locate his soul, and then his fate will be in the hands of that demon god.


    Jareth doesn''t want that at all.


    There is forbidden magic in this world that can be used to torture the souls of individuals, and if his soul gets caught by that demon god, he will be tortured into nothingness.


    ''I was involved in the eventual death of that demon incarnation, thus I must have already been marked as an enemy by that demon god¡­ Now I can''t even die peacefully anymore¡­''


    Jareth was more and more confused the more he thought about his soul.


    ''How did my soul even come to this world without getting noticed by that demon god? And will my soul be able to go back if I die?''


    Jareth had many questions in his heart, but there was no way to find a proper answer to these questions at all.


    Jareth initially had no real motivation to survive and grow stronger; he was simply following the natural course of events.


    But now he has a solid reason to survive and a motivation to become stronger.


    He wants to find the truth about his existence and the reality of this world, and to do that, he must become stronger.


    (No, if you guys think that he will find out that this world is still a game or something, that''s not true; this is an actual world of its own; it''s not a game¡­)


    ¡­


    Just when Jareth was having a lot of thoughts in his mind, the golden roulette finally stopped spinning, and what Jareth wasn''t expecting came as the result.


    [Congratulation! You have received the ''Permanent Ability Maximizing Card''!]


    Seeing that result, ''black lines'' appeared all over Jareth''s face as a look of great disappointment appeared in his eyes.


    ''Scam!! As I thought!!! Gacha is always a scam!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!!'' (Mental damage +999)


    Jareth was expecting a new amazing talent, like ''Mana Singularity'' or something similar, to emerge again, but instead, this pitiful thing was what came out.


    [Item Name: Permanent Ability Maximizing Card]


    [Item Description: An ability is only considered supreme once it is enhanced to perfection! Go ahead! Enhance your abilities to perfection with this card!!]


    [Effect: Permanently enhances ''one'' ability to the state of perfection!]


    The description and the effects of this card are simple; you can use it to enhance your ''Abilities'' to perfection.


    But keep in mind that the card says ''Abilities'' not ''Skills'', which means Jareth can''t use it to enhance his skills like ''Fire Magic'', ''Active Heal'', ''External Mana Circuit'', etc.


    This card is only useful against ''Abilities'', which are essentially a character''s innate abilities to perform tasks such as clothing, laundry, brushing, or other daily life tasks.


    They are not ''Skills'', they are just ''abilities'' that everyone in the world has.


    In the game, whenever a player got this card, they knew that it was a total waste as it could not be used for any great purposes at all.


    ''Ugh¡­ What do I even use this thing for now¡­ If it were in my previous life, I could have just used it on my ''Ability to Flirt'' and I would have flirted with Shiina all day long¡­ But this thing is useless to me now¡­''


    Just when Jareth was having a major headache, his eyes suddenly fell on the status panel, and he noticed a detail.


    In the game, the player can only improve their mana purity by accumulating experience points or meditating.


    ''But if I remember correctly¡­. isn''t mana purity an ability too!?''


    He suddenly recalled a forum debate where players had argued that mana purity is an ability, and that using a ''perfection card'' on it should enhance it.


    The game developers said that such a thing would break the game, and they patched the game and made it so that the card doesn''t recognize ''Mana purity'' as an ability at all.


    ''But¡­ this is a real world now¡­ what if...''


    Jareth immediately tried to confirm his guess.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Permanent Ability Maximizing Card'' on the ability ''Mana Purity''?]


    [Yes or No]


    [Warning: This choice is permanent; please choose wisely¡­]


    ''Yes''


    Jareth had no idea if it would work or not, but he had to try this out. He had already thought that this lottery had ended in failure, so he wasn''t worried about taking this risk at all.


    Even if it doesn''t work, he will only lose a useless card at most, but if it works¡­


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have used a ''Permanent Ability Maximizing Card'' on the ability ''Mana Purity''!]


    [Ding! Choice successful, upgrading ''Mana Purity'' to ''Grade: X''!]


    Before Jareth could even react to that message, the sky was covered with dark clouds in an instant.


    A massive amount of mana started to flow towards the mountaintop on which Jareth was standing.


    That phenomenon instantly affected the mana within a radius of a hundred kilometers, causing it to flow crazily towards Jareth.


    The spectacle was so huge that even the sky turned colorful from the glow of the flowing mana, as if the world itself were welcoming something great.


    People in the whole capital city stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the sky with shocked looks on their faces.


    All of the mages in the area were even more shocked than ordinary people, as they could see the massive flow of mana.


    The spectacle was so huge and so tremendously overwhelming that some people even started to scream that it was God''s blessing on this world.


    At this moment, not even grade-2 mages dared to fly in the sky for fear of coming into contact with that tremendous flow of mana.


    A massive cyclone made of condensed mana was slowly forming above a mountaintop near the capital city.


    ¡­


    Royal Palace, Rooftop.


    *crack!*


    Reynald glanced in the direction of the gigantic mana cyclone, and a look of sheer shock appeared on his face.


    He was having a drink while looking at the scenery from the rooftop, and then suddenly this strange phenomenon appeared out of nowhere.


    Reynald was so bewildered that he didn''t even care about the wine glass that had fallen from his hand.


    "T-this is!?¡­ someone''s ascending to grade 1!?"

 Chapter 84 - 84: Ruler of Mana! Part-2.

    A gigantic tornado made of condensed mana started to form above the mountaintop, and the whole world could feel the disturbance caused by that storm of mana.


    It was such a massive event that even Nathan could feel it happening from inside the death cage.


    ¡­


    Royal Palace, Rooftop.


    Reynald''s mouth widened in sheer shock. He has only seen this phenomenon once in his whole life, that was when he himself ascended to grade 1.


    Mana is a ''Law'' of this world, and it exists in everything in the world, so usually it never gets this chaotic.


    Only when someone is ascending to grade-1 does mana respond so fiercely.


    The sky turns dark, and a vast amount of mana starts to rush towards the person who is ascending.


    Then the mana steadily enters the body of the person and enhances their overall abilities.


    As if they get genetically modified, the people who ascend to grade 1 get longer life spans and a tougher body.


    Their mana control and other skills get boosted tremendously, and their combat capabilities get boosted even further.


    When Reynald ascended to grade-1, he had influenced the mana in a radius of 40 kilometers, but the scene that is happening currently is even more overwhelming than that.


    Reynald was able to become the strongest of the current century by just influencing mana in 40 kilometers of area, but Jareth is currently influencing the area in a radius of 100 kilometers, which is just too insane.


    Even Reynald couldn''t help but feel shocked at that discovery.


    ''A new monster is born it seems¡­''


    Then Reynald suddenly remembered something, and his eyes widened even further in shock.


    ''Wait¡­ currently only Jareth Blaze is the one who is extremely close to ascension¡­ could it be that he finally broke through!?''


    Reynald''s guesses were justified.


    His mana detection ability stretches far and wide, and he can sense that no one in the whole capital is close to ascending grade 1, not even Thomas who''s already a peak grade 2 mage.


    The only person Reynald was not able to assess with his mana detection was Jareth Blaze.


    ''Now that I know that Jareth has the legendary rank talent Mana Singularity, I think I know why I can''t detect him at all¡­''


    ''Mana Singularity'' gives extreme control over mana, thus unlike other mages, Jareth doesn''t create mana disturbances no matter how big spells he casts.


    He can simply command mana to stop the disturbance, and no one will be able to sense him at all.


    Mana detection works by detecting the mana fluctuations and disturbances created by the individuals in the atmosphere around them.


    But as Jareth can simply command the mana itself with the help of mana singularity, he doesn''t produce any mana fluctuations at all.


    Which means using mana detection on him is simply a waste of effort, as he is undetectable through it.


    That''s also the reason why Reynald isn''t able to properly assess Jareth''s true grade, as the only way to detect that is by seeing the mana fluctuations or mana density of an individual.


    Usually, the higher grade the mage, the more mana fluctuations they create, and the higher the density of their mana.


    That high density of mana and fluctuations in the air is what creates the overwhelming and suffocating aura of a strong person.


    Jareth simply has no mana fluctuations; he looks intimidating and overbearing just because he''s cold and scary, and his aura is naturally like that.


    But there''s no real way to assess his realm with that little information.


    The only reason why Reynald was sure that Jareth was close to ascension was because he has seen Jareth use magic, and his abilities are really very strong and overpowered.


    Even those mana beams that he fires casually are at the level of an early grade 1 mage.


    Under all these circumstances, the first person Reynald associated that mana storm with was obviously Jareth.


    After all, in Reynald''s eyes, there was no one else who was as close as Jareth to ascension.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Thus, to confirm his own suspicions, Reynald flew into the air and drifted off towards the mountaintop. Unlike lower-grade magicians, he isn''t afraid of that chaotic mana flow in the atmosphere.


    ¡­


    An Underground Church, Location Unknown.


    Rahnan glanced in a certain direction, and a frown appeared on his face.


    "Another obstacle has appeared? Tch¡­"


    Rahnan was already quite irritated by the fact that his benevolent demon god was temporarily not able to contact him after the incarnation''s destruction caused him to lose a lot of power.


    Now even more obstacles have been created in their way with the appearance of a new grade 1, which is quite the bad news for his cult.


    ''It must be that guy¡­''


    Even Rahnan knew that only Jareth was the closest to ascending to grade 1, and his suspicions also fell directly on Jareth.


    ''That gigantic fire arrow was also mostly his doing¡­ he''s proving to be a real headache now¡­ I must get rid of him as soon as my benevolent god recovers¡­''


    Rahnan''s powers are all given to him by that demon god, and in his absence, he''s quite weaker, so he''s not sure whether he can fight Jareth who has become a genuine grade 1 now.


    (Rahnan isn''t a genuine grade 1 mage; he''s just borrowing someone else''s powers and calling them his own¡­)


    After a few minutes of contemplating, Rahnan waved his hand in the air, and Norton appeared in a matter of seconds after getting his command. He kneeled down towards Rahnan and said in his usual hoarse voice,


    "What can I do for you this time master?"


    Hearing Norton''s voice, Rahnan replied in a calm tone.


    "Call that fatty back, tell him that he''s been wasting too much time outside and I need him to do some work for me¡­"


    "Although he has a very greedy, irritable personality, he''s still reliable¡­"


    Norton nodded his head and left immediately after getting orders from Rahnan.


    Seeing that Norton had left, Rahnan brought out a small dark black gemstone from his space ring and embedded some mana in it.


    "We have figured out the location of the seals, it''s time to return you all¡­"


    After saying those words, Rahnan broke that black gemstone by clenching his palm tightly, and the broken gemstone turned into miasma particles and disappeared in the air.


    Seeing that his message was delivered successfully, a smile appeared on his face.


    ''No matter what, I will help my dear God to achieve his vision¡­ I will be the one who will make the whole human race tremble in fear¡­''


    ¡­


    In a certain lush forest.


    Two extremely beautiful elven women stared at the sky with looks of worry.


    "Sister¡­ it seems the human race has three Grade 1 mages now¡­ how about we ask them for help in subjugating the corrupted lake?"


    "If we don''t purify it soon¡­ I don''t think we will ever be able to revive the world tree¡­"


    The younger elf had a look of worry on her face, and she couldn''t help but persuade her sister for the sake of the elven race.


    But her older sister didn''t hear her words at all; she just shook her head and walked back towards the inner area of the lush forest while saying,


    "You are too young¡­ you don''t know about the reality of the world¡­ even if humans have more Grade 1 it''s hopeless¡­ this world is already on its way to doom¡­"


    "Moreover, it''s near impossible to purify that lake of rotten miasma¡­ I hate to say it but¡­ we will have to give up on growing a new world tree¡­"


    "Even a grade 1 healing magician can''t heal the corruption on the sacred branch¡­ much less others¡­"


    The younger sister was still not convinced by her sister''s words; she still wanted to refute and persuade her older sister.


    But the Elven Queen had already made up her mind, and there was no persuading her now.


    "Humans are not a trustworthy race¡­ you shouldn''t be looking for cooperation with them¡­ don''t you know what they do with the elven women they capture?"


    The younger sister went silent after hearing those words.


    She was also aware of how cruel this world can be; for the untalented, it''s a bane to be born in this unfair world.


    The elven queen shook her head after seeing that her younger sister had gone silent. She glanced in a certain direction and said in a solemn tone.


    "Let''s go, the army is waiting for us. We must find a new sacred branch in this expedition to the lake of rotting miasma¡­"


    "Otherwise, the world tree is really done for¡­"


    The younger sister glanced in the direction of the flowing mana once more and then shook her head before following in the footsteps of her sister.


    Although she has lost in this negotiation, she still thinks that there might be some hope in the future. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Maybe a mage of great caliber will stumble upon their small tribe while travelling with his disciples in the future.


    ¡­


    Outside the capital city, Delta.


    Unaware of how much chaos he had created in the world, Jareth had fallen unconscious at this moment, and his whole body was floating in the air while wrapped in the flow of the gentle mana.


    Mana slowly entered his body and increased his mana density and purity continuously.


    What takes other mages decades of effort to do, Jareth had accomplished it in just a few hours.


    His mana purity level was slowly rising steadily, and he was absorbing more and more mana like crazy.


    The mana flow near him was so intense that even Reynald had to stop far away from the mountaintop to observe the situation.


    If he tried to get too close, it''s very likely he will get affected by the mana flow. So he waited for the ascension to end.

 Chapter 85 - 85: Ruler Of Mana! Part-3.

    [Ding! Congratulations!.Your mana purity has been upgraded to grade-X!]


    [Ding! You have seen through the law of mana and have learned extreme command over mana!]


    [Ding! Your mana density has increased ''greatly''!]


    [Ding! Your maximum mana capacity has been enhanced!]


    [Ding! Mana has strengthened your physique ''greatly''!]


    [Ding! You have achieved a feat of impossible levels by reaching an extreme state of mana control!]


    [Ding! Due to your achievement, you have been rewarded with the title ''Ruler of Mana''!]


    Wrapped in the flow of the mana, Jareth felt that his body had become much lighter and stronger.


    His senses became much faster and better compared to before.


    When he opened his eyes, he could feel the massive improvement that the mana purity has brought him.


    Still, he glanced at the status window to see it in numerical values.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 5280/5280] [MP: 7200/7200]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the goat, Speed-runner]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 5), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 100]


    [Evaluation: The Ruler of mana, the dominator of an era¡­ you are on the path to becoming a new ''King'' of the human race...]


    Looking at that amazing status panel, Jareth felt quite happy at the moment. Mana purity is the fundamental of every mage.


    Some mages have spent decades upon decades to just improve their mana purity, and those who have low mana affinity can''t even reach mana purity of grade 3 in a hundred years!


    The difference in talent is just too huge.


    Only with high mana affinity can you improve your mana purity at a much faster speed.


    Although Jareth already had amazing mana affinity due to mana singularity, he would have still needed at least five or so years to reach grade 1 mana purity, which is extremely fast when compared to others, but for Jareth, it''s still quite slow.


    But now with the help of the ability improvement card, his mana affinity has been upgraded to the very extreme limits.


    Grade ''X'' here indicates extreme, or the limit of what this ''World''s Laws'' can allow.


    For now, not only Jareth''s mana control but also mana purity has been upgraded to the very limit.


    After appreciating that massive buff in mana purity for a while longer, Jareth''s eyes fell on the physical stats of his body.


    ''ah yes¡­ Now that I think about it, there was a limiter on the stats¡­''


    ''99'' is the max limit for a human body. A human body at its maximum peak can only reach the stats of ''99''.


    If you want to go past what a human body is usually capable of, you need to break through to grade 1 and break the genetic limiter.


    Only then will your stats be able to past 99.


    ''But still¡­ these stats are already quite overpowered¡­''


    Usually, even a peak grade 2 warrior may not have such insane stats, but Jareth already had such a strong body even though he is just a mage.


    A complicated look appeared on Jareth''s face as a thought came to his mind,


    ''I better not use too much strength from now on otherwise people will start suspecting that I am a warrior disguised as a mage¡­''


    Jareth''s eyes then fell on his ''Hp'' bar, and he nearly fainted from shock after seeing the numbers.


    ''5280!? How the f*ck did I become so tanky!? Not even grade 2 warriors have such a massive health bar!... I have become a literal walking meat-shield!!''


    The enhancement that mana brought to his physique was indeed massive.


    Jareth was really taken aback by that number.


    Moreover, what surprised him the most was that his mana had also increased by a lot, like literally! It increased by 7 times!


    ''I have broken through to grade 3 now¡­ this is an unexpected surprise¡­''


    Originally, Jareth thought that mana purity would only increase the purity of his already existing mana.


    He hadn''t expected that it might even increase his maximum mana capacity.


    ''I think the external mana circuit and this strengthened body must have played a role in this increase of mana¡­''


    ''Sigh~ now I feel guilty for calling that ability enhancement card ''useless''¡­ that thing is indeed very broken¡­''


    Jareth''s expectations were already quite low from the start, but after getting such a great improvement, he was pleasantly surprised.


    ''Good¡­ now that I have reached grade 3, I can learn more higher grade fire type magic spells¡­''


    Although Jareth''s fire elemental affinity is still quite low, he can forcefully learn and use higher grade fire magic as his grade has improved.


    Moreover, he has mana singularity; he can make up for the lowered power by using more mana.


    Elemental affinity and mana affinity are different things. There are many factors that influence the power of a spell.


    If Jareth can enhance them all, then it would increase the power of his spells tremendously.


    The main factors are, mana control, mana purity, INT, magician''s grade, and elemental affinity of that particular spell.


    Jareth''s mana affinity is indeed high, but his fire affinity is low.


    Thus, if he uses fire spells that are above the grade of fire affinity, the power of those spells will be reduced considerably.


    But now that Jareth has extreme mana purity and mana singularity both, he can make up for that power loss by increasing the output.


    Moreover, he has a high ''INT'' stat, and even his own grade has been improved, thus the weakness of low fire affinity can be easily ignored at this point.


    He can still forcefully make the fire elementals obey his command through mana singularity.


    In other words, although Jareth''s grade has only increased to grade 3, taking raw power into consideration; Now, Jareth is not weaker than a genuine grade 1 mage in any way.


    ¡­


    Just when Jareth was busy looking at his own improvements, the massive cyclone made of condensed mana slowly dissipated, and the sky cleared up slowly.


    When the condensed mana flow disappeared, Reynald flew towards the mountaintop and landed right beside Jareth.


    A pleasant smile appeared on his face after seeing that his guess was really true.


    Jareth was indeed standing there, and he was the one who created this massive tornado.


    *Clap!**Clap!*


    "Amazing! Congratulations on breaking through to grade 1! You have become my equal now!"


    Hearing such abrupt praise from Reynald, Jareth was taken aback for a second, but then he remembered how big of a scene he had created while improving his mana purity.


    ''Ugh, this guy misunderstood that I have ascended to grade 1!... Wait, if even he was alerted, does that mean the whole capital saw that phenomenon happening!?''


    Jareth didn''t know that Reynald had already sent a message back to the royal castle with his phone when he landed.


    He has already told his butler to tell the media that Jareth has ascended to grade-1. He originally wanted the university to collapse after the disappearance of that old fix, and then take Jareth as his own subordinate.


    But now that Jareth has become an equal to him, it''s obviously impossible to do such a thing. Jareth won''t accept subordination no matter what the deal is.


    This, Reynald had no choice but to try befriending Jareth. If you can''t go against them, just make friends with them!


    Reynald had followed this policy quite well for a long time.


    At that moment, Reynald''s face turned serious, and he said to Jareth in a solemn tone.


    "You have become a Grade 1 mage now¡­ you must have realized the true nature of the world¡­ I just want to say one thing, ''Never ever tell anyone about all this¡­''. This information is too heavy for the world¡­"


    Although all grade 1 mages are usually extremely selfish and indifferent people, even they have some bottom lines. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They are not demons who want the world to become a hell hole, thus they all have a tacit understanding between each other about the harmful secrets of this world.


    So, even if they are extremely selfish, they do not tell anyone about this event if they die. And Reynald was advising Jareth to do the same. He had misunderstood that Jareth has become a grade 1 mage and has found the forbidden truth of the world.


    Although Reynald doesn''t give a single sh*t about the lives of ordinary people, he doesn''t want his family and its influence to get affected.


    Thus he warned Jareth to be sensible and not say anything that shouldn''t be said in public.


    "Okay¡­I am sure you must also be in a panicked state after knowing the ''truth'', so I should leave now. We can talk some other day when you have figured out everything calmly¡­"


    Without waiting for Jareth''s reply, Reynald flew away just as fast as he had arrived.


    He didn''t even give Jareth the chance to clear up the misunderstanding at all.


    ''The real ''truth''? What was this guy even blabbering about? I have literally no idea at all¡­''


    In the end, Jareth could only sigh and fly towards the direction of a hotel.


    The original Jareth had always lived in rented houses before getting a dormitory room in the university, which means he had no houses at all.


    Moreover, now that the university is currently closed, he has nowhere else to stay, so he decided to spend the night at a hotel and think about all the complicated stuff tomorrow.


    ''Today, I really hit gold¡­ I really got a massive improvement¡­ Perhaps I should save points and only use gold lotteries from now on¡­''

 Chapter 86 - 86: The Crazy people of this world... (Skippable)

    (A random chapter just for fun; if you are saving your coins, then skip this one... It has no important lore, just some jokes...)


    ...


    Following Jareth''s persuasion, people eventually retreated from the university and stopped surrounding it.


    His words worked like a charm, and everyone slowly retreated.


    The crowd''s anger subsided, and shocking news swept the internet.


    The entire nation shook at the news that Jareth had become a Grade 1 mage yesterday and that his ascension had created a massive mana storm.


    The appearance of a new Grade-1 mage is not a small matter; not even nukes can kill a Grade-1 mage, and they are walking nuclear weapons that can influence the whole nation with their words.


    Every time a new grade-1 mage appears, all of the media channels go crazy, covering this news and showing it repeatedly.


    Despite the fact that the majority of grade 1 mages are not positive individuals, the media''s massive hype still excites the general public.


    To the common folk, grade 1 mages are just too far above them, so they think that their actions have nothing to do with the common people, and such strong people will not bother to do anything to the weak.


    But this mentality is very wrong.


    Firstly, achieving Grade 1 without being selfish is extremely challenging.


    You need to be selfish to snatch resources and other things to survive the competition and make continuous progress to grade 1.


    Those who aren''t selfish enough will not be able to convince themselves to manipulate others to get resources out of them, and due to a shortage of resources, you might never be able to reach grade 1.


    Unlike Jareth, who just upgrades by doing some lottery at random, ordinary mages need magical herbs, potions, and other auxiliary things to improve.


    Jareth has ''Mana Singularity'', so his mana will never go out of control, and he knows that he can ascend without worry.


    But that''s not the case with normal mages.


    They need to buy potions that enhance mana control for short time periods so that they can safely ascend to the next grade without worrying about their mana going out of control in case their mana ends up increasing.


    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University provides Mark and all of the other students with a variety of resources, including mana purification herbs, supporting potions, mana stones, etc.


    For a mage, mana stones are an absolute necessity.


    Mages place mana stones in their hands and then meditate, slowly absorbing the mana in the stone into their bodies. Alternatively, they can meditate and absorb the mana in their surroundings, making it their own.


    This way, their mana capacity slowly increases over time.


    Talented individuals have a higher affinity for mana, can absorb more mana in less time, and have purer mana when compared to others, giving them an advantage over others.


    This is the reason why talented people are favored.


    If you have good talent, you will achieve much better results during training when compared to less talented people.


    It''s not that untalented people are being targeted on purpose; it''s just how this world works. People are born different; your talent for magic is already determined at birth.


    But even in this cruel world, there is still a way for the untalented to reach enormous heights. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The power to transcend the limits placed upon you by your talent and the power to make breakthroughs that couldn''t have been possible in normal circumstances¡ªthat power is called ''Enlightenment''.


    If you can achieve ''Enlightenment'', you can break out of your shackles easily, and you won''t be much worse than a world-class genius at that point.


    But in the long annals of history, there has only been one person who has ever achieved Enlightenment successfully.


    And that person was the First Great King.


    He was the one who taught humanity the way of magic, the path of mana, and the power of spells.


    If not for him, this world might have developed in the direction of ''technology'' instead of ''mana''.


    People still revere him today as the ''Founder of All Magic''.


    ¡­


    Capital City, Hotel Hanging Moon.


    While sitting on the couch, Jareth watched TV to see how things had turned out and if the crowd of people had left the university.


    He wanted the people to leave so that he could go back to his comfortable dormitory room, and then the first thing that came up when he opened the TV was.


    [Shocking News! Jareth Blaze shattered the moon and reversed time to play volleyball with dinosaurs!!]


    *cough!!**COUGH!!!!!*


    Jareth was so taken aback that he immediately spit out the tea that he was drinking and coughed violently, as if he had some sort of lung disease or something.


    [Basic Magic: Clean!]


    He calmed down for a moment and then used the cleaning magic to clean the floor and his clothes. Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn''t thought that people would make such weird remarks about him.


    Jareth was hesitant to continue watching after seeing that strange title, but his curiosity peaked, and he opened the TV once again. (Yeah, he closed it abruptly in shock after seeing it once¡­)


    Once the TV opened, the news anchor started to explain the title.


    ¡­


    (TV News)


    The news anchor waved his hand to say hello and then started his explanation.


    "Yesterday, after many people witnessed the phenomenon of extreme mana flow in the sky, it has been confirmed that the famous Professor Jareth Blaze of Ivan''s higher arcane university has successfully ascended to Grade 1!"


    When the anchor said those words, an AI-generated image of him standing in the sky wearing a weird superhero uniform appeared on the screen.


    "According to our sources, Professor Jareth was feeling quite moved after seeing that the common people were hearing his voice, and he had a certain realization, and he broke through to the next realm!"


    "Not only is the professor valiant and heroic, he even felt moved after seeing the enthusiasm of the common folk!! Have you ever seen a man more heroic than him!!"


    "That waving cape! THAT AMAZING WELL-BUIT BODY!!! Jareth Blaze is the hero of the century!!!!! Yeahh!!!"


    The anchor''s eyes were already turning bloodshot; it was evident that this individual was undoubtedly under the influence of something, and he was merely spewing nonsense at this point.


    "Moreover, just a few hours ago, our reporters interviewed an old man on the street, and they found out that Jareth Blaze actually saved him 80 years ago from a great disaster!!"


    "This proves that Professor Jareth has the power to influence time!! He must have gone back to the prehistoric era, and dinosaurs might have been his pets! This is entirely possible!!"


    The anchor looked a bit sensible and smart when the show first started, but as time went on, he continued to spit more and more crazy bulsh*t out of nowhere, and the strange fact is, this literally increased the ''TRP'' of their channel like crazy!


    People even believed his randomly made bulsh*t like it was the actual truth!


    ¡­


    Jareth nearly smashed that TV in sheer anger, but he held his hand back and didn''t do so only because he was in a hotel room right now; if he broke something, he would have to pay for it.


    ''Ugh¡­ Where are these brainless people coming from? It was okay that they misunderstood that I was grade 1. The f*ck do you mean that I was playing volleyball with dinosaurs!?''


    After rubbing his forehead for a while, Jareth changed the channel and decided to watch some other news channel.


    And the first thing he saw in the headline was:


    [Shocking NEWS!! Jareth Blaze has been recognized as the god of flames, and his fans have created a cult to worship him!!]


    ''F*cking bulsh*T! The people in this world are crazy!''


    Even in his previous world, people used to believe in superstitions, but the people of this world are even crazier; they literally opened a cult and put his statue in it to worship.


    Sooner or later, the police will obviously raid their illegal cult, and they will all be in jail, but they are really destroying Jareth''s image at this point.


    Even on the internet, a war is going on between keyboard warriors. People are making random bulsh*t to gather attention by using Jareth''s name, and he''s been dragged to the center of this storm.


    ''Ugh, I want to retire already.''


    Although Jareth didn''t give a single f*ck about what the world was talking about him outside, he still didn''t want others to use his name to increase their popularity.


    ''Sigh~ it''s the era of the internet; everyone is after fame¡­ There are medicines for diseases, but not for stupidity¡­''


    Even if Jareth tries to stop these people from making random false claims about his name to gain popularity, there are just too many of them, and he doesn''t have that much free time to waste on it.


    ''Forget it; if push comes to shove, I will go to the headquarters of the social media companies and threaten them to remove things about me¡­''


    Now that Jareth has the power to fight for his own survival, he fears nothing.


    If anyone dared hinder his progress, they will get kicked in the A*s!


    Then Jareth opened the back statement on his smartphone, and a smirk appeared on his face.


    [Current Balance: 999999999/-]


    ''I have so much money now that I can''t spend it all in my whole life¡­''


    When Jareth killed his fake family in the Blaze mansion, he obviously snatched their space rings, leaving no evidence behind.


    He even took the space rings of all the wizards and warriors that gathered there to attack him.


    Now that he has a lot of money, he''s extremely rich.

 Chapter 87 - 87: Empty hearts...

    When Jareth killed his fake family members in the Blaze mansion, he picked up their space rings, in which he found the ''Family Card''.


    A family card serves as a unique ''ATM'' card for making purchases under the family''s name.


    Jareth immediately sent a large amount of money into his own bank account using the ATM card, never pausing until it was completely full.


    Now the Blaze family will have to pay all that money to the bank, as all that was a credit taken in the name of the Blaze family.


    The Vassal families will have to bear the consequences of this action.


    They are currently looting the family resources, but they don''t know that they are already millions in debt.


    Even their own companies and businesses will soon go bankrupt to pay this massive sum of money that Jareth has added to his own bank account.


    This type of family card doesn''t have a password or anything; it can be used directly by anyone, and you can take out as much money as the card allows.


    Given the extreme wealth of the Blaze family, the card in the hands of the family head is clearly of a high level and has a substantial limit.


    That''s why Jareth was able to get all that money and make it his own.


    Normally, the head of the family holds the family card, ensuring its safety and peace of mind. However, after killing his fake brother, Jareth took control of the card, resulting in a significant debt for the entire Blaze family.


    Now, the bank will approach the vassal families and request that they return the money, leaving them in a state of shock and helplessness.


    Jareth is already rumored to have become a grade 1, and they wouldn''t dare blame him even if you gave them the courage of steel.


    The Vassal families always created a lot of problems for the Vassal family that adopted Jareth; thus, he also did the exact same thing to them.


    He created such a massive problem for them that they can''t recover or run from it even if they want to.


    The vassal families own a large number of industries and companies, but these things are ultimately part of the Blaze family, so the bank will have a legitimate reason to seize them.


    The vassal families will have no way to stop these legal procedures.


    Jareth had laid such massive traps for revenge that if others knew about what he had done, they would feel chills run down their spines.


    ¡­


    A week has passed since coming back from Artavia.


    In the past week, Jareth used the money to buy a small and beautiful mansion for himself. He bought a luxurious car and hired a lot of bodyguards and maids to take care of the house.


    Then he hired an old butler to arrange the servants in the house.


    He put the name plate ''Ayad'' on the mansion.


    Ayad was Jareth''s deceased mother''s surname, so he took it as a family name and decided to take a long surname for himself, ''Jareth Aadhira Von Ayad''.


    He held a small press conference to calm people down by officially declaring that he had become a Grade 1 mage.


    This will make people stop making weird posts about him online, and people will stop saying things like, ''He played volleyball with dinosaurs!''


    He also announced a change of surname at the end of the conference.


    After a moment of shock, the reporters nodded.


    They possess exceptional news networks; they have already discovered that the Blaze family is currently experiencing significant turmoil, and it is likely that Jareth has no desire to interact with them.


    The conference ended in the evening, and the reporters left one by one.


    Jareth stood on the mansion''s rooftop and sipped tea while gazing at the setting sun with satisfaction in his eyes.


    "It''s already been more than three months since I came to this world; time passes so fast¡­"


    When he first came to this world, Jareth was on the verge of expulsion from the academy, and he wasn''t even sure about his own survival.


    But he kept working hard for his future, and now he has achieved so much in just a few months that it feels quite unbelievable.


    In a few months, he went from an unknown random person to a guy who is famous all over the nation.


    Although the people have misunderstood that he is a grade-1 mage, it''s not wrong that his power is equal to that of a grade-1 mage now.


    The improvement brought by mana purity was extremely huge; it enhanced his overall capabilities by a lot.


    Jareth hadn''t expected such a massive improvement so suddenly.


    ''Standing on the roof of this mansion, I seem to have achieved everything back¡­''


    Before becoming an enemy for his boss in the previous life, Jareth already had a mansion and a lot of subordinates.


    He was living a comfortable and satisfactory life by that point, but everything went downhill when his boss found out that he was dating Shiina secretly.


    He lost everything and became a street dog that any random passerby could beat at their will.


    His miserable life ended with being beaten to death in a brutal manner; he can still remember the immense pain he felt during that torture.


    ''I have regained everything that I had lost, but¡­ does it even mean much now?''


    A goal only feels amazing when it''s unachievable; once you achieve it, you will start losing interest in it, and your life will feel empty.


    It''s similar to how you always want to make a dream PC when you grow up, but when you finally finish building that dream PC, you just don''t have the time or energy to play games on it anymore.


    {A goal once achieved becomes similar to a tasteless juice; it''s good for show, but you don''t wanna drink it¡­.} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth regained all the past glory in just a few months, but all this money and assets held no appeal in Jareth''s eyes now.


    The only reason he bothered to get them was so that he could have a place to stay whenever he wasn''t at the university.


    Although he can simply use magic to carve out his own home in any random forest or mountain, he wants to stay in society and not become a secluded master like in novels and comics.


    Jareth was staring at that setting sun when a thought came to him. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''It seems you really took away all my happiness with you, Shiina¡­ I can''t even feel happy anymore, even if I want to¡­ You really are too unfair on me¡­''


    ¡­


    Royal Castle.


    Mark''s room.


    "N-no, W-why do I have to strip in front of you, That''s s*xual harassment! I will scream if you dare come near me, you fiend!"


    Mark was sweating profusely as he was being stared at by Risa.


    "Hehehe, you can''t run from me!"


    "I read in a book that to make a man fall head over heels for you, you need to know how to make his body happy!! I''m doing the same thing; this is totally legal! We are married!!"


    Risa looked like an old pervert who had found her prey, and she was chasing Mark, who was dodging her claws desperately.


    (They are just messing around; there is nothing illegal going on here¡­)


    And then Risa used shadow magic to manipulate her shadow and caught Mark''s leg, causing him to fall.


    She immediately sat on his tummy to stop him from running away.


    "W-what are you trying to do!?... eh? Wait¡­ You feel so light¡­ you have lost weight or something?"


    A confused look appeared on Mark''s face. He hurriedly placed his hand on her forehead, and sure enough, she had a high fever at the moment, which also explains why she was behaving so weirdly today.


    She wasn''t thinking straight at all.


    Before Risa could do anything, Mark immediately waved his hand and bound Risa''s hand and legs. He got up, carried her to his bed, and glared at her.


    "You are ill; why did you come here to mess around when you knew your health wasn''t good?"


    Mark then rang the small bell placed at a nearby table, and a maid entered the room.


    "Bring over the healing mage... Get her treated; she has a fever.."


    Seeing that Mark was sitting nearby, Risa clenched his palm as her reddened face felt like it was burning due to the high fever.


    "Ugh, hold my hand¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but shake his head and accompany her for the time being.


    He has always advised her to eat properly and take care of herself, but Risa doesn''t listen at all.


    She''s always so busy messing around that she loses weight and doesn''t eat for days sometimes.


    (She''s a skilled assassin; starving for a few days is no big deal for her¡­ it''s just that Mark tends to overexaggerate about it¡­)


    Mark glanced at Risa and asked in a calm voice.


    "By the way, did you tell your parents that you were going to the royal palace?"


    At Mark''s question, Risa pouted her cheeks and said,


    "They always deny whenever I ask them for permission, saying that it will bother the prince, so I just sneak out of the mansion on my own¡­"


    At her words, Mark could only shake his head.


    ''Sigh¡­ This girl''s just too obsessed with teasing me¡­ Doesn''t she have anything better to do than that¡­ What''s so fun teasing me all day long¡­''


    ''I am not even that good of a guy to chase around all day long¡­''


    Mark is usually busy training all day long, so he tends to forget how handsome he looks, and he is ignorant of the fact that he has a massive fan club of his own made entirely of female fans.


    In his own opinion, he has already dedicated his life to magic, and other things are not very important to him. That''s why he thinks that it would be a bad thing if Risa kept chasing him.


    She might not be able to get the love she wants from him, as he is just too dedicated to magic.


    ''Sigh¡­ It would have been better if you had chased someone else¡­ At least they could have loved you wholeheartedly¡­ I have already given my heart to magic, Where will I find time for you¡­''

 Chapter 88 - 88: To the Port City, Urona! Part-1.

    A few days passed by in a flash. The university finally opened its doors to all of the students, and Thomas seized the position of principal and worked hard to get all the government employees approval.


    Jareth may have become a Grade 1 in the eyes of the world, but he doesn''t want to do extra work, so he didn''t bother with taking the position of the principal.


    Instead, he became the vice principal so that he could make more money and wouldn''t have to do extra work.


    The other professors, too, had no choice but to agree with him, as they had misunderstood that he had really become a Grade 1 mage.


    But Jareth didn''t bother clearing up the misunderstanding, as it was more beneficial to him.


    ¡­


    Meeting Room.


    "Phew~ finally, I am done with all the work that was piling up in the last month. I had to pull all-nighters for so long¡­ugh¡­"


    While sitting on the chair, Thomas slumped his head on the table to relax.


    The other professors tried to cheer him up a bit, but Jareth merely rolled his eyes, knowing that this was precisely the reason he didn''t accept the position of principal.


    Shin glanced at Jareth and said, with a complicated expression on his face,


    "ugh¡­ I never expected that you would reach grade 1 before me¡­"


    At Shin''s words, Jareth replied in his usual cold tone,


    "Well, if you keep being lazy, you will obviously be left in dust by others¡­"


    Shin has been enjoying his married life these few years, so his progress in magic has stagnated a bit. He was already a grade-3 mage when he graduated, and now he has yet to reach the peak of grade 2.


    When compared to other professors, his improvement speed is already very fast, but it''s still slower when compared to a fraud like Jareth.


    Thus, Shin couldn''t help but get motivated to train a bit.


    Just as he was about to create a new training schedule for himself in his mind, Thomas brought out a piece of news that immediately shattered his thoughts about training.


    "By the way, I have convinced the government employees to fund the vacation trip. King Reynald also held a conference yesterday to tell about our great battle in Artavia¡­"


    "So, we got the approval of the employees, as they had no choice but to agree to this reward¡­"


    Hearing that amazing news, all five of them felt a bit happy.


    They went through all that trouble dealing with that demon incarnation just so they could go on this free trip, and it''s obvious that they have been waiting for it with enormous excitement.


    Just when Shin was about to say something, Aria said it in a quiet voice.


    "Uh, I have an idea!"


    When she spoke, all of the professors looked at her with a complicated expression.


    Shin couldn''t resist the urge to rub his forehead before speaking.


    "ugh.. It''s over; she jinxed it again!"


    Ignoring Shin''s mournful voice, Thomas nodded his head and inquired in a calm tone.


    "Hmm, what is the idea? Tell us¡­"


    Happy that her idea was being considered, Aria began her explanation right away.


    "Uh, you said the government will fund this vacation, but we have yet to tell them how many people will be brought on the vacation¡­"


    "How about we bring all the students to the sea as a training spot for them? We can even take all professors to enhance the training schedule!"


    "We will use Professor Yoseh''s water magic to create a small water bubble for them, and then we will put them underwater¡­"


    "They will then need to support the water bubble with their own mana and train their mana control!"


    "The one who will be able to support the water bubble properly to come back to the surface will be the winner of this training!"


    "Isn''t this idea amazing!"


    Yoseh and Thomas both nodded their heads when they heard Aria''s idea. Although Aria''s ideas are usually quite weird, they are effective at least.


    Last time they held a potion-making tournament, Abella interrupted it. However, the tournament did motivate the students to work harder and learn about potions.


    (Obviously not Mark''s group; everyone else in their group was just carried by Mark alone¡­)


    While Yoseh and Thomas felt that Aria''s water bubble training idea was feasible, Shin didn''t agree with it at all.


    "The h*ck are you even saying!? We five went to that horrible place to fight for this trip. How can we bring you all along for free? You guys were doing nothing!"


    "Also, those students aren''t so strong; they will obviously not be able to control the water bubble, and this is no different than forcing them to drown!"


    "Sometimes I wonder what even goes on in your head that you always come up with these weird ideas¡­"


    At Shin''s strong disapproval, Aria said,


    "Then I have another idea! Instead of a water magic bubble, we can just ask them to cover themselves with telekinesis and jump in the sea!"


    "The one who can stop water from touching them for the longest time using telekinesis will be the winner!"


    Telekinesis is a basic type of magic, so all students can use it; thus, it will be feasible to use that method to increase their magic control.


    Jareth, who has the most mastery over basic magic, nodded his head and said in his usual cold tone,


    "Yes, this idea is feasible; we can indeed use it to train the student''s mana control ability¡­"


    Seeing that even Jareth was agreeing to this idea, Shin had no choice but to agree, but he added one more thing.


    "You guys didn''t fight for this, so you all will compensate. We five have fought for this opportunity; we will receive your four months'' salary in return!"


    Although the professors were quite saddened by that huge loss of salary, they still agreed to these terms.


    Jareth and others had to fight a demon incarnation after all, so this four-month salary is not a bad deal.


    (But seriously¡­ can this free trip still be considered a free trip if you have to pay four months'' worth of salary to go on it¡­. How odd¡­)


    ¡­


    The meeting ended with everyone dispersing one by one, but before leaving, each one of them didn''t forget to congratulate Jareth for his ascension to grade 1.


    This was the first meeting they held after Jareth''s ascension, so today was the perfect opportunity to congratulate Jareth for his feats.


    If Jareth was still a grade-2 mage, they wouldn''t have bothered to go out of their way to greet him, but now that he holds more power than them, they obviously have to respect him.


    This is the way of the world.


    Weak respect the strong, and strong exploit the weak as much as possible; this is the natural course of order.


    If you want to overcome it, then become strong yourself, and then you can also exploit the people below.


    Power corrupts people''s minds and makes them feel that they are supreme and can do anything without worrying about the consequences.


    That''s exactly what happened in Nathan''s case.


    He was already a highly powerful Grade 1, so few things in the world could harm him.


    Moreover, he has spatial magic, which means he can easily deflect any attack that may come his way. Due to that, he hasn''t even suffered a single injury in the past hundred years.


    Even while fighting Abella, he was not worried about getting injured.


    Once you know that you are invincible and unstoppable, the rules of society stop working on you.


    Nathan stopped caring about the rules of society, and he manipulated many people to do his bidding.


    Abella and Rahnan are only two of the many victims he manipulated in his life.


    Thinking about all this, Jareth shook his head and started walking back to his dorm room.


    ''Maybe if I were originally a person of this world, I might also have had the same thinking process as the people of this world¡­''


    In the original game''s story, Jareth was reduced to a laughing stock, and everyone cursed at him whenever his name was mentioned.


    Even the players felt irritated after hearing his name.


    And obviously, his fellow professors were also mocking his name, as everyone had found out about how weak he actually was.


    But now, things are totally different.


    They are careful not to speak too rudely to him and are maintaining their manners in front of him, as if they don''t want to offend him even slightly.


    ''This difference in treatment of the weak and strong might be the reason why the people of this world want to grow strong¡­''


    ''They are not growing strong for the sake of strength, but for the sake of status and respect¡­''


    While playing the game, Jareth didn''t notice how cruel of a place this world was, but now that he is experiencing everything with his own eyes, he finally knows why the more enthusiastic players were hating on this game so much.


    They had delved too deeply into the lore of this world.


    In his previous world, having a wealth of knowledge was considered beneficial, but in this cursed world, possessing excessive knowledge about certain topics can lead to disaster.


    {If placed in mud, even the shiniest gold gets smeared with filth; human nature is the same¡­ living too long with evil, you will also get smeared with that evil nature¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­ S§×ar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    While walking, Jareth looked at the university''s main building and thought to himself.


    ''I am not sure if I really should go to that hidden library or not¡­ I certainly don''t want to discover something so unpleasant that it fries my mind¡­ ugh¡­''


    With the principal gone, Jareth can easily access the hidden library; he has already done so in the game, but the gameplay doesn''t provide much detail.


    You go there, grab a quest item, and then leave.


    But this is the real world now; there''s no knowing what he might find in there, so he is hesitating.

 Chapter 89 - 89: To the Port City, Urona! Part-2.

    University, Main Building, Principal''s Office.


    Mid-Night.


    Jareth waved his hand and easily opened the mana lock on the door of the principal''s room.


    Mana singularity has boosted his ''Mana interruption'' capabilities, and now that he has insanely pure mana coursing through his body, it''s even easier for him to break these low-grade mana locks.


    Moreover, he can easily restrain his mana fluctuation and suppress his presence to avoid the detection of others, so he was easily able to avoid the detection of other professors.


    ''I didn''t really want to come here, but my curiosity still got a hold of me¡­ It would be better if no one saw me sneaking around here, so I will try to do everything as stealthily as possible¡­''


    Although no one would dare blame him for sneaking around because they don''t want to get on his bad side, he still prefers it when no one notices his actions.


    Some things are better kept secret from others.


    Jareth had already cast the basic spell ''Silent Steps'' on himself, so even if he jumped up and down like crazy, it would still not make any noise.


    After all, he came here with a full-proof plan.


    ¡­


    Once inside the principal''s office, Jareth immediately noticed that the whole table in front of the principal''s chair was covered in coffee cups.


    ''Oh¡­ it seems Thomas is working hard to complete the paperwork¡­ He''s a reliable man¡­''


    Even Thomas, who was already a peak grade-2 mage, had to work so hard to complete all the paperwork, meaning that the workload on his shoulders was massive.


    Thousands of complaints had been piling up in the past few days due to their anger towards Nathan.


    Thomas had to write and send formal apologies in reply, even if he used the computer to print the same apology letter many times.


    He still had to sign them all by himself while putting mana into his sign to prove that it was a genuine thing.


    Furthermore, he had to complete all of the paperwork required to get the government''s cooperation going.


    The free vacation trip also brought a lot of paperwork.


    Fund management, event management, and many other things related to the university all needed Thomas to look over them.


    The workload was immense for a newbie principle like him.


    Nathan used to dump all his work on his servants or the professors who wanted to butter up to him, so he didn''t run into these problems.


    But Thomas, being a hard-working guy, didn''t want to dump his work on others, so he was pulling all-nighters again and again. That''s why so many coffee cups were piled up here.


    ''Thankfully, he isn''t sleeping here or something; otherwise, I would have had no choice but to retreat for today¡­''


    Although Jareth has ''Mana Singularity'' to suppress the mana fluctuations, Thomas is a peak grade-2 mage; he can easily sense it with his keen intuition if someone uses mana in such close proximity to him.


    Jareth doesn''t want to take the risk of getting discovered today, so if Thomas really was here, he would have retreated and would have come back some other day.


    But after using his mana detection, Jareth was sure that no one was here.


    With a sense of relief, he made his way to the smallest bookshelf.


    ''I have done it quite a few times in the game, so I remember it properly¡­''


    Jareth stretched out his hand and picked up a green-colored book from the middle shelf.


    He took that book and walked over to the largest bookshelf in the room.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    He cast the float spell on the book, causing it to float in the air.


    The book floated towards the uppermost shelf, and with a flick of Jareth''s finger, it was placed in an empty spot.


    *Click!*


    Once the book was placed properly, a mechanical ''click'' sounded in the room, and Jareth nodded his head at it.


    ''Good, the mechanics of the game are still the same here¡­''


    After finishing all of that, Jareth used telekinesis and a wave of his hand to lift the entire bookshelf to the side.


    This bookshelf itself is made up of magic-resistant material, so you will need to use telekinesis to push it aside. (Or you can just go ahead and deadlift it if you have a lower back made of steel or something...)


    Attribute magic is useless against it.


    Obviously, Jareth''s magic will be able to deal with this magic-resistant wood easily, as he has ''Mana Singularity'', and the efficiency of his attack is just too good. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But today, he was here to carry out his tasks in a stealthy manner, not to destroy things; if he did so, it would cause a massive commotion.


    After pushing the bookshelf aside, Jareth placed his hand on the wall and attempted to channel his mana into it.


    A massive magic circle covering the whole inner walls of the principal''s office lit up instantly, but before it could activate, the magic circle suddenly stopped taking mana as if it had recognized that it was not Nathan who was trying to activate it.


    Once the magic circle went dim once again, Jareth rubbed his forehead and thought to himself.


    ''Ugh¡­ How did I forget that you need the ''Principle''s Brand'' for accessing this place¡­''


    In the game, the protagonist got a brand engraved on the back of his hand, and only then was he able to enter this hidden place.


    A very powerful magic circle is placed in this place; if Jareth tries to forcefully break his way in, the whole hidden library will self-destruct.


    That''s not what Jareth wants to see.


    ''Forget it; let''s look at the structure of the circle first. I will analyze it and use mana interruption to break the magic circle¡­''


    With the help of ''Mana Singularity'', Jareth''s mana-analysis capabilities have been greatly improved.


    He only needs to analyze this magic circle to seize its ownership for himself.


    Jareth placed his hand on the wall once again, but this time he spread his mana to all walls and analyzed the basic structure of the magic circle.


    But the more he looked at it, the more shocked he became.


    ''This magic circle¡­ It''s extremely big and complicated¡­''


    Jareth was shocked by the fact that Nathan had deployed such a complicated and powerful magic circle here.


    Even with the enhanced analytical capabilities of Jareth, it will take several days to fully understand this magic circle.


    ''I don''t have that much free time¡­ Let''s just copy the magic circle''s structure for now. I will study it in my free time and break it down step by step¡­''


    ''And once I am done analyzing, I will come back to seize the ownership of this magic circle¡­''


    Jareth originally thought that he would be able to get things done in one go, but who could have thought that Nathan would place such a complicated magic circle in this place.


    ''He likely used a trace of his own soul to enhance this magic circle¡­ How terrible of a secret are you keeping here that you had to go to such extreme lengths to conceal it, Nathan? ...''


    Originally, Jareth thought that if they hadn''t stopped Abella, she could have really found things in the hidden library.


    But now that Jareth knows the real truth, he is sure that even if Abella had succeeded in stealing the main key of the hidden library, she still wouldn''t have been able to bypass this magic circle.


    ''That magic key is not the problem; I can make it with the help of ''Mana Singularity'' but this magic circle needs to be analyzed properly¡­ Otherwise, this whole university will likely self-destruct if I try to forcefully enter¡­''


    Nathan didn''t care one bit about the lives of the students and others at the university.


    He might have established this university in such a way that he could take the students as hostages when the need arose.


    He could have stopped the government by saying that he could easily blow up the whole university with this magic circle, and the lives of all students in the university were in his hands.


    ''I discover something new about him every single day¡­ tch!''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He used telekinesis to place the shelf and the green-colored book back where they were.


    Moreover, he even restored the broken mana lock before leaving.


    He left no traces behind.


    ¡­


    Next day, morning.


    University Front Gate.


    "Wohoo!! Today is the day!!"


    "We are finally going on vacation!!"


    "I''ve been waiting for this!"


    Although only Mark and the others worked hard to earn the spot for this trip, other students were also allowed to tag along.


    The only difference is that Mark and others won''t have to go through the hellish training, but those who didn''t go to Artavia will have to do this training if they want to enjoy the free time.


    But even then, the students were still very excited about the trip and cheering happily.


    Some were chatting, while others were already making plans for who would sit with whom and who would stay in the same room.


    One by one, all of the students gathered at the front gate, and soon enough, the professors also arrived at the scene.


    The students got to sit in magic-powered buses, and the teachers were going to ride their own luxurious cars.


    The destination was obviously the airport.


    Although they could have just used a teleportation altar to directly teleport, that thing is very expensive to use, and the university rarely ever uses it.


    It''s generally only used in emergency-case scenarios; usually, they just take a flight if they want to go to some distant places.


    They used a plane to travel to Artavia.


    In the first place, the trip is funded by the government; why not take a plane and enjoy the luxurious plane services while you are at it?


    There''s no fun in directly going to the destination; the journey to that destination is also just as necessary if you want to enjoy the result properly.

 Chapter 90 - 90: To the Port City, Urona! Part-3.

    In the sky, inside a private airplane.


    "So, what did they decide to do about him?"


    While gazing outside from the small window, Jareth asked the question in his usual cold voice.


    Thomas, who was sitting right beside him, calmly replied to Jareth''s question.


    "They decided to leave ''him'' as is¡­"


    At those words, Jareth nodded his head a bit while contemplating in his mind,


    ''So, they have decided not to bother themselves with Nathan''s situation? What a clever move¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel a bit of admiration for the decision-makers in the government.


    They did not take any proactive measures to prevent the people from expressing their anger towards Nathan and the university, nor did they take any interest in the ''Death Cage''.


    By not bothering to find solutions for the ''Death Cage'', the government has shown the world that they aren''t on Nathan''s side.


    But they also didn''t get involved in the protests carried out by common people, and not even a single politician came forward to say bad things about Nathan.


    This simply shows that the government has taken a perfectly neutral stance.


    They are currently avoiding offending the general populace as well as planning for the future.


    If Nathan manages to escape the "Death Cage," the government can claim that they never backed the general public and that the people''s wrath prevented them from rescuing him.


    Even Nathan will have no evidence that the government is against him.


    In other words, the government is planning on not taking both sides; neither are they supporting the general populace nor are they on Nathan''s side.


    They''ve abandoned both parties.


    ''But this also shows that the government is filled with pessimistic people who just want to maintain the current stalemate and never want any change¡­''


    The politicians who are in power want the human nation to remain as stable and peaceful as possible.


    If some major incident happens during their rule, then they will not be elected again.


    Currently, the nation is peaceful, and there are no wars or anything; they just want this to continue.


    Although this is not a bad idea, this idea can only work in a peaceful world where everyone is an ordinary person.


    This world is filled with supernatural powers and beings that can destroy nations at will.


    This current peaceful state would have indeed been a very beneficial thing for a nation in Jareth''s previous life, but this world is not the same.


    Not to mention that a single grade-1 mage can lay waste to many cities in a single day, and not even nuclear weapons can stop them.


    There''s no knowing how many powerful beasts wander in the wilderness outside the range of the human empire.


    If the human race never progresses out of this stalemate, they will eventually collapse like every nation in history has.


    ''But the prosperity of this nation has nothing to do with me¡­ All I want to do is find answers to my questions¡­''


    Jareth now has a goal in mind; he wants to find out everything about himself.


    ¡­


    Just when Jareth was busy contemplating in his mind, Thomas suddenly asked in a calm voice,


    "Do you think he has any chance of escaping that ''Death Cage''?"


    At Thomas''s question, Jareth just shook his head.


    "Unless a power above grade 1 gets involved, I don''t think he can break out of that place¡­ Even I don''t think I will be able to exit that place, much less him¡­"


    The ''Death Cage'' is made up of the power of souls.


    Jareth may have amazing mana control and everything, but he doesn''t have any control over soul power.


    The ''Death Cage'' is a looped space confinement; your mana will spin in loops continuously if you try to embed it in the ''Death Cage''.


    It created a folded space in the space-time fabric, and nothing can get through that looped space-time fabric.


    "I think the only way to escape a ''Death Cage'' is by shattering the space-time fabric itself and creating an alternate exit through the nothingness produced by the shattered space-time fabric¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, Thomas chuckled slightly and spoke in a sarcastic tone.


    "Haha, shattering the space-time fabric itself? That''s a very bold idea¡­ Not even peak grade 1 mages can do such a thing easily¡­"


    "And you even want to create an alternate way from the ''nothingness'', that''s such an insane feat¡­"


    Thomas glanced at Jareth and said in a solemn tone,


    "If a being who is capable of doing such an insane thing exists in this world, then¡­ they can probably already be considered ''Demi-Gods'', I think¡­"


    At Thomas''s solemn tone, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Yeah, the power to influence the space-time fabric at will, the power to interfere with the laws of the world¡­ that can really be considered the ability of a true ''Demi-god''¡­"


    The more Jareth spoke, the more solemn Thomas''s expression became.


    "So, what you are trying to say is¡­ that the demon god of that False Dome cult might try to lure Nathan into his group in exchange for liberating him from that ''Death Cage''?" sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth and the others don''t know that the demon god of the ''False Dome'' cult is still recovering due to the last event and can''t do all this yet.


    But after considering the situation up to this point, Thomas was already experiencing a sense of ominousness.


    Jareth stared into Thomas''s eyes and said,


    "I am not sure if it''s possible, but... for now, we have no way out of it..."


    Rahnan had accepted that he hated Abella and Nathan; he cursed at them both, and Shin and Thomas had heard him do so with their own ears.


    Therefore, it can be assumed that Rahnan will not agree to Nathan''s unsealing, but there is no certainty.


    Rahnan has corrupted Abella with miasma before, and he might be able to do the same to Nathan too.


    This will undoubtedly enhance the influence of the ''False Dome'' cult.


    Although Jareth and Thomas were already considering this as the worst-case scenario, they were not sure if it would happen or not.


    And even if they were hundred-percent sure that this would happen, they have no way of stopping it.


    Thomas sighed and said in a solemn voice,


    "If such an entity interferes with the Death Cage¡­ we won''t even notice anything before it''s too late¡­ This is a ticking time bomb..."


    The death cage is invisible to the naked eye.


    People below grade 2 can''t even see or feel it.


    Even if they were flying in the sky, they would pass right through the place where the Death Cage is located, because not even a Grade 1 individual can interact with that cage from the outside.


    "Well, I am not really worried about his strength or the powers he may have; what I am concerned about is that Nathan knows too much¡­"

 Chapter 91 - 91: To the Port City, Urona! Part-4.

    "Well, I am not really worried about his strength or the powers he may have; what I am concerned about is that Nathan knows too much¡­"


    "He may spill every secret to the ''False Dome'' cult¡­."


    As a grade 1 mage, Nathan obviously had a massive detection range, and he also had a massive information gathering network.


    He knows many secrets about the empire''s army and weapons. He knows about the ''Seals of the False Dome'' and he knows about many other forbidden things. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This knowledge may not be of much use to the humankind, it is certainly worth the attention of the ''False Dome'' cult.


    Thomas clenched his fist and asked Jareth in a solemn voice.


    "If he gets corrupted, what shall we do then?"


    Jareth''s answer to the question was very simple.


    "What else¡­ We will destroy him right then and there¡­"


    Jareth''s words carried the same coldness as usual; he was ready to deal with a time bomb like Nathan whenever the opportunity arose.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he couldn''t do anything to that Death Cage, he would have already buried Nathan ten feet under the ground.


    ''In this life, I am destined to be an eternal enemy with that demon god¡­ If I don''t want my soul to get tormented after death, I must deal with that demon first¡­''


    ¡­


    Time passed, and the plane finally landed after a long flight of 15 hours.


    When all of them got down from the plane, a fresh breeze welcomed them to the port city of Urona.


    Thomas glanced at the distant sea and spoke to the students.


    "So, here we are, everyone; this is the port city of Urona! This is the land that was once owned by the mermaid race¡­ The human armies conquered this place five hundred years ago¡­"


    "According to the history books, it was once the capital of the great mermaid empire, and a floating castle used to exist on the sea shore¡­"


    Although the mermaid-style architecture doesn''t exist here anymore, and the floating castle is also long gone, this place is still breathtakingly beautiful.


    There is a green and lush mountain range in the west direction, and there is a beach and the sea in the east direction.


    This place is a wonderful tourist spot.


    You can do paragliding, sea sports, mountain climbing, and many other things in this place.


    Moreover, a small navy base is located on an island a few kilometers away from the seashore, ensuring that no sea monsters can reach this location because the military will deal with them before they arrive.


    This place is so peaceful that there hasn''t been a single major incident in the past 50 years or so.


    There are no issues with pollution or extreme climate conditions, and there is an abundance of resources and opportunities. Excellent facilities and strict city management.


    Everything in this place is in such perfect sync that millions of tourists come here every year, and yet it doesn''t get crowded at all.


    This is the type of place where you would want to settle down after your retirement.


    ...


    Mark glanced at Thomas and inquired in a tone of confusion.


    "So, what happened to the mermaids then?"


    Thomas just shook his head at that question and said,


    "What do you think will happen to a race when you slaughter them mercilessly and destroy their homes? Of course they will flee to some other places desperately..."


    The battles between races have always been like this: the winner destroys the other party and massacres the weaker ones to no end.


    Thomas placed his hand on Mark''s shoulder and said,


    "Human greed knows no bounds; we wanted a safe port for ourselves so that we could make trade to other human cities easier, and that reason was enough to conquer this place..."


    The struggle between races is a race of survival; either you seize the resources and destroy the other party, or you will be the one who gets destroyed in the future.


    To develop towards a brighter future, to get more sea resources, and to make trade and other things easier, humans of that time went to war against the mermaids and emerged victorious.


    That victory contributed to the fact that humans today have access to so many sea resources produced in this place.


    If they had never seized the resources here, the prices of sea food would have been very expensive today.


    "Well, it''s not that we are being unreasonable; it''s just the way of the world..."


    Thomas patted Mark''s shoulder and then moved onward. He didn''t want the students to dwell on this topic too long, as it was pointless.


    They can''t change the past, so there was no point in thinking about it too much.


    While others started to walk, Jareth glanced at the ground under his feet, and a strange expression flashed through his eyes before he left.


    ''It was likely not a simple war... The ground here is filled with bones and remains of the mermaid race... This place looks beautiful from above but is just as dark from below...''


    Jareth has completed numerous quests in this location within the game, and he is aware of the heinous and horrific events that have transpired here.


    However, he is reluctant to publicly discuss them due to their profoundly disturbing nature.


    ''My detection range has improved; I can sense ''that'' thing from so far below in the ground now...''


    The improvement in mana purity enhanced Jareth''s overall capabilities by a lot, and now his passive mana detection range is already bigger than a normal grade-1 mage, so he can sense what''s going on beneath the ground.


    ''Urk... I originally wanted to enjoy some scenery, but now that I am here, I feel like going back already...''


    As they say, ignorance is bliss; when you know too much, you can''t feel happy at all.


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about all this, and he followed the group towards the hotel at which they would be staying.


    After this long journey, it was time to relax a bit and eat some good food to ease the mood.


    ''I will deal with ''that'' thing too when I am here... It should earn me some ''credit points'' at least...''

 Chapter 92 - 92: A Date to be remembered! (Mark X Risa) Part-1.

    Hotel Night Camper, Dining hall.


    While sitting on a chair beside the dining table, Shin said, with a complicated look on his face,


    "D*mn bruh¡­ Why is this dining table so long!"


    Shin''s bewildered shout was indeed justified; the dining table in this massive hall is extremely long.


    All students and the professors can sit beside it on the same side, and there will still be no overcrowding at all.


    Gazid nodded his head in response to Shin''s words.


    "This table is just as long as the ''monster corpse processing unit'' in my laboratory; all the dead monsters are stored there for processing¡­"


    "Believe me, when you look at monsters lined up on a massive table, they look absolutely stunning and beautiful!"


    "If you have such long tables, you can even extract their intestines and put them on full display! Ehehehe¡­"


    Hearing Gazid''s words, some students nearly lost their appetite; if not for the fact that Yoseh was glaring at him, he might not have stopped talking about those monster corpses.


    Ignoring the chatter, Jareth glanced at Shin and inquired.


    "You were going to come with your wife, didn''t you? What happened? Did she kick you out of the house?"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, black lines appeared all over Shin''s face, and she replied in a sad voice.


    "Ugh¡­ Don''t even mention it¡­ I accidentally mistook her stylish lipstick for a ''crayon'' and used it to grade some paper¡­ and then she was so angry that she kicked me out of the house¡­ I had to sleep on the floor¡­"


    *PFFFFTTTF, HAHAHAHAHA*


    Yoseh, Thomas, and other professors couldn''t suppress themselves and ended up laughing at those words out loud.


    Even some students were secretly laughing while trying their best to hide it from Shin for fear of getting scolded.


    Upon hearing everyone laughing at him, Shin became enraged and said,


    "But you can''t blame me for that, right? It''s the fault of the manufacturing company that they made it in such a way! How the f*ck am I supposed to know about women''s makeup products!!"


    Upon hearing Shin''s words, Yoesh wiped the moisture from the corner of her eyes that had appeared due to excessive laughter and inquired in a curious tone.


    "By the way, what brand was that lipstick?"


    Shin shook his head and replied.


    "Er¡­ it had ''Namo..'' or something written on it¡­ I didn''t properly look at the name-"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Yoseh''s eyes widened in surprise.


    "What!? That''s the most expensive lipstick brand! They only make limited edition stuff¡­ You used that thing like crayon!? You are horrible!! Be thankful that she didn''t divorce you right away!!"


    Shin was taken aback by that and asked in a panicked tone,


    "It''s just a lipstick; surely it can''t be that big of a deal, right?" sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yoseh shook her head and said,


    "Well, imagine you just bought a brand new, highest-spec graphic card for your computer, and your wife used that thing as a vegetable cutting board¡­. How will you feel then?"


    "Or you can see it that way¡­ What if she deletes all of your game progress? How would you feel at the time? That''s the kind of thing you did to her¡­"


    Only after Yoseh told it in a language that a guy could understand did Shin figure out the seriousness of the situation.


    "Er¡­ that will surely make me upset¡­"


    *cough!!*


    "Guys, will you stop talking about all this random stuff?"


    Seeing that Shin and Yoseh were going to keep talking about lipsticks and graphic cards, Thomas hurriedly interjected.


    If he let them talk, they might keep going at it all night long.


    However, after hearing those words, Shin gave Thomas a glance of disapproval.


    "Come on, man, we are on vacation; let us talk freely¡­"


    Thomas shook his head and replied in a calm tone.


    "Surely no one wants to hear about how you mercilessly butchered a branded lipstick for no reason at all¡­"


    Hearing those words, Shin couldn''t help but dodge his eyes.


    "Er, d-don''t mention that, bruh¡­ I feel guilty enough already¡­"


    ¡­


    After hearing the conversation between the professors, Risa glanced at Mark and said,


    "I don''t use makeup¡­ but I can slice my finger and give it to you¡­ You can use the dripping blood to grade papers¡­"


    Mark was so taken aback by those words that he nearly fell down from his chair.


    "The f*ck are you talking about!? What''s wrong with your head, girl!? Are you still feeling ill or something!?"


    (Friendly warning: Don''t try this at home. Risa is a professional assassin, and she is over 18 years old. If you aren''t skilled in the way of assassination, don''t try this sh*t at all¡­.)


    Risa had no choice but to back off after seeing such an adverse reaction from Mark.


    Although she is quite messed up in the head, she still doesn''t want to make Mark hate her, so she always tries to keep the bottom line.


    But sometimes she ends up spouting random, horrific stuff out of habit.


    "Er¡­ but I want to spend more time with you¡­"


    Upon hearing those words, Mark shook his head,


    "Cutting your own finger off and giving it to me doesn''t mean that you get to accompany me¡­ instead of doing something like that¡­"


    "We can just go and hang out like normal, okay¡­ Just don''t do that kind of freakish thing¡­"


    A smile appeared on Risa''s face as she heard him agree to hang out with her.


    This simply meant that he agreed to go on a date with her!


    She was so happy that she immediately forgot about that idea of chopping fingers.


    If she can accompany him as a whole, then why just not do it! That''s even better.


    "Okay!"


    Seeing that Risa agreed, Mark heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''Phew~ nearly had a heart attack after hearing her weird idea¡­ Sometimes I wonder what even goes on inside her head all the time¡­''


    If Mark had the ability to read minds, he would have been completely terrified by the constant thoughts Risa harbors.


    Thankfully, he doesn''t have to hear her praise his handsomeness hundreds of times in her mind.

 Chapter 93 - 93: A Date to be Remembered! (Mark X Risa) Part-2.

    After a bit more chit-chat, the waiters came and served the food, so everyone enjoyed the delicious food and stopped talking.


    It was a mixed diet; the food was extremely delicious.


    I had some meat and some vegetables, perfect for people who want to enjoy the food and its different flavors.


    After an hour or so, everyone had finished eating and was now enjoying drinks and juices.


    Thomas glanced at the students and said,


    "Everyone, you are all free to go back now, sleep early, and wake up early tomorrow. You guys have a long training session waiting for you tomorrow, so keep yourself in your peak condition¡­"


    "As for the students who went to Artavia with us, they are exempt from this training. You guys are allowed the freedom to do whatever you want for the next two days¡­."


    Thomas glanced at Mark and the others, ignoring the jealous expressions of other students, and spoke.


    "The university rarely organizes trips like this; you guys shall make good use of it; don''t waste this rare chance¡­"


    Then Thomas glanced at Jareth and the others and said,


    "We five will not take part in training the students; other professors will be in charge of that, and as Professor Jareth isn''t taking part, you can rest assured that the training won''t be that difficult¡­"


    Thomas said those words solely as a joke so that the students could stay motivated for tomorrow. The training was obviously going to be very harsh, even if Jareth was not the one overlooking it.


    Hearing Thomas''s words, Jareth glanced at him and said,


    "You didn''t purposely have to point out my name like that¡­ I am not that strict, actually¡­"


    A complicated look appeared on the students'' faces at Jareth''s words; they didn''t have words to describe their feelings at that moment.


    But as no one wanted to offend Jareth, they dared not show too much on their faces.


    Except, of course, for one certain bold girl.


    Risa stood up and asked Jareth in an excited tone.


    "Professor, can I go on a date with Mark then?"


    *Cough!* *Ahem..*


    Mark nearly chocked himself with the juice when he heard Risa declare that right in front of the whole class.


    All male students looked at Mark with jealousy, and all female students glared at Risa with hatred in their eyes.


    Following Risa''s words, both of them immediately became the class''s public enemies.


    They had to go and train while Mark and Risa were planning a date; that''s very unfair, in their opinion.


    But no one could complain about it, as Mark and Risa are both from prestigious families and are very strong themselves.


    Mark, in particular, can beat the entire class single-handedly, so others don''t dare be rude in front of him.


    Nowadays, the boys of the class even consciously stay several feet away from Risa for fear of Mark mistaking their intentions.


    Nobody wants to endure the royal family''s wrath simply because Mark mistakenly caught them hanging around Risa.


    ¡­


    Ignoring the complicated expressions on the students faces, Jareth just nodded his head at Risa''s question.


    "As Principal Thomas said earlier, those who went to fight in Artavia are free to do whatever you want in the next two days; just don''t commit any crimes, and you should be fine."


    Even Shin and other professors gave her an okay sign, saying that they were free to do whatever they wanted as long as they weren''t committing any crimes.


    Gazid even went on to say,


    "Student Risa, don''t worry; even if you kill someone, I will handle the matter and say that the person was possessed by miasma¡­ Then we can dismantle the body too; that will leave no evidence behind.. keekeke¡­"


    Yoseh immediately glared at Gazid for saying that.


    "Don''t corrupt the students with your weird ideas! You will make her like you!!"


    "Students don''t listen to Professor Gazid''s words; he is just joking. Always abide by the laws; becoming a criminal is not a good idea¡­"


    The students nodded their heads and slowly left for their rooms.


    The government funded the trip, so Thomas reserved a very expensive hotel and assigned one room to each student and professor.


    While going back, Risa seemed to have stars shining in her eyes.


    She was smiling from ear to ear as she finally got to go on a ''date'' with Mark.


    They are engaged, yet they haven''t gone on dates before because most of the time her father denied permission or she was not able to get Mark to agree.


    But today is different.


    She got Mark to agree, and that''s all that mattered to her.


    If she gets to spend some time alone with Mark, that alone would be enough for Risa to consider this trip successful.


    ''Uh, but what clothes do I wear, though? Er¡­ I might need to ask my sister for assistance in this matter...''


    Her big sister is a married woman; she has experience, so it was a good idea to contact her via phone and ask her for advice.


    ''I better not tell father about this date, though¡­ He will cry rivers, saying, ''My daughter is leaving me! Dad is so sad~'', that old man never changes¡­ ugh¡­'' S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Risa''s father dotes on her a lot; he even interrogated Mark before allowing him to get engaged to Risa.


    If Mark was a good-for-nothing guy with no talent, her father wouldn''t have accepted the engagement.


    Risa is his youngest child, so obviously he cherishes her a lot.


    It was quite a sight when he had to approve Mark with a reluctant face. He knew that no one in the whole younger generation was more talented than Mark, so it was a better choice to marry his daughter to him.


    Reflecting on all this, Risa clenched her fist and said to herself,


    ''I will dress so beautifully that even Mark will be charmed by me!''


    A look of determination flashed through her eyes as she made up her mind about it.


    Meanwhile, Mark, who was walking beside her, had no idea what she was planning in her mind and was looking at her changing expressions with an amused look on her face.


    ''She''s kind of cute when she is busy making evil plans in her mind¡­''

 Chapter 94 - 94: A Date to be Remembered! (Mark X Risa) Part-3.

    Next day, Morning.


    Hotel Main Gate.


    "Sigh~ where is she? She was so excited over the date, and now she''s late¡­ ugh... I would have gone on that training session instead if I knew about this¡­"


    Despite the exemption from the training session for those who fought in Artavia, they still have the option to participate at their own discretion.


    Mark, being a training maniac, was feeling that it''s a waste that he had to miss the training session.


    "But then again, even if I join it¡­ Professor Jareth isn''t going to overlook the training, so it''s pointless¡­"


    In Mark''s opinion, only Jareth qualifies as a true mage. His personality and power suit that of a real cold and powerful wizard who only does whatever he wants.


    Mark wants to become like that in the future.


    His excessive obsession with magic is also one of the reasons why he doesn''t like to hang out with friends and go to parties.


    He''s just too busy getting stronger, and he usually has no time to waste on random stuff.


    For others, partying and going on trips is a way to enjoy and relax, but for Mark, learning about and training his magic is a way to relieve stress.


    He''s basically a workaholic; he''s gotten so used to staying tensed and stressed that now he feels weird if he sits down to relax and thinks that it''s a waste of time.


    If not for the fact that Risa has been pestering him for a long time, he wouldn''t have had contact with a woman in his whole student life.


    ¡­


    Just when Mark was contemplating the training session in his mind, Risa arrived.


    A luxury hotel like this obviously has a cabinet packed with beautiful dresses, so Risa was able to find one that suited her easily.


    She wore a pure white gown; her long black hair waved in the air; and a pinkish-white hat adorned her head.


    Just looking at her, you can tell she put a lot of effort into getting ready.


    Unlike her usual self, when she gives off a distant aura, she looks cute and beautiful today.


    Even Mark was surprised by her.


    And seeing that shocked look on his face, a smug smile appeared on Risa''s face.


    ''Hmph! Told you! Once I make up my mind, I can do anything!''


    Upon observing her today, it would be impossible to infer that she is a maniacal assassin capable of stabbing you three hundred times in the back in a matter of seconds.


    Risa walked over to Mark''s side, crossed her hands, and said in a smug tone,


    "So, how do I look?"


    Mark nodded his head with a smile on his face.


    "You look beautiful! I will give you the score of 1000/10!"


    When she realized that Mark was pleased to see her in those clothes, the smugness on her face intensified, and she said,


    "Well, if you promise to go on dates regularly from now on, I might dress up for you like this more often~"


    The bus arrived for them at that moment, and they immediately boarded it.


    Mark and Risa are indeed rich, but they are here on a trip, so they didn''t bring any cars or bodyguards with them.


    Just the two of them, so they decided to take the public transport to go to their destination.


    Their first destination was a giant museum.


    After about fifteen minutes of traveling via bus, the two of them arrived at the most famous museum in the port city of Urona.


    "You like museums and stuff, so I just picked this one¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa glanced at the tall museum building and nodded her head.


    Then she noticed an ice cream stall nearby and dragged Mark there with her. Both of them ended up buying the same flavor of ice cream before entering the museum.


    While walking towards the museum through the garden area, Risa nibbled on the ice cream and even got some on her face.


    Mark shook his head and brought out his handkerchief to wipe her face clean.


    "Eat slowly, young lady¡­ No one''s going to run away with your ice cream¡­"


    With a pout on her cheeks, Risa responded.


    "Hmph, who knows, What if a certain golden butterfly snatched it away from me¡­"


    Hearing those cryptic words, Mark shook his head and said them with a complicated expression on his face.


    "Surely that golden butterfly doesn''t have the courage to steal the ice cream from the mouth of a fierce black cat¡­"


    At Mark''s words, Risa glanced at the massive statue of a mermaid placed in the middle of the garden and said,


    "That golden butterfly is strong, though¡­. I wonder if the black cat will be able to even compete with it¡­" S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At those words, Mark could only smile, as he knew that Risa was praising him.


    "Well, the black cat is of good nature; maybe the golden butterfly will like to maintain a good relationship with her¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa stretched out her small hand and didn''t say anything, but Mark understood what she wanted.


    Thus, he also raised his hand and held her small hand without hesitation.


    She had already put in so much effort for this date that it would be rude of him to deny her efforts now.


    While walking after holding her hand, Mark could feel that the garden''s scenery appeared to have brightened up more.


    ''This isn''t that bad either, I guess¡­ I might actually like this feeling¡­''


    Mark is a battle junkie; he fights with training golems in the training area all day long. Rarely does he ever relax.


    But today, Risa made him realize that he was missing out on life a lot. Aside from training, there is such a vast and colorful world outside waiting for him to explore.


    ''Perhaps I should go on a journey to explore the world one day in the future¡­ Well, if she agrees, I don''t mind bringing her with me either¡­''


    At that moment, both of them thought the exact same thing in their minds, and that was,


    ''I hope that every day can be as happy and peaceful as today¡­''


    Flower petals flew in the air and added more charm to the scenery; maybe even the flowers had agreed to their words that day.

 Chapter 95 - 95: Salvation or Mercy? Part-1.

    Port City, Urona, Outskirts.


    A hidden valley deep in the mountain range.


    ''Hmm, it should be here, I think¡­ I rarely came here in the game, so my memories are kind of fuzzy¡­'' sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Standing in the air, Jareth glanced at the small valley hidden under the cover of gigantic trees.


    ''Who could think that a whole high-grade dungeon is sitting not too far away from the city... It''s really well hidden¡­''


    Usually, Forest Ranger Squads are responsible for discovering the formation of new dungeons before they pose a threat to the nearby population.


    But sometimes, even those professionals end up missing one or two dungeons, and these dungeons cause a lot of problems later.


    ''This dungeon has a grade-1 seal on it¡­ Even if grade 2 mages were standing right in front of it, they would still not be able to discover this dungeon¡­''


    These types of forest ranger squads usually only have grade-3 people as the strongest, so it''s impossible for them to discover a dungeon that''s been purposely hidden by someone with a grade-1 seal.


    But unlike others, Jareth already knew the general location of this dungeon from the game; he also possesses ''Mana singularity'', which allows him to easily sense even the slightest bit of mana fluctuations in the area.


    Upon arriving, he immediately noticed the mana fluctuation of the grade-1 seal, which allowed him to easily track down the location.


    For others, it might take months to pinpoint the exact location of this seal using mana detection equipment, but for Jareth, it was as simple as breathing.


    ''Forget it; let''s go down and check¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and flew down into the valley.


    He landed on the wet soil and noticed a small ravine nearby and a familiar, half-broken statue of a demon.


    ''Yeah, this is the place¡­''


    The statue belonged to a demon god called ''Therath''; his demon cult is said to have been destroyed thoroughly 800 or so years ago.


    This statue once used to keep an eye on the entrance of the demon cult''s headquarters and make sure that no unknown person got in without the other cult member''s knowledge.


    Basically, it was a guarding mechanism to protect the security of the cult.


    Eight centuries have passed since the cult''s destruction, and the statue, along with the defense mechanism, most likely suffered damage from thunderstorms.


    ''This statue is the proof that demons have always been looking to destroy the human race... It was ''Therath'' before, and now it''s ''Azaroth''; this battle with demons doesn''t seem to have an end to it¡­''


    From the game''s description, one thing was clear: mana and miasma are just two sides of the same coin.


    Mana produces magic, and miasma produces corruption; both are polar opposites of each other, but they are fundamentally the same thing.


    Jareth remembered a theory given by a famous game theorist,


    [Unless Mana is eliminated from this world, Miasma will continue to exist¡­ These two exist in perfect harmony; they are established ''laws'' of the world and can''t be considered from just a simple perspective¡­]


    ''If this theory is correct, then this game or this world really doesn''t have a really good ending¡­ Even if we get rid of the demon now, there will still be miasma in this world, and it will continue to give birth to more demons¡­''


    ''This is just an endless loop¡­''


    Even in the past, when the Demon ''Therath''s'' cult was destroyed, people were unable to address the underlying cause; it is likely that the demon left because it had grown tired of tampering with human life.


    And now, another demon has taken its place.


    Maybe it will also play with human lives for a long time before it gets bored and drifts away somewhere else in the vast cosmos.


    For a demon god, time doesn''t seem to exist at all; they live so long that short-lived humans can''t even comprehend their insane lifespans.


    Jareth glanced at the fallen statue and pondered.


    ''Actually, I am more surprised at how the human race is still surviving after getting targeted by such powerful beings for so long¡­''


    To Jareth, it didn''t matter if the human race could leave this planet and become a great civilization or not; what mattered to him was his own life.


    His main goal is to find answers for himself, and he has a feeling that these demons and stuff definitely hold a lot of mystery hidden in them.


    ''Sigh~ I can''t believe a day has come when even I have no choice but to search for clues about demons and stuff¡­''


    Usually, only those who want to create a demon cult try to search for clues about demons.


    ''Well, this is life¡­ It''s always so strange; things change without your notice¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and placed his hand on his chest.


    [Basic Magic: Enhanced Mana Barrier!]


    The already strong barrier around Jareth became even stronger when Jareth poured a lot of mana into it.


    ''Let''s go¡­''


    *Step*


    Jareth took one step towards the dilapidated cave near the end of the valley, and five poison-coated arrows flew out from various directions.


    *Clang!*


    The arrows collided with the mana barrier and fell down with a thud.


    Jareth glanced at the fallen arrows and noticed that even the iron arrowhead had become green as these arrows had been soaked in poison for a long time.


    ''If someone below grade 1 gets hit by this, they are sure to die within a matter of seconds¡­''


    Although those arrows were deadly, Jareth already knew that he was going to encounter some traps; that''s why he cast the barrier around him.


    That demon statue used to be a mechanism that would scan a person''s mana, and if the person was indeed a cult member, the statue would send a predetermined mana fluctuation to deactivate all traps.


    But now that the statue has already been destroyed, these traps are impossible to deactivate.


    Moreover, Jareth can''t replicate the mana fluctuation that can deactivate these traps unless he senses that mana fluctuation himself at least once.


    Producing the right mana fluctuation with knowing the fluctuations parameters beforehand is a daunting task that will require him to analyze all traps and their magic circuits.


    But Jareth didn''t want to waste all that time just trying to deactivate these measly traps; he could simply power through all this without even bothering to worry about the damage.


    Jareth took the next step, and two gigantic stone golems crawled out of the ground to attack him.


    *Hostile threat detected!**Engaging in combat*


    The stone golems have some voice commands pre-built into their mana circuits, so it''s not a big deal that they can say some small, pre-determined voice lines before engaging in combat with a hostile threat.


    "You guys are crawling out of the ground¡­. But did I give you permission for that?"


    Jareth''s eyes went cold in an instant, and he waved his hand.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    A massive magic circle the size of a one-story house appeared beside Jareth and fired a concentrated beam of mana towards a golem.


    The beam blasted off the golem into pieces in an instant, and then Jareth made the magic circle turn in the other direction, which caused the mana beam to slice the second golem into two in an instant.


    Even the boulders and trees nearby were sliced off into two pieces, and the cut was very smooth and sharp.


    ''Kinda feels like I''m firing laser beams or something like they used to do in movies¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and walked slowly towards the entrance of the dilapidated cave.


    More golems appeared to attack him as he kept moving towards the cave.


    But Jareth just waved his finger and sliced off all the golems with his mana beam, like he was chopping some vegetables.


    ''Just how many are there¡­ There weren''t that many in the game¡­''


    In the game, there were only two golems guarding the main entrance of the dungeon, but now Jareth has already chopped off nearly fifty of these golems, and the whole valley has been destroyed by now.


    The marks left by the mana beam are very intimidating.


    Destroyed golem bodies lay scattered throughout the valley.


    Only after Jareth dealt with the fifty-first golem did everything go quiet.


    ''Wait, could it be that the protagonist in the game didn''t encounter more than two golems because he has amazing luck? No, that''s not it¡­''


    ''Perhaps the attack was done according to strength¡­''


    When the protagonist entered this high-grade dungeon, he didn''t go too deep, and he only encountered two golems at the entrance.


    This implies that the infiltrator''s strength influences the dungeon''s difficulty.


    Jareth is very strong; that is likely the reason why all golems were dispatched to deal with him.


    ''Whatever, I will just blast through it all¡­''


    Jareth came to this place not because he wanted to save the people from a hidden danger; he came here because he wanted to get some ''Credit points'', and if some chances can be gotten along the way, then it would be even better.


    ''I feel that I am kind of becoming more and more selfish as time passes¡­ Is this body affecting me or something?''


    As he wasn''t sure about the situation, Jareth stopped thinking about it and entered the dilapidated cave without hesitation.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    This time Jareth only created a small glowing orb, as the space here is small and he doesn''t need too much lighting either; a small one was enough to show him the way in this dark space.


    ''Let''s see what we got here...''

 Chapter 96 - 96: Salvation or Mercy? Part-2.

    *krraaaaaalllllllll*


    As Jareth walked deeper into the dungeon, he started hearing a very strange and creepy shout coming from somewhere in the cave''s depths.


    ''That ''thing'' is pissed by my presence¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Mana Interruption!]


    Jareth retrieved his grimoire from the space ring and cast the mana interruption spell to stop the brain waves that came with that creepy shout.


    ''That ''thing'' attacks the brain and causes a ton of mental damage; it''s better to keep mana interruption activated when dealing with this¡­''


    In the game, Jareth used to bring a mind-protecting artifact with him whenever he came to this dungeon.


    That thing is rare, very expensive, and only works for a limited time.


    But now that Jareth already has an insanely strong mana interruption spell due to the existence of mana singularity, he can easily counter these brain waves without even bothering to buy some artifacts for it.


    ''How times have changed¡­ It''s like I am using a boss character to deal with another boss¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and continued moving deeper steadily.


    But then he stopped for a moment and glanced at a wall on the side.


    ''Hmm? Is there a hidden room here?...''


    In the game, walls are unbreakable objects that remain unbroken even when you fire continent-destroying spells at them.


    You can''t even break ordinary furniture, as it is considered an indestructible item by the game mechanism.


    And that''s because the game developers haven''t put the animations for breaking a wall in the game.


    As a result, no one must have discovered this hidden room because the wall was unbreakable.


    ''Why the heck did developers even add this room when they weren''t going to let the players go inside it?''


    Jareth shook his head and kicked the wall.


    *Boom!*


    The fragile wall broke apart in an instant, and Jareth walked in without any hesitation.


    The purification of mana has enhanced his body to such an extent that he can now lift a submarine with one hand.


    Breaking this wall was just a piece of cake for him.


    *Step**Step*


    As the whole room was empty, Jareth''s footsteps rang out throughout the room quite loudly.


    ''Hehe, if it were me from the previous life, I would have been quite nervous walking in a dangerous hidden cave like this, but now¡­ sigh, time really changes a lot¡­''


    Except for a small stone tablet, there was nothing in the whole room.


    Jareth walked over to the stone tablet and noticed that the writing on it was actually the same ''English'' as his previous life.


    The current language in this world is a version that evolved from ''English'' as well; it''s likely that this world once had the original English, which slowly evolved over time.


    ''The game developers were too lazy to create a new lore accurate language, so they just said that the language here is English¡­ Well, that''s actually beneficial for me, though¡­''


    ''If all ancient tablets are written in English, I can easily read them¡­''


    The words written on the stone tablet were,


    [Yodo, Marco, and Ramos were once skinned alive here¡­]


    ''Oh! So that''s how it is¡ªthis stone table is an Easter egg! The game developers actually put the names of the three story writers of the game on this tablet!''


    The game developers often engaged in arguments with the writers due to the game''s complexity and the peculiar and repetitive storyline they had provided.


    ''The developers must have put their name here and mentioned that they were punished because they hated the writers¡­ Well, I thought they would give some kind of item or something-''


    *Boom!*


    Just when Jareth was having a moment of nostalgia while thinking about his past life, the stone tablet on the ground exploded, and the stone debris flew everywhere at a speed much faster than bullets!


    Fortunately, Jareth was already protected with a mana shield, and he wasn''t hurt at all.


    But after seeing that the stone had burst apart, black lines appeared all over Jareth''s face.


    ''Those sh*tty developers!! They made it so that even if a player somehow glitches past the wall and sees this tablet, the player would die from the tablet blasting on their face¡­''


    ''Tch! The developers of this game are really cunning people¡­''


    *kirrririiririr*


    Just when Jareth was cursing at those developers in his mind, he heard a sound from behind, and a horribly mutated beast slowly crawled into the room through the broken wall.


    ''Ugh, I forgot there were these disgusting things here too¡­''


    That creature had a humanoid body, but it was walking on all fours like a dog.


    Moreover, its tummy was facing the sky and the back was facing the ground, its eyeballs were hanging out of their bleeding sockets; and its limbs were bent in an unnatural direction.


    The skin over that creature was almost falling off his body, and its veins and muscle tissues beneath were showing, and that creature was naked.


    That thing looked so d*mn creepy with its big tongue flailing out of its dislocated jaw that even Jareth was frowning while looking at it.


    ''This thing looks more disgusting than in the game¡­ At least the game had some censoring measures in it, but now¡­ tch!''


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    Jareth instantly summoned ten mana beams, bombarding the creature with them until only ashes remained.


    The creature kept screaming creepily while getting slaughtered by those mana beams.


    ''Sigh, I have added one more human to my list of murders¡­''


    Yes indeed! That creepy and horrible creature was a human, of course!


    That creature was a tormented and tortured victim of the demon cult.


    Horrible human experiments are not unique to the ''False Dome'' cult; all demon cults have done them before, and even the righteous people of the empire have done them before too.


    ''I am more surprised about what these creatures are eating to survive, and how are they still alive after eight hundred years?....''


    The game doesn''t explain the lore of this dungeon too much; they didn''t show any cut scenes in the game where these mutated creatures were eating food.


    ''I am sure that if the mages outside find out that there is something in this dungeon that can prolong their lives, they will go to any lengths to grab that thing for themselves¡­''


    ''No matter the cost¡­''


    Ignoring the ashes scattered on the ground, Jareth left the hidden room and started to go deeper into the cave.


    *KaroKARIKARO!*


    Soon enough, a similar mutated creature came into Jareth''s view, but this time it had wings on its stomach and was flying in the air.


    In an attempt to attack, the creature pointed the horn on its half-broken head at Jareth.


    But before it could even do that, Jareth blasted it off with mana beams till it turned into ashes.


    ''These creatures can regenerate; it''s better to destroy them thoroughly¡­''


    As Jareth walked deeper, the cave got darker and darker. He saw human-like creatures latched on the floor and crawling slowly with the help of their fingers and several eyes protruding out of the arm''s skin.


    These crawling creatures were harmless and didn''t attack Jareth, but he still blasted off all of them.


    No matter what kind of strange and creepy-looking creature came in his way, Jareth blasted right through them and made his way inside without any problems.


    ''This place is giving me weird vibes¡­ It looks more horrible than in the game¡­''


    The game was not so detailed when he saw it before, but now that he''s seeing it all with his own eyes, even Jareth can''t help but frown.


    ''If it were some weak-hearted person here, they would have already fainted by seeing the horribly mutated creatures in this place¡­ This place is like hell on earth¡­''


    Jareth was sure that all of this was just a byproduct of the main experiments that were conducted here; the main thing lies in the deepest part of the cave.


    Nearly three hours passed, even with the help of mana detection. It still took Jareth a very long time to make it past the massive underground maze.


    If not for the fact that Jareth''s mana detection skill has improved a lot due to mana singularity, he would have most certainly lost in this place, and it would have been very difficult to make it out of here alive.


    ''I think I have traveled at least twenty to thirty kilometers just in these caves¡­ This place is extremely vast¡­''


    The maze wasn''t that big in the game, but now that it''s real life, things are more detailed and extreme.


    ''I think I know why there are still so many mutated creatures in this maze even after 800 years¡­ ''That thing'' is not only feeding them but is also creating them on a regular basis¡­''


    There must have been others who would have come from some other unknown entrances in this dungeon, and they must have starved to death in this place while trying to find a way out.


    This place is so vast that even Jareth needed to use his mana detection at full capacity to figure out a way through it.


    But even after using the right way, Jareth still had to cover a long distance, and if someone didn''t know the way, they would likely have to travel more, which would eventually starve them to death.


    You can''t eat those mutated beasts because their blood is acidic, and even the soil starts to melt when their blood splashes on the floor. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And once a person dies in this dungeon, his body will then be used to create new mutated beasts.


    ''This place is simply best for developing PTSD¡­''

 Chapter 97 - 97: Salvation or Mercy? Part-3.

    "Here it is¡­"


    A massive, half-broken iron door appeared in Jareth''s view.


    Some of the massive tentacles attached to the gate likely caused the half-broken state of the massive door.


    Those tentacles had human-like skin and hundreds of humanoid eyes on them everywhere; just by looking at that creepy thing, one might feel like throwing up.


    ''This familiar hideous look and this familiar creepy glare from the hundreds of eyes¡­. Yes, this is it¡­''


    Jareth raised his hand, and a massive magic circle appeared in front of him.


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Fire of Purification!]


    After Jareth''s mana purity improved, all his skills improved as a whole, so even his fire magic got a small boost, which was enough to burn the iron door and those tentacles.


    *Boom!*


    The fire immediately burned the skin and eyes of the tentacles, causing them to retract back inside.


    The broken iron door couldn''t handle it anymore, and it fell to the ground as the iron on it slowly turned into liquid metal due to the burning purple fire.


    Jareth ignored it and flew inside the deepest area of the cave without hesitation.


    What appeared in front of him was so hideous that just by looking at that scene, anyone might end up having nightmares.


    In the massive chamber, a huge tree made up of flesh and eyes stood tall.


    Its branches were made up of those human skin covered tentacles, and its whole trunk was covered in human-like hearts.


    ''It''s just as disgusting as it always was¡­''


    Jareth has seen this horrible thing in the game, so he wasn''t that surprised, but as things are real now, things are more detailed now, which certainly caused him to frown a bit.


    ''Imagine being a curious person who worked hard and went through all the difficulties to cross those monster-filled mages and reached here to find this disgusting sh*t¡­''


    ''Absolutely diabolical¡­''


    *Karrrraaaaaaaaaa!!!!*


    "No point sending brain wave attacks towards me; they are useless¡­."


    Jareth shook his head at that futile act of resistance and waved his hand in the air.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    As Jareth cast mana beams to attack the other party, two small humanoid faces appeared on the tree''s trunk and started to cry tears of blood.


    The hundreds of massive tentacles immediately attacked Jareth and the magic circles of the mana beams.


    The attacking speed of those tentacles was extremely fast; it was so fast that Jareth''s mana shield was facing thousands of attacks in a single second.


    But Jareth was not going to be outdone at all.


    ''You think only you can do a lot of attacks?...''


    Jareth waved his hand, and the grimoire floating beside him shined and amplified his attacks. He also cast even more mana beams.


    Concentrated mana covered the tentacles, allowing them to destroy Jareth''s magic circle. However, as Jareth increased the number of magic circles and their power, the tentacles began to break apart one by one.


    Jareth''s mana beams blasted through the tentacles with sheer brute force.


    Seeing that all of the tentacles were busy getting rid of the mana circles, Jareth seized the opportunity and flew to the back side of the tree.


    The two children, like faces on the trunk of the tree, immediately moved through the skin and appeared on the back side to attack Jareth.


    But Jareth had already done what he needed.


    [Basic Magic: Condensed Mana Bomb!]


    A massive magic circle appeared above the tree, and a gigantic ball of condensed mana appeared out of it.


    The tentacles tried to stop that mana bomb, but the mana beams didn''t let them get close.


    ''This is it¡­''


    With a wave of his hand, the condensed bomb fell onto the tree, resulting in a massive explosion of mana.


    The explosion was so strong that it caused the ground to tremble, and even the tectonic plate of the planet trembled for a second due to that explosion.


    That explosion was made from a mana bomb created with the purest mana condensed to the extreme with the help of a mana singularity.


    Its power was equivalent to five nuclear bombs being detonated at the same time.


    Nearly half of the mutated creatures in this underground dungeon perished as a result of the massive shockwave that destroyed even the dungeon walls.


    Some died from the ceiling collapsing on them; others were unlucky enough to get hit by the chaotic mana; and those who were the closest got blasted off into meat paste.


    ''Tch! That attack used nearly ? the amount of my total mana¡­ I can only use this three more times¡­''


    A massive crater made up of lava and charred earth appeared in Jareth''s sight once the dust cleared up a bit.


    The tree was nowhere to be seen, and even its roots got melted as the ground was directly turned into molten lava by that mana blast.


    But even after all that, the tree still has not died.


    It absorbed the lava in the ground and started to grow up at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    Even the insides of that trunk were made of human bones and muscle tissues.


    Seeing them regenerate, Jareth felt a bit repulsed.


    ''This amazing regeneration¡­ well, I knew this would happen¡­''


    Jareth raised his hand toward the sky and triggered another mana bomb.


    Jareth detonated another mana bomb at that regenerating, strangely mutated tree, with the same power as five nukes.


    *Boom!*


    And yet, the outcome was still the same.


    But Jareth didn''t care; he brought out mana potions from his space ring and started to blast the mutated tree into smithereens again and again.


    Those continuous explosions created massive cracks in the tectonic plate and caused earthquakes.


    The dungeon nearly collapsed on its own, crushing all the mutated monsters to death.


    At that moment, Jareth massacred a whole dungeon colony of mutated creatures in just a few minutes.


    He ruthlessly caused the deaths of all of the mutated creatures in the dungeon, and his attacks caused the dungeon to collapse on itself, causing it to get buried. Now no one can find this place even if they want to.


    But Jareth didn''t care about these things.


    *BOOM!!!**BOOOM!!**BOOOM!!!*


    One after another, Jareth destroyed that mutated tree ten times in a row.


    Only then did the regeneration speed of the tree slow down to a very low level.


    ''Phew~ finally drained it out of energy¡­''


    Yes, all this while, Jareth was aiming for this. He wanted to make the tree exhaust its energy so that its regeneration would slow down.


    The tree slowly regenerated into its small faces, and the two faces opened their eyes, and unlike before, their eyes seemed to have gained consciousness.


    The smaller face opened its mouth and asked in a confused, tired, and creepy voice.


    "Who are you?.... What do you¡­ want from us¡­. cursed children?"


    The bigger face opened its mouth and added,


    "Let us¡­ cursed children lay¡­. here in peace; why disturb¡­ us?... We never hurt¡­ anyone¡­"


    Jareth sneered at those two faces and said,


    "Hahaha, funny you are saying that even though you have been absorbing the remnant life force of the dead for centuries now¡­"


    Jareth knew from the in-game lore that this tree is located a few kilometers away from the port city of Urona.


    Right above this cave''s ceiling is a massive layer of rock and soil, and above it is the ocean.


    "Your tentacles are spread far and wide in this dungeon like tree roots, and they even spread to the surface¡­"


    "Whenever someone dies and gets buried by their family, you use your roots to absorb their remnant life force, and then you use that life force to incubate new mutated creatures¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the gigantic incubating eggs and glands nearby and shook his head in disgust.


    In the game, you fight this boss and just leave, but you never get to find out the lore of this tree.


    Although you get to talk with the two faces on the tree trunk after defeating the boss, they just say a few lines and then fall silent.


    But now that Jareth has the opportunity, he wants to know more.


    "Tell me, why do you do all that?" sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The two faces fell silent for a while and didn''t reply. Just when Jareth was getting disappointed in them, the bigger face suddenly opened its mouth and said,.


    "We want¡­. to create a new vessel¡­. for us both¡­ We want to be free¡­. from this curse of endless torture¡­"


    Jareth''s interest was piqued, and he continued to listen silently.


    "Our souls are stuck¡­ in this mutated¡­ tree-like body; we want¡­ to separate our¡­ souls¡­"


    "In this body, our souls collide and¡­. Resist¡­. It causes extreme pain¡­ We have been suffering¡­ the pain¡­ of soul¡­ torture¡­ for many years¡­."


    Jareth glanced at the two faces and said,


    "So, these mutated monsters that you incubated with life force¡­ are failed products? That''s why they wander outside like this?"


    The two heads agreed with Jareth''s words.


    Curiosity flashed in Jareth''s eyes.


    "So, you guys want to abandon this infinitely regenerating body and want to become humans?"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, the larger face exclaimed,


    "We want to be¡­. Normal again¡­ We want to¡­ escape this torture¡­ My name is Phoebus, and my younger brother¡­ is Aphos¡­"


    Phoebus and Aphos were the names of the two souls that were living in this mutated, weird body while suffering from endless torture.


    "How did the two of you end up like this? Tell me about it¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Aphos replied in a hesitant tone.


    "It''s a long¡­ story¡­"


    At those words, Jareth just nodded his head and said,


    "No problem, continue; maybe I will be able to find some solution for you after hearing your story¡­"

 Chapter 98 - 98: Salvation or Mercy? Part-4.

    At Jareth''s insistence, the faces on the tree trunk started to tell their story to him, and Jareth listened to their story with great interest.


    The story was quite long, but to summarize it all in short, Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Phoebus and Aphos are twins; they once lived far away in the northern areas, where it snowed every single day.


    Their parents were beggars in that small village at the foot of a snow-covered mountain, and they often had nothing to eat.


    Their father frequently went to the mountain range to search for food.


    That man had no hunting skills, so he couldn''t even bring back wild animals to cook; he used to scavenge what other predators had left behind after hunting and eating other prey.


    Although they were living a malnourished life, the twins were pleased to stay with their parents.


    But one day, a massive snowstorm appeared.


    That snowstorm lasted for nearly a month, and as a result, the father didn''t even dare go to the mountain range to look for food.


    A hungry stomach can make humans lose their rationality and turn them into beasts.


    The same happened with that beggar family.


    The father killed his wife with a wood-chopping axe and then resorted to cannibalism.


    The twins were horrified by this, but they couldn''t go against their father as they were powerless and malnourished ten-year-old kids.


    Hunger took over their minds, and they also followed in their father''s footsteps. They ate their mother''s flesh and survived the snowstorm.


    But when rationality returned to their minds, everything came crashing down.


    Their father went insane and lost his mind in guilt, and the people of the village couldn''t tolerate a mentally ill person who was purposely disturbing the lives of other villagers.


    Consequently, the enraged villagers soon banished the three of them.


    They wandered the mountain range for days, ate whatever seemed edible, and survived for several days.


    Eventually, they found a small, hidden cave and decided to rest there for the night before heading to another place.


    Although the twins had to wander around with their mentally ill father, they were happy that, at least, they didn''t have to be stared at by the villagers whenever they went out.


    Heavy snowfall happened that dark night, and the three of them shivered continuously due to the freezing temperatures.


    The twins were intelligent enough to light up a bonfire; otherwise, the three of them would have really caught frostbite that night.


    But lighting that bonfire to keep themselves warm was their biggest mistake in life.


    A strange mutated bear caught the smell of burning wood.


    A man wearing the robe of the ''cult of Therath'' was sitting on the back of that bear and traveling leisurely from this mountain range.


    When the bear smelled the burning wood, it led the cult member to the hidden cave, and everything instantly went downhill from there.


    The cult member laughed at the three prey that he had found at random.


    He immediately cast a fire spell to kill the twins'' father, and then fed his dead body to his pet bear right in front of the twins'' eyes.


    No matter how the twins begged for mercy, the cult member didn''t listen; he bound them with magic cuffs and took them with him when he left the next morning.


    Whenever the twins'' fell on the ground from exhaustion due to walking too much, the bear will roar at them and force them to walk.


    They had to travel for days with hardly any food, and their legs began to bleed as the skin became damaged.


    Days went by, and the twins reached a small underground chamber. In that chamber, mutilated human corpses littered the ground, and numerous workers utilized these corpses to craft various items.


    Some were using their bones to make accessories, some were using their skins to make decorations, etc.


    Blood had painted the floor so red that even the stones had changed color.


    The sight of everything was so horrifying and repulsive that it terrified the ten-year-old children to their core.


    By that time, they knew that their fate was sealed and they would die a horrible death that day.


    But it seems that the strings of destiny had planned more pain for them.


    A high-ranking member arrived in the underground chamber that day, and he found out that the two children had an unusually high amount of mana in their bodies.


    They were both talented, and they were extremely suitable for sacrifice.


    The high-ranking member took the children with him to the headquarters of the cult of Therath.


    The cult was at its peak in those days; the whole world feared them, and no one dared object to them.


    That high-ranking member himself was a sadistic mad scientist, and he was researching healing magic.


    He wanted to create a self-working healing magic that could regenerate the user''s body infinitely, without any problems.


    His past experiments had all failed, but now his preparations were complete.


    And the appearance of these two talented children gave him the final piece of the puzzle.


    He conducted experiments on the twins and used a variety of cruel methods on them.


    He dug out their brains and embedded them into a tree severely infected with miasma and corruption.


    Then he cast the forbidden spell of ''soul merge'' on the tree.


    The power of miasma and corruption had already deeply taken root in the tree, and the addition of those two brains gave it consciousness, memories, and a will of its own.


    The experiment was a success from the perspective of the cult member, but it was a great punishment for the twins.


    Even though they were twins, their souls were incompatible with each other and refused to merge properly.


    This caused their souls to collide with each other again and again inside this artificial body.


    This collision of souls caused massive and endless pain for them, which stems directly from the soul and can''t be solved by any physical healing methods.


    Only grade 1 or higher-level healing magicians can heal a person''s soul and fix an issue like this.


    But a grade-1 healing mage is so rare that you can count on your fingers the number of grade-1 healing mages in the long annals of history.


    There were barely three grade-1 healing mages in the past two millennia. Thus, during that experiment, there were no grade-1 healing mages to help solve this problem with souls.


    Even necromancers can only embed a soul into a dead body and control the body; they can''t dig out the soul from a living entity''s body and can''t interfere with the soul of a living entity.


    And even if there was someone capable of helping them at that time, the twins likely still wouldn''t have gotten any help because there was no profit for the other party in helping them.


    In the first place, why would a grade 1 healer even help a demon cult who wants to destroy the very life the healers want to protect.


    So, time passed, and the twins continued to suffer endlessly without any relief in sight.


    They couldn''t even scream because they didn''t have the ability to talk in the first few years.


    Only after they awakened telepathy could they talk.


    But by the time they were able to talk, they had already gotten used to all that pain, and now they wanted to be free of it.


    The mages destroyed the cult of Therath after years of struggle.


    The person who embedded the twins'' brains in the miasma-infected tree actually ended up locking the door of the chamber from the inside and survived the attack on the cult.


    The attackers weren''t able to break the magic barrier on the gate, so they cast another barrier of their own and sealed the door from outside.


    The researcher got stuck in the hall along with the humanoid skin covered tree.


    Time passed, and the researcher died due to extreme starvation. His lack of social interaction drove him insane.


    In the final moments of his life, the researcher stared at the tree that was his greatest creation with a smile.


    Years passed, and the cult suffered from landslides and thunderstorms.


    Its ruins got buried in the ground, and only the maze that was created to confuse others was left intact, along with the hall that had the tree inside.


    The tree finally gained the ability to control its branches and roots, and the first thing it did was beat the researcher''s skeleton into powder.


    Once done with that, they spread the branches and roots in search of more life force.


    Although the tree can keep regenerating by absorbing mana with its body, the speed of regeneration is considerably slower.


    Using a stored amount of life force is a much faster way to regenerate; that''s why the tree was able to regenerate so fast for ten times when Jareth attacked it first.


    But its regeneration speed slowed down afterwards, as now it''s only regenerating on mana.


    Moreover, after continuously regenerating and living for eight centuries, the mutated tree has already tapped into the power of the ''Law'' of ''regeneration'', and now its regeneration won''t stop at all.


    In other words, this mutated tree is immortal.


    Unless you eliminate the law of mana from the space-time fabric in this place, you will not be able to properly kill this tree as it will keep regenerating.


    This is also the reason why they are trying to make a new body; they want to escape this unkillable body.


    {Immortality is not a blessing; it''s a curse. It''s a punishment that can drive even the most stable soul to madness...} (Source: Trust me bro...)

 Chapter 99 - 99: Salvation or Mercy? Part-5.

    "I see¡­ So, what you are trying to say is that your body is immortal¡­ Unless someone helps you transfer your souls into new bodies, you won''t be free from this?"


    The face on the tree agreed to Jareth''s words and said,


    "Yes, there might be other ways, but this one is the most reliable and easiest way¡­ to get it done¡­"


    "We are creating these bodies¡­ as vessels, but we have yet to succeed; maybe¡­ we will succeed in the future¡­"


    The tree branch shook, and it gave Jareth a potion.


    "We condensed life force¡­. into the purest form and turned it into a sacred liquid; if you take it, your life force will get extended¡­ It can also work as a one-time healing item¡­"


    Jareth tilted his head in confusion and said,


    "This seems precious; why are you giving it to me then?"


    A smile appeared on the face of the older twin after hearing Jareth''s question.


    "We have seen many strong men in the past; you are definitely one of the strongest people we have ever seen, and we would like to ask¡­ for your assistance if possible¡­"


    "This potion is¡­ a bargaining chip¡­"


    The mutated tree has been in the cult for a long time, and many powerful wizards have visited it over the years, so they have seen the aura of strong people, and they easily guessed that Jareth was strong.


    "All the vessels outside¡­ serve as an eye for us; we have seen you fight; you were unstoppable¡­. by everything, and we would like to¡­ get help from you."


    "With only basic magic, you cleared out so many of the vessels¡­ Your attribute magic must be¡­ even stronger!"


    The twins misunderstood that Jareth''s magical capabilities were extremely strong and that he was an exceptional mage.


    His display of power with basic magic led them to believe that his attribute magic might be even stronger, but in reality, his fire magic is significantly weaker.


    Jareth placed the potion in his space ring and then said,


    "Are you not worried that I will take this potion and run away?"


    The older twin just smiled at those words and said,


    "No¡­ My intuition tells me you won''t betray¡­ My intuition has always been¡­ very good¡­"


    Jareth was quite surprised that this twin could still smile after centuries of torture and pain. The mind of this kid must have really been very strong; others would have already gone insane by now.


    He nodded his head and said,


    "Well, let''s talk about what kind of help you need?"


    The tree roots moved and broke the ground beneath to bring out two buried vessels.


    "We have two test vessels ready¡­ Here, whenever we try to embed our life force and soul in it, our mana goes ¡­. out of control and the experiment fails, which causes these¡­ vessels to go insane¡­"


    "We need help¡­ in controlling the¡­ mana¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth nodded his head, and he smiled in his mind.


    "Good, when it comes to mana control, there''s no better than me in this world¡­."


    "Try doing the process now; I will control the chaotic mana for you¡­"


    Jareth came here to just kill and be done with this boss, but as it turned out, he got curious about the lore of this boss and found out that this tree is actually immortal.


    Now he wants to give it a try to see if he can change things by helping this tree boss.


    In the game, the protagonist only has to defeat this boss three times, and it completely stops regenerating for the time being.


    It''s likely that the game developers put the lore that the tree will regenerate again in several years or something.


    Basically, it''s that type of boss where you defeat it and make it reset its evolution cycle.


    Once defeated, this mutated tree remains a small tree sapling, slowly regenerating, and it never grows back to full length until the end of the game.


    But it''s real life now; not only does the tree have a lot of stored life force, but its regeneration is more accurate and much faster.


    That''s why Jareth had to blast it to smithereens so many times before its regeneration ability finally slowed down.


    ¡­


    At Jareth''s agreement, the mutated tree placed its branches on the two vessels, and it began to embed its life force in them both.


    Jareth stretched out his hand and stabilized the chaotic mana and the disturbance in the mana produced by that massive life force transfer.


    Happy smiles started to appear on the two faces as they could finally sense that they were about to become free.


    But before the process could even complete its initial phase, the two vessels exploded and sprayed blood and their internal organs everywhere on the ground.


    Thankfully, Jareth was already protected by the mana shield, so he didn''t get smeared with blood.


    A look of great sadness appeared on the faces of the twins.


    "Why is it¡­. Still not working?¡­"


    Hearing that question, Jareth glanced at the broken organs splattered on the ground and said in a solemn tone,


    "It''s likely that your body has already manifested the ''law'' of ''regeneration'' in your body itself¡­"


    The twins had no idea what Jareth was talking about, and they asked in confusion,


    "What does that mean?"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "You see, in this world, there are techniques that can control certain ''Laws'' of the world, like ''Sword Intent'' that controls the ''Law'' of ''Sword'' or ''Mana Singularity'' that controls the ''Law'' of ''Mana''¡­" sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "These are skills; they are harmless to the body¡­ but sometimes things can go a step further than that¡­"


    "Instead of you controlling the ''Law'', which ''Law'' manifests into your physical body and transforms it accordingly, which is harmful in one way or other¡­"


    When the ''Law'' of ''Sword'' manifests into someone''s body, it forms the ''Sword Heart'', and when the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' manifests into someone''s body, it forms the ''Mana Brain''.


    "Just like those, the ''Law'' of ''Regeneration'' has manifested into your body, and it has become aligned with your very existence¡­ This is likely the result of living in a self-healing body for so many centuries¡­"


    "Your soul gets injured every second, and then it heals again and again; this insane healing likely caused this manifestation¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the mutated tree and said in a solemn tone,


    "In simple words, unless you severe the ''Law'' of ''Regeneration'' from your body itself, you will likely not be able to leave this body as it will keep regenerating the loss of life force¡­"


    "The life force and soul transfer will keep failing¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the twins felt immense despair and sadness. They had already placed their bets on this one method, and they didn''t know about other methods.


    Not that this has failed; they have nothing left.


    "Are we¡­ destined to suffer here¡­. for eternity?...."


    Tears of blood started to flow from the eyes of the twins. They have been trying to escape this soul-tearing pain for centuries, and there''s no end in sight to this at all.


    Their lives have been filled with suffering the worst punishment for several centuries; even the most firm mind will not be able to stay sane in such a situation.


    As a matter of fact, these twins are so helpless that they can''t even escape this pain by going insane.


    This ''Law'' of ''Regeneration'' has manifested in their very existence; it regenerates their ''Will'' and prevents them from going insane.


    Which means they are forced to suffer this torture while being perfectly awake and fine. This is so cruel that even Jareth couldn''t help but frown deeply at this thought.


    Just when the twins were weeping tears of blood in the depths of despair, Jareth said,


    "Actually, I think I know a way¡­. But I would need a lot of time for that¡­"


    ''I don''t have a way to save them, but I can''t let them lose hope, Only when you have hope can you make it past hard times¡­ Even if this hope is false, it''s still hope after all...''


    Jareth has played this game till the end, but he has never seen anyone or any item that was capable of severing the very ''Laws'' of this world.


    This is like saying that you are literally severing the very rules that make everything exist, and such a thing is impossible to pull off for even a grade 1 mage.


    In the game, players battle the incarnations of the demon god, but there are no plots that allow them to battle the demon god''s actual body, leaving Jareth unaware of the demon god''s full capabilities.


    ''But I am sure of one thing: that demon god also can''t interfere with the rules of the world; otherwise, it wouldn''t have needed to use humans to destroy the seal¡­ He could have just destroyed it by interfering with the laws of the world¡­.''


    ''In other words, to rescue these twins, you need something that is beyond the level of even those demon gods!''


    Thinking about all this, Jareth felt that his decision to agree to help was a bad idea. He clearly doesn''t have any clues about how to finish this random quest he has taken.


    And this quest seems to have no end.


    ¡­


    The twins smiled at Jareth and said,


    "We have waited for a long time; we can surely wait for a few more years. We hope you can help us find the solution for this problem¡­ We are ready to wait for as long as you want..."


    "Even if centuries go by, we will wait for your return¡­"


    Jareth felt guilty about lying to them after hearing those words, but he had no other choice; he had to lie to them to make them regain hope.


    "Yeah, I will do my best to look for the solution; wait for me¡­"


    Jareth sighed and took one last glance before leaving.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    He made a hole in the ceiling with his mana beam and flew upward.


    After a few minutes of blasting mana beams, he reached the bottom of the ocean, and he immediately cast a basic mana seal to close the hole so that water wouldn''t go down.


    Then he flew into the sky and made a promise to himself in his mind.


    ''I will definitely return here again one day once I have the ability to rescue those two innocent souls¡­.''


    It''s not that Jareth is trying to be good; he''s just trying to give ''salvation and mercy'' to those two souls that were punished unjustly.

 Chapter 100 - 100: You are no saint either...

    Port City, Urona, Mid-Night.


    Hotel Night Camper, Rooftop.


    "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"


    Shin stopped looking at the moon on the horizon and glanced in the direction of the voice, and sure enough, Jareth was standing there, leaning his back against the wall.


    "Oh, you are back? It''s been three days since you disappeared all of a sudden¡­"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Jareth was quite surprised in his mind; he had been in a dark underground cave, so he didn''t see the sun rise and set.


    Moreover, he was so engrossed in examining the details in the dungeon that he neglected to check his smartphone, leaving him unaware of the passing of time.


    "Yeah, I was enjoying the vacation in the mountains¡­ I went there to pass time while hiking¡­"


    "What about you? What''ve you been doing?"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Shin shook his head and said in a calm voice,


    "Nothing much; I have just been wandering around in the city¡­ I was hoping to come here with my wife; without her, I don''t feel so happy at all¡­ This trip seems bland to me¡­"


    Shin gazed at the moon and spoke.


    "You know¡­ I promised to give her all the happiness I could, and here I am now, making her angry at me¡­ Sigh, I am such a horrible man¡­"


    Hearing those words of self-loathing, Jareth smirked a bit and said,


    "hoh, so you are self-aware after all! Good! Knowing your own mistakes is the first step to improvement¡­."


    Blood veins popped up on Shin''s forehead after hearing Jareth''s merciless insults.


    "Tch! Can you be a bit serious sometimes, bruh!? I am talking about the real difficulties of my life here!"


    Jareth suddenly had the urge to say,


    ''Double those difficulties and give them to the next person!''


    But he refrained from saying it, as it would undoubtedly enrage Shin.


    "I am always serious, though¡­ By the way, how''s the training session going?"


    Shin ignored the fact that Jareth was deliberately changing topics and decided to go with the flow.


    "Well, I only checked on them today in the evening; they were getting swept away by massive sea waves..."


    "Also, there were several earthquakes all of a sudden¡­ All in all, the sea was quite restless today, so the students were really having a lot of difficulties in training¡­"


    Hearing those words, Jareth''s facial expression remained the same, but he felt guilty in his mind.


    ''Ugh, those earthquakes and sea waves were likely created by the massive mana bomb bombardments I did in the underground dungeon¡­''


    Shin suddenly narrowed his eyes and said in a quiet voice,


    "By the way¡­ let me tell you a secret¡­ Gazid and Yoseh¡­ those two are secretly dating!!"


    "They always fight with each other in front of us, but I saw them eating happily with each other in an ice cream caf¨¦!!"


    "I was so shocked that I nearly got caught peeping at them¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "What''s so surprising about this¡­ Yoseh has been helping Gazid avoid going to jail for his illegal monster experiments; the whole university knows that there''s something going on between them¡­"


    Except for Jareth and Thomas, most of the professors are either married or are dating.


    Even Aria has a fianc¨¦, so she isn''t worried about marriage either.


    Thomas has dedicated his life to his work, so he likely won''t marry so soon until he finds the right person, and Jareth is totally devoid of social life.


    He doesn''t have any friends; he has no connections in high-ranking people''s social circles; and he has no motivation for marriage either.


    ''I left my heart with Shiina in the previous world; I don''t think I will be able to marry anyone else now¡­''


    (Keep in mind that he doesn''t know that Shiina has died; he thinks she''s still alive¡­)


    Seeing that Jareth wasn''t interested in the topic of Gazid and Yoseh, Shin started talking about something else.


    "I also saw Thomas trying to hold cats in a cat caf¨¦, but it turns out he''s bad with animals, and they run away from him like plague¡­ It was quite hilarious to watch that sad expression on his face¡­ haha¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and waved his hand towards the ground.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    A wending machine flew up from the ground, and he put a coin in it to get a juice can for himself.


    Once he was done, he placed the wending machine back at its original location on the side of the road.


    Ever since he has learned magic, he has become quite lazy in these aspects, and nowadays he does everything with magic.


    He didn''t want to go down to grab a juice can, so he made the whole wending machine float in the sky.


    He glanced at the starry sky and sipped the juice before saying,


    "In other words, you have been stalking everyone all this while¡­. You are putting assassins to shame¡­"


    Shin ignored the whole process of Jareth making the wending machine float and replied in a proud voice,


    "Hehe, this is not stalking; this is called keeping a careful eye on your coworkers¡­ I was doing that so that I could help them anytime if they got into trouble!"


    Jareth sighed at those words and said,


    "Does being away from your wife make you lose brain cells or something? You certainly are behaving more weirdly than usual¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    A gigantic magic circle formed in the air and fired a concentrated mana beam at Shin in an instant.


    The beam was so quick that it didn''t give the other party a single second to even move before it evaporated his whole body into dust.


    *Clap!**Clap!*


    "I was expecting that you would take some time to figure it out, but you have really surprised me, Jareth Blaze, or should I call you Jareth Ayad now?"


    A dark shadow emerged nearby, and Rahnan''s familiar face appeared in Jareth''s view.


    But Jareth wasn''t surprised at all. He sighed and said,


    "Why were you trying to imitate that brain-dead guy? Although he is a dumb guy, he won''t stalk others like that¡­ It was such an obvious flaw that even a random person could have seen it¡­"


    Although the real reason Jareth noticed something amiss was due to Mana''s singularity,


    He still said that he found out about it due to his way of talking, as he didn''t want to reveal his mana singularity''s power to Rahnan.


    Jareth came flying from the sea, and he had already noticed the presence of miasma near the hotel, so he didn''t directly go to his room to sleep but searched for the source of miasma.


    And sure enough, Rahnan was standing on the rooftop, disguising himself as Shin.


    He had been stalking all of the professors without their knowledge all this time, so what he said was all true.


    Jareth narrowed his eyes and sipped the juice before saying,


    "What are you planning now? Did you not learn anything after getting defeated once?"


    Rahnan smiled creepily at Jareth''s words and said, S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hehe, don''t underestimate me¡­ I have already dug out a lot of information about you and all of your teammates¡­"


    "Thomas, Shin, Gazid, Yoseh, other professors, and all the students¡ªI have been looking into their backgrounds and strengths one by one¡­"


    Rahnan walked over to Jareth''s side without any worries on his face and said, with a smile,


    "Out of all of them, only you seem to be the strongest, so I came here to check if you really have what it takes to challenge me¡­ and sure enough, you really are extraordinary¡­"


    "You must have been the main reason why my previous plan failed, right?"


    Rahnan is not a fool; he obviously has his own plans, He won''t just sit back and watch Jareth and others walk away unscathed after failing his plan.


    He has already begun to gather information about Jareth and others, ensuring that his next attacks will more effectively counter Jareth and the others.


    The only reason Rahnan''s previous plan failed was because Jareth unexpectedly turned things upside down, and Rahnan lacked the necessary countermeasures due to a lack of information.


    But now things are different.


    Rahnan stretched out his hand towards Jareth and said,


    "I saw you going in the mountains and didn''t try to track you down on purpose; after all, you are good at mana detection; you could sense it if I got too close¡­"


    "So, in your absence, I just went ahead and took a look at all of your teammates. It won''t be long before I kill you and everyone related to you, Jareth¡­"


    "I will make you regret interfering with my plans¡­"


    Jareth was totally unamused by that empty threat.


    "Are you trying to threaten me with the lives of Shin and the others?..."


    Jareth waved his hand and said,


    "Don''t bother; I don''t even care about their lives and deaths; it''s useless to make me sway with that empty threat¡­ Try something else, perhaps¡­"


    Rahnan went silent for a moment after hearing those words.


    Originally, he was going to make a plan to hurt everyone around Jareth to make him weak, but now he has decided to discard this plan.


    Rahnan''s eyes narrowed as he observed Jareth''s casual expression.


    ''This guy¡­ he''s a ruthless and cold-blooded murderer; his nonchalant behavior means that he won''t care one bit about the lives and deaths of his compatriots¡­''


    ''I will need to change my plan a bit, I guess¡­''


    Rahnan glanced into Jareth''s eyes and said,


    "You know what? I can sense how tainted someone''s soul is¡­ And believe me, you have one of the most tainted souls that I have ever seen¡­ You are the same as me, Jareth; you are a cold-blooded murderer¡­"


    "How about you join my side? We can actually work together. After all, we are of the same kind from the heart... you are no saint either, so stop pretending to be one, Jareth Ayad¡­"


    After saying that, Rahnan''s shadow disappeared into nothingness once again, and the rooftop went silent in an instant, leaving Jareth alone standing behind.


    ''The night sky was always meant to be dark¡­ You were the one who mistook me for a saint, not me¡­''

 Chapter 101 - 101: Upcoming Challenges... (End of Volume-1.)

    Port City Urona, Airport.


    "Ugh, why does time pass so fast when you are on trips and vacations! I swear, time passes very slowly when we are working at the job¡­ sigh~ I wanted to relax a bit more¡­"


    While walking towards the plane, Shin complained loudly in an aggrieved tone.


    He didn''t want to go home so early; not only is a lot of work waiting for him, he even has to go and make his wife forgive him for what he did.


    All these problems are waiting for him once he goes back, so he wants to spend some more time in a relaxed place.


    Hearing Shin''s aggrieved voice, Thomas shook his head and said,


    "Nope, we have already wasted a lot of time here; moreover, the university is currently behind schedule too; a lot of work awaits us¡­ We gotta hurry now¡­"


    First, the university was half destroyed by Abella, and then it took a long time to get it repaired. Then they had to wait for the angry crowd to leave, and then the vacation trip came.


    This implies that the students haven''t been able to study for a considerable amount of time because of these unforeseen events.


    Once they go back, a ton of homework is waiting for the students. Moreover, mid-term exams are not too far away either!


    Soon, the students will be so overwhelmed with studies that they won''t even have time to breathe!


    All students knew this, due to which they were all in a depressed mood right now.


    Although they got the chance to enjoy the beach, all they did was train for the whole day.


    Aria kept pushing them with the other teachers, and then they had to face those massive sea waves too.


    All in all, Aria''s training plan had backfired due to those sea waves causing a lot of resentment in the students''s hearts.


    She has already been labeled as a big trouble magnet by everyone; no one dares ask her for ideas now.


    The only person who was having a good time was obviously Jareth himself.


    He left his position as a professor and became a vice principal, so not only does he not have to worry about teaching the students, he doesn''t need to bother himself with any of the paperwork.


    He can sit down and enjoy the salary for free without doing anything at all.


    ''Well, I can still continue to teach them magic theories for the time being, just to pass time.''


    Jareth glanced at the notification panel with an amused look.


    [Ding! You conquered the underground dungeon of a forgotten cult!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 CP!]


    ''I destroyed the whole entrance to that dungeon, and it only affected the main scenario so little? Sigh, it must be because that dungeon wasn''t too relevant to the main story¡­''


    The protagonist only goes there to get experience and level up, so the relevance of that dungeon to the main story is very small.


    That''s why Jareth only received such a small reward.


    ''Maybe I will get more credit points once I help those twins¡­''


    Although it was impossible to do at the moment, it didn''t mean that Jareth would not have any solutions in the future.


    He might find something that works.


    After all, this is a real world now; this world is not bound by the constraints of the game, and it has many areas that were not on the game map.


    If Jareth explores these areas, he may discover something new.


    Aside from this, Jareth now has a lot of things to do. He has to analyze that magic seal on the principal''s room, and he also has to find clues about the assassination organization that he needs to destroy.


    Although he''s free from most of his work, he still has a lot on his plate.


    Moreover, he didn''t even enjoy the vacation at all; he was in the dungeon for three days, and the rest of the time he spent was spent analyzing the seal.


    For him, these few days were not much different than others, except he got to enjoy luxurious sea food.


    ''Maybe I should hire some popular chefs¡­ I have the money, so why don''t you enjoy it?''


    Jareth has recovered his taste buds with the help of ''Active Heal'', and now he can enjoy the delicacies of this world without any problem.


    ''Food is one of the best ways to relieve stress after all...''


    While contemplating his future plans, Jareth followed the group into the plane and returned to the capital without any delays.


    ¡­


    An underground church, A hidden room.


    Rahnan glanced at all the photos and clues on the walls and smiled sinisterly.


    "A few more clues, and I will have all the information I need¡­"


    Those photos and information pasted on the walls were obviously all about the university''s professors and students.


    By now, Rahnan has collected so much information that he can already imitate the general way of talking and behaving of each and every professor.


    If Jareth didn''t have the ''Mana Singularity'', he wouldn''t have been able to tell if it was Rahnan or the real Shin. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Although all these might not work on that troublesome guy, they will certainly work on the others¡­''


    Rahnan has figured out that imitating others won''t work in front of Jareth, but the others are not as strong as him.


    They can''t tell Rahnan apart from the real person that he imitates, which means he can create a lot of chaos in the name of someone else.


    A creepy smirk appeared on Rahnan''s face while he was thinking about it.


    ''Why do you think I was able to deceive Abella? Of course it was because I had a lot of information about her way of thinking and her habits¡­''


    To Rahnan, all the members of the cult are just disposable pawns; he can sacrifice any of them for the sake of his goals.


    And with the amount of power that the demon god has bestowed upon him, he can easily create chaos at a massive level.


    ''If I can''t destroy society with brute force, I will destroy it from within¡­''


    Rahnan''s previous plan was to summon the demon god''s incarnation and let it destroy the whole human empire with brute force.


    But now that it has failed, he has decided to take another path.


    He will imitate others and instigate chaos within the empire, ultimately leading to the collapse of the entire society.


    No matter if it''s Shin, Thomas, or others, they are all grade 2 mages. They have followed a long path of selfish goals and deceit to reach their realm by grabbing resources and doing a lot of bad things.


    Everyone in the world has a flaw or two, and Rahnan knows how to exploit these flaws to the extreme.


    He has collected a lot of personal information about all the professors, and he can use this information to shake the whole society, just like he did with Nathan.


    ''Not a single person in the world is a saint; everyone has made some mistakes in their life, so I refuse to believe that I can''t find ways to target them with these mistakes¡­''


    Rahnan has started to think of himself as the supreme law.


    He believes that the entire world is rife with sin and blasphemy, and the only way to eradicate all these sins is by destroying everything.


    ''Only after a thorough destruction can you create a new beginning¡­ I will create a new world order! I will create a world where everyone is pure and has no sins!''


    As he was too busy thinking of destroying the world, Rahnan had forgotten one important thing.


    The human race exists in itself because of flaws.


    Without ''flaws'', no one will have the motivation to progress. People work hard to reduce the flaws in their lives.


    May it be a lack of money, health, or something else¡­ These flaws are what motivate someone to work towards a better future.


    If you view these flaws as sin and eliminate them, the human race will vanish, leaving behind a group of mindless, unmotivated individuals who exist only to die.


    The people will lose their ambitions, believing themselves to be perfect; progress will halt, and eventually, the entire human race will slowly but surely go extinct.


    In other words, humans can''t exist without the concept of sin and flaw; this is the way of the world, and Rahnan wants to interfere with this.


    To him, the lives of others don''t matter much at all; he can sacrifice any number of people for his goals.


    Rahnan glanced at Jareth''s picture on a nearby wall, and a creepy smile appeared on his face.


    ''Soon I will send my minions to the seal¡­ Once the seal gets destroyed, my benevolent god will descend on this world, and he will save the world from its sins¡­''


    ''The humanity will walk on a pure path, completely devoid of sin¡­ and the like of you will be the first to revive the retribution for your sins¡­ Jareth Ayad!!''


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    And with this chapter, the first volume ends!


    We have reached a wonderful milestone! Next, we go to volume 2 and will explore more mysteries in this world.


    I appreciate all of the support and love that you guys have shown for my novel, and I hope that you will continue to do so.


    By the way, this novel is based in the same world/universe as my other novel, ''Reborn as an extra'', so try that one out too if you want a more light-hearted one.


    You have read a whole volume now, so don''t forget to leave a review about the novel if you haven''t done it yet; it helps me improve.


    Thanks for reading.

 Chapter 102 - 102: Studying together... Part-1.

    Ivan''s Higher Arcane University, Boy''s Dormitory.


    Mark''s dorm room.


    "Wake up, sleeping prince! Your princess is in trouble!"


    Mark lazily opened his eyes at Risa''s panicked voice, rubbed his eyes, and inquired.


    "Er¡­ What''s going on? Why are you in my room?"


    Risa ignored Mark''s words; she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the living room.


    "Forget about that! Tomorrow is our first midterm exam!"


    A look of confusion appeared on Mark''s face. He yawned and asked,


    "Yeah¡­ So, how about it? I have already studied the whole year''s worth of syllabus three times by now. Let me sleep¡­ yawn~"


    Hearing those words, Risa was shocked. She opened her mouth in shock, as if her jaw were about to fall to the ground.


    "Y-you¡­ You already studied everything for this whole year!?" S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark nodded his head at Risa''s question and said,


    "Well, studying things aside from magic feels very boring and useless to me¡­"


    "So, I just power through them in the first few months of the year, and then I focus my whole attention on training for the rest of the year¡­."


    Mark is that one top guy in the class who has already read through the entire syllabus three times while you haven''t yet opened the first page of your book.


    Comparing yourself to him will make you feel the difference between a true genius and a lazy bum with no future ahead.


    Mark''s future is so bright that it can even lighten up a dark and depressed life.


    Mark is so obsessed with improving his magic and knowledge that he hasn''t touched grass for years!


    If not for the fact that Risa drags him everywhere with her, he might not even see the sun for months, except for when going to classes.


    *Yawnn~*


    "ugh¡­ It seems I trained a bit too much last night¡­ I feel sleepy¡­"


    While saying that, Mark laid down on the couch and nearly fell asleep again, but then he glanced at Risa and asked,


    "By the way, what are you doing here¡­ wait! How did you get into the boys dormitory!? And how did you open the lock on the door!?"


    Hearing Mark''s surprised voice, Risa pointed to the nearby window,


    "I saw that the window was open, so I jumped in tee-hee~"


    Mark rubbed his temples and said,


    "Don''t ''tee-hee'' me! If a professor finds out about you sneaking in here, you will be punished!"


    Risa simply shrugged her shoulders in response to those words,


    "No worries! We are married!"


    Mark was so speechless that he had no words left to say; he didn''t even bother arguing with her anymore.


    "Sigh¡­ So, what do you want? Why are you here so early in the morning?"


    Hearing Mark''s question, Risa scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment and said in a hesitant tone,


    "Er, the thing is¡­ I was so busy reading those monster anatomy and torcher books written by Professor Gazid that I forgot to study other subjects. uh, so¡­ I haven''t studied at all¡­"


    Mark was so shocked by her words that his eyes opened wide, and his sleepiness immediately disappeared.


    As Mark is a topper who studies hard and has never known what ''Slacking off'' means, it''s really quite shocking for him to hear that someone didn''t even study one bit.


    If he doesn''t study, he starts to get anxiety attacks and thinks that all of his family members and the teachers will look at him with disappointed eyes.


    "What!? You didn''t even study ''Magic Theories'' either!? D*mn! Professor Jareth is going to blast you off from the face of Earth with his fire magic!!"


    Magic Theory is Jareth''s subject, and Risa hasn''t studied it at all, which means she will get low marks in it and Jareth will get angry at her.


    Risa looked at Mark with a guilty conscience and pleaded for help.


    "Uh¡­ You are good at it, so I was hoping you could help me get passing marks¡­ Just teach me some important questions; I should be able to barely pass the exams that way¡­"


    Mark shook his head and sighed in defeat.


    He was free anyway, and it would be troublesome if Risa failed the exams; she might have to repeat the whole semester if she fails all exams, which will be quite bad.


    "Okay, let me think of something¡­"


    Just as Mark was contemplating where to begin, Risa abruptly spoke.


    "By the way¡­ Are you trying to tempt me, or something? Why is your shirt unbuttoned?"


    Mark glanced down with a confused look and noticed that his muscles and abs were on full display as his shirt''s button likely got unbuttoned while sleeping.


    He''s quite a restless sleeper, so things like this happen.


    "Er¡­ I will go change¡­ You, get the books ready¡­"


    Risa clicked her tongue and said,


    "Tch! I thought you were going to invite me to the shower! What a shame~"


    Mark blushed slightly at her words and spoke angrily.


    "Go away! You lazy bum! Study properly! Hmph¡­"


    Risa stopped teasing Mark as he went to the bathroom to change his clothes.


    She brought out the books from her space ring and placed them on the table, then she went to the kitchen and brewed coffee for both of them.


    She may not be good at other things, but she is quite good at it when it comes to making coffee and tea.


    As an assassin, she learned hundreds of methods to poison people via drinks, so she has practiced the art of making coffee and tea.


    As long as the person is not grade-3 or higher, she can easily poison them to death.


    Aside from her coffee and tea-making skills, she''s also good at making poison from household objects.


    And due to her special physique, she herself is immune to poison of a lower or similar grade as hers.


    In other words, she can easily put poison in both coffee cups without worrying about which one the target will take.


    Of course, she would not do something like that to Mark. Poison making and learning about torture is just a hobby for her; that''s not something she would use on her family.


    She might be quite messed up in her head, but she''s not that far gone yet.


    While waiting for Mark to come back, Risa smiled and shouted.


    "Can I peek for a second?"


    Mark''s panicked voice came from the bathroom.


    "Of course not! Stop behaving like a perverted old man!?"


    Risa smiled mischievously at his words and stopped teasing him further, fearing that he might really get angry at her.

 Chapter 103 - 103: Studying Together... Part-2.

    A hidden basement at the university.


    "Cough! Cough! No matter how many times I come here, this place always smells so horrible! Can''t you spray some room freshener here!?"


    Yoseh glared at Gazid with a look of irritation in her eyes.


    Gazid sighed at her words, replying in a sad tone.


    "What are you talking about? This is the smell of invention! The smell of new possibilities-"


    Before Gazid could say anything further, Yoseh interjected.


    "Stop, stop! I don''t want to hear about your weird and horrific experiments¡­ Just tell me what you need me to do here¡­"


    Yoseh brought out a cute mask with bunnies printed on it and put it on her face; she really didn''t want to stay in this place for one extra second.


    If not for Gazid, who asked her to help out in an experiment, she wouldn''t have come here at all.


    Seeing that Yoseh was getting irritated, Gazid scratched the back of his head and led the way.


    They both arrived near a small water tank made up of mana-enhanced glass.


    A small blob of flesh and veins was floating in the water with an eerie, dark aura around it.


    Gazid placed his glasses over his eyes and spoke.


    "I got some of the blood samples and broken tissues from Abella the nightmare when she fought with Principal Nathan¡­"


    "I am trying to experiment on these tissues and figure out what the major differences are between the bodies of a grade-2 and a grade-1 mage¡­"


    "Principal Nathan didn''t suffer any injuries, so I don''t have any samples related to him¡­ but this one sample is also good enough¡­"


    Upon hearing Gazid''s words, Yoseh glanced at the blob of flesh and inquired,


    "So¡­ You are going to write a book with the results you may find from this? That might actually benefit a lot of mages¡­"


    Reaching grade 1 is the dream of all mages; everyone wants the big lifespan and the amazing power they hold in their body.


    However, talent is required to achieve that level of power.


    Gazid and Yoseh both know that they likely can''t reach the next realm in their whole lives as they have reached a bottleneck due to their talent.


    But if Gazid''s research yields some ground-breaking findings, it might make it easier for less skilled mages like them to advance to the next realm.


    "So, what do you want me to do exactly?"


    Hearing Yoseh''s question, Gazid replied,


    "You are good at water magic; I want you to study the water and other fluid compositions of these tissues¡­ also, and you would need to regulate them with highly concentrated water to keep them from dying¡­"


    Yoseh frowned at those words and inquired.


    "Can''t you do that with some simple lab equipment? What''s the big deal in it?"


    Gazid smiled at Yoseh''s words and glanced at the blob of flesh before saying,


    "This thing is no ordinary blob of flesh¡­ It''s a part of a grade 1 mage''s body; ordinary equipment can''t pass through it as it''s corrupted heavily with miasma¡­"


    "I need a skilled mage to help me out in studying it¡­ I will even list your name as a co-author when I publish my results¡­ So what do you say?"


    Yoseh contemplated the pros and cons in her mind for a moment and then agreed to Gazid''s words.


    "I am in¡­ Just don''t make me overwork; I will take a lot of naps as payment¡­"


    Gazid nodded his head at those words, then agreed.


    "Of course, my lady, do as you wish!"


    ¡­


    Principal''s office.


    "This barrier is really very complicated, but it''s quite interesting too... Where did you even find this?"


    Thomas stared at the large magic circle floating in mid-air and sipped coffee as he spoke.


    Hearing Thomas''s question, Jareth shook his head and said,


    "I went to some ruin in the past. I wanted to solve this thing, but I didn''t have the time for it¡­ So it''s been collecting dust all along¡­"


    Originally, Jareth was going to analyze the whole mana barrier that Nathan had placed on the principle office, but when he reached a particular part of the seal, he felt like he was out of ideas.


    It''s been three months since they came back from the port city of Urona, and Jareth has been training and analyzing this mana barrier for a long time now.


    Not only has he learned a lot of new things, but he has already analyzed the entire mana barrier.


    However, only this small part of the whole barrier is still giving him trouble.


    Jareth figured out that if he kept trying to forcefully analyze this small portion, it might take him another three months.


    But Jareth doesn''t want to waste so much time on this magic barrier.


    Thus, he decided to show this small portion of the magic barrier to Thomas. He didn''t'' show the whole barrier, so there was no need to worry that Thomas would find something amiss.


    "You are the only person I know who has amazing knowledge of barrier magic, so I thought of asking you about it¡­"


    When it comes to barrier-type magic spells, Thomas is second only to Nathan.


    He was the first to figure out the nature of the magic circle on the altar in Artavia, which shows that he is beneficial with magic circles and barriers.


    "So, what do you say? Does it seem breakable or not?"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s question, Thomas sipped the coffee and spoke.


    "Well, this is the first time I am seeing it in person, but this one surely is part of a very strong magic barrier¡­ I have only seen it in books before, and even I am not sure if I can create this myself or not¡­"


    Thomas narrowed his eyes and said,


    "Well, if it were the whole thing, then I would not have been able to do anything, but this is just a small part of the whole magic barrier, so I think I can find some quick solution for it¡­"


    Thomas''s interest was piqued; he has liked barrier magic a lot, and this one is like a gem in front of his eyes.


    Even the usually calm and collected Thomas couldn''t help but get excited at the thought of analyzing this magic circle.


    Jareth also nodded his head at Thomas''s words and said,


    "Well, if you think so, then we can study together on this¡­ Solving it may also benefit you in improving your mana control¡­"


    Thomas nodded his head at Jareth''s words and said with a smile, Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yeah, it''s rare to see such an amazing artwork; I need to work on it with great care¡­"

 Chapter 104 - 104: Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-1

    Caf¨¦ Spoken Rhyme.


    "Say aahh~"


    Allen opened his mouth, and Airin fed him a spoonful of ice cream with a happy smile on her face.


    Mia, who was sitting on the opposite seat, felt so jealous that she nearly broke the spoon in her hands, while Aiza''s expressions remained as calm as always, but even her eyes seemed to be trembling a bit.


    "You too¡­ are really close, huh¡­"


    Hearing Aiza''s words, Allen nodded his head. He took a spoonful of ice cream and gave it to Airin, who blushed slightly yet still ate it with a hesitant look on her face.


    "We are childhood friends after all; we went to the same kindergarten and used to play in the same park¡­"


    Allen glanced at the three beauties around him, and he felt quite satisfied in his mind. (By the way, Mia is not blood related to him¡­ she''s adopted¡­)


    ''Three beautiful maidens accompany you wherever you go¡­ Ah, this is life~ this is the real paradise~''


    Although Allen himself doesn''t have any unique traits in this personality and is just a boring ordinary guy, his luck in everything, including love, has always been good.


    Regardless of the woman he attempts to flirt with, she ultimately falls deeply in love with him.


    Airin is Professor Aria''s younger sister, and she is one of the best potion makers in the whole empire. Moreover, their family has a lot of money.


    In other words, Allen can just ask Airin for any kind of potion he wants for his training, and he will get it easily.


    Then there''s Mia, who can always help him spar and acts like his practice dummy, so he can train whenever he wants.


    And finally, there''s Aiza; she''s basically the ''muscle mommy'' he rizzed with his ''infinite rizz'' ability, and she helps him in both his studies and magic.


    In other words, Allen is living the life of a satisfied harem protagonist who gets everything served right onto his plate without doing anything at all.


    He was born with the talent to use any and every element, and he has a bright future ahead. He can choose any path he wants to and become as strong as he wants to.


    With his amazing ''Rizzing'' ability, he can create many allies while being overpowered himself.


    This is the horror of a protagonist who has insane luck and is blessed by the divine will. Allen was born to rule this world as the strongest person.


    Currently, he has already reached the peak of grade 5, and even though Jareth has stolen a lot of his opportunities, his improvement speed has barely even slowed down.


    Jareth''s various stealing activities have had minimal effect on him.


    "By the way, have you studied properly for these exams? I think you have been too busy messing around with Airin lately¡­"


    Hearing that question, Allen scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "No problems¡­ I have studied enough to at least pass the tests~ Also, if things go south, I will copy from Airin''s answers; her seat is right in front of me!"


    Aiza shook her head at those words and got up to leave,


    "Well, I wish you good luck then¡­ I need to go prepare for exams, so I shall leave now. Let''s meet some other day¡­"


    Aiza waved goodbye to the three and left the caf¨¦ with the usual stern look on her face.


    Allen glanced at Aiza''s leaving back and thought to himself,


    ''hoh.. it seems my strategy has started to work; she got jealous of Airin flirting with me¡­ Soon, I will capture your heart too, Aiza Blaze!''


    ''And then all the resources of the Blaze family will be mine, hehe¡­ As expected, no woman can resist my charm¡­ I am the most handsome man in the world after all.''


    Living like a prince for his whole life, Allen has already become infatuated with money and power.


    He has started to strategize on how to earn the favor of rich women and earn loads of money in one go.


    In the game world, his character never spoke at all because he lacked dialogue; instead, the heroines and other characters spoke for him.


    The game developers have not confirmed his personality.


    But when we take the fact that in the game ''he rizzed up many women'' into consideration, it was obvious that Allen was a scumbag type character from the start.


    From the start of the game, the players were just playing the role of a scumbag protagonist who isn''t satisfied with one woman and asks them for favors over and over.


    Jareth only focused on Allen for the first few days after his arrival in this world.


    But then he stopped bothering with the protagonist, coming to the conclusion that the protagonist is nothing more than a roadside hooligan glorified by heavenly luck. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Allen glanced at Mia and said,


    "Hey, I recently learned a new spell from Aiza; let''s practice later¡­ By the way, Airin, when will the mediation-amplifying potion be available¡­ I have been waiting for it~"


    Mia nodded her head in agreement and continued to eat her ice cream with a jealous look on her face.


    On the other hand, Airin smiled and said,


    "Sister said that she will make five of them for me in a few days; I will give you half of them later!"


    Allen nodded his head in satisfaction at those words and said,


    "Okay, take your time; I will train my ''light magic spells'' for the time being¡­"


    All of a sudden, Allen seemed to have thought of something, and he glanced at Mia and asked in a curious tone,


    "By the way, have you investigated anything about that transfer student, named Risa? It''s been a while since she came; you should have figured out something at least, right?"


    "Tell me¡­"


    While saying those words, Allen thought to himself,


    ''My team already has a healer, a shield, and a damage dealer; now I just need an assassin to do the scouting work for me¡­ and then I can just sit back and enjoy myself while my teammates do the work for me¡­''


    ''How awesome would that be¡­''


    Allen has already started to dream about his peaceful and happy life. He''s already imagining the day when his maids will feed him grapes while his teammates will hunt dragons for him.


    Then he would just wave his hand and say some encouraging words as their reward.


    Allen''s goal is to make an unbeatable harem that will do all the bidding for him and that he will enjoy happily.


    Allen in the game was shown as a dense and idiotic guy, but in this cursed world, even the savior of the world seems to have become corrupted. How ironic...

 Chapter 105 - 105: Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-2.

    "So, tell me about her¡­"


    At Allen''s request, Mia stopped eating the ice cream and began to tell him what Allen wanted to know.


    "That girl, Risa¡­ she''s crazy¡­ No, I would say, she definitely has some screws loose in her head¡­"


    Mia''s facial expressions turned complicated while talking,


    "Just the other day¡­ she was reading a book on ''How to make a soup out of a human''s intestines while keeping the person alive''¡­ That book has such horrible images in it that I still get nightmares remembering it¡­"


    "The man in the picture was screaming at the top of his lungs while they were boiling his innards right in front of him¡­ It was horrible to look at¡­ ugh.."


    Hearing Mia''s words, Airin trembled in fear while clutching the hem of Allen''s sleeves tightly.


    She has a weak heart, and she gets scared easily; hearing about torture makes her frightened out of her wits.


    Even Allen frowned deeply after hearing those words; he knew that Mia wouldn''t lie to him, which means Risa indeed reads such crazy books.


    "Not only that, I happened to sneak a peek in her student locker; it was filled with similar book¡­ All were about torture, poisoning, and horrible things¡­"


    "She''s definitely a psychopath! Furthermore, her engagement to Mark is a confirmed fact! No one in the class dares talk badly about her¡­"


    "You should stay away from that crazy woman, Allen. I have heard rumors that she is from a very shady household¡­"


    At that moment, Airin also nodded her head and said,


    "Yeah, I have heard from my sister that the Shadow Fallen family is filled with weird people, and they are all doing shady stuff¡­ It''s better if we stay away from her¡­"


    Allen ignored Airin and Mia''s warning; what made him the most frustrated was the name ''Mark''.


    Mark considers Allen just another random hurdle on his way to the top of the world, but Allen sees him as a rival whom he must overcome.


    No one in their entire class is better than Allen, aside from Mark, in terms of looks and other things.


    Not only is Mark rich, as he comes from the royal family, he is also handsome and the strongest person in their class. Not even Aiza can hold a candle in front of him.


    Knowing that Mark has a girlfriend irritates Allen, as it presents a challenge to him.


    ''Is he trying to compete with me in terms of harem-making skills!? No! Only I will be the one to rule this world while others work for me!''


    Allen forgot about Risa as he concluded that she was too crazy for his liking, and he decided to find some other girl to ''rizz'' for the time being to increase his harem.


    A smirk appeared on his face as he thought to himself.


    ''Hmph, no matter how strong you become, Mark, without strong allies, you will always end up getting defeated by me¡­ I will overwhelm you with the power of friendship and love!''


    ¡­


    University''s main garden.


    Sitting on an empty bench under the shade of a giant tree, Aiza felt empty inside.


    Just a few days ago, when she was enjoying her time with her friends Allen, Airin, and Mia, she got a phone call.


    That phone call was from her personal maid back at home.


    She said that she was resigning.


    Aiza was so taken aback by her words that she didn''t know what to say for a few moments.


    Later, she learned everything from her maid.


    The main mansion of the Blaze family was destroyed, and everyone was killed three months ago.


    Then all the vassal families tried to loot the money, but they ended up going bankrupt because someone had already taken all of it and put a huge debt on them.


    Originally, they had been suppressing the news of the family being destroyed from reaching her ears so that she wouldn''t get to find out and seize the money, but now they have become victims of their own greed.


    The once-glorious Blaze family has now become nothing more than history.


    All of the maids and butlers that raised Aiza have resigned, and everything has disappeared.


    Aiza is not a fool; she can easily guess who would have done all that.


    ''I tried to warn them, but they didn''t listen¡­ I told my father that you need to stop getting on his nerves; see, this is the result¡­ sigh¡­'' S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Since the day when Jareth told her in that dungeon that he would kill Kaiden, she knew that things would turn bad, and she wanted to ask her family members to apologize to Jareth.


    But in the end, what she feared indeed happened.


    Jareth destroyed the whole Blaze family and even went on to destroy the vassal families too.


    And even after all this, Aiza can only sit and watch.


    She has known about all the sins that her father committed against Jareth and his mother, so she can''t even blame him for what he did.


    Now all she can do is stay silent and mourn for her dead family members.


    Jareth has become a Grade 1 mage; trying to go against him now is just a pipe dream; even with her talent, she would need a whole decade or more to reach that level.


    And she has no motivation for revenge either, as she knows about her father''s sins.


    She once used to laugh at Jareth, who was living a lonely life outside the family, when her father told her made-up stories about him.


    And now, she has become the one who has to live a lonely life with no family whatsoever.


    ''Life is really strange¡­ Things can go from heaven to hell in just a matter of day¡­''


    Aiza glanced at the ATM card in her hand, then put it back in her space ring.


    This is the only asset she has left now.


    Her own bank account has a lot of money that she got over the years from gifts and other events in the family.


    Now only this money is left for her.


    Fortunately, she can still live in the dormitory for the next two and a half years.


    And by that time, she would have become a strong mage, and she could just buy a new house by conquering dungeons or something.


    Aside from her talent, she has no other pillars of support left for her. All she can do is work hard and try not to become like her father and mother, so that she never hurts others.


    This one event was able to change her whole thought process and show her the reality of this cruel world.


    ''No one cares about your life or death¡­ You need to make a path for yourself with your own efforts¡­''


    With a newfound determination, Aiza went back to training.

 Chapter 106 - 106: Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-3.

    Day of the first midterm exam.


    Allen woke up early in the morning, took a shower, appreciated his own handsome face in the mirror for half an hour, and then got ready to go to the exam hall.


    Just as he walked out of the boy''s dormitory, he found Airin standing there waiting for him.


    Allen walked over to her side without hesitation with a wide smile on his face.


    "Yo! You are quite early today, Airin¡­"


    Airin nodded her head in response to those words, speaking in a nervous tone.


    "Today is the first day of the exam, and the very first exam is ''Maths''! I am quite nervous, as I am not sure if I can get good marks¡­"


    Allen smiled a bit at her words and then shook his head.


    "No need to worry; I am sure you will do well. I trust you!"


    Airin blushed slightly and nodded her head. She clenched her fists and said in a determined tone,


    "Yes, I will do my best!"


    Allen nodded his head and replied with a smile.


    "That''s the spirit!"


    ''Yeah, write properly so that I can copy from you, hehe~''


    Allen didn''t study one bit for the exam; he actually bribed the professor who would be in charge of the exam with the potions that Airin gave him and made him agree to let him cheat from Airin''s answer sheets.


    Aside from the thirteen grade-2 professors who teach the class filled with the most talented students of the university, there are other assistant professors who teach the other class, which has less talented students.


    These assistant professors are all around grade 3; aside from teaching, they also do other tasks like working as the examiner during exams or in combat-related tests.


    Allen bribed the professor who would be in charge of their exam hall to make sure that he could cheat easily, and his strategy worked!


    With the heavenly luck supporting him, he easily got the ''okay'' sign from the professor after giving him a few potions that he got from Airin previously.


    Most grade-3 mages aren''t rich, and their job at the university isn''t permanent either. Only by reaching grade-2 can they make their job permanent and get a good amount of money.


    The potions given by Allen were helpful for that professor, so he didn''t hesitate to accept them.


    If such blatant bribery was done by any other student, they would have already been expelled, but Allen is different; he''s the protagonist after all, and he''s blessed with heavenly luck.


    No matter how negative his favorability falls with other characters in the game, he never gets expelled, and that is true here too.


    Expelling him is very difficult; after all, heavenly luck is on his side, and you won''t find any solid evidence against him.


    (Keep in mind, luck is the most broken stat to ever exist¡­)


    ¡­


    Exam Hall.


    Although Allen''s luck has always been good, that''s not true in all circumstances.


    For example, if someone deliberately messes up the plot that is set up specifically for the protagonist, even the heavenly luck can be weakened.


    Just when Allen was sitting in his seat with a happy and relaxed smile, Jareth walked into the exam hall, which nearly caused Allen''s eyes to pop out of their sockets.


    ''What the f*ck is that monster doing here!?''


    Allen has seen Jareth one-shot a wyvern and a cyclops with his own eyes; thus, he misunderstood Jareth as a through-and-through monster who can wipe anyone off the face of Earth.


    Allen''s back got covered in sweat, and he dared not look into Jareth''s cold and intimidating eyes for fear that he might notice something amiss. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Yes, he''s the vice principal now; he must be doing just a casual patrol; no need to panic; he will go away soon¡­''


    Allen tried to calm down his beating heart, but Jareth''s next words crushed his final hope too.


    "The professor for this exam hall abruptly resigned yesterday; I will be on examiner duty for today¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, all of the students felt a strong sense of oppression.


    Although they couldn''t have cheated in front of a grade-3 mage either, now that a super strict person like Jareth is sitting in front of them, they can''t help but get nervous.


    The whole university knows how strict Jareth used to be as a professor, and now that he has become the vice principal, it would be even more difficult to stay calm in front of him.


    He holds too much power in his hands now; a slight mistake and he can get you expelled from the university.


    From the student''s point of view, it seemed like a bloodthirsty monster had walked into the class, and if they made the slightest mistake, they would get destroyed by him.


    Of course, only one student was not in the slightest afraid of Jareth''s presence.


    "Vice-principal! Can I cheat from Mark''s answer sheet?"


    Risa raised her hand and asked in an excited tone, causing all the students to stare at her smiling face with bewildered expressions.


    The others were hesitant to even move their heads to the side for a second in Jareth''s presence, but Risa, on the other hand, was bold enough to directly ask Jareth in the face if she could cheat or not.


    The other students thought that Jareth would definitely get angry at Risa this time, but surprisingly, he was very calm.


    "No, this is a test; if you cheat in it, will there still be any meaning to this test? It''s supposed to assess how much you have learned¡­"


    "Not only will it let you know about your own progress, it will also help the professors figure out how much improvement each one of you need..."


    "A test is a way to determine which of the students are behind on their studies¡­ So, write as much as you know; don''t try to cheat; cheating will get you nowhere."


    Risa sat down with a pout on her face and didn''t continue to ask any further questions. Mark was glaring at her fiercely.


    Jareth used his telekinesis to make the question papers float and placed them on the desks of all students.


    "Your time starts now¡­ Make sure to keep your heads straight¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, everyone got to work immediately.


    Then Jareth took his chair, went to the very back of the class, and sat down right beside Allen''s seat.


    "Don''t mind me; keep doing your exam without any worries¡­"


    Allen was so shocked that his heart nearly jumped out of his mouth when Jareth sat right beside him and kept staring at his paper like a hungry hyena.


    Allen couldn''t help but curse his terrible luck in his mind that day.

 Chapter 107 - 107: Everyday life of a protagonist... Part-4.

    "Student Allen, is there a problem with the test? Why are you flailing your head so much?"


    Allen was taken aback by Jareth''s words and replied in a nervous tone, Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Er... N-no, t-there''s no problem whatsoever! I-it''s just that my neck hurts a bit as I didn''t sleep in the proper posture yesterday..."


    Jareth ignored Allen''s dry laughter and nervous tone and said,


    "Well, keep concentrating on your test... Don''t glance around so much..."


    Allen nodded and lowered his head to hide the tensed expression on his face from Jareth''s eyes.


    ''D*mn it! It''s as if he has some personal beef with me! He''s targeting me on purpose! He''s not even looking at other students if they are cheating or not... ugh...''


    Allen couldn''t help but lament in his heart at how unfairly he was being treated.


    But what he didn''t know was that Jareth wasn''t really doing it all on purpose; he just wanted to farm some ''Credit Points'' by messing up with Allen''s plot, and that''s why he was preventing him from cheating on the test.


    In the game, the protagonist cheats in the exam by bribing the professor in a hidden quest; this is not really a famous quest, so a few people have done it.


    But Jareth, being a veteran player, knows all about this.


    He was originally planning to catch the professor who took the bribe red-handed, but that guy literally just ran off with the potions after submitting his resignation letter.


    It seems he likely knew that Jareth must have sensed his sneaky activities with his mana detection.


    That guy was a veteran grade-3 mage; he wasn''t a fool; he likely knew that a grade-1 mage''s magic detection can easily sense anything wrong happening in the university, and Jareth must have sensed Allen bribing him.


    But he still didn''t want to let those potions go, so he gathered his courage and ran away with them.


    He was already past 50 years of age, and he wanted to advance to grade 2 at any cost, so he risked all and ran away with those potions in the hope that he may be able to break through to the next realm with those potions.


    This was likely the influence of heavely luck, though. Jareth wanted to use this opportunity to gather solid evidence against Allen and get him expelled from the academy.


    Expelling him from the academy would have definitely given Jareth a massive amount of ''Credit points''; moreover, he doesn''t particularly like the protagonist either, so he was ready to do that.


    But the heavenly luck protected Allen by making that professor flee; now there''s no solid evidence.


    The absence of the protagonist won''t really matter to this world in the slightest; even if Allen becomes a strong grade 1, humanity will only welcome a new ruler, but everything will still be stuck in the same stalemate as before.


    As mentioned before, this game has three endings, and all of them are bad. No matter which one you choose, there is no hope for a proper way to save this world.


    So, Jareth doesn''t care what happens to Allen at all; instead, he has started to think of him as a big, fat sheep that can be farmed for its wool from time to time.


    ''Stopping him from cheating will definitely cause this guy to fail, as he doesn''t study at all and spends most of his day messing around with girls...''


    If you''ve played a dating sim-type game, you''ll know that the protagonist never really studies; all he does is go on dates and mess around with girls to gain favorability points.


    And the women in that game are shown as idiots who like the protagonist, who is basically a ''deadbeat'' guy with no life, no goals, no ambitions, no motivation, and no personality.


    Simply speaking, Jareth just wanted to break this scenario and earn some ''credit points'' to use them to fulfill his gambling addiction in the system lottery panel.


    ...


    Time passed slowly, and the exam finally ended.


    Jareth collected the answer sheets using his telekinesis and left the exam hall with them without saying a single word to the students.


    Only when students were sure that Jareth had left did they finally heave a sigh of relief.


    They were already stressed enough with the exams, and now that Jareth had made them go through these hellish three hours, they couldn''t help but leave the exam hall with exhausted looks on their faces.


    They had to sit and write a ''Maths'' exam, which was already very stressful, while still being pressured by Jareth''s intimidating aura all along for three whole hours. That was nothing short of a torture session from their perspective.


    And the one who suffered through it the most was obviously Allen.


    After writing down his name and other details, he didn''t know what to do next. He literally was so ''cooked'' that he didn''t even know a single answer, and since Jareth kept staring at him, his whole body trembled in fear for the whole three hours.


    He already knew that Jareth had already figured out that Allen likely hadn''t studied at all, and yet he kept staring at him.


    This meant that Jareth was definitely laughing at him for the whole three hours.


    He stood up from his seat, wiped the sweat from his face, and headed back to his dorm room with empty eyes.


    His whole back was already covered in sweat, and from others perspectives, he looked like someone who had lost something precious to him and was suffering from massive despair.


    If he had studied properly, Jareth wouldn''t have gotten the opportunity to make a fool out of him; it was his own mistake to trust an unstable factor like ''luck'' for everything.


    ...


    Unlike the students, who were exhausted and at their wits end, Jareth was feeling quite happy in his mind.


    [Ding! You prevented the protagonist from cheating and dealt a big blow to his mind!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 CP!]


    ''Well, although it''s quite a low amount, even this is okay, I guess. I only needed to stare at that guy''s empty answer sheet for three hours to get these credit points...''


    ''It was worth making a trip to the exam hall in person....''


    Just when Jareth was going back to his dorm room, a new idea came to his mind:


    ''Wait... if I can get points for stopping him from cheating, then can''t I do the same for other tests too? hehehehehe....''


    For the first time since he came to this world, Jareth started to behave like a proper villain; he was already thinking about how to mess up Allen''s next plan of cheating in exams.


    ''Kekekeke... I will harvest all the wool from you, my dear sheep....''


    Allen, who was already in his dorm room, couldn''t help but feel a chill run down his spine out of nowhere.


    His luck was really bad today.

 Chapter 108 - 108: The Artificial dungeon test... Part-1.

    University, Basement.


    Mark and the other students walked through the corridor, arriving at a massive underground basement.


    The entire basement was empty, and only a massive door locked with strong magical barriers was located there.


    All the students walked over to the door under the guidance of the assistant professors and started to explain everything to them.


    "Everyone! An artificial dungeon is located behind this door; your physical combat test will take place inside this dungeon!"


    "We have given a wristwatch to each one of you, and we will track your health and other physical conditions with that wristwatch; don''t worry about it breaking or getting lost¡­"


    "It''s been enhanced with magic; you don''t need to worry about its safety¡­ Instead, it will activate teleportation magic if your health drops below a certain limit¡­"


    Every year, the students have to go through this compulsory test, as this exam gives them actual combat experience by making them fight real monsters.


    All the monsters inside this artificial dungeon are either supplied by the army for educational purposes or are donated by summoning magic using mages to gain the university''s favor.


    Most of the students that study at this university come from wealthy families, and some of their parents are summoners. They donate magic beasts to the university to get a guaranteed seat for their children there.


    Those children don''t even have to give entrance exams; they just get selected on the spot.


    Corruption runs rampant in this world; there''s no point in blaming those parents for trying to make better choices for their children.


    Most parents do their best to create a brighter future for their children, and they try to give them as many opportunities as possible.


    There''s nothing strange about it, and the university has accepted this fact too.


    ¡­


    The assistant professor opened the magic lock on the dungeon gate, and the gigantic door opened all by itself.


    A huge rainforest appeared and became visible from the other side of the door.


    Seeing the shocked look on the students faces, the assistant professor smiled and said,


    "What you see is the masterpiece created by the greatest illusion mage, Ivan, ''The King of Illusions''. He was the one who personally created this artificial dungeon and crafted this illusion in the artificial dungeon¡­"


    "The previous principle, Principal Nathan, established the academy in this place, exactly because of this artificial dungeon''s existence here¡­" S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Nathan wanted to study the concept behind this massive illusion-filled dungeon, so he created the university to have a legitimate reason to stay here.


    Originally, he used to send the students as death squads in this dungeon, but as it turned out that the dungeon was actually much safer than expected, the dungeon became a tool to test the progress of the students.


    The university''s name, ''Ivan''s Higher Arcane University'' was also created because of this dungeon''s existence.


    "The exam pattern will remain the same as the previous years; once you enter this dungeon, you will be teleported to a random location inside it and will get trapped in the illusion.."


    "You need to clear out all three floors of this dungeon before the time limit of 5 hours!"


    The assistant professor also explained various other things, like the basic geography of the illusion and the three floors.


    Every floor have a boss monster sitting in it that you must defeat to go to the next floor.


    But that''s not all.


    "Out of the twelve professors, three will be working as the boss monsters and will be guarding the stairs to the next floor¡­. You need to pass their trails to succeed¡­"


    Jareth has been promoted to the role of vice principal, so the number of professors has gone down from thirteen to twelve.


    "Even we assistant professors don''t know which of the professors will be in charge of guarding the boss rooms, so you have to prepare according to the situations¡­"


    Hearing the words of the assistant professor, the students felt quite nervous.


    The assistant professor smiled at those nervous students and said,


    "But that''s not all; aside from those three whom you ''must'' fight to go to the next floor, the other nine professors will be wandering in the dungeon at random¡­"


    "You can consider them as mini-bosses who you might encounter if you are unlucky enough¡­ So make sure you keep your mana detection up at all times¡­"


    "Three of them will be wandering on each floor at random; if you don''t want to get eliminated early, it''s better to avoid them as much as possible¡­"


    The rules of the test were simple: the longer you survive the test, the more points you will get, and if you somehow passed all three floors and exited the dungeon safely, then you will get full marks in the test.


    In the past two decades, there has not been a single student who has passed all three trails and obtained full marks.


    The original Jareth barely passed this test in his university days because he had a good brain up his sleeve.


    You don''t necessarily have to fight the professors; you just need to pass the trails that they might give you, and Jareth was always good at things that were not related to direct combat.


    ¡­


    While everyone was super nervous about this test, only a few were still calm and relaxed, like Mark, who had already clenched his magic staff and was ready to enter the dungeon at any time.


    ''If Vice-principal Jareth is not taking part in this exam, then I don''t have anything to worry about¡­''


    In Mark''s opinion, everyone else aside from Jareth are just decorations in the name of mages; he will surpass them eventually in a year or two, and only Jareth can be considered to have the power to intimidate him.


    Risa glanced at Mark and spoke in an excited tone.


    "Let''s make a bet; the one who gets fewer points will massage the shoulders of the other party¡­"


    Mark smirked a bit at her words, and said,


    "Hoh, don''t end up crying after I win, then¡­ I will make you massage my shoulders for hours!! Ehehe!"


    Risa wasn''t intimidated by his words at all, though; her shadow magic has the advantage when it comes to moving through dangerous terrain.


    She can easily bypass all monsters and obstacles; all she needs to be careful of is that the wandering professors don''t discover her.


    If she can manage that much, she will have an overwhelming advantage over Mark.


    Earth magic is obviously slower and more rigid than her shadow magic, so Mark is at a disadvantage from the start.


    Unless, of course, Mark could do something so shocking that everyone couldn''t help but feel shocked.

 Chapter 109 - 109: The Artificial dungeon test... Part-2.

    One by one, all the students entered the dungeon, and those who were hesitating got kicked in the A*s and were forced to go inside.


    One thing is sure: the professors don''t give a sh*t about how much trauma you may have to suffer while fighting the monsters with your life on the line.


    To make the students improve, they need to be ruthless.


    Mark entered the dungeon without hesitation, so he didn''t get kicked at all.


    The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the branch of a giant tree that seemed hundreds of meters tall.


    Fortunately, Mark doesn''t have a fear of heights; otherwise, he might have fainted at this scene.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Mark floated in the sky and reached the topmost branch of the tree to look at the geography around him.


    ''It''s a vast rainforest¡­''


    Mark remembered the words of the assistant professors before coming here.


    The assistant professor said that the first floor is a vast rainforest, the second one is a deep ocean, and the last one is an underground cave-like maze with lava in it.


    All three tests are more difficult than the others.


    Just as Mark was contemplating which direction he should go, he noticed a giant watchtower in the distance.


    ''That must be the destination...''


    Mark took a mental note of the direction he needed to go in and easily formed a route for himself.


    He''s not called a genius for nothing; making a safe route in his mind and remembering the area with just one look is child''s play for him.


    Just when he was thinking about rushing to the destination, a giant mosquito appeared nearby.


    The giant mosquitoes were more than one meter long and half a meter thick. Its gigantic wings made an eerie ''buzz'' sound in the air.


    As Mark looked at the ugly creature, black lines appeared on his face.


    ''I expected that there would be weird monsters here¡­ but to think they will use such hideous monsters¡­''


    This place might be created from an illusion, but the monsters here are real, which means that the professors purposely allowed this hideous creature''s existence here.


    ''Nightmare Mosquito¡­ It''s infamous for sucking massive amounts of blood and life force from the bodies of prey¡­ It''s favorite target are female creatures, but it can attack others too if hungry¡­''


    ''Moreover, it hunts in groups, which means¡­''


    And Mark''s prediction was right: hundreds and hundreds of giant mosquitoes started to fly towards him at the speed of sound; their constant buzzing caused him to feel annoyed.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    Mark gritted his teeth, cast the mana shield, and dove down towards the ground.


    Using the ''float'' magic, he landed on the ground without any injuries and then brought out his wand to deal with the enemies.


    Giant mosquitoes are just grade-5 monsters independently, but when in groups, their lethality is not much weaker than that of a semi-grade 3 beast.


    Most students in the first year are barely in grade 5 right now, so they will definitely get eliminated if they get caught by these mosquitoes.


    Mark glanced at the mosquitoes that were rushing towards him like a tsunami, and he finally understood why the assistant professor said that the test was about surviving.


    Most students are weak; they will have no choice but to run, and the longer they can survive, the more points they can get, so running away is a valid option.


    ''I don''t need to waste my mana on these things... I need to save mana for the main trail of this floor¡­ The optimal choice here is to do a tactical retreat!''


    Mark took a calm and rational decision; he decided to avoid the pointless fight and to save his mana for later.


    With that one decision, Mark has already grasped the true motive of this floor.


    They designed it to help the students understand that it''s not always a good idea to charge head-first into battle like an idiot.


    You need to change your strategies according to the circumstances.


    ¡­


    Near a lake in the rainforest.


    When Allen first appeared in the dungeon, he found himself falling from the sky, and a giant lake was right below him.


    Before he could come to his senses, a giant snake jumped out of the lake and swallowed him in its stomach.


    The snake went back to the deepest part of the lake to lie down and digest its food.


    Fortunately, Allen had learned fire magic from Aiza, so he used it to burn the snake from the inside, which caused the snake to vomit him out of his mouth.


    Nearly all of Allen''s clothes got dissolved in the stomach acid of the snake, and even his skin burned from the acid.


    "f*ck! Who the f*ck created this sh*tty dungeon!!"


    With a pained expression on his face, Allen raised his hand and placed it on his chest.


    [Grade-6 Healing Magic: Basic Heal!]


    Allen''s injuries improved slowly, and the burned skin regenerated.


    But before he could fully heal, the snake started to attack him again, which made him even more annoyed than before.


    "I will kill you!! Godd*mn oversized worm!!"


    ¡­


    Rainforest, southern area.


    The southern area had a much higher density of trees, due to which the sunlight wasn''t even able to reach the ground as the leaves of trees were stopping it mid-way.


    As a result, the entire southern forest area was extremely dark, even during the day.


    But this darkness meant nothing to Risa, who was used to working in the shadows; in fact, this darkness worked in her favor instead.


    *Bam**bam*


    A giant bear lay on the ground, wailing in pain as Risa kept kicking its head back and forth.


    "Kekeke, you dare to sneak behind me? Did no one tell you to not sneak around an assassin?" S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The bear''s head couldn''t hold it any longer, and it exploded like a watermelon after withstanding so many kicks.


    The brain matter splattered everywhere, but Risa had already cast a shadow barrier, so she remained unaffected.


    Seeing that the bear had died so early, a look of disappointment appeared on Risa''s face.


    ''Tch! How weak!''


    Risa shook her head and stopped messing around.


    ''Let''s stop wasting time now; I need to move fast!''


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Bypass!]


    Risa used the darkness in the forest to her advantage, easily bypassing the obstacles in her path.


    She went right through the trees, boulders, and other objects that stood in her way; thus, her journey became extremely smooth.


    ''Hehe, Victory will be mine today! And then I will make you do ''that'' massage to me¡­ hehe¡­''


    Risa has recently seen a very questionable type of massage technique in a magazine, and now she wants Mark to do that for her.


    (Don''t mind her; she''s just too obsessed with Mark¡­)

 Chapter 110 - 110: The Artificial dungeon test... Part-3.

    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Stone Gatling!]


    Four small magic circles appeared behind Mark, and they started to spin and fire condensed stone elemental bullets at a speed two times faster than sound.


    Mark didn''t stop; he kept flying towards the watchtower in the distance while the stone-gatling spell kept raining stone bullets at the mosquitoes that were chasing him.


    For the past half an hour, Mark has been trying to get rid of these mosquitoes, but they are very persistent, and they kept chasing behind him no matter how much he tried to run.


    Furthermore, the constant buzzing they produced from their wings was very annoying and loud.


    It started to attract other monsters too; fortunately, Mark''s flying speed was quite fast; otherwise, he would have to face the siege of a lot of monsters.


    So, to stop the monsters and mosquitoes from getting too close, he cast the ''Stone Gatling'' spell to do a proper counterattack while retreating.


    ''Okay, I see it now...''


    Mark had been flying for more than half an hour now, and finally he could see the base of the watchtower from the distance now.


    ''That watchtower must be a safe area; it''s just a few hundred meters, and I can ignore the chase of these-''


    Just when Mark was still thinking about getting to the safe area, his danger senses became active, and he felt ''death'' coming at him.


    ''Sh*t!''


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Four walls of gentle protection!]


    A huge magic circle appeared on the ground with Mark as the center, and Mark deployed all four of the stone walls in the direction of the watchtower before jumping to the side.


    A massive arrow made of condensed water came from the direction of the watchtower and destroyed all of those walls easily, as if they were made of paper, and it didn''t stop there.


    After colliding with the ground, the water arrow split into water needles that shot out in all directions at the speed of Mach 3.


    Thousands of water needles hit the swarm of giant mosquitoes and monsters and instantly exploded the mosquitoes and the monsters into meat paste. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark, who was hiding behind a giant tree nearby, felt a chill run down his spine after seeing that scene.


    The trees and the ground¡ªeverything seemed to have been hit by a meteor.


    Mark peeked at the watchtower from the side of the giant tree with a nervous look on his face.


    ''That giant water arrow came flying from the watchtower¡­ That was likely a grade-3 magic spell, and it was aimed at me¡­ If I had been hit by it, I would have definitely been eliminated¡­"


    Once eliminated, the student will get teleported out of the artificial dungeon, and if Mark gets eliminated so early, he will likely get low marks.


    At that moment, Mark remembered the words of the assistant professor.


    If the assistant professor''s statement is accurate, the watchtower must serve as the primary command center for the entire first floor, and a professor must have fired the water arrow.


    A professor is responsible for conducting a trail for all students in the main boss area. If the information provided is accurate, then


    ''It means that the trial to pass this floor is that I need to reach inside that watchtower while dodging those massive water arrows¡­ and if a single one hits me¡­''


    ''I will get eliminated¡­''


    Mark knew all too well which of the twelve professors was the most skilled in water magic.


    ''Ms. Yoseh, you really have chosen quite a difficult trial for the students¡­''


    Yoseh likely isn''t even using ten percent of her strength when firing those water arrows, but even then, those arrows are extremely lethal for people who are below grade 2.


    A grade-2 mage is already very strong; dodging their casual attacks is already a very difficult task.


    ''I need to make a plan¡­ Without a proper plan, I can''t dodge the attacks of grade 2 mage¡­ even if she''s barely even using 1 or 2 percent of her power¡­ it''s still a serious attack for me¡­''


    Mark was able to dodge the first attack purely because of his amazing instincts; if it were someone else, they would have been eliminated instantly.


    ¡­


    Watchtower, rooftop.


    *sip~*


    Yoseh leaned on the deckchair and sipped the juice from the straw.


    Wearing sunglasses and lying lazily on the watchtower''s rooftop of the watchtower, Yoseh was fully enjoying her free time.


    She had already set up a grade-3 magic circle on the watchtower, and anyone who comes within 500 meters will get attacked automatically.


    Yoseh doesn''t even need to move a single finger; everything will happen all by itself.


    Moreover, she has spread her mana detection range to the whole first floor; she can easily sense what every student is doing, and she can easily keep an eye on their condition.


    If she really was asked to defeat the students, she could have just waved her staff and fired a grade-2 spell, which would have auto-targeted all of the students on the whole first floor.


    A grade-2 mage''s attacking range is extremely large; she can attack all students at once while ignoring the disadvantage of distance.


    But she wasn''t asked to do that; all she had to do was create a difficult trial for the students that would give them a challenge but wouldn''t directly block their progress.


    Only the students that can come up with a proper strategy can pass this trial, because if they get hit by the water arrows, they will definitely get eliminated.


    Just when Yoseh was lazing around, she noticed that the magic circle was activated for the first time, and a smile appeared on her face.


    ''As expected, Mark is the first one to reach this place¡­ Let''s see how he will overcome this difficulty¡­''


    Yoseh easily figured out Mark''s exact location with her strong mana detection ability, but she didn''t interfere at all.


    While lying down lazily, she continued to sip the juice and enjoy the show.


    ''Ah~ this is life¡­ I am glad that I ran away from home and became a professor¡­ Now I earn a lot of money and enjoy my days here¡­''


    Yoseh glanced in a different direction and smiled.


    ''hoh? That girl, Risa, is heading in this direction at quite a fast pace¡­ I see, she''s directly bypassing all obstacles with her shadow magic¡­''


    ''But that will consume a lot of mana¡­ I wonder why she''s using mana in such an extravagant manner¡­ does she not know that it''s more important to conserve mana in this place¡­''


    Yoseh glanced in Mark and Risa''s directions simultaneously and thought to herself.


    ''I wonder which one will be able to pass this floor first¡­''

 Chapter 111 - 111: The Artificial dungeon test... Part-4.

    Below the watchtower.


    ''Rushing straight ahead won''t work¡­ Even if I enhance my speed or try to be fast, it still won''t work¡­ I need something that can defend against those water arrows¡­''


    Mark kept pacing back and forth as he started to think about a plan to pass this trial.


    This is the second time he''s taken part in real combat-type scenarios, so he is just as inexperienced as the other students. The only advantage he has is that his grade is higher and his mana control is better.


    (The first real combat experience for him was in that Cyclops dungeon¡­ as a prince, obviously he hasn''t taken part in dangerous activities before that¡­)


    While walking back and forth, Mark noticed the broken skin parts of the mosquitoes nearby.


    Some of the skin parts were still intact, and the water from the attack was dripping down from them.


    Then he noticed that the wings of those mosquitoes were still fully intact, even though their bodies had been destroyed.


    ''Hmm? How are these frail-looking wings still intact after that insane attack?''


    Mark walked over to those wings with a curious look on his face and picked one of them to observe closely.


    He is currently a few meters outside the 500-meter attack range of that water arrow magic circle, which keeps him safe and allows him to explore without fear of attack.


    After a few moments of close investigation, Mark came to the conclusion that these wings are made up of a flexible kind of muscle fiber, and they won''t break if not particularly targeted.


    Looking at those wings, Mark suddenly got an amazing idea.


    ''Wait¡­ I can do that!''


    With a new idea in his mind, Mark started to prepare for the trail.


    ¡­


    On the other side of the watch tower.


    A shadow-covered figure suddenly appeared above the branch of a giant tree.


    Risa glanced at the giant watchtower and frowned a bit.


    ''My assassin sense is tingling¡­ Even my instincts are telling me not to go close¡­ Is there some kind of defense mechanism placed here?''


    Risa has taken the training of veteran assassins; she has bypassed many defense mechanisms, like automatic magic attacking circles, thus immediately noticing the presence of that magic circle on the watch tower.


    Risa glanced at a giant mouse that was wandering on the ground nearby, and she immediately grabbed its neck with her hand.


    ''You go there first!''


    She threw the mice ahead and then hid far away to observe the outcome of the experiment. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And sure enough, just when the mouse entered the 500-meter range around the watch tower, a massive water arrow came flying and hit the mice directly at an incredibly fast speed.


    The impact of that attack was so strong that the mouse''s bodies directly exploded on the spot, and blood splattered everywhere on the ground.


    A frown appeared on Risa''s face after she saw that scene.


    ''It''s a very strong defense mechanism¡­ With my current level of shadow magic, I can''t bypass it directly¡­ I need an indirect method.''


    Risa might be quite clumsy at other things, but when it comes to combat and assassination-related stuff, she''s extremely skilled.


    The rumor that her whole family is jealous of her skills is not wrong; she''s indeed talented.


    Risa noticed the presence of a giant hole in the ground from the corner of her eyes, and a smirk appeared on her face.


    ''Found it¡­''


    ¡­


    Watchtower, rooftop.


    ''Hoh¡­ It seems he is planning something¡­''


    Yoseh sipped the juice and stared at Mark''s every move with great curiosity in her eyes.


    To her, the performance of the students was just a way to pass time; all she wanted was to see an epic show.


    Just as Yoseh was getting excited, Mark made his move. He pointed his wand towards the ground and cast his spell.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Frictionless Earth Carpet!]


    Mark turned a small area of the ground into a frictionless zone, which means that if he jumps at it with any amount of force, he will directly start to slide, and unless some external force is applied, nothing can stop him.


    Yoseh frowned at Mark''s choice of magic.


    ''Uh.. what is he trying to do¡­ I don''t think this will give him enough speed...''


    Before Yoseh could think of what Mark was trying to do, he jumped on the slippery, frictionless floor and started to slide towards the watchtower.


    A massive water arrow flew towards him in an instant, but Mark wasn''t intimidated this time; he waved his wand and cast,


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Frictionless Absolute Clay!]


    ''Clay'' is commonly used in many products to repel water and moisture.


    When Mark saw those flexible mosquito wings, he got the idea that he could just make the water repel by casting water repelling magic, and he wouldn''t need to create a powerful shield that way.


    Mark''s magic might be only in grade 4, but his mana control has already reached grade 3, so it was easy for him to create the clay strong enough that it could properly repel the water arrow.


    And that''s exactly what happened.


    The water arrow hit the clay barrier, but it did nothing, and the water got scattered in various directions.


    When the water fell on the frictionless floor, its water elements made it even more slippery, and Mark''s sliding speed increased even further.


    In other words, Mark used that water arrow to his advantage while directly ignoring the impact of the attack with the help of the clay barrier.


    Yoseh was very surprised by Mark''s strategy, and she couldn''t help but nod her head in satisfaction.


    She got up from her chair and glanced down at Mark, who had entered the watchtower without a single injury, and an amused smile appeared on her face.


    ''As expected of a genius¡­ He created two new spells on the spot¡­ This kid is insane¡­''


    ''Clay'' type earth magic existed before, but it wasn''t as good as Mark''s; the absolute clay spell was Mark''s own creation.


    To put it another way, Mark quickly devised the "friction-less carpet" and "Absolute Clay" spells in order to successfully complete a trial.


    Creating a new spell out of nowhere is an extremely difficult process, but Mark did it twice simultaneously in a matter of minutes.


    This just shows how insane his talent is.


    After seeing this, even Yoseh had to acknowledge Mark''s amazing thinking capabilities.


    Yoseh brought out a small list from her space ring, and she added full marks in front of Mark''s name.


    ''With his talent, it won''t be long before he will be standing shoulder to shoulder with us grade 2 mages¡­ This is the horror of a monster¡­''


    Mark''s title as the ''A once-in-a century genius'' is no joke.

 Chapter 112 - 112: The Artificial dungeon test... Part-5.

    As Mark entered the watchtower''s ground floor, he saw the gate on the opposite side opening.


    ''Hmm? Someone passed the trial and came from the other door?''


    Mark was quite surprised that someone had passed the trail nearly as fast as him.


    Even if he had to create two new spells on the spot to pass the trail, others will likely have to come up with strong strategies too; otherwise, they won''t be able to pass this trail at all.


    ''Wait, they never said that the students are not allowed to fight among each other¡­ I should stay on guard¡­''


    The assistant professor didn''t tell them whether it was allowed to attack other students or not.


    ''There''s no way to steal others''s points, but people might still fight among each other¡­ I should not think that others will show kindness-''


    Just as Mark was still contemplating in his mind, a figure covered in a dark, shadowy cloak walked inside from the opposite door.


    Seeing that person, Mark was quite surprised. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The shadow cloak disappeared, and Risa''s smiling face appeared in Mark''s view.


    "Ah, Mark! You are already here!? I thought I was the first one to arrive!"


    Risa clenched her small fist and said in a confident tone,


    "Don''t think that I have lost yet; I will definitely be the first one to clear the second trial!"


    Mark ignored her challenge and asked,


    "That aside, what strategy did you use to pass the trail? You made it here quite fast, actually¡­"


    At Mark''s question, Risa immediately started to explain,


    "Well, I found an entrance to the giant mouse colony, and then I dragged them out to rush towards the watchtower¡­"


    Risa forced the whole colony of mice to come out and rush towards the watch tower like crazy, and then she used her shadow cloak to hide herself in the shadow of the mice that were running towards the watch tower.


    Her strategy was simple yet effective.


    She made her way here by sacrificing nearly two to three thousand giant mice for her own benefit.


    A complicated expression appeared on Mark''s face as he asked,


    "So, you are saying that you¡­ actually went inside a mice nest¡­ then you beat the sh*t out of their leader, and then they chased behind you like crazy?"


    Risa nodded her head with a proud look on her face.


    "I also concocted a ''Crazy-rush bomb'' and threw it at their faces to make them go crazy and lose their mind¡­"


    For the first time, Mark seemed to lack knowledge. He asked with a bewildered look on his face,


    "What is a ''crazy-rush bomb''? This is the first time I am hearing about it¡­"


    Risa nodded her head at his words and said,


    "Well, of course you haven''t heard about it; it''s torture equipment after all! You can make it with a demon bear''s heart, a rock wolf''s liver, and a flame python''s eyeball¡­"


    "I made it from the materials I collected from the monsters in the forest¡­ This type of bomb releases toxic smoke that directly burns your nostrils, and your eyeballs catch fire in an instant¡­"


    "If you inhale too much, then the lungs start burning from inside, and you will lose your mind due to the intense pain¡­ That''s exactly what happened to the mice that I used as cannon fodder¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but feel a lot of complicated emotions surging in his mind. He hasn''t read a book about torture and stuff, so he doesn''t know about it in much detail.


    This is the first time he''s heard about such a horrible torture method.


    He glanced at Risa and asked,


    "Isn''t torture generally used to extract information from people? If they use this method, then the person might not be able to give any information as they will go insane from pain¡­"


    "Then what''s the use of this method? Isn''t it useless?"


    Mark was hoping that Risa would say that this type of torture method has gone extinct and no one uses it today, but his hopes were broken by Risa.


    She puffed up her chest in pride and started to explain,


    "Well, not all torture methods are used for the purpose of extracting information¡­ Some are used for fun too¡­"


    "They make the fighters in the underground illegal arenas inhale this thing and make them go crazy so that they can fight more fiercely¡­ It''s actually a very famous thing on the dark web¡­"


    "I learned its recipe from Professor Gazid''s books; he conducted a lot of experiments on monsters with this thing¡­"


    Mark just stopped talking at that moment; he didn''t dare ask any further about these things.


    He was afraid that Risa would tell him more horrible stuff that would give him nightmares.


    "Er.. Are you sure you should be learning things like that¡­ Uh, don''t they affect your mentality unconsciously?"


    Hearing those words, Risa thought that Mark was worried about her health, so she smiled happily and nodded her head.


    "It doesn''t affect me at all! I am fit and fine!"


    She doesn''t acknowledge that learning these kinds of things has completely messed up her mind.


    Just when Mark was about to say something, the ground trembled a bit, the carpet on the floor nearby suddenly disappeared, and a staircase appeared out of thin air.


    Looking at that staircase, the two of them nodded their heads, and they immediately took the stairs to descend to the next floor.


    ...


    First floor, near a giant lake.


    *Boom!!*


    A gigantic snake''s tail hit the ground, massive cracks appeared in the ground, and a huge amount of debris flew in all directions.


    Allen, who had barely dodged the attack by pushing himself to the side with the help of wind magic, panted heavily.


    "Ugh¡­ aahhh¡­ it hurts¡­"


    Although he was barely able to dodge, his left arm was hit by the gigantic tail, and the bones and muscles in his arm directly broke in an instant.


    Right now, his left arm is hanging onto his shoulder, but it''s bent in a crooked way, and even the broken bone has pierced out of the skin.


    Blood is flowing like a fountain, and the pain is unbearable.


    Allen gritted his teeth as tears started to appear in his eyes due to the immense pain.


    ''D*mn it! D*mn it!''


    Allen''s healing magic is still very weak, so he can''t heal such a severe injury. All he can do right now is either voluntarily admit defeat or get teleported out of the dungeon.


    Or he will have to bear the pain and pour all his mana to barely stop the pain and bleeding in his arm by using the healing magic.

 Chapter 113 - 113: Gazids test subjects...

    First Floor, Watchtower, Rooftop.


    "Tch! I told Gazid that he shouldn''t lend his personal weird books to the students¡­ Now his weird methods are being used by the students¡­ ugh¡­"


    Yoseh couldn''t help but complain in her mind when she saw Risa use that questionable method to pass the trail.


    Although the strategy was indeed good, it was still questionable, at least morally.


    Then Yoseh glanced in the direction of the giant lake and frowned,


    ''Er¡­ that student got hit and hasn''t been eliminated? He seems to be in a lot of pain. Should I eliminate him directly or wait for him to make the decision...''


    Yoseh noticed that Allen was injured and was crying in pain, but she was hesitating whether she should eliminate Allen right away or wait for a while.


    Allen has healing magic after all; if he uses it to power through this situation, then he will likely be awarded a lot of points as he would be considered to have survived the attack of a strong monster.


    However, if she dismisses him immediately, he will forfeit this opportunity. As a professor, she must consider the benefits to the students.


    Just when Yoseh was still contemplating in her mind a wandering mini-boss, Professor Gazid arrived near Allen''s location, worsening his situation even more. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The wandering professors aren''t using their mana detection right now, and they are wandering randomly.


    They aren''t allowed to use mana detection because if they did, they could easily pinpoint the location of all students, which would be too overwhelming for the students.


    Gazid randomly stumbled across the location where Allen was being attacked by the giant serpent.


    Noticing Gazid''s presence, Yoseh shook her head and went back to lying down to relax.


    ''Forget it; I will leave it to him¡­''


    ¡­


    Near the lake.


    Gazid glanced at the giant serpent, and a creepy smile appeared on his face.


    "Kekekeke, I was just thinking that I needed a test subject to find out the effects of the new toxin that I created, and it directly appeared in front of me¡­ ah~ what a lovely snake~"


    The serpent seems to have sensed the ominous aura around Gazid, and it immediately made the decision to flee back into the lake.


    But before it could even move, Gazid waved his hand.


    [Grade-3 Earth Magic: Gentle Stone Hands!]


    Three gigantic magic circles appeared in the sky, and earth elementals converged to form three giant hands in front of the magic circles.


    One hand directly grabbed the neck of the serpent and stopped it from running, while the other two hands forcefully opened its mouth and even broke its fangs in the process.


    Those rough stone hands scratched the serpent''s mouth''s inner skin, causing it to bleed.


    Then Gazid flew into the sky and threw a strange-looking bead in the serpent''s mouth.


    The bead immediately mixed with the blood of the serpent, and its eyes went bloodshot in an instant. Then the giant stone''s hands let go of the snake in an instant.


    Gazid glanced at Allen and said,


    "The professors are prohibited from personally attacking the students, so I will give the trail to survive this snake¡­ I have given it a certain thing, and it''s power will be boosted now¡­"


    "If you can survive this, then I will give you extra points. Good luck!"


    After saying that, Gazid didn''t even wait for Allen''s reply; he flew into the air and made an appropriate distance from the snake to observe the situation from far away.


    As it feels immense pain, the snake begins to madly twist and turn its body everywhere.


    The toxin that Gazid fed it was actually a highly lethal type of poison. It slowly mixed into the blood of the entire body, causing intense pain in every single cell.


    It will feel as if you are being cut by countless scissors, bit by bit. The pain was so overwhelming that the snake lost its mind and started to attack anything and everything in the vicinity.


    The toxin also works as a temporary power-boosting tonic, so it gives more strength to the rampaging serpent.


    Allen had to stop thinking about healing and had to pour all of his mana into his mana shield to protect himself.


    Meanwhile, Gazid, who stood in the distance, frowned a bit.


    ''Hmm, it seems the concentration was a bit low¡­ Also, the mixture ratio is a bit off¡­ I should improve it and try it again later on with some other monster when I encounter another student¡­''


    Just like Yoseh was taking this exam as her method of passing time and relaxing, Gazid was also having fun in his own twisted way.


    He was literally experimenting with his weird methods on the monsters, and then he was using the students as a test subject to determine how much of a boost his toxin gave the monsters.


    If the students'' parents knew about this, they would stop saying that the university''s professors always keep the students'' safety as their top priority.


    ...


    Just when Allen''s mana shield was about to break apart, Aiza suddenly arrived at the scene.


    She raised her staff towards the neck of the giant serpent and cast her magic.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Ray of the Flaming Phoenix!]


    A five-meter-wide magic circle appeared beside Aiza and fired a condensed blue beam of fire at the neck of the giant serpent.


    The giant serpent abruptly twisted its head as the beam was about to strike, causing the ray to strike its eyeball directly and burn its brain from the inside out.


    Its head melted due to the heat from the inside, and the giant serpent died a horrible death.


    Aiza was also quite surprised that her spell worked so effectively; she smiled happily and then went to help Allen, as he was in really bad condition.


    Gazid, who saw all this happen, nodded his head in satisfaction.


    ''Good, Students Aiza rescued a person in need; she will get extra points for this¡­ Also, her fire magic is really quite strong¡­ as expected of ''that'' guy''s sister, I guess¡­''


    In today''s world, Jareth is misunderstood as the strongest fire type magician, and it was not too surprising that his younger sister is also an excellent fire magician.


    Instead, it would be even more peculiar if Aiza lacked the necessary talent.


    Seeing that the situation was wrapped up, Gazid shook his head and left.


    The trail assigned by him was already completed; there was no need to pester the same students again and again.


    ''Let''s go find some new test subjects¡­''


    With a creepy smile on his face, he flew away to find new test subjects to torture¡­

 Chapter 114 - 114: Freedom!!

    Second Floor, Scorching Desert.


    Mark suddenly found himself falling from the sky as he appeared on the second floor, but he had been ready for anything, so he reacted fast and immediately cast his spell.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Just as Mark barely stabilized himself in the air, a giant sandworm jumped out of the sand below.


    Its oval mouth opened wide, and the rows of razor-sharp teeth came into Mark''s view.


    Just when the worm was only a few meters away, Mark waved his wand in the air and cast his magic.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Meteoric Stone Spike!]


    A giant spike made of stone appeared from a giant magic circle and was launched inside the mouth of the worm at the speed of sound.


    The giant stone spike directly entered the worm''s mouth and pierced its body from inside out.


    The impact of that spike caused the worm to fall down on the sand dunes below.


    Dark purple blood splattered all over the ground, and even the sand got melted due to coming into contact with that acidic blood.


    Seeing that the worm was still twitching a bit, Mark aimed his wand at it again,


    [Grade-5 Earth Magic: Gentle Stone Fist!]


    A huge fist made of stone appeared from the magic circle and punched the body of the giant worm with an insanely strong force.


    The punch''s impact directly punctured the worm''s body, and dark purple blood splattered all over the ground.


    Only after confirming that the worm was really dead did Mark heave a sigh of relief.


    ''This is a mutated sand worm¡­ I need to get out of this area fast; once you kill one of them, more will come chasing after you after detecting that their kin has died¡­''


    Mark landed on the ground and pointed his wand towards the ground.


    ''Traveling via sky is dangerous as there will likely be mutated vulture-type beasts flying above the desert¡­ I don''t have the time to waste on them¡­''


    ''They live in groups of hundreds¡­ A lot of time will be wasted if I encounter them¡­''


    In the whole class, Mark is the only one who has thoroughly memorized details about what types of monsters might appear in various geographical locations.


    Mutated vultures exist in symbiosis with the sand worms.


    When the sandworm excretes the remains of its prey, the mutated vultures feast on it, and in return, they help the sandworm locate prey, may it be on the ground or in the sky.


    Therefore, Mark was confident that the presence of sandworms in this area would undoubtedly lead to the presence of mutated vultures as well.


    ''If I travel on foot, then it will take a lot of time, and I can''t fly either¡­ I need something else then¡­''


    Mark ran his brain fast and figured out what he needed in an instant.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Maximum Output: Sand Golem!]


    Mark poured a lot of his mana, and a 100-meter-wide magic circle appeared on the ground.


    Mark directly used the sand present in the desert and manipulated it to form a hundred-meter-high sand golem.


    Seeing that the golem was ready to go, Mark smirked a bit and flew in the air to sit on its shoulder.


    ''Go Go Megaz*rd!!''


    At Mark''s command, the massive sand golem started to slide on the sand as if it were skiing on the ice.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of skiing on the sand, another sand worm appeared in front of Mark, but this time he was ready.


    Mark increased his mana output and used his mind to manipulate the sand golem''s body.


    Two gigantic wings appeared behind the back of the golem, and its right hand turned into a giant sword made of hardened and concentrated sand.


    The worm jumped out of the ground and pounced at Mark and his golem with its mouth wide open.


    But Mark was unbothered by it; he manipulated the golem, and the wings on its back flapped.


    The golem jumped high in the air, dodged the incoming attack of the golem, and then swung its sword at the worm''s body.


    Those sand wings can''t make the golem fly, but they can give a short boost to its jumping ability, due to which the golem was able to jump two hundred meters in the sky.


    Thus, with its massive weight and the assistance of gravity, the momentum of its sword attack increased even more.


    The sword directly split the body of the giant worm into two pieces in an instant.


    And as the golem was made up of sand, it wasn''t affected much by the acidic blood and recovered easily by using sand from the ground.


    *kraaaaa!*


    A group of ten mutated vultures appeared in the sky right above Mark and started to scream loudly.


    ''They are likely trying to call more sandworms here¡­ I need to shut them up fast..''


    At Mark''s command, the sand golem''s left hand turned into a bazooka, and the golem raised its arm towards the sky to aim.


    The sand bazooka fired hardened and concentrated sand balls at the vultures in the sky and hit them accurately.


    When the vultures lost balance and started to fall down, Mark used the sword on the golem''s right hand to slice the vultures and kill them in an instant.


    His strategy worked meticulously; he killed all ten of the vultures in a matter of seconds, then immediately left the crime scene by skiing on the sand. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Moreover, he used the wing to boost his skiing speed.


    For the next hour or so, a giant golem with wings on its back kept skiing on the sand with a sword in its right hand and a bazooka in its left hand.


    If some other student had seen this scene, they would have mistaken the giant sand golem for the second floor''s main boss monster.


    No matter what came in his way, Mark just overwhelmed it with his sand golem and chopped it off in pieces with the sword after bombarding it with sand balls from his bazooka.


    When a whole colony of giant dessert ants attacked Mark, he created two more hands on the golem and turned them into giant machine guns that fired stone bullets at the ant colony, slaughtering them all.


    While doing all that, Mark just kept screaming one single slogan in his mind:


    ''Here comes the Freedom!!! Rrrraaaaaggggg!!! What the f*ck is a kilometer!!!''


    Whenever a monster came close, Mark chopped it off with his sword and then continued bombarding the enemy with more stone bullets at the speed of Mach 4 like crazy.


    He was literally using that golem as a Mecha at this point!

 Chapter 115 - 115: Giant Drill goes brrr...

    "Hmm, so this is the boss area of the second floor?"


    Mark stood on the shoulder of the giant sand golem and stared at the oasis in front of him.


    ''Wait, isn''t that professor Thomas there?''


    While looking around, Mark noticed Thomas, who was sitting on a chair under the shade of a ''Date Palm'' tree and was working on some documents.


    An assistant professor was pouring juice for him, and another one was massaging his shoulders.


    Seeing all that, black lines appeared all over Mark''s face.


    ''He''s enjoying his time here while the students are getting beaten blue and black by the beasts in the desert¡­ how extravagant¡­''


    Mark shook his head and stopped looking at Thomas. He knew that it was pointless to argue about it.


    Thomas is not only a professor; he is also the principle. Unlike Jareth, who has totally left his post and has become a vice- principal, Thomas still does both the work of a principal and a professor.


    He thinks that he isn''t yet worthy enough to fully assume the role of the principal, as he isn''t a Grade 1 mage yet.


    He will stop working as a professor when he becomes a grade 1.


    ¡­


    ''There''s a massive barrier around this oasis¡­ This is likely the second trial¡­''


    Thomas is well-known for his amazing magic barrier knowledge; he likely created this barrier around the oasis to test the students'' anti-barrier abilities.


    Unless you break this barrier and enter the Oasis, you won''t be able to complete the second trial. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mark looked at his wrist watch and saw that the test was only three hours away from ending.


    ''If I want to get perfect marks, I need to clear all three trails¡­ I need to hurry; there''s not much time¡­''


    Even Mark, who has been completing the challenges very fast, can feel that the time given to clear this test was too short.


    Which means other ordinary students won''t even have the chance to clear the second floor before the test ends.


    In other words, this test is meant to never be completed by all students; it''s deliberately designed in such a way that the students will not be able to get full marks at all.


    ''This is likely the reason why no one has gotten the perfect score since the past two decades¡­ Not even the vice-principle Jareth, got it, even though he is so talented¡­''


    Mark has misunderstood that Jareth has always been a very talented and strong person.


    He thinks that Jareth must have been a genius during his university days.


    But the truth is, Jareth has been just a fraud since the start; he was pretending to be strong even in those days, and if someone had figured it out, then his life as a mage would have been over.


    Fortunately, Jareth was good at scheming due to his amazing brain, and he never let anyone find out about his weakness.


    Even when he took this test, he passed the trails with his intelligence, not his magic.


    If he didn''t have a sharp brain in his head, he would have failed this test in his university days.


    But Mark doesn''t know all this, so he just thinks of Jareth as an all-powerful mage who can split the sky, shatter the ground, and evaporate the sea in one attack.


    ''I need to think of an idea to break this barrier¡­''


    Mark clenched his fist and controlled his golem with a determined look on his face.


    The golem fired a lot of stone bullets, but it didn''t even scratch the giant barrier.


    Mark flew down from the shoulder of the golem and landed on the ground. He pointed his wand towards the ground and cast his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Concentrated Mana Detection!]


    Mark focused a lot of his mana and concentrated his mana detection range around the mana barrier.


    ''As expected, this barrier goes underground too¡­ There''s no point in digging an underground tunnel either¡­. His barrier has no blind spots and no obvious weakness-''


    Just when Mark was thinking that the barrier had no obvious weaknesses, he suddenly noticed a strange mana fluctuation around the barrier.


    He glanced at the golem and commanded it to bombard the barrier again to confirm what he was thinking.


    ''Hmm? When the stone bullets hit the barrier, the barrier directly spreads the impact of the bullet thoroughly on the surface of the whole barrier, thus reducing the power of the attack to very low¡­''


    ''It''s like hitting a sponge with a punch¡­ It won''t have any effect on it¡­ but¡­''


    At that moment, Mark got the idea that he wanted.


    He immediately waved his hand and stopped the mana output for the sand golem.


    The sand golem lost its shape and turned back into ordinary sand once it lost its mana supply.


    Mark pointed his wand towards that sand dune and cast his magic.


    [Grade-6 Earth Magic: Sand Skin!]


    The sand flew into the air and covered the whole gigantic barrier like skin.


    Mark poured a lot of mana, covered the entire transparent barrier with sand, and then used the sand skin to exert force on the barrier from every angle.


    This caused the absorption and dispel abilities of the barrier to get weaker, as its whole surface was receiving attacks now and there was no room left for dispelling the shockwave produced by strong attacks.


    ''I have seen Mr. Jareth use low-grade spells to solve big problems; I can do the same too.''


    With a smirk on his face, Mark waved his wand.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Maximum Output: Giant Stone Drill!]


    ''When attacking a sponge, it''s better to use a drill¡­''


    Not only did Mark put a lot of mana in the sand skin spell to suppress the shockwave dispelling abilities of the barrier, he also put a lot of mana in the giant stone drill and then used it to attack a single spot heavily.


    ''I can''t break barriers like Mr. Jareth, but I can still follow in his steps!''


    Mark had seen Jareth break the barrier with just ''Mana interruption'' during the battle in Artavia, but Mark''s mana interruption isn''t that strong yet.


    He can''t do things the way Jareth did; Jareth just broke that massive barrier like it was just some decoration and was easy to break.


    But Mark had to use such an indirect method to break this barrier, which is thousands of times weaker in comparison.


    This just shows how strong Jareth''s ''Mana interruption'' ability actually is.


    But this was already a great feat; even Thomas, who was sitting inside the barrier with a relaxed look on his face, couldn''t help but get surprised by Mark''s amazing feats.


    Soon enough, the stone drill punctured a hole in the barrier, and the whole barrier broke apart like broken glass.

 Chapter 116 - 116: Collateral Damage...

    *Crack*


    The giant magic barrier shattered like glass, and Mark walked in with an exhausted look on his face.


    Although he destroyed the barrier, he still ended up losing nearly all of his mana in the process.


    The mana consumption of that giant golem was already quite huge; using that giant stone drill to destroy the magic barrier nearly emptied his whole mana reserve.


    The expression on Mark''s face turned solemn.


    ''If it''s like this¡­ How is anyone even supposed to score full marks? My mana reserve is the biggest in the whole class, and I still ran out of mana only after completing the second floor¡­''


    ''I still have to go to the third floor, but I don''t have any mana left to fight¡­''


    The students aren''t allowed to bring their space rings to this test, and they can''t use any type of potions either.


    Thus, Mark doesn''t have a mana potion or any other potion on him right now, due to which he can''t replenish his mana fast.


    To recover his mana, he would need to sit down and meditate properly.


    Mages can indeed recover mana continuously, as they can use their mana control to unconsciously draw in mana from their surroundings.


    But the speed of this type of automatic mana recovery is very slow; meditating to draw mana inside your body is a more effective method.


    Just when Mark was having a hard time deciding what to do next, Thomas waved his hand, and a new magic barrier was created on the spot.


    Mark glanced behind him, and a complicated look appeared on his face.


    ''It took me so much effort to break that barrier, and he created another one like that so easily¡­ grade-2 mages are indeed quite strong¡­''


    Mark shook his head and walked over to Thomas''s side with a dejected look on his face.


    He wanted to just leave for the next floor and ignore the fact that his hard work was extremely insignificant in front of a grade 2 mage.


    But before he could say anything, Thomas waved his finger, and a mana recovery potion floated towards Mark.


    "Take it.. All students who can reach this place will get one mana recovery potion¡­ You have used up your mana; recover it to full before going to the next floor¡­"


    After Thomas finished speaking, the nearby sand vanished and a staircase suddenly materialized.


    That was obviously the power of the illusion at play once again.


    Mark nodded his head at Thomas''s words and drank the mana potion.


    He sat down on the ground and properly meditated to absorb the concentrated mana in the mana recovery potion.


    Mana recovery potion is just a highly concentrated mana that has been turned into a liquid state due to the high concentration.


    If you drink it and meditate properly to absorb the mana, it will be more effective than taking it without meditating.


    There''s only one mana potion at hand, so Mark didn''t want to waste it, so he tried his best to be as efficient as possible when absorbing it.


    ¡­


    ''This kid¡­ he''s insane¡­''


    While Mark was busy recovering his mana, Thomas couldn''t help but sneak some glances at him.


    ''His mana control is likely already at grade-3¡­ He noticed the slight fluctuation in the mana barrier and used that weakness to destroy the barrier¡­''


    ''This is the first time someone has passed the second trial so fast¡­''


    Mark only took two hours to clear the first and second floors, along with both trails.


    This is basically a new record; the previous fastest record for completing two floors was four hours!


    In other words, Mark took less than half the time compared to the geniuses of the past and created a new unbreakable record that will likely not be broken by anyone in a century or two from now.


    ''His mana absorption speed also points out how strong his mana control is.''


    Mark was absorbing the mana in the mana recovery potion at an abnormally rapid speed.


    His body is like a hungry whale, which is swallowing mana in large quantities. With his current speed and efficiency, he will likely absorb it all in just three minutes.


    Keep in mind that this will take other students at least fifteen minutes to do.


    ''If it''s like this, maybe Mark will really get full points today¡­''


    Thomas was already rooting for Mark''s success; it''s rare for a talent like him to appear, and he wanted to see how far Mark could go.


    ''I guess it won''t be long before he reaches my level¡­ I guess a few years should be enough time for him¡­''


    Currently, Mark is only 18; a bright future is ahead of him, and he can reach heights that no one has ever reached before.


    The time passed quickly.


    Mark finished absorbing the mana and took the stairs to go to the next floor after nodding his head towards Thomas as a way of expressing thanks for the potion.


    Thomas smiled in reply and also nodded his head while thinking in his mind,


    ''If not for my duty as a floor boss here, I would have liked to see how he will complete the next floor¡­ sigh~''


    He stopped staring at the stairs and went back to his work.


    ¡­


    First Floor, near the watchtower.


    "Argh¡­ I can''t walk any more¡­ urgh¡­"


    Allen was having a difficult time remaining conscious due to the intense pain in his broken and twisted arm.


    Aiza was the one who protected him from all the monsters on the way; now they only need to pass the trial and they will be able to go to the next floor.


    But Allen seems to have lost his will to fight after suffering from pain for so long.


    Aiza is a fire-type magician; she doesn''t have any healing spells in her arsenal. Only a healing-type magician can help Allen right now.


    But the main problem is that there is no healing magician in the dungeon.


    The healing magicians are weak in combat; thus, they weren''t sent here in this artificial dungeon, and instead, they will be tested on the basis of their healing magic''s capabilities on some other day.


    This is also the reason why Airin isn''t here to heal Allen; if she were in the dungeon, Allen''s first choice would have been to find her and get himself healed.


    Just when Aiza was still wondering what to do, a student suddenly rushed towards the watchtower and got blasted off by the water arrow.


    The water arrow eliminated the student instantly, but it didn''t lose its impact; as it hit the ground, it split into countless water needles that flew in all directions and exploded like grenades at contact with anything.


    Those water needles were so fast that Aiza barely had time to protect herself, and Allen got hit by one right on the face.


    The water needle exploded, and Allen got eliminated in an instant as he lost consciousness due to the explosion and got teleported. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Aiza was so taken aback by that sudden change, she couldn''t help but glance at the spot where Allen was sitting with a blank expression on her face.


    The protagonist was so unlucky today that he literally got eliminated from collateral damage.


    This was indeed inevitable.


    As the vice principal, Jareth purposely changed the positions of the teachers and assigned Gazid to the first floor himself.


    Jareth''s interference was the reason why Allen ended up in this kind of situation.


    ''I guess I should leave...''


    Seeing that Allen was eliminated from the test, Aiza had no choice but to move on by herself.


    She originally wanted to help out Allen because she still considers him a good friend and doesn''t want to see him fail the test, but now that things have come to this, she can''t do anything.


    If she hadn''t wasted her time saving and escorting Allen here, she would have already reached the second floor by now, but she was just too naive in this matter, and she couldn''t bear to see Allen suffer.


    Although she has only recently met him, it''s not a good thing to leave your friends behind when they are in need.


    Actually, Aiza will get extra points for helping out Allen, who was in need.


    Every action of the students is being observed by Yoseh; no one will leave without getting proper marks today.


    ...


    Aiza shook her head and left the place. She headed towards the edge of the five-hundred-meter range and cast her spell.


    ''A water arrow spell... the best counter would be firing a fire-type spell at the water arrow, but my fire magic isn''t strong enough yet and it will get overwhelmed...''


    Just then, Aiza recalled how Jareth had used ''Basic Magic'' and low-grade magic to deal with strong foes, and an inspiration came to her mind.


    ''If he can do it, I can do it too...''


    She pointed the wand toward her feet and cast her magic.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Delayed Explosion!]


    Not only did she use float magic to stay in the air, she also gave herself a push by making a fire explosion near herself.


    The shockwave and air pressure from the explosion pushed her towards the watchtower, and she flew like an arrow.


    Even the water arrow wasn''t able to hit her, as she easily changed direction in mid-air by creating another explosion.


    That''s how she became the third person to pass the first trial of this test after Mark and Risa.


    But obviously, she still got a few scratches and wounds as she was barely avoiding the water arrows.


    The final explosion ended up being too strong, and she directly hit her head on the door, causing it to bleed a bit.


    But that much bleeding couldn''t stop her at all; she went inside and descended to the next floor.


    ''I will become strong! no matter what!''

 Chapter 117 - 117: Misunderstandings continues... Part-1

    Third floor, Boss Area.


    "Well, I don''t really mind you taking over the work¡­ In the first place, I was doubting why an ice-type magician like me had to be placed in a volcano-type boss area¡­"


    "That''s basically a result of sh*tty planning¡­"


    Jareth nodded at Shin''s words and replied,


    "Well, Thomas was the one who made all the arrangements; he likely must have thought that the students would be surprised by seeing an ice-type boss when the area is fire-type¡­"


    Shin also nodded his head at those words and waved his hand to say goodbye.


    "Forget it, I don''t want to stay in this freakily hot place for one more second. I will just leave early. I leave the trail in your hands¡­ good luck¡­"


    Shin flew away after saying those words and didn''t bother staying here any longer.


    The boss area is located right above the volcano on a floor made of metal hanging with the help of chains that are embedded in the walls of the volcano.


    The heat in this place is extremely high, as insanely hot lava is flowing right below the metallic floor.


    Looking at Shin''s fading back, Jareth shook his head,


    ''Originally, Allen would have made it to this floor by now, but it seems I have caused a lot of butterfly effect, and he has already been eliminated¡­''


    ''I should be able to get a few ''CP'' by getting him eliminated so early¡­''


    And just when Jareth was thinking about ''credit points'', the notification came on time.


    [Ding! You caused a minor change in the storyline!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 CP!]


    Jareth shook his head in disappointment after seeing that notification.


    ''Ugh¡­ only a thousand? That is quite low¡­ sigh~ with this much, I will only be able to do a bronze lottery¡­ and that lottery has weird things in it¡­''


    Just when Jareth was contemplating whether to do a lottery or not, he detected a familiar presence entering the third floor.


    ''Oh¡­ So, Mark made it here already? There are actually around three hours left, and he''s already on the third floor¡­.''


    ''Sigh~ as expected of a hard-working genius, nothing can stop him once that pathetic protagonist is out of the way¡­''


    The third floor is a giant volcano-type area.


    There is a huge maze that you can''t skip by flying as it will cause all monsters residing in the lava to target you, which means Mark will have to cross the maze with his own strategies.


    Just when Jareth was wondering how Mark would deal with the maze, Mark directly cast a giant stone drill to destroy the walls of the maze and made his way through the maze in a straight line.


    He directly blasted off all the walls in his way and made a tunnel with his magic. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Er¡­ why does it feel that I have seen something like this before¡­''


    Indeed! Mark took inspiration for this from Jareth himself!


    Just like how Jareth used a low-level fire spell to kill a cyclops and create an underground tunnel right through the dungeon walls, Mark was doing the same.


    He did things just like Jareth; he directly blasted through the walls and made his way to the other side of the maze without any problems, with minimal use of mana.


    ''I kind of feel like I am causing bad influence on the students¡­ What if I used ''that'' forbidden spell and the students saw me using it¡­ They will definitely try to copy it!''


    Even Jareth couldn''t help but feel a bit embarrassed thinking about that weird ''Forbidden spell'' that has been collecting dust in his arsenal.


    ''I better not use it in front of Mark¡­ Otherwise, this kid will definitely learn it, and then he will spill about it to others too¡­ Ugh, my reputation as a respectable person will disappear¡­''


    ''Thankfully, Shiina isn''t in this world; otherwise, she would have been giving me weird glances all the time¡­''


    Just as Jareth was contemplating his weird spell, Mark encountered a lava troll.


    ''Hmm, troll''s have amazing regeneration capability¡­ I wonder how Mark will deal-''


    Just when Jareth was wondering how Mark would counter the troll''s regeneration ability, Mark pointed his wand towards the ground and cast a giant stone spike spell.


    The pointed tip of the stone spike directly pierced the Troll''s from the back hole, and it came out of his mouth.


    That stone spike directly pierced the troll''s whole body along with its mana core in the abdomen, causing it to die an extremely horrible death.


    Even Jareth couldn''t help but frown at that attack.


    ''That''s a f*cking torture method! Risa has infected him with her weird disease!''


    Mark has seen the video where Jareth used a giant glowing mana orb to counter the darkness in his enemies.


    That attack gave Mark the idea that he should always aim for the weaknesses of his opponents.


    In other words, Mark''s ''back-door penetrating'' attack was actually inspired by Jareth too! Risa had nothing to do with it! She was actually innocent in this matter.


    ''Er¡­ I have turned the hope of this world into a weird mage who likes to give buckshot''s to his opponents with his magic¡­ Ah, forgive me, Shiina; I am not that kind of man, believe me¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but pray for forgiveness from his emotional support, Shiina, after seeing Mark use that weird attack.


    Mark wasn''t even done yet; he encountered a lava lizard, and he used giant stone hands to forcefully open its mouth before slowly piercing it with a stone spike that pierced right through its whole body and came out from the other end.


    It was such a cruel sight that, if not for the aura around him being familiar, Jareth would have mistaken Mark to be Risa in disguise.


    ''He literally turned that lizard into a d*ngo while it was still alive!''


    Jareth was glad that he came here to supervise and made Shin leave; if Shin had seen all this, he would have definitely fainted on the spot.


    Grade 2 mages have strong mana detection.


    Shin could have easily seen the whole process, and unlike Jareth, Shin is a kind-hearted person after all; he really would have fainted after seeing that ''D*ngo-making process'' in such great detail.


    If Shin had asked Mark about where he learned this type of attack, he would have said that he learned it from Jareth, and then Shin would have really destroyed Jareth''s reputation as he is a chatterbox who can''t stop talking.


    ...


    Jareth stopped looking at what Mark was doing to make his way to the boss area.


    ''Forget it; I will just give him a light punishment, and he will be on the right track¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head and started to wait for Mark to arrive.


    Half an hour passed by, and Mark finally made his way to the boss area.


    Behind him, three giant stone hands were floating in the air, and each of them was holding a ''D*ngo stick'' that he made from the lava lizards.


    Those lizards were still alive and were screaming in pain like crazy, and their bodies were twitching from time to time.


    Mark glanced at the giant arena-like place and said,


    "From this arena, I assume I have to fight you, Vice-principal¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Yeah, but there are three conditions¡­"


    [1. I will only attack you with a low-grade fire spell, only once¡­]


    [2. You can use anything at your disposal to defend¡­]


    [3. If you can defend against my mana beam, then you pass¡­]


    Mark nodded his head at those words.


    With his amazing brain, he had already speculated that Jareth would likely be the final boss as the trail is taking place in a volcano and the only person he can think of who can use breathtakingly amazing fire magic is Jareth himself.


    This is also the reason why he used the methods that he learned from Jareth, as he wanted to show what he had learned from him.


    Mark was being a sincere student, but he was clueless that he had already caused great embarrassment to Jareth by mistake.


    He misunderstood Jareth''s way of fighting and thought that it was better to use shady tactics in a fight. (Although he isn''t wrong either¡­ but what he uses is really kind of weird¡­)


    Mark immediately used those three hands, as well as those twitching lizards, as a shield.


    Mark had come prepared; he knew that these lizards are very resistant to fire magic, and they would likely be able to defend against Jareth.


    This was also the main reason why he bothered to bring these lizards here with him.


    His purpose was to use them as meat shields that would provide extra layers of protection for him.


    Seeing that Mark was ready, Jareth nodded his head and cast his magic.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Ray of Compressed Fire!]


    Jareth shot a condensed fire beam that immediately pierced the lava lizards, penetrated Mark''s mana barrier, and cut Mark''s left cheek before moving away.


    Mark was so stunned by that move that he stumbled back a few steps before recovering from shock.


    ''T-this!?''


    Mark was so shocked because Jareth had said he would use a low-grade spell, but then he used grade-3 magic all of a sudden, which caught him off guard.


    If that attack had not changed its direction midway, it would have blasted Mark''s head off in an instant.


    *Step**Step*


    Jareth walked over to Mark''s side and said, in a serious tone,


    "Rule number one of being a wizard¡­ Never trust the words of another wizard blindly¡­"


    Only after hearing Jareth''s word did Mark understand what had happened, and his eyes widened in shock.


    ''He was actually teaching me!?''

 Chapter 118 - 118: Misunderstandings Continues... Part-2

    Jareth was messing with Mark on purpose, but Mark misunderstood that he was trying to teach him about the way of being a real wizard.


    Mark nodded his head and said,


    "I will keep it in mind!"


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "Well, you still technically tanked the attack, so you win¡­"


    As Jareth said those words, a staircase appeared nearby.


    Mark was surprised by Jareth''s words; he wanted to say something but then stopped.


    Jareth had already declared that he had passed, which means he had to leave now. It would be rude to stay here anymore.


    Mark nodded his head and climbed the stairs to leave.


    After a few minutes of climbing the stairs, he found himself standing in the main garden of the university.


    ''Oh~ so there was a hidden staircase here? It must have been hidden with magic detection, nullifying artifacts¡­''


    Mark has visited this place before, and he never noticed this hidden staircase in the ground. Only after passing all three trials did he get to see this staircase.


    ''Well, this isn''t bad either¡­''


    Mark watched the flowers in the distance, and the slight breeze ruffled his hair.


    ''After going through those dangerous places, this place feels so peaceful and nice¡­''


    Mark shook his head and lay down on the finely trimmed grass nearby. He watched the clouds float in the sky, and soon his eyes closed as he fell asleep due to exhaustion.


    ¡­


    Third-floor maze area.


    ''Ugh, where do I go now¡­''


    While Mark was sleeping comfortably under the warm sunlight and the caress of the cold wind breeze, Risa had lost her way in the maze of the third floor.


    Risa passed through the second trial, but she can''t find her way in this maze.


    Her shadow magic isn''t yet strong enough that she can just pass through these maze walls that are enhanced with magic.


    And she doesn''t have the massive mana capacity of Mark either, so she can''t directly blast her way through the walls.


    (By the way, those walls were healed by the illusion after Mark passed the trial of the third floor¡­)


    Moreover, her direction sense isn''t that good either, so she ended up losing her way in the maze.


    Truthfully speaking, it was already a great feat that she reached the third floor; most of the students got eliminated on the first floor.


    ''Sigh. It seems I will not be able to win this time¡­''


    Risa couldn''t help but feel sad; she wanted to win and force Mark to do naughty things with her.


    She knows that Mark himself won''t take the initiative, as he''s too shy and dishonest with his own feelings.


    Just as Risa was about to give up, she suddenly sensed someone approaching with her mana detection.


    ''hmm? This aura¡­''


    Before Risa could think about it much, Aria came running in her direction, and dozens of lava lizards were chasing behind her.


    As soon as Aria saw Risa, she said,


    "Student Risa, run!! The monsters here have gone insane!"


    Risa frowned a bit and glanced at the grade-5 lava lizards with a look of confusion.


    ''What? Why is Professor Aria running? Isn''t she a Grade 2 mage? She should be able to deal with these few weak monsters easily¡­ wait! This must be a mini-boss trial!''


    [Grade-5 Shadow Magic: Shadow Lance Bombardment!]


    A giant magic circle appeared and bombarded the rushing Lava lizards with her shadow lances.


    Risa then manipulated the shadow elements, creating a sword out of the condensed shadow elements.


    [Fallen Style Sword Art: Thousand Shadow Mirages!]


    She raised the shadow sword about her shoulder and swung it downwards a thousand times in a matter of three seconds.


    She fired a thousand arcs made up of condensed shadow elements at the lava lizards and sliced the lizards into pieces without much effort.


    Although Risa is a mage, she is well versed in swordsmanship too. It would be a mistake to underestimate her close-range combat abilities.


    When it comes to close-range combat, she has the upper hand, even against Mark.


    Her combat style is very versatile.


    She knows magic, swordsmanship, archery, dagger arts, martial arts, and other combat styles.


    She has molded her body to be capable of fighting with or without weapons, so that she can keep fighting no matter if she has mana or not.


    This is also one of the reasons why even her own family members fear her; she is a maniac who has mastered the way of an assassin to the core.


    ...


    Seeing the dead lizards on the floor, Risa frowned a bit and thought,


    ''Eh? Aren''t these monsters a bit too weak? When I used this attack on Mark, he easily blocked it with his mana barrier, as if it didn''t have much lethality at all¡­''


    Risa often asks Mark to have friendly spars with her, so she was quite surprised that her attack was so effective.


    Most of the time, she only uses her magic when sparring with Mark, so she has become used to seeing her attacks fail.


    Mark''s mana barrier is so strong that her relentless attacks mean nothing to it; she hasn''t scored a single victory against him until now. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thus, even she was unaware of how lethal her own attacks are.


    ''Er¡­ I have been throwing these lethal attacks at him all along?''


    Risa glanced at her shadow sword with a complicated look on her face.


    ''T-this¡­''


    Thinking about this, Risa couldn''t help but feel guilty. She''s indeed a bit crazy in her mind, but she doesn''t want to be hated by Mark.


    If Mark starts to hate her, she will lose the purpose of her life; she''s so obsessed with him that she can''t afford to be on his bad side.


    ''I-I will need to apologize to him¡­''


    Just when Risa was contemplating how to apologize to Mark, Aria hugged her from behind.


    Her face was covered in tears, and a smile of gratitude hung on her face.


    "Thank you, student Risa! You saved my life today! I can''t thank you enough!"


    A look of confusion appeared on Risa''s face after hearing those words.


    "Eh? I saved you? When?"


    Risa didn''t know that Aria was a weak-hearted person! She only became a grade-2 mage by relying on her own potion-making talent!


    She doesn''t have any real combat experience, and she''s only good at healing magic!


    Even now, she was running from those lava lizards, not because she wanted to give Risa a trial, but because she had no idea how to fight them.


    Aria looked at the sky and prayed.


    ''Ah, my dear ancestors, I have survived one more day¡­ Please keep blessing me as usual!''

 Chapter 119 - 119: The Artificial Dungeon test ends...

    "So, you are telling me that you are actually very weak-hearted despite being a grade-2 mage?"


    Aria nodded her head at Risa''s question and said,


    "Yeah¡­ I don''t really like fighting and all, and I also lose control of my mana when I use combat-related spells¡­"


    Risa couldn''t help but frown at those words.


    This is the first time she has heard about such a unique case.


    Usually all grade 2 mages are strong people who have gone through various difficulties before reaching their level of strength.


    It''s very rare to see a grade-2 mage who can''t fight.


    "Then why didn''t you just become a healing-type magician? Why learn combat spells in the first place if you weren''t planning to fight¡­ Didn''t it waste your time and efforts to learn things that you are not good at?"


    Hearing Risa''s question, Aria shook her head and said,


    "No¡­ I wanted to become strong to protect my little sister¡­ but I don''t have the strong heart to do that¡­"


    Risa and Aria kept walking through the maze while talking with each other.


    "Well, you are good at potion making; I doubt anyone would say much about it, right?"


    Mark appears to be quite interested in learning potion-making, so Risa was ready to motivate Aria, who was always ready to teach Mark about it all.


    Although Risa gets jealous of this, she doesn''t want to become an obstacle in Mark''s way, so she keeps her jealousy on a tight leash; otherwise, she would have stabbed a dagger in Aria''s eye right now.


    "I am good at potion making, but¡­ I want to be good at other things too, sigh¡­ I asked Principal Thomas to place me on the volcano floor¡­ I wanted to temper my heart, but¡­ sigh~"


    Seeing that sad look on Aria''s face, Risa couldn''t help but give her a pat on the back.


    "Keep working hard; you will definitely achieve success one day¡­"


    Hearing those words of motivation from Risa, Aria felt a bit more relieved, but then she shook her head and said,


    "Vice-principal Jareth has taken over the floor''s boss area¡­ He must have noticed me being chased by those lava lizards¡­"


    "Ugh, I feel that he might be disgusted by my cowardice and will blast me off the face of Earth once I go back¡­"


    Hearing those words, Risa looked at Aria in confusion and said,


    "Huh? Why would he do that? I think you are mistaking something¡­ He is a very calm and, you know, ''chill'' type of person¡­ I don''t think he will get offended over something like that¡­"


    "You know¡­ I think he doesn''t even get angry at anyone¡­ Truthfully speaking, I have never seen him get angry¡­."


    Unlike others, Risa is not even the slightest bit afraid of Jareth, as the word ''Fear'' doesn''t exist in her dictionary.


    She has put her life in danger so many times during her training to become an Assassin that she has lost the feeling called ''Fear''.


    Now, even if a demon god himself came to kill her, she still wouldn''t feel fearful at all.


    And as she is directly immune to Jareth''s intimidating aura, she can see his expressions more clearly than others. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    From her point of view, Jareth seems like a spitting image of her own father!


    Her father is a cold-hearted assassin in the eyes of others, but for her, he''s a loving and caring father who worries about her safety.


    Jareth gives similar vibes like that.


    (This is because Jareth thinks that if he had married Shiina and had a daughter, then she would have been just as carefree and free-spirited as Risa¡­ alas, his wish never came true¡­)


    ¡­


    Aria''s eyes widened in shock at Risa''s words, and she said in a nervous tone,


    "D-don''t say that; if he hears about it, he will get angry for sure!"


    "Didn''t you hear the rumor on the internet that he can control time¡­ He even went back in time to play volleyball with the dinosaurs!"


    "I bet he can hear our conversation too!"


    Risa frowned at Aria''s words and shook her head,


    "What are you talking about¡­ If he was capable of that, then he would have already become a god or something like that¡­ Why would he even dwell in the same mortal realm as us?"


    Hearing Risa''s words, Aria calmed down a bit and said,


    "T-then what about the rumor of him being the ''god of fire''? They even established a cult for him!"


    Risa couldn''t help but doubt Aria''s intelligence after hearing those words.


    ''How was someone with such a na?ve personality as hers even able to reach grade-2? She''s too na?ve for this world¡­''


    Even Risa couldn''t help but worry about the survival of this na?ve woman in this cruel world.


    ''I think if I told her about the kind of things that Professor Gazid writes in his books, she would go into a coma¡­''


    Risa shook her head and said,


    "Those are obviously fake rumors¡­ And if they really have established a cult or something like that, then the police will take care of it soon¡­"


    "Anyway, my point is, you are just thinking too much. Vice principal isn''t that bad of a person; you don''t need to worry about that¡­"


    Only after Risa''s continuous encouragement did Aria finally return to her usual self.


    While the two of them were talking and wandering in the maze, time passed quite fast, and the five-hour limit was reached.


    All the students who were still stuck in the artificial dungeon got teleported back to the basement, and the professors also left the dungeons to prepare the result.


    Risa waved goodbye to Aria, who was leaving with a confident look on her face, and then left to find Mark.


    ''He isn''t in the basement¡­ Sigh, it seems he ended up winning after all¡­''


    Risa felt a bit sad that she wasn''t able to keep up with Mark and then went to look for him outside.


    Although she lost to him today, she was determined that she would definitely win one day.


    ''Just you wait Mark; I will make you fall head over heels for me!''


    In her opinion, she can only win Mark''s heart if she makes him lose, either in a competition or in a duel.


    And that''s why she''s working so hard to improve and is always eager to compete with Mark.


    ¡­


    While Risa was planning various schemes against him, Mark was sleeping peacefully in a corner of the garden.


    Eventually, the gardener will find him and scold him for damaging a nearby flower in his sleep.


    That day, Mark got lectured about how precious plants are for our lives.


    {Don''t hurt a flower,


    That brings a smile to the faces of meek,


    Never corrupt a soul,


    That brings light into the world of weak¡­} (Source: Trust me bro)

 Chapter 120 - 120: The Lost Kid who met the Golden Light... Part-1.

    Midnight, Principal''s office.


    *Step**Step*


    Jareth walked inside the office with an expressionless look on his face and followed the same process as before to make the magic barrier appear in front of him.


    ''I really underestimated your determination to hide the things that are inside your hidden library, Nathan¡­''


    ''You really created a very impressive barrier; it must have taken at least a decade to perfect this barrier to this kind of state¡­. I never thought I would say this, but you really are ''Good'' at barriers¡­''


    Even with ''Mana Singularity'' and extreme mana purity, it still took Jareth such a long time to finally analyze the whole magic barrier and find a countermeasure for it.


    Moreover, he even ended up asking for help from Thomas too; all this just shows how much time and effort Nathan put into creating this barrier.


    If this was just a simple high-grade barrier, Jareth could have easily seized control of it in just a week, but the barrier that Nathan put on this hidden library is extremely strong.


    It''s even stronger than the monster protection barrier that is protecting the whole capital city.


    ''It won''t be wrong to say that this barrier is basically a ''Semi grade-0'' barrier that can''t be broken forcefully by even grade-1 mages¡­''


    Even if several grade 1 mages come and attack this barrier with all their might, they will still need to keep bombarding it for several months before it can finally be broken.


    ''It''s as if Nathan dedicated a significant part of his life just to make this barrier so perfect and powerful¡­''


    Every ''Artist'' dreams of creating a ''perfect'' masterpiece that they can dedicate their whole life to.


    And this Magic Barrier is without a doubt a ''Nearly Perfect'' masterpiece that you can''t replicate and can''t recreate.


    Even if Jareth copies its mana circuit and formula, the barrier is ''unique'' to Nathan, and it won''t have the same effect when used by others.


    Nathan ''Nearly'' molded the ''Law'' of ''Protection'' in this barrier.


    If not for Jareth having ''Mana singularity'', it would have been impossible to get rid of this barrier.


    ''I am really amazed¡­ to think someone as cunning and efficient as you will go and waste a decade or two just to create a barrier that can hide a small library inside it?...''


    ''Just what are you trying to hide so badly, Nathan?''


    Jareth raised his right hand, and his grimoire floated in the air beside him.


    He focused his whole mind and then used the countermeasure that he found to slowly seize the authority of the barrier by embedding his own mana in it.


    Time passed fast, and two hours went by in a flash.


    Jareth nearly emptied his whole mana reserve in just two hours.


    His mana is much purer and denser than others, which means that even a grade 1 mage wouldn''t have been able to keep up with the high requirement of mana needed to assume authority over this barrier.


    ''So this is the power of the world''s ''Laws''¡­ This barrier hasn''t even properly manifested the ''Law'' of ''Protection'' yet, and it''s already so strong¡­''


    Even Jareth was impressed by the amazing power of this ''World''s Laws''.


    Jareth''s ''Mana Singularity'' is a ''Legendary Grade'' skill that has the power of ''Law'' backing it up.


    But even ''Mana Singularity'' is just a ''path'' to that certain ''Law''; only by manipulating the ''Law'' itself can you achieve the power to bend the world to your will.


    And maybe that is one of the steps needed to reach the next realm, which humankind has always dreamt of.


    ¡­


    *shaaammmm~*


    The mana circle changed its color from golden to purple as Jareth took over.


    He waved his hand, and the magic circle got deactivated, causing the mana barrier to disappear.


    Now Jareth can activate and deactivate this barrier at any time with just a simple command using mana.


    ''Finally did it¡­''


    Once the magic barrier disappeared, a mechanism was activated, and a secret door in the wall opened by itself.


    Jareth searched through his space ring, brought out a mana recovery potion, and recovered his mana to full capacity first.


    Nathan put so much effort into ensuring the safety of this place; it can have anything stored up inside, so Jareth dared not be careless, and he deployed his own mana shield before entering.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Barrier!]


    ''Okay, let''s go in¡­''


    With the barrier ready, Jareth took a deep breath and headed inside.


    The hidden door closed on its own, as did the magic barrier, after Jareth walked inside.


    Jareth glanced at the ''Mana stone-powered bulbs'' that illuminated the area and thought to himself.


    ''These things¡­ they have mana bombs inside them¡­''


    Nathan''s preparations were indeed very thorough; he even put bombs inside the hidden library so as to keep the truth hidden.


    ''I guess if I had forcefully broken this barrier, these mana bombs would have self-destructed and the whole hidden library would have been reduced to ashes and smoke¡­.''


    ''Thankfully, I decided to do things more peacefully this time¡­''


    Jareth shook his head, moved through the narrow corridor, and arrived at a small, hidden room.


    The floor was made up of ordinary, weak stones, and there are more mana bombs buried under this seemingly ordinary floor.


    Jareth couldn''t help but frown.


    ''This place is equipped with bombs the same worth as the whole university, which is very expensive¡­''


    If these bombs explode, not only the whole university but the whole area within a radius of 2 kilometers will be destroyed. (For my freedom-loving readers who don''t know what a kilometer is, 2 km = 1.24 miles, approx...)


    ''He literally dug a hundred-foot-deep hole in the ground to fill it with massive mana bombs¡­''


    ''What the f*ck was this guy even planning!? Even the military needs permission to use such dangerous weapons¡­''


    ''Where the f*ck did he get so many of them in the first place!?''


    Jareth couldn''t help but be shocked at this insanity. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Forget it; I should stop thinking of that guy as a sane human being¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and looked around to see what was so special about this place.


    All of a sudden, his intuition, his mind, and every single cell in his body were attracted to one single book that was placed on the highest shelf of the third book cabinet.


    Jareth didn''t think much at all; he just walked over to the cabinet and took out the book with a calm expression on his face.


    But after seeing the title of the book, even Jareth was shocked, and his expression changed to solemn for the first time in a while.


    What he has discovered today is indeed something that is worth being serious about.


    The title of the book that Jareth was holding in his hand was:


    [''Cosmic'' Records of Strar U''lbyatre the ''First King'' of the ''Unified Human Empire''!]

 Chapter 121 - 121: The Lost Kid who met the Golden Light... Part-2.

    Once upon a time, in the era of endless wars and chaos, humans were divided into many small nations and were constantly battling with each other to no end.


    An ''Ordinary'' child was born into a family of herdsmen.


    The small family that used to keep cattle and sell ''Milk'' to make their living, with the addition of a new member to the family, things became livelier.


    But human greed affects everyone; war spread its flames far and wide, and the small family lost their cattle.


    Day of difficulty came upon the poor family that had no other source of income.


    Eventually, the parents of the ''ordinary'' kid decided to abandon their child in the heart of the forest and migrate somewhere else in search of better opportunities.


    The ''Ordinary'' kid, who barely just learned how to walk, had no idea about the ways of the world.


    Fortunately, an old herb gatherer picked up the abandoned ''Ordinary'' kid and took him in as his own child.


    Years went by, and the once ''Ordinary'' kid grew up to be an energetic young man, yet he was still just an ''Ordinary'' person in the end. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Soon after, he watched his adoptive grandfather die in front of him due to disease and a lack of medicine.


    The herbs that once used to work wonders couldn''t sustain the fragile life of the old man any longer.


    The young man, who was still in shock, would then go on to see the woman he once loved get murdered by the iron hooves of the marching armies.


    He would go on to see the village that he spent his whole life in get destroyed overnight.


    He saw the death, disease, pain, suffering, and fear that the wars brought to this world.


    The young man wanted to set things on the right ''Path'', he wanted to make the world a peaceful place where no kid would get abandoned for the lack of food.


    Where no villages will be destroyed for war, and where love will not be trampled under the march of the armies.


    But, all this was simply impossible for a simple and ''ordinary'' young man, he was nothing in front of the might of an organized army.


    Neither was he the son of an emperor, nor was he a chosen hero blessed with immense charisma and strength.


    He didn''t have the mind to make strategies that could overturn armies, and he didn''t have the luck of the blessed to turn everything in his favor.


    The moment he tried to raise his voice against the cruelties caused by the senseless wars, he would die without ever accomplishing anything in the world.


    He was ''Ordinary'', just too ''Ordinary''.


    ¡­


    And Yet.


    As they say, if the world doesn''t recognize you, then create your own path to the destination you want to reach and force the world to look at you with your own efforts.


    The ''Ordinary'' young man found his ''Path''.


    A Ray of Golden Light descended from the sky, and the whole world witnessed the Golden King''s majestic aura, who was holding the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'' in his hand.


    Some recorded that event as just a myth, and some created paintings of it.


    But only a few people heard the words of the Golden Light, and the ''Ordinary'' young man was one of them.


    [The Fluctuations in the space-time fabric have caused you to drift into the ''Sea of Endless Miasma''.]


    [I shall seal the dome and make this place peaceful, but thou shall not forget¡­]


    [Thou doesn''t belong to those who dwell in ''Corruption''; you shall return home; there is still hope¡­.]


    [Even if the world may crumble and my existence fade away, thou shall honor and remember thy origins¡­]


    [Reach the realm of ''Demi-gods'', seek the ''Power of Origin'', and return home as soon as possible.]


    With that message conveyed, the Golden King ascended to the sky and left this war-torn world behind just in a moment''s time.


    As if he were in a hurry, a look of worry was noticed on the golden king''s face by all those who saw him that day.


    ¡­.


    For others, those few words were just some meaningless blabbers of an incomprehensible being.


    But for the young man who saw it all, those few words seemed to carry the truth about the world itself.


    They seemed to carry divine enlightenment.


    The young man decided to find the ''truth'' of those words; he achieved enlightenment that day and got the blessing of mana.


    From then on, he could control mana; his strength kept growing day by day, and he reached a height that no one had reached before.


    The mighty armies that he feared in the past weren''t invincible in front of him anymore.


    With a wave of his hand, he could create tsunamis, and with a flick of his finger, he could make the sky rain.


    He seemed to have achieved a power that was beyond human comprehension.


    The young man climbed to the peak of the world with his unwavering resolve; he unified the nations and established the ''Unified Human Empire'', where no one would need to go on wars against other humans.


    The young man brought peace to the world and helped the human race reach a state of growth and advancement.


    More talented people started to be born, and the might of the human race increased strongly enough to dominate the whole world.


    That ''Ordinary'' kid who was born without the power to change the world became so ''Extraordinary'' that none could compete against his brilliance.


    The ''Ordinary'' young man was no longer ''ordinary''; he became so brilliant that his brilliance illuminated the world and gave warmth to those looking for comfort.


    He figured out the truths of the words of the ''Golden Light'', and he took many steps for humankind''s future.


    He was the one who found the exact locations of the seals of ''False Dome'' and created defense mechanisms for them.


    Not only did he help humankind learn the way of mana and understand the path of magic, he also created weapons that were able to even fight against the influence of a demon god.


    That young man¡­ No, The First King, Strar U''lbyatre, cultivated many geniuses who inherited his legacy and helped humanity go one step further in better understanding the laws of this world.


    Records say that the First King once ventured into the skies, and he died after passing on the responsibility to the next generation.


    Alas, people have forgotten his legacy as too much time has passed. His disciples became obsessed with power and murdered each other, and eventually his legacy was lost to time.


    No one knows the full extent of the capabilities that the First King had achieved.

 Chapter 122 - 122: A Hopeless World...

    ''Realm of ''Demi-gods''? Was there something like that in the game? And what is the ''power of origin''?''


    ''Sigh~ this is all so confusing¡­''


    Jareth paced back and forth in the room and contemplated in his mind.


    ''First of all, the Golden King who descended to this world and the First King, these two are different people¡­''


    ''Secondly, the Golden King said to the whole world, ''Leave this place''¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but frown while thinking about all this.


    ''Could it be that he knew that there would be demon gods trying to invade this place in the future?''


    There was also a mention of a place called ''Sea of Endless Miasma'', and apparently, they are located in this place right now.


    Thinking this far, a thought came to Jareth''s mind.


    ''Wait, could it be that¡­ the seal of the false dome was created to keep the miasma from ''The endless sea of miasma'' away from this place?''


    ''And if the seal breaks¡­ then¡­'' S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel a chill run down his spine at that moment.


    ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Now I understand the meaning of the quote that was shown in the ending of the game¡­''


    [The world may be hopeless, but you earned a happy life for yourself at least¡­]


    Only now does Jareth figure out why this world was referred to as ''hopeless''.


    If they are really in the ''Sea of Miasma'', then once the seal breaks, they will be flooded by an insanely dense amount of miasma, and all creatures will either be turned into demons or will be absorbed by corruption.


    And even if they do nothing, miasma is a powerful force. After thousands of years of corruption, it is very likely that the seal of the false dome would have started to get corrupted too.


    ''In the future¡­ there will be a time when the seal will get destroyed on its own¡­ This is inevitable¡­''


    Only now has Jareth understood the so called ''Reality'' of this world that all Grade 1 mages have been hiding from the world for so long.


    Grade-1 mages can vaguely feel and see the ''laws'' of this world, which means that once you become a Grade-1, you will be able to feel the overwhelming presence of the ''Law of Miasma''.


    You will be able to see and feel that the world that you exist in is just a hopeless graveyard that will be destroyed sooner or later.


    Even Grade 1 Mages are just ''Ants'' in front of the power of the ''laws'' of this world.


    ''So, all along, that demon god Azazel¡­ has been trying to break the seal of the false dome because¡­ he wants to destroy the whole of their world¡­''


    No matter if you succeed in preventing the seal from getting broken or you wait it out,.


    The result will be the same.


    It''s impossible for even grade 1 mages to fight against the laws of this world, and the destruction of their whole race is already confirmed; it''s just that it will take time.


    ''Sigh¡­ It seems I really came to a hopeless world. I would have preferred it if it were a world filled with mana and miasma¡­ Who could have thought that this world is literally floating in abyss¡­''


    Jareth sighed and rubbed his forehead.


    ''The main thing is¡­ how that ''Golden King'' came to this place if this whole place is submerged in the sea of miasma¡­''


    ''No wait¡­ If this place was already submerged in the sea of miasma before the ''Seal of False Dome'' was created by the Golden King, then why didn''t this place get destroyed?''


    ''Ugh¡­ There are just too many unanswered questions that I have no way of figuring out.''


    Just looking at one book from this hidden library, Jareth''s head was already filled with hundreds of questions, but there was no one or nothing that could answer his questions.


    The Grade 1 mages have always hidden this ''truth'' from the whole world, and none have ever told common people about it.


    Which means all the creatures on this whole planet are living a carefree life, and they have no idea that they are literally floating in the abyss; they can die any day, and there''s no guarantee for the future.


    ''This is insane¡­ I can understand why most Grade 1 mages are so selfish and arrogant¡­ It''s because they know that their existence is meaningless in light of the reality of this world¡­''


    When a person finds out that their life and their existence have always been nothing but meaningless, the grief brought by that situation is very great, and it can change a person''s personality for the worse too.


    ''I guess some of them must have even gone insane from ''existential crises''¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but look at the cover of the book again, and sure enough,.


    The cover features a design of a young man gazing at the sky and drawing a picture with a sad look on his face.


    ''The first king likely figured it all out that day when he heard the words of the golden king, and he likely wanted to prepare the world for the worst-case scenario¡­''


    ''Alas, his legacy is gone¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head while thinking about that.


    At that moment, suddenly a thought came to his mind:


    ''The good-hearted people aside, the interesting thing is, even the demon cult members are not spreading word about this topic in the world¡­''


    ''The demon cult members are always looking for ways to create chaos, and there have been many grade 1 cult members in the annals of history¡­ then why didn''t they spread word about it?...''


    ''This is strange¡­ very strange¡­''


    While thinking about this, Jareth noticed a ''Mana Contract'' scroll placed on the shelf of a book cabinet, and a thought came to his mind.


    ''Wait¡­ could it be that when you ascend to grade-1¡­ you aren''t allowed to tell anyone about the ''reality'' of the world because the ''laws'' of the world itself put a binding contract on you?''


    ''T-that''s insanity¡­''


    Before coming to this hidden library, Jareth was still thinking that he could just help Mark become strong, and then this world would have a happy ending.


    But only now has he realized just how f*cked up this world actually is.


    There''s literally no hope for this world; even if Mark becomes a grade 0, he will be fighting an endless battle with the unending sea of miasma and the infinite number of demons that dwell in it.


    Jareth believes that if it''s a one-on-one fight, then Mark will win against that so-called demon god, but no one can ever be sure that there is just one demon god in that endless sea of miasma.


    There can be millions of such creatures out there, and even Mark can''t deal with that many.


    In the main story, one of the most popular endings that you can get is that Allen ends the influence of the demon god on the world and goes home as a returning hero.


    He lives happily ever after with his massive harem and spends the rest of his life living like a king.


    But even then, the game refers to this as a bad ending.


    The other two endings are not much different; it''s just that the size and composition of Allen''s harem are a bit different in those two endings.


    All in all, this game only has three endings, and all three are referred to as ''Bad'' endings by the game developers.


    ''I remember reading somewhere on the internet that the game developers themselves admitted that they only created this game for the players wish fulfillment, not for the sake of the world itself...''


    ''They likely didn''t even add any ''happy endings'' to this game.... d*mn, the more I think about it, the more I feel that I am in a dire situation...''


    ''Once this world gets destroyed, I will die, my soul will fall into the sea of miasma, and it will be corrupted and tortured by the endless sea of miasma... and then I will become a puppet of corruption...''


    ''That''s even worse than going to hell... This is literally what you call falling into abyss...''


    Jareth clenched his fist and thought.


    ''Unless I somehow escape from this place while still alive, my end will be horrible, and I will suffer from corruption for several millennia...''


    Jareth then remembered the clue left in the final lines said by the golden king.


    ''Reach the realm of ''Demi-gods''... is he saying that this ''realm'' of demi-gods is a place or a ''Grade'' that a human can achieve? ...


    ''And what is the power of ''Origin''?... I have never heard about something like this in the whole game...''


    Thinking this far, Jareth shook his head and thought,


    ''Forget it; I need to take these things step by step... I will have to find out more about these mysterious things; only then can I preserve my life...''


    ''I want to die in peace and not get tortured in the afterlife... I must do something about this all...''


    That day, Jareth finally found his true goal in life.

 Chapter 123 - 123: Theories and plans...

    Jareth flipped through the book and found that the book also had location and details written on it about all seven nodes of the seal of ''False Dome''.


    As long as you protect these seven nodes from being destroyed, you can keep the Seal of ''False Dome'' intact.


    The seal is actually so big that it covers the whole solar system, and all of its nodes are located on their planet.


    Only by using these seven nodes can someone open the seal.


    ''In other words, the motive of that ''False Dome cult'' must be that they want to open these seals¡­''


    Once the seal is open, the demon god can enter the solar system, and immense miasma will also flow inside with him.


    The destruction caused by such an event will make the whole solar system vanish into nothingness.


    ''Miasma and mana are invisible to the eyes of ordinary people and their equipment like telescopes, etc., which is likely the reason why scientists in this world have never discovered anything strange.''


    They see the galaxies and stars just like normal and can observe them without any problem.


    However, only grade 1 mages are able to see the reality of it all.


    Of course, if they can make telescopes or observation equipment that can sense the presence of the ''Laws'' of the world, they can also see it all.


    But the current human race is far from creating such an advanced technology.


    They have barely even started using mana stones as vehicle fuel and for other things.


    It will take centuries for them to reach a level where they can create spaceships that can leave this solar system.


    ¡­


    Jareth read through the whole book and then put it aside to read another book in the library.


    Aside from this one book that was explaining about the reality of this world, there are many other hidden secrets in all these books.


    Some are records of when and who Nathan lent a favor to, and some are records of where Nathan hid his treasures.


    Also, there are a lot of books on half-completed theories and spells that Nathan got from a lot of wizards and was researching in his free time.


    One of them was the original Jareth''s own theory book that he had written and given to the principal to get into the university without any problems.


    ''The original Jareth signed a mana contract that he would give this theory to Nathan in return for getting a job as a professor at the university...''


    ''But the current me isn''t a professor anymore; I am the vice principal of the university, which means the contract has become null by natural circumstances¡­''


    Mana contracts are indeed powerful, but they also have limits.


    All mana contracts have a time limit or a natural null condition. S§×ar?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The most common way to end a mana contract without any backlash is if both parties agree to the nullification.


    The more uncommon way is to wait for the contract to become null naturally.


    Just like all creatures age, contracts age too; a contract loses power slowly but surely. For example, a contract made between two grade 1 mages can last for three hundred years.


    It all depends on the conditions and circumstances.


    But there is one more way: contracts become null if one of the two parties that have been contracting dies with or without the interference of the other.


    In other words, you can just kill the other party and make the contract null.


    But if the contract states that you aren''t supposed to kill the other party, then you can suffer backlash if you go ahead and kill them.


    Mana is a mysterious and amazing thing; anything can happen in this world full of supernatural things.


    Jareth''s case is the same.


    He has been promoted from the professor job and has now become a vice principal, which means he technically isn''t a professor anymore, and that nullifies the contract made with Nathan.


    This is a perfect example of a contract becoming null due to natural reasons.


    For example, if Jareth had left the job or had gotten expelled, then again, the contract would have become null because of natural reasons.


    The contract only stated that he would get the job; it didn''t state that he would not be expelled or promoted.


    ''This means I can take my theory back home now as the contract has become null¡­''


    Jareth stretched out his hand and put the theory book with the design of a purple flame inscribed on it into his space ring.


    The original Jareth gave this theory to Nathan, as he didn''t have powerful enough mana control to complete his own theory, but now things are different.


    ''I have mana singularity, and I can continue the original Jareth''s legacy¡­ Moreover, if his theory succeeds, I can create mana-powered nukes that can help me fight against the possible siege of the demons¡­''


    If Jareth didn''t know the reality of this world, he wouldn''t have cared about this theory at all, as he would have no reason or motivation to create a catastrophic weapon of war.


    A perfect mana nuke will cause no radiation, and it will be extremely effective against all living beings.


    Its main attacking power would not be just extreme heat; it would cause the mana itself to become chaotic, killing the organisms from the inside out by making the mana in their body go crazy.


    Keep in mind that mana deviation is one of the most threatening things that a mage can face in his life.


    Even grade 1 mages will be affected by mana deviation.


    Normal people who barely have any mana in their body and have no mana control will directly burst into blood mist at the very first contact with the mana waves produced by this type of bomb.


    Simply speaking, this type of weapon will be so destructive that it can destroy the whole human race in one go.


    ''To think the original Jareth was researching a weapon that wipes the whole human race from the face of Earth¡­ this guy really had a big ambition¡­''


    If the original Jareth had ''Mana Singularity'', it is guaranteed that he would have definitely been successful in creating this weapon, and the very first test subject would have been the whole of Artavia and its neighboring cities.


    Jareth would have been a villain that would have killed millions of people, and he would have been a great menace to the human race; even the protagonist would have had a hard time facing him in the game.


    ''The developers really did the original Jareth dirty¡­ He had so much potential and such a good backstory, yet his end was so miserable¡­''


    ''This is what we call a waste of potential¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    ''Forget it; I will complete his theory myself¡­ There''s no such thing as being too strong; if I can add more power to my arsenal, then why don''t I do it¡­''


    ''Weakness will get me nowhere¡­ This world is f*cked up already anyway; it won''t matter if I create a weapon of mass destruction now¡­''


    Thinking this far, Jareth made a mental note of what equipment and items he might need for it all.


    Now that he has found out about the fate of this world and how everything is on stake, Jareth has started to feel a great sense of urgency.


    If he doesn''t increase his own power, he won''t survive long.


    ''I must find a way to exterminate the whole ''False Dome Cult''; if they are gone, I will get more time to prepare as the seal of False Dome will remain intact for longer¡­''


    ''I need time; the more, the better¡­. Also, I need to look for those seven nodes; I need to observe them and figure out how much more time I have left before they break¡­''


    The nodes have been standing there for thousands of years, and they have likely been corrupted by the dense miasma for a very long time now.


    Which means they have limited time left before they break on their own.


    ''Sigh, even if I somehow repair those nodes and make the seal strong again, it will still not benefit me much¡­ If I die, my soul will be the one suffering from it all¡­''


    ''I must deal with all the chaos while I am still alive, and well¡­ only then can things become normal¡­''


    While thinking all this through, Jareth continued to search through all of the books in the library, and he found hundreds of powerful spells and theories that could be of help in the future.


    ''Only a few of the spells are of the fire type; most of them are related to other elements¡­ I guess I can give them to Mark and Risa, and as for these space-type spells¡­''


    ''I will need to find ''that'' guy¡­ the future martial king... That guy is likely still wandering in the desert of chaotic thunder¡­ With his help, things will be more easy¡­''


    With new goals and motivations in his mind, Jareth finally decided to prepare powerful allies to overcome the fate of this world.

 Chapter 124 - 124: Visitors from Afar... Part-1.

    Human Empire, eastern border.


    Near a small town.


    "Are you sure this will work¡­ They have three grade-1 mages now. Will humans still be willing to help us? We don''t even have grade 1 individuals anymore¡­"


    "If they find out about our weaknesses¡­ we might end up just like the mermaid race did¡­"


    A young, beautiful girl with pointed ears and silver pupils glanced at the other elven woman beside her with a look of worry in her eyes.


    "Are you sure we can trust the humans, Aunt Sylvie?"


    The older elven woman, who was named Sylvie, shook her head and said,


    "This is the reason why I didn''t want to bring you here, princess¡­ If things go south, the elven race will still have you, but you insisted on coming here¡­"


    "Now if something happens, the elven race will have no successors¡­"


    Sylvie gritted her teeth and looked at her niece with sadness in her eyes.


    Just a few months ago, she had suggested cooperating with the human race to her big sister, but she didn''t agree, and she ended up going on the mission herself.


    Now she''s been missing for months, and there''s no news about it.


    People have already started to think that the Elf queen has died on the mission.


    Sylvie''s older sister only had one child, Princess Ava Xilrel; thus, she''s the only successor to the throne of the elf empire in the world now.


    Her golden pupils and brilliant silver hair represent that she belongs to the royal elven family. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sylvie was actually an adopted child, so she doesn''t have the qualifications to inherit the throne for herself; only Ava can inherit the throne without any complications.


    That''s why Sylvie didn''t want Ava to come here with her; if something bad happens or the negotiations fail, then it will be difficult to return home.


    But Princess Ava wasn''t so weak-hearted that she would back off from difficulties.


    The expression on her face turned determined as she said,


    "No, if I let you go there by yourself, you will likely not be able to make it back alive¡­ But if I am with you, you will try to be as cautious as possible, and the chances of you coming back alive are higher¡­"


    "Also, we have the teleportation scroll, so there is no need to think too much of it; we will run if things go south¡­"


    Sylvie couldn''t help but sigh after hearing those words.


    "Sigh¡­ You know, you are just like your mother¡­ stubborn to the core!"


    Ava smiled a bit and took it as a compliment.


    "I guess the royal blood indeed runs in my veins then¡­"


    Sylvie shook her head and gave up trying to persuade Ava to return. She brought out a grade-1 scroll and embedded her mana in it.


    "This scroll will transform our appearance into humans; its effects will remain for two weeks¡­ which should be enough time for us¡­"


    "This thing is very precious as it''s a grade 1 scroll, but for your safety, princess, this is important, so please remain careful and don''t undo the spell at any costs¡­"


    Ava nodded her head at Sylvie''s warning.


    "Okay, I will keep that in mind¡­"


    The scroll burned by itself, and the magic spell got activated. Both Sylvie and Ava''s appearance changed, and the two of them turned into ordinary-looking human beings.


    With all preparations done, the two of them headed straight toward the small town without hesitation.


    ¡­


    "Whoa¡­ Even this small town has a magic barrier placed on it¡­ The human race really is much more prosperous than us¡­ We are barely even maintaining our barrier in the capital city¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words of admiration, Sylvie nodded her head and said,


    "Humans are weak individually, but they can create wonders when they work together¡­ We Elf don''t have such great camaraderie like them¡­ We interact and cooperate less with each other¡­"


    "Also, we elves don''t like bloodshed that much, so most of us never think of violence, and rarely do any of us try to learn combat techniques and skills¡­"


    "We are physically and mentally stronger by nature, but if we don''t train, humans can easily overpower us¡­"


    "It''s a difference in mentality¡­ We are lacking that mentality of progress¡­"


    Although it seemed weird that Sylvie was badmouthing her own nation right in front of the national princess, she didn''t care about face value at all.


    For a battle-hardened veteran like her, the truth can''t be denied; she thinks and speaks logically without letting her emotions influence her.


    And she''s telling the truth to Ava just as it actually is.


    Hearing all that from Sylvie indeed made Ava feel a bit sad, but then her eyes became even more determined.


    ''If humans can achieve all this with their weak physique, why can''t elves do it¡­ If I become the queen, I will motivate people to work harder¡­''


    While Ava was still contemplating in her mind, Sylvie grabbed her like a sandbag with one arm, bent her knees a bit, and then jumped to directly bypass the city wall.


    A small crater was created on the ground from the impact of her jump.


    The barrier on the city is meant to defend against beings that are tainted with miasma and corruption; Elf''s are not tainted with miasma and are not monsters.


    They are highly intelligent beings with purer mana in their bodies than humans.


    So the barrier was basically useless against Sylvie and Ava.


    Unless the two of them get tainted with miasma somehow, this barrier won''t work against them.


    And as Sylvie is a knight, she has a strong body, so she can easily jump high enough to directly bypass the city wall without anyone noticing her.


    This way, the two of them entered the town without raising any suspicions.


    Sylvie placed Ava down and patted her shoulder before speaking.


    "Good work, princess; you didn''t scream; you have amazing control over your body¡­ You will become a fine wizard in the future, like your mother¡­"


    Hearing the excessive praise from Sylvie, Ava was a bit taken aback, but then she said,


    "You are the one who''s more impressive; you even knew that the barrier wouldn''t work on us¡­ Did you do a lot of research?"


    Sylvie nodded her head at those words and replied,


    "I have visited the human race once before, actually¡­ I was quite young at the time and went to the human capital city of Delta with Father and big sis¡­"


    "At the time, we tried to negotiate a deal with the King of the human race¡­ but he refused, saying that they don''t want to get involved with other races''s internal matters¡­"


    Ava looked at Sylvie and asked, with a curious look on her face,


    "How long ago was that?"


    Upon hearing that question, Sylvie took a moment to reflect before responding.


    "Well, I think it should have been 150-200 years ago or something like that¡­ I don''t remember the exact date or time¡­"

 Chapter 125 - 125: Visitors from Afar... Part-2.

    "Doesn''t that mean your information on the human race is totally outdated now?"


    "Two hundred years might not be that long of a time for us elves, but for humans, that''s enough time for eight generations to go by..."


    Ordinary elves have a life span of a thousand years, and royal elves like Ava can live for two millennia.


    And if they learn to harness the power of mana, then their lifespan can increase even further.


    But most elves don''t bother training, as their long lifespan makes them lose interest in most things over time.


    Like how humans become adults around 18 years of age, elves become adults around 200 years of age.


    Which means Sylvie, who is 230 years old, has barely just entered her twenties when compared to the human lifespan.


    And Ava, who''s only a hundred years old, is still just a minor. (Imagine being a hundred years old and still being forced to go to school¡­ That''s hell¡­)


    ¡­


    "No, although I have only visited the human empire once, I have been keeping up with the times¡­ I have fought those hateful human poachers all my life¡­"


    "I usually interrogate them and get a lot of information out of them¡­"


    "But still, seeing it with my own eyes is really a different experience after all¡­ They really have advanced a lot in the past two centuries¡­"


    "I highly doubt that the elven race can make this much progress in just two centuries¡­"


    Sylvie''s tone was filled with complicated emotions.


    Although she has known about various technological advancements of the human race from the mouth of the poachers that came to the forest to hunt down exotic animals or catch elves,.


    Words don''t do justice to the technology of humans.


    Sylvie can see metallic cars that she heard are called ''Cars''; they run using fuels that are naturally found on Earth.


    Elves have to use flying-type artifacts to achieve the same result as these cars.


    Sylvie looked at the tall buildings and concrete roads and said, with a look of awe on her face,


    "I knew that we were behind in terms of technology, but I didn''t expect we were this far behind¡­"


    "This place is just a small town, and it''s already so magnificent and full of wonders¡­ The capital city is sure to be more majestic than this¡­"


    Sylvie and Ava started walking on the footpath beside the road while looking at everything with interest and curiosity in their eyes.


    Then Sylvie noticed a food stall nearby and bought the two of them some spicy food to try out.


    Ava asked Sylvie in a quiet voice,


    "Where did you get the money, though?"


    Sylvie smiled and said,


    "Of course, from looting the poachers who came to loot our forest, it''s a fair exchange¡­"


    Only after hearing that answer did Ava realize that her aunt is by no means a simple person.


    Usually, elves are not much interested in socializing, and they rarely ever leave the Great Forest.


    But Sylvie was not only able to gather a lot of information on humans; she even got enough money stored to make the travels less difficult.


    In other words, Sylvie has likely been planning for this moment for years now.


    After eating the unique food of the human race, the two elven women started to walk on the road again.


    Sylvie glanced at the sky and noticed a giant bird that looked to be made of metal flying at a very fast speed. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Ah¡­ So that''s the flying machine called ''Plane''¡­ It certainly is fascinating¡­ I have only seen grade-1 individuals who can go so high in the sky¡­"


    "But to think even ordinary people can go into the sky with that machine¡­ the technology is amazing¡­"


    Ava was more shocked than Sylvie, but the two of them didn''t show too many expressions on their faces, as they didn''t want to draw too much attention.


    Ava glanced at Sylvie and asked,


    "Aunt¡­ What do you think the elves would need to do to become this prosperous?¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words, Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "Sigh~¡­. Princess, the thing is¡­ we elves don''t have the ''ruthless'' nature of humans; most elves are kind natured¡­"


    "To run businesses, to create great empires, and to reach prosperity, you need the emotion called ''selfishness''¡­. A society where everyone is kind and selfless can''t function properly¡­"


    Ava frowned a bit at those words and asked,


    "What''s wrong with being kind? Isn''t being kind to everyone a beneficial thing?"


    Sylvie sighed and explained,


    "Princess, I have fought humans for a long time, and I have learned a lot from their crafty techniques¡­"


    "You see, being kind is a good thing¡­ But kindness without limit is just harm to yourself¡­"


    Imagine a scenario where the owner of the owner of a food stall is a very kind elf.


    A hungry elf comes, eats food, and refuses to pay money as he doesn''t have it at the moment.


    The kind stall owner forgives him.


    This process will continue to repeat itself.


    Elves rely on each other''s kindness, and the stall owner will not ask for money back from anyone as he is kind; eventually, he will go bankrupt and starve to death.


    But elves are so stubbornly kind that they will accept dying rather than ask others to repay their favors.


    Even if the other elf that ate for free returned money eventually, the lifespan of elves is long.


    ''A while'' can mean years for them.


    This means that the business will slow down considerably.


    "Simply speaking, we don''t have the ruthless and selfish motivations that drive human society¡­ We need another kind of motivation¡­"


    "Asking elves that are kind by nature to become ''selfish'' all of a sudden is just a pipe dream¡­"


    "Imitating humans is not going to work for us; we need to create a new and better societal structure for ourselves¡­"


    Ava looked at Sylvie with eyes filled with awe.


    "Aunt, you are so knowledgeable¡­ Seriously, you should become the queen instead of me¡­ You are the best candidate for being a good queen¡­"


    Sylvie smiled at Ava''s words and said,


    "Haha, princess, you seem to forget that I am also an elf¡­ I have the same stubborn kindness disease as other elves¡­ I can''t be selfish; I want you to get your rightful position¡­"


    "I want you to succeed the throne, as you are the legitimate successor¡­ Perhaps if I wasn''t an elf, I wouldn''t have been this kind either, princess¡­"


    "Sigh¡­ We elves really are a hopeless race¡­"


    Sylvie glanced at the sky and shook her head before saying,


    "At this rate, it won''t be long before our race goes extinct due to not being able to keep up with the changes in time¡­"


    "We are stuck with the old ways of living while humans are making rapid progress¡­ sigh¡­"

 Chapter 126 - 126: Visitors from Afar... Part-3.

    Inside a train, headed towards the capital city.


    "This thing is so fast¡­ What was it called again? A bullet train?"


    Ava glanced at the scenery outside that was changing at a moment''s notice, and a look of awe appeared in her eyes.


    Hearing Ava''s question, Sylvie nodded her head and said in a quiet voice,


    "This speed¡­ It''s nearly the same as a grade-3 warrior¡­ And the amazing thing is that machines don''t get tired, so they can keep running at this speed for a long time¡­"


    The expression on Sylvie''s face turned solemn while she was thinking about this.


    "In other words, they can deploy their army anywhere at this insane speed; the enemy won''t even have time to react before the army reaches their home¡­"


    "Human technology is just as beautiful as it is horrifying..."


    Ava sighed at those words and inquired.


    "Then how about we sign some cooperation pacts with the humans and take their help to develop? We can trade in return, right?"


    Sylvie smiled a bit and patted Ava''s head before saying,


    "You are still a young princess; you don''t understand how cruel this world is¡­ The world works on selfish desires and motivations¡­"


    "If we don''t'' have valuable enough things, then we won''t be able to trade them with the human race¡­ And if we do have valuable things, then we wouldn''t have the army to defend them from the greedy eyes¡­"


    The reason why the mermaid race was destroyed was because they had access to sea areas.


    Humans could have just established trading routes with them, and there wouldn''t be any need for war.


    However, the mermaid race was weak, possessing a low level of technology and a small army comprised of less talented individuals.


    In other words, they did have the resources of the whole sea, but they didn''t have the strength to defend it, and once the greedy eyes noticed weakness, they wouldn''t let it go.


    "Trade can only be done between those who are equal grounds¡­ We need to enhance our military to be able to stand on equal grounds¡­"


    "But then again, the military would need resources, and we don''t have it¡­ So it''s a vicious, never-ending cycle¡­"


    Sylvie glanced at the humans who were traveling in the train along with them and thought to herself.


    ''Perhaps the reason why elves will go extinct is because they don''t have a society or economy that can support their growth.''


    Sylvie shook her head and sighed.


    "Forget it; let''s stop talking about this topic now¡­ The more we talk about it, the more headaches I get¡­"


    Suddenly, Sylvie had an idea and spoke,


    "By the way, princess¡­ We are not on an official trip; we can''t ask for help from their army or anything related to official stuff¡­"


    "We will be going to visit the grade 1 mages to ask for help¡­"


    Ava nodded her head and inquired in confusion.


    "Uh, we are going to all of them?"


    Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "No¡­ From the mouth of the recent poaching groups, I learned that one of their Grade-1 is locked up somewhere¡­."


    "We can''t find him¡­ As for the one who comes from the royal family¡­ it will be very difficult to get a chance to have a meeting with him¡­."


    "So, our best bet is the one who just recently ascended to Grade-1¡­"


    Ava appeared somewhat perplexed and inquired.


    "But how will we find him¡­ We don''t even know his name-"


    Before Ava could complete her sentence, Sylvie said,


    "We don''t even need to find him¡­ a grade-1 mage''s mana detection range is hundreds of kilometers wide¡­"


    "Once we enter the capital city¡­ we won''t need to find him; instead, he will track us down in an instant¡­"


    A look of concern appeared on Ava''s face after hearing that,


    "B-but¡­ wouldn''t that mean the other grade-1 will also notice us? This is very risky¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head at those words,


    "It''s risky; the outcome depends on luck¡­. That''s why I said you shouldn''t have come here¡­"


    "With the detection capabilities of a grade-1 mage, it''s easy for them to see through our disguise¡­"


    "And if they have even the slightest bit of knowledge about elves, then they will notice that you are from the royal family in an instant¡­"


    "If the other person is not a good-hearted person, then we are doomed today¡­"


    "Let''s just hope that the teleportation scroll will work¡­"


    Although Ava was quite nervous after hearing those words, she still didn''t hesitate to go to the capital city, and the look of determination in her eyes never diminished.


    ''For the sake of the elven race, I must take the risk¡­''


    ¡­


    The train reached the station in the capital city in just a few hours.


    While Ava was amazed at the sight of the majestic train station, Sylvie had already raised her guard; she''s ready to run away using the scroll at any moment now.


    *Step**Step*


    Just when the two were still wandering in the station, the sound of certain footsteps made them halt.


    The whole busy station went silent in an instant; people stopped moving, and they unconsciously stepped aside to give way to a single man.


    A man with dark purple hair and pupils walked into the station with a cold expression on his face.


    People immediately noticed him and figured out his identity, but none dared to approach him as the aura around him made the small distance near him unapproachable.


    Sylvie also noticed the man and hid Ava behind her in response.


    The man glanced at Ava for a second before his eyes met Sylvie''s, and then he spoke in a cold and intimidating voice. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Purpose?"


    Jareth only inquired about the purpose of Sylvie and Ava''s visit.


    If it were before he had read the book in the hidden library, Jareth wouldn''t have come here to see the two of them.


    But now that he knows a lot about this world, he has changed his mind.


    "Negotiations for cooperation on miasma and corruption¡­"


    Sylvie immediately stated her purpose for the visit.


    Although she was feeling quite nervous while standing in Jareth''s presence, she still had the courage to tell everything truthfully.


    Hearing her words, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Good¡­"


    With that said, Jareth turned around and started to leave the same way he came.


    Sylvie and Ava looked at each other and nodded their heads.


    They decided to follow behind him.


    Jareth went outside and entered a car, and Sylvie and Ava sat in a different car that was following right behind Jareth''s.


    (He just booked two taxis for them as he came flying and didn''t bring his own cars¡­)


    The two cars headed straight to the university and didn''t stop anywhere along the way.


    While sitting in the car, Ava glanced at Sylvie and asked,


    "Uh¡­ Did he agree?"


    Sylvie smiled at those words and explained everything to her,


    "He only agreed to listen to what we had to say¡­ He hasn''t agreed to help yet¡­"


    Ava nodded her head in understanding and went silent.


    "I see¡­."


    Suddenly Sylvie remembered something and said it in a quiet voice so that the driver couldn''t hear her words.


    "By the way, princess¡­ I heard there''s a famously talented kid named Mark in the current younger generation of the human race¡­"


    "I advise you to stay away from him¡­ We don''t want any trouble right now¡­"


    Sylvie was worried for Ava''s safety.


    She doesn''t want Ava to get noticed by some shady young master who likes to collect women as ornaments. (Classic Allen activities¡­)


    These types of people have a lot of influence, and it would be difficult if they took notice of Ava.


    "Okay¡­ I will be careful¡­"


    Ava nodded her head and continued to look at the giant buildings and amazing sights of the capital city.


    According to her, everything here looks super sci-fi.


    She''s thrilled to see all the amazing sights and has no thoughts about anything else.


    ¡­


    After half an hour of riding, the three of them reached the university together.


    Jareth led the way and took the two of them to the meeting room of the main building.


    He read through the locations of the seven nodes of the seal of ''False Dome'', and one of the seven nodes is actually located in the Elven Empire.


    Jareth can easily just barge in, but it''d be better if he had the permission of the elves.


    These two elven women came just at the right time.


    He can listen to their words and can also make his own demands for entering the Elven Empire.


    Jareth has no interest in establishing political connections between the two nations, but he has personal interests to take care of.


    Thinking about it, Jareth sat on the main chair of the meeting room, and the two elven women sat on the faraway chairs.


    Jareth sent a message to the staff members to deliver some drinks and juice for the three of them.


    The meeting place was all set¡­ Now all that needed to be done was to talk about everything that needed to be negotiated.


    (It may seem fast, but both Jareth and Sylvie are the type of people who don''t bother with pleasantries and stuff, so they didn''t really bother to do it¡­)

 Chapter 127 - 127: Meeting... Part-1.

    "Nice to meet you. I am Sylvie Xilrel, the younger sister of the current Elf queen, and this is Princess Ava Xilrel, next in line for the throne¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at Sylvie''s words and said,


    "I am Jareth Ayad, the Vice-Principal of ''Ivan''s Higher Arcane University''¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Ava for a second and asked,


    "I am quite surprised by the courage of the elves¡­ You brought the heir of your empire to enemy territory without batting an eye¡­ Consider me impressed¡­"


    Even Jareth couldn''t help but be impressed by the fearlessness of the two women.


    Humans have a really bad reputation among other races, so it''s quite a surprise that Sylvie and Ava had the courage to come here alone.


    In the game, Ava is one of Allen''s harem members, and she sacrifices her life to save Allen from a certain death.


    That''s the reason why Jareth has a strong impression of this little girl, and he immediately recognized her the moment he first saw her.


    On the other hand, Sylvie is the knight who protects Ava all the time.


    During one of the missions, she acts as a decoy so that the hero''s party can run for their lives and avoid the siege of monsters.


    She dies fighting till her last breath, a true warrior through and through who refuses to surrender and tarnish her honor.


    Her famous quote was,


    {Upon my honor, I stand eternal¡­ under the grace¡­ of¡­ shining moonlight¡­}


    Those were her iconic last words when she died standing on the hill created from the corpses of her enemies.


    The moonlight shone on her body, as even after death, she stood proud and refused to fall.


    That cutscene created immense hype for the game as it went viral on the internet.


    ''Actually, aside from the fact that it was gifted by a friend, the reason why I played this game till last was partially because of her amazing last stand battle¡­''


    ''It was sad but very cool¡­''


    Although Jareth has a favorable impression of Sylvie, he isn''t sure if her personality is the same as in the game.


    Unlike the game, the main character is a total scumbag, or maybe he already was a scumbag in the game too, but it was hidden by the plot. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Still, many things are different in this world, and there are a lot of small changes.


    Thus, Jareth isn''t sure if Sylvie and Ava had any changes in personality, so he decided to talk to them personally before determining it.


    ¡­


    "I was actually against bringing the princess here, but she kept insisting on it, and I can''t deny her orders, so here we are¡­"


    Sylvie took the lead and explained everything truthfully.


    Jareth himself doesn''t know it, but he gives off immense pressure to others just by being in close proximity to them.


    Not only is his mana extremely pure, but his mana control is also insane, so even though he always keeps his mana in check, it''s impossible to sense his aura easily.


    People with amazing instincts, such as Sylvie, can easily sense the danger that Jareth''s body is emitting.


    ''It''s like I am sitting near a lion who is disguising himself as a sheep...''


    Jareth uses his mana singularity to hide his grade and the mana fluctuations of his body; thus, not even grade 1 people can see through him.


    But this alone can make others feel intimidated by him instinctively.


    ''Even big sis didn''t used to make me feel so threatened¡­ My instincts are telling me not to offend this person¡­ or death is the outcome¡­''


    Sylvie has been fighting for decades, gaining extensive combat experience and perfecting her instincts.


    It''s much easier for her to notice details that others don''t.


    ''P-perhaps I shouldn''t have brought Ava here after all.''


    Just when Jareth and Sylvie were contemplating each other in their minds, Ava brought them back to reality by saying,


    "No, it''s actually a good thing that I came here¡­ I got to see a lot of amazing things on our way here¡­"


    "In the future, I will work hard to make the Elven Empire as prosperous as this amazing place¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Well, it seems the princess has a goal in mind already¡­ It''s a good thing; you should walk on the path you have chosen¡­"


    Even in the game, Ava wanted to make the Elven Empire prosperous.


    But she died prematurely, her wishes were never fulfilled, and the Elven Empire was destroyed by the overflowing miasma.


    So, it would be quite a good thing if the elves didn''t die, as that would award him a lot of credit points.


    ''Perhaps that flood of miasma and the outbreak of low-level demons and monsters also happened because the node of the seal placed in the Elven Empire broke apart¡­''


    Although the reason for the outbreak was never specified in the game, Jareth can speculate that this might be the real reason.


    Jareth glanced at Sylvie and said,


    "Well, pleasantries aside, shall we talk about the main reason for your visit now, Ms. Sylvie?"


    Sylvie nodded her head, brought out a small leaf from her space ring, and put her on the table.


    The small leaf was already withered and had turned pitch black; it was clearly corrupted by miasma.


    "This is the leaf of the ''World Tree''¡­ or at least it used to be¡­"


    "Actually, our ancestors have been trying to grow a world tree for several millennia now¡­ but we have never succeeded¡­"


    Sylvie glanced at the miasma-infected leaf, and a look of sadness appeared on her face.


    "We used to have a hundred seeds of the world tree; we tried planting them all¡­."


    "All of them would just grow to the size of a small sapling, and then they would die soon¡­ as if something is stopping them from growing further¡­"


    Hearing those words, a thought came to Jareth''s mind:


    ''Could it be that the ''Laws'' of the world are involved in this matter too? Tch! Whenever the ''Laws'' get involved, everything turns into sh*t¡­''


    Jareth really has become irritated by the interference of the ''laws'' of this world.


    Until now, he still hasn''t found any method to cure twins that are stuck below the sea near the port city of Urona.


    If he could save them, he could earn a significant number of credit points, but it remains impossible.


    "So, all of your world trees are dead, and you don''t have any more seeds now? That''s quite the trouble you have got¡­"


    "But¡­. You can''t possibly be thinking that I can help you grow a world tree, right? That''s something a human can''t do; the world tree only recognizes elves, or so I have heard¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head and said,


    "Yes, the world tree can only be grown by elves, as it doesn''t recognize other races¡­ We aren''t here to ask you to grow a world tree for us¡­"


    "Actually, there is still one sapling of the world tree left in the world¡­ It was the first one that we tried to grow¡­ It has been said to have been planted more than nine millennia ago¡­"


    "It was the only sapling that grew to the height of ten meters¡­ but it''s been stuck at that height as if its progress is blocked by something¡­"


    Sylvie sighed, then continued.


    "But the main problem is that it has started to get corrupted by miasma since the past few decades¡­"


    "Miasma has started to destroy its roots, and it has started to die now¡­ We elves don''t want that to happen¡­."


    Sylvie glanced at Ava with a sad look and said,


    "The queen went to the forbidden land to visit the tree, but she has gone missing with her whole knight battalion¡­ She was a Grade 1 mage; if something can harm her, then it''s great trouble for our empire¡­"


    The tree is located in a forbidden place that has started to become a lake of miasma, and everything in the area has become dangerous and toxic to normal people.


    Even grade 2 individuals dare not go there.


    "We need the help of a grade 1 individual to track down or possibly rescue her from the place¡­ And if possible, it would be even better if the sapling could be extracted from that place¡­"


    Hearing Sylvie''s words, Jareth''s interest was piqued, but he was also quite surprised.


    "So you are trying to say that the whole area that you are referring to as a ''forbidden land'' has become infested with miasma, and strange phenomena are happening there?"


    "You have caught my interest¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "But I have a condition¡­ I want to do some personal research in your elven empire, so you will need to give me a permit to freely go anywhere in your empire¡­"


    "If you can do that much, then we can start talking further¡­ Otherwise, this deal is as good as dead."


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvie was surprised. She thought that Jareth might have some big demands, but it turned out all he wanted was a permit to visit the place.


    Thus, Sylvie immediately agreed to Jareth''s request.


    "Yes, we can accept that condition as long as you don''t do any unethical research there¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "Of course¡­"

 Chapter 128 - 128: Meeting... Part-2.

    "That permit to research aside¡­ We are willing to give a ''Leaf'' of the world tree to you as compensation¡­"


    "We haven''t been successful in fully growing our world tree, so an item like that is very rare¡­ You can say that there are not many of them in the world¡­"


    Hearing Sylvie''s words, Jareth nodded his head.


    "Good. I wasn''t expecting much, but you guys at least have things that intrigue me¡­"


    ''I can use that leaf to speed up the process of making that mana nuke¡­ I can also use this opportunity to closely observe the nature of miasma and corruption¡­ and if I can keep the node of the seal intact, then it''s even better¡­''


    Jareth has multiple reasons to go to the Elven Empire, and the invitation to go there came to his door on its own.


    There was no need to reject such a good thing; thus, Jareth nodded his head and agreed.


    "Very well, I will help you out on this one¡­ I also have some personal enmity with miasma-related stuff, so it''s not impossible to assist you¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvie and Ava smiled happily as their goal of coming to the human empire was finally achieved.


    At that moment, Jareth thought of something and then said,


    "By the way, I will be bringing my students with me to visit¡­ They can see the vast world and widen their horizons¡­ It''s a win-win scenario¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head at Jareth''s words and said,


    "No problem¡­"


    Jareth got up from his seat and asked,


    "When are you planning to carry out this plan?"


    Sylvie also got up and said,


    "Two months¡­ The door to the forbidden lands is sealed with a powerful magic barrier, and it can only be opened once every six months¡­"


    "So we need to wait for some time¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and asked.


    "Are you planning on going back, or will you stay in the capital for the time being?"


    Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "I would have liked to stay here, but my presence is needed there, back at home¡­ As the queen is absent, I and the princess will need to take care of the empire¡­"


    Sylvie took out a map from her space ring and gave it to Jareth.


    "This is the map that will help you reach the Elven Empire easily. It''s hidden by many mana barriers, so make sure to follow the instructions written on the back¡­"


    Jareth took the map and put it in his space ring before asking,


    "Are you sure you should be giving something like that to me? This map can be used to invade your nation¡­ You know that, right?"


    Sylvie nodded her head at those words and said,


    "I am taking a gamble here¡­ If we let the miasma spread, then the elves will die from the corruption¡­ I am taking this risk because this is the only way out for us¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Well¡­ you have my word then; unless it''s someone I trust, none will see this map other than me¡­"


    Jareth doesn''t want the elven nation to get destroyed like it did in the game, so he isn''t really planning on giving this map to anyone.


    He wants to save the nation and earn a lot of credit points to improve his own power.


    Training can only improve the talents and skills that he already has, but if he wants more talents and skills, he will need to gamble in that lottery system, and you need ''CP'' to gamble.


    ''I have become so addicted to this gambling system that everything I do nowadays is based on whether I will get CP out of it or not¡­''


    Hearing the promise from Jareth, Sylvie was relieved. Although she doesn''t know if Jareth will really keep this promise, she doesn''t have any other choice.


    Her nation and her family need help, so she had no choice but to trust Jareth''s words.


    With all the negotiations done, Sylvie and Ava left the university and went to the train station in a car to board a train and return the same way they came.


    They don''t have much time after all; they need to make preparations for a possible war that can start any time now.


    Once the miasma corrupts the seal on the forbidden land and invades the empire, anything can happen.


    The good thing is that Reynald isn''t in the capital city right now, so he never noticed the two elven women.


    He was enjoying his time with his wife and daughter on a private beach far away from the capital city.


    Looking at the two''s leaving figures, Jareth was impressed by Sylvie''s decisive nature.


    She didn''t let Ava talk much for fear that she might create some misunderstandings, and she only talked about the things that were important.


    Even though she was clearly at a disadvantage as she was the one asking for help, her resolve never wavered.


    ''It''s rare to meet people who aren''t afraid of me¡­ The game really doesn''t do her justice¡­ She''s more impressive than in the game¡­''


    ¡­


    In the train.


    "Phew~~ Finally, I can breathe properly¡­ That was so difficult¡­"


    After the train left the capital city, Sylvie finally relaxed her tensed nerves and leaned back on her seat''s back.


    Ava looked at her aunt and asked in confusion,


    "Uh, what are you talking about¡­ I don''t think he seemed dangerous¡­ Actually, he seemed more like an ordinary person¡­ I couldn''t even feel mana fluctuations from him¡­"


    "My mother had such strong mana fluctuations, on the other hand¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words, Sylvie sighed and said,


    "Of course you can''t sense mana fluctuations from him¡­ neither could I¡­ That guy is insanely power full after all¡­"


    "If not for my instincts¡­ I could have never sensed how extraordinary he is¡­"


    Ava doesn''t have the combat instincts of a veteran warrior like Sylvie, so she obviously couldn''t sense it.


    "Fortunately, he seems like a decent person¡­ But we will need to see him in action to trust him more¡­ But one thing is sure: he is indeed a strong grade 1 mage¡­"


    What Sylvie didn''t know was that Jareth is barely even in Grade 3 right now, and she has misunderstood him for a Grade 1 just like everyone else!


    Moreover, basic magic isn''t that effective against miasma either, so Jareth is literally the last person that she should have hired for this work.


    Without his basic magic, he''s quite weak!


    ¡­


    "By the way, was it really a good idea to give the map to him?... That thing can easily be used to locate our empire¡­"


    Hearing Ava''s words of concern, Sylvie shook her head and said,


    "Nope, that was the best ever possible choice, actually¡­"


    "Humans have a technology called ''Satelite''¡­ that thing flies beyond the skies, and it can monitor everything that''s happening on the ground from thousands of kilometers high in the sky¡­"


    "Although that thing can''t see our nation because of the magical barriers, it won''t be long before humans can create a new version of it that is equipped with the ability to see through illusion barriers too¡­"


    Sylvie looked into Ava''s eyes and said,


    "Sooner or later, our nation will be discovered, and we will have no choice¡­ Before that happens, we need to establish a friendly relationship with the human race¡­"


    "If a war started¡­ Elves will go extinct¡­ Sometimes, humans can be crueler than demons, actually¡­"


    Sylvie has caught many human poachers in the forest before, and most of them betray their comrades when push comes to shove.


    "Once I accidentally locked up two humans in a cave and forgot about them, they ended up killing each other and ripping apart their internal organs like brutal ''animals''¡­"


    "I later asked a fellow comrade to use memory-reading spells and figure out the cause of their deaths¡­ It turned out they both liked the same women, and they killed each other over that matter¡­"


    The more Ava listened to Sylvie''s words, the more shocked she felt.


    Elves live a very long life, due to which their urge for mortal desires like love, hate, lust, etc. is much suppressed.


    So it''s quite a shocking thing to hear that two people ripped apart each other''s internal organs and bit each other to death like crazed animals over a petty argument about who loved a woman more.


    "I-I think we should keep a fair distance from humans even after we make an alliance with them¡­ They sound more like demons than demons themselves¡­"


    Sylvie nodded her head at Ava''s words and said,


    "Actually, humans tell their children stories on how to murder and massacre hordes of demons¡­"


    (She''s referring to children''s fairytales where a prince in shining armor slaughters demons to protect his love¡­)


    Hearing Sylvie''s words, Ava felt quite fearful as she thought,


    ''Humans are scary¡­''


    ¡­


    Jareth''s dorm room.


    [Ding! You indirectly caused a heroine to change her mind and stopped her from getting with the protagonist!] Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Ding! Congratulations! You received 3000 CP!]


    ''Huh? What just happened?''


    Jareth himself didn''t know that Ava has become scared of humans, so she will not be getting together with Allen now, thus the plot has changed again indirectly.


    If Jareth knew about it, he would have given a thumbs up to Sylvie, saying,


    ''Nice assist, partner!''

 Chapter 129 - 129: The Vast Human Empire...

    Mark''s Dorm Room.


    "Yes, just like that¡­ You are surprisingly good at massaging¡­"


    Mark smirked as he watched TV while sitting on the couch and made Risa massage his shoulders.


    She had been messing around with him for a long time now, and today is the day when he will get some payback from her.


    "Ugh¡­ If not for that giant maze on the third floor, I would have definitely beaten you this time!"


    Risa pouted her cheeks and said it in an annoyed tone.


    She wanted to win this time but ended up getting lost in the maze. If only her mana detection ability were stronger, she could have reached the boss area faster.


    ''I will go and train my mana detection ability so that something like this never happens again¡­''


    Although Risa was upset over the fact that she lost, she still wanted to make progress, as she''s just as obsessed with training as Mark is with magic.


    "No, no, even if you had reached the boss area¡­ you know who the final boss was? It was Vice- Principal Jareth himself! He let me go on purpose, or I would not have won either¡­"


    "But I will have to say, he really is a strong person; even the most casual attack from him is insanely strong¡­" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Seeing that Risa didn''t want to acknowledge her defeat, Mark told her about the final boss to make her aware of the fact that it was impossible to complete their trail if not for the fact that Jareth had let him go on purpose.


    When she heard those words, Risa pouted her cheeks even more and said,


    "Wait, doesn''t that mean you didn''t actually win the bet? Y-you tricked me!"


    Mark didn''t deny it either; he smiled and said,


    "Exactly!"


    Just when Risa was about to say something, a notification sound came from both Mark and Risa''s phones.


    They both noticed that it was a message from Jareth himself; he was asking them to come to the principal''s office for a moment.


    Mark glanced at Risa with a look of confusion and said,


    "Did you do something? Don''t tell me you left your torture-related book open in the classroom and someone fainted after reading them¡­"


    Risa frowned a bit and shook her head before saying,


    "No, I didn''t do anything; I am innocent!"


    "If I wanted to make someone faint why would I use such an inefficient method any way? I can just throw a random poisonous dust on them, and they will faint on the spot!"


    Mark frowned at her words and said,


    "I seriously don''t know what is so interesting about learning these weird things; you really have weird interests¡­"


    Risa shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "Too bad, you''re going to get married to a weird girl, I guess¡­ what? Why are you looking at me like that? I really didn''t make anyone faint, you know!"


    Mark shook his head and said,


    "Sigh, forget it; let''s just go and see what the issue is¡­"


    The two of them nodded their heads and left the room to go to the principal office.


    ¡­


    After a few minutes of walking, they arrived outside the principal office, and Mark gulped his saliva in nervousness.


    "Ugh¡­ This is the first time I have been summoned to the principal''s office. I wonder what I did to get called here¡­"


    "I certainly don''t want them to contact my parents to complain; my younger sister will laugh at me all the time if she finds out something about me¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but think of how mischievous his younger sister is; she even stole all his share of pastries and then blamed it all on Risa.


    ''I sometimes wonder where she even gets these weird ideas¡­''


    *Knock* *Knock*


    Mark knocked on the door and waited until a sound of ''come in'' came from inside.


    With permission to enter, he pushed the door open, and the two of them entered together.


    What came into view was Jareth sitting on the chair of the vice principal, and a map of the entire human empire was placed on the table in front of him.


    Jareth raised his head and glanced at the two of them before saying, in his usual cold tone,


    "Sit down¡­"


    Mark and Risa nodded their heads and sat down on the chairs positioned on the opposite side.


    Jareth then brought out some books from his space ring and gave a few to both of them.


    "I recently had the chance to find some secret spells that will come in handy for talented people like you¡­ Take them; consider that you owe me a favor¡­"


    Before Mark could ask the origin of these spells, Jareth added,


    "The previous principle had a hidden library that had a lot of secret spells. I got these from there. You can study these spells for now, and then you will have to return them to me¡­"


    "Also, you aren''t allowed to tell anyone else about this matter, or I will hang you upside down like a chandelier¡­"


    Hearing the warning from Jareth, the two of them nodded their heads and promised not to tell anyone about this matter.


    Mark glanced at one of the books and said,


    "But isn''t it illegal to take things without permission from the owner¡­ Like, wouldn''t this cause problems?"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "The owner of these books didn''t think twice before he did illegal things; he has no right to be suing others for doing illegal stuff¡­"


    "Also, the hidden library was located in the university; these spells are now public property, and once you two are done learning them, I will put these spells in the restricted area of the main library¡­"


    "Students who are exceptionally talented and perform well can also learn these in the future¡­"


    Only after hearing the reassuring words from Jareth did Mark finally accept the spell books and put him in his space ring.


    And since Mark accepted the offer, Risa didn''t think much either and took the spell books too.


    From her point of view, Mark always makes the right decisions, and since he agreed, it was fine if she took the spell books too.


    Then Mark asked with a voice of concern,


    "Well, that aside, what if he came out and blamed us for stealing though¡­"


    Jareth leaned his back on the chair and said,


    "If that guy really managed to come out, I will be dealing with him; you don''t need to worry about things that are supposed to be my business¡­ Just work hard and get stronger¡­"


    "That''s what is expected from an excellent talent like you¡­"


    Mark nodded his head at those words and stopped mentioning Nathan after that.


    Seeing that Mark finally stopped talking about Nathan, Jareth continued,


    "Ah, another matter; you see this map; this is the map of the entire human empire¡­"


    "The ones that you see on the internet and in books are very inaccurate and don''t have the real details in them¡­"


    "But this one is a very detailed map created by a very skilled professional¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the map and explained,


    "To the north is the snow-covered mountain range, filled with hundreds of tribes of frost-type wyverns living there. It''s an area that''s very remote; very few people live there¡­"


    "Then in the west is the port city of Urona and the Vast Sea, which is filled with countless underwater creatures¡­."


    "Actually, Artavia is located in the middle area between the capital city and the port city of Urona¡­"


    "The empty areas have mountain ranges and forests; there are also many hidden military bases in these areas¡­"


    Jareth then placed his finger on the east side of the map and said,


    "To the east is the giant forest of illusionary flowers¡­ It''s filled with weird creatures that can send brain wave attacks and create illusions; it''s a dangerous place¡­"


    Jareth didn''t say at the moment that just past this large forest is an even bigger forest area that is the place where the entire Elf Empire is located; the distance to the Elven Empire is more than a thousand kilometers.


    Moreover, you have to traverse through this dangerous forest area to reach an even denser forest to finally arrive at the Elven Empire. It''s a difficult journey if you can''t fly or anything.


    ''Moreover, this whole planet is likely much bigger than Earth itself; on this one continent, elves and humans are living thousands of kilometers apart, and there are two more continents out there¡­''


    Jareth has visited many areas in the game; he knows the general locations of them, but things might be different in this world, so he isn''t sure.


    ''There''s the great dwarf tribe, and there is even an underground area where the beast men are living in hiding¡­''


    Jareth stopped thinking about all this and put his finger on the southern area and said,


    "To the south is the massive desert of chaotic thunder, where thunder clouds rampage violently all year long and it never rains there¡­"


    Jareth explained the whole topography of the human empire and then came to Mark and Risa before saying,


    "I need you two to follow me on a journey to this desert; I have something to find, and on the other hand, you two can get a lot of real combat experience by fighting monsters there¡­"


    "But let me be clear: it''s going to be a difficult journey; traversing the thunder-torn desert is no child''s play; it''s going to be a massive challenge¡­"


    "Many low-grade mages have died there¡­ But fret not, ordinary people still live there and there are cities located in that place too, so you won''t have much trouble once in the city¡­"

 Chapter 130 - 130: Jareth the manipulator...

    "Uh¡­ But why only us?"


    Mark was happy to learn new things, but he was confused as to why Jareth would go out of his way to just invite the two of them to follow him around.


    Jareth looked into Mark''s eyes and said in a calm tone,


    "Simply because you are talented, as your teacher, I want to see how far you can grow¡­"


    ''For the sake of my life and for the sake of my future, you need to become strong, Mark, faster than ever¡­''


    Jareth was planning to hit two birds at the same time. He will go to the desert for some important business and will take Mark and Risa too so that they can train to be stronger.


    In the game, Aiza used to despise and talk badly of Jareth a lot, so Jareth doesn''t like her much, so he doesn''t want to add her to the team.


    Just looking at her face makes him annoyed as he remembers the past of the original Jareth.


    If not for all that, Jareth would have added her to the team, as she''s a good fire mage.


    ''Doesn''t matter; I will keep working on my own fire magic, and it will be fine¡­''


    Instead of relying on a person that Jareth can''t trust, it''s better for him to become strong himself.


    ''Thankfully, I got mana singularity, or I would have died a hundred times by now¡­''


    ¡­


    Hearing the answer from Jareth, Mark left the office with Risa with a happy smile on his face.


    Jareth is known for his cold and strict nature, and for him to praise Mark means he is genuinely impressed by Mark''s talent and hard work.


    Mark didn''t know that Jareth wanted him to become strong for his own sake, so he misunderstood Jareth''s intentions and thought that Jareth had a lot of expectations for Mark.


    And Mark doesn''t want to betray those expectations; he wants to prove that he''s worthy of praise.


    Just when Mark was busy thinking about all this in his mind, Risa suddenly said,


    "See, didn''t I tell you that I didn''t do anything wrong, You just don''t believe me at all!"


    Hearing those words, Mark scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "Ah, that¡­ uh.. I am sorry for doubting you¡­ You know, when you pull up a lot of pranks, it becomes hard to believe you¡­ So you should stop pranking me, okay?"


    Risa immediately shook her head and said,


    "No way! That''s impossible! Pulling pranks on you is my fundamental right!! If my demands go unanswered, I will protest!


    Seeing the stubborn look on Risa''s face, Mark sighed and said,


    "Sigh, do whatever you like¡­ not like you are going to listen to me..."


    Mark suddenly remembered something and asked,


    "By the way, I heard that your cousins who are in the third year beat up one of our classmates?"


    Hearing those words, Risa contemplated for a moment and said,


    "Er¡­ I seem to have heard that rumor too, but I can''t remember who they beat up¡­"


    "oh wait! I remember it was that shady-looking guy! What was his name¡­ er¡­ It was Amel¡­ Alem or something, I guess?"


    Mark frowned a bit and asked,


    "Amel? That''s the first time I''ve heard that name? There isn''t anyone in our class with that name, you know¡­ Ah! Are you referring to that guy, Allen!"


    "Oh, he seems like a decent guy; why would they beat him up?"


    Mark doesn''t know much about Allen, as he has never even spoken to him once before, but he seems like a decent person from a distance, so Mark was surprised when he heard that the third-year students beat him up.


    "Well, you know that my cousins are just straight-up hooligans who have crushes on random girls, and they can''t tolerate someone talking to the girls they like, so he likely talked to one of their crushes and then got beat up¡­"


    "Seriously, those guys are so overprotective¡­"


    Risa glanced at Mark and narrowed her eyes.


    ''You should be a bit more concerned about me too, you know¡­ just like them...''


    Risa really wanted to say that she also wanted Mark to be as concerned about her as her cousins are about their crush, but she didn''t say that as it seemed too weird to say out loud.


    "Sigh, if they keep doing things like that, they will get expelled from the university¡­ Breaking up your juniors isn''t a good thing¡­"


    Mark doesn''t really care about these things.


    Once, they actually tried to mess with Mark too, but Mark beat the living daylights out of them, so they became more respectful in front of him.


    Unlike Mark and Risa, they are not that talented and thus aren''t very strong.


    Two of them are at the peak of grade 4, and one is in early grade 3, but even then, Mark can still beat the sh*t out of them with just one hand, so he isn''t really afraid of them.


    "Forget it; not like we have anything to do with it¡­"


    Seeing that Mark went silent, Risa suddenly said,


    "Uh, you know, you need to apologize to me for doubting me¡­ so.. er.. how about going on a date?"


    Hearing those words, Mark suddenly remembered that the last date they went on was quite fun, so he nodded his head and agreed.


    "Okay, when we go to the cities in the desert with Vice-Principal Jareth, we can take some time off from training and enjoy some free¡­"


    "It''s not every day that you get to go to such faraway locations¡­"


    Risa was so happy after hearing those words that she made her favorite poisonous tea that day and drank it with a happy smile on her face.


    (She''s immune to low-grade poisons and actually likes to drink them as mango juice or something¡­. The reason she can come up with new poisons on the spot is because she can taste them to check how lethal they are¡­)


    ¡­


    Principal''s Office.


    "Hmm, indeed, there really can be some clues hidden about the false dome cult¡­"


    Thomas, who just arrived a few minutes ago, found out that Jareth wanted to take a leave to go to the desert of chaotic thunder to find some clues on the ''False Dome Cult''.


    "Yes, when I defeated that woman named Zero in Artavia, she was saying something about the desert, so it''s a good idea to go there and investigate things¡­"


    "If we can find some leads on the ''False Dome Cult'', it would be beneficial for the university¡­"


    The False Dome Cult has been trying to destroy the university again and again. They are very relentless in their attacks, and if an attack like Abella''s happens again, the university will suffer more damage.


    Last time, they asked Reynald to pay up the cost of repairing the university, but now they don''t have the means to repair it if something happens again.


    So, it''s better to stay a step ahead of the enemy and find out their whereabouts before they attack again.


    Thomas immediately agreed with Jareth''s words and stated,


    "Good, you should take a look to confirm the clues; there is no need to worry about the paperwork, and I can handle everything easily¡­"


    Jareth himself never does any paper work anyway; Thomas is the one who is running the university alone on his own, so Jareth can just easily go anywhere without worrying about losing his job for being absent.


    ''Man, I love this vice principal job. I can get paid for going on trips and doing no work at all. That''s such an amazing thing¡­''


    While Jareth was contemplating in his mind, Thomas took the papers that were placed on the desk and said,


    "I will take them home to finish things up; I have not time to waste; a cousin''s wedding is coming soon, so I gotta go¡­"


    With that said, Thomas left the principle room in a hurry.


    Just then, Jareth noticed that Thomas forgot one of the papers on the desk, and he got curious what it was.


    ''Oh ho, so it''s a complaint letter submitted by a student that Allen got beat up by some bullies? The protagonist really has a lot of backers.''


    Some random person took the effort to write a complaint letter to the principal just to help out Allen; this is pure plot armor.


    ''Unfortunately for you¡­ You have met me now¡­''


    Jareth used the main computer of the university and typed a letter with an evil smirk on his face.


    On the letter he wrote,


    [For harassing a female student and getting into a fight with three upperclassmen, Student Allen is suspended for 15 days!]


    ''Hehe, as a villain it would be such a shame if I don''t take benefit of your momentary weakness¡­''


    Jareth sent the letter via email to Allen directly and then sent it to the chat group too and used the main computer to do it all; in other words, Thomas would be responsible for this all!


    ''Allen, my friend, I hope you like this gift I made for you with great care¡­'' sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 131 - 131: The Monster Born From Sin... Part-1.

    Capital City, Eastern District.


    A small hidden Bar ''Night King'' in dark alley.


    "KAHAHHAHA, I told you I would win this bet¡­ You really have no gambling sense!"


    A man in his late fifties laughed mockingly at a much younger man sitting beside him.


    The two of them seemed to be old friends who came to meet each other after a long time.


    "A year ago, I made the bet with you that you would definitely get kicked out of the house¡­ Look! Not only did you get divorced, you lost your house, your car, and all the money!"


    "KEHEHEHEHEHE, I already told you that woman was no good, and what did you say to me ''Bro, I think this is the woman I can love for my whole life'', bahahahaha¡­"


    "Ah, my stomach hurts from laughing so much¡­ I knew you would become a pathetic joke and would lose everything¡­"


    The younger guy just sighed continuously while drinking and didn''t even dare to refute his friend''s criticism.


    "Man, I thought she loved me¡­ I gave her my everything!... sigh~"


    The old guy patted his man''s shoulder and said,


    "Bro, when the team got disbanded, I already knew you would mess up big time in life; people like us can''t live a normal life after all that we have done¡­"


    The young guy sighed at those words and didn''t say anything; he just kept drinking.


    After a few moments of silence, the older guy grinned a bit and said,


    "So¡­ you killed her then?"


    The young guy nodded his head without hesitation.


    "She dared to mess around with another man behind my back; I skinned her alive and forced the other guy to eat her corpse raw, then killed him and threw him into the sewers to rot¡­"


    "But¡­ sigh, I really loved that woman, bro¡­ I really did, if only she hadn''t betrayed me¡­ You were right; people like us don''t really deserve to be happy¡­"


    "By the way, how''s ''It'' now back at ''Home''?"


    The old guy shook his head and sighed before saying,


    "Disbanded¡­ The whole thing got disbanded after our team chose to retire; we were their best cards afterall¡­"


    "Sigh, after all those years of killing and all¡­ Normal life doesn''t suit me; I don''t feel alive enough¡­ Whenever I look at innocent people walking past me¡­ I feel the urge to strangle them to death¡­"


    "If not for the fact that the ''Home'' got disbanded, I would have gone back to join another team¡­"


    Hearing those words, the young guy sighed and said,


    "Seriously Zeran¡­ We shouldn''t have stopped what we were doing¡­ All those years of killing have made me bloodthirsty, and now I crave blood¡­ I want to see people beg for mercy in front of me¡­"


    "Living the life of assassins, we have become bloodthirsty monsters¡­"


    Zeran nodded his head and said,


    "When we retired, I already knew that we wouldn''t be able to go back to a normal life. I even tried to warn you about it, Hark¡­ But you didn''t listen."


    "Now the organization is gone, and we are left in the dust¡­"


    "The rest of the three members who committed murder got caught by police as they were not able to control their bloodlust and ended up getting the death penalty for committing murders¡­"


    Hark shook his head and kept drinking more.


    "Even the wine feels tasteless¡­ The days when we used to drink wine mixed with the blood of freshly killed people were the best days¡­"


    "I always want to go back to those amazing days; at that time, I used to feel so ''alive'' and ''happy'' that I couldn''t express that feeling¡­"


    Just when the two were talking and reminiscing about their past, a man wearing a big hat and a black coat entered the empty bar.


    Aside from the bartender, Hark, and Zeran, no one was there before.


    But now an unknown man has entered all of a sudden, which has caused the atmosphere to suddenly become tense.


    The old bartender glanced at the unknown stranger and said with a smile,


    "Oh, we rarely get new customers here; what might you be looking for, sir-"


    A magic circle appeared beside the unknown man before the bar tender could finish his sentence, and it fired an extremely condensed mana beam at the speed of Mach 2.


    The beam hit the bartender''s head, and his head exploded like a watermelon hit by a bullet.


    The blood sprayed everywhere and painted the walls a dark red.


    Even the faces of the two assassins were stained with blood; the body of the bartender fell down, and the gun that he was secretly holding in his hand also fell down with a loud thud.


    He was planning to hit the unknown man with a bullet, but the man was faster.


    "Ah, my hand slipped a bit after seeing that gun; you shouldn''t have pulled it out; you nearly frightened me to death¡­"


    The man''s tone carried immense coldness yet a hint of mocking in it.


    He moved to the side of the two assassins, removed his large hat, and spoke.


    "Nice to meet you, gentlemen. I am Jareth Ayad, an ordinary professor¡­"


    Although his words seemed friendly, the look in his eyes and the intimidating aura put so much pressure on the two assassins that they couldn''t even breathe properly in his presence.


    "Y-you¡­ h-how¡­"


    Zeran was so shocked by Jareth''s sudden appearance that he had no words to express the horror.


    Just by standing there and staring at them, Jareth made the two assassins feel fear and horror in an instant.


    "How did I find you? Well, it was a lot of work; it was very difficult¡­"


    "Assassins like you guys are very good at covering up your tracks, but you forgot that the police have their own records¡­ I just went to the police headquarters directly¡­"


    "I asked them to bring the photos in which the killing pattern was the same as in my mother''s case¡­"


    Jareth placed his hand on Zeran''s shoulder and said,


    "And you know what? It turned out that they tortured one of your team members after catching him, and that guy told the police about your appearance¡­"


    "But the police couldn''t find you, as you two are the most skilled assassins in your whole organization¡­ peak Grade-2 warriors are difficult to capture after all¡­"


    Jareth''s grip slowly tightened, and Zeran''s shoulder bone started to make sounds of cracking and breaking. A look of fear and pain appeared on Zeran''s face.


    "The police couldn''t find you two, but¡­ unfortunately for you, I have a strong mana detection ability¡­ I used it to scan the whole capital city¡­"


    "Well, I had to look at the faces of millions of people, so it was a difficult task, but¡­ it was worth it¡­"


    Jareth waved his finger, and a broken artifact came flying from a hidden corner of the bar.


    "You guys really found a grade-1 mana detection nullifying artifact just for enjoying some free time here¡­"


    "Your disguise was indeed good; if it were any other Grade 1 mage, they could have never found you¡­ but unfortunately for you, you messed with the wrong guy''s life¡­"


    "You met me¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s explanation, Hark spoke in a terrified tone.


    "W-what do you want from us? You know, we didn''t purposely go to kill your mother; it was for money; it was our job¡­ You have no right to blame us¡­"


    "What you are doing is against the law; if you want to punish us, you should go to the court or police-"


    Before Hark could continue, Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "Yes, yes, I will go to the court too¡­ but after I am done with the two of you¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shackles!]


    Chains made up of pure mana appeared and bound the two assassins tightly; in fact, he bound them so tightly that their bones started to crack.


    "Don''t die, okay, I have a lot in store for you two¡­"


    Zeran immediately started to think of ways to get out of this situation, and he said,


    "Stop! You can''t do this to us! You are revered as the hero who saved Artavia, right? A hero shouldn''t be so petty; we only assassinated your mother because we followed the orders; we have no personal beef with you-"


    Suddenly, a creepy smile appeared on Jareth''s cold face as he said,


    "Ah, a hero? Me? You seem to have misunderstood something¡­"


    "I am a monster¡­"


    The shackles tightened and directly twisted Zeran''s leg 360 degrees, causing all of the bones to shatter and the muscles to tear apart, causing immense pain.


    "AAHHHHHHH!!"


    Zeran screamed at the top of his lungs like a beast, but Jareth just smiled and said,


    "Yes! That''s how it is! Didn''t you laugh when you killed my mother in front of me¡­ Look how loudly you are laughing now¡­ Isn''t this very amazing?"


    "Laugh more!!"


    The shacles tightened and twisted Zeran''s hand this time, causing him to scream again.


    "AHAHAHA LAUGH! YES YES! LAUGH MORE, Zeran! Don''t you like mocking others and laughing at them when they die! LAUGH NOW! Show me what you got!"


    Jareth stretched his hand, pierced Zeran''s stomach, and forcefully dug out his intestines before putting them on his unharmed hand.


    "LOOK! Your internals are spilling out! How amusing is that, right!? WHAT HAPPENED? Why are you not laughing anymore now!?"


    "Don''t you like all this!? LAUGH! Zeran LAUGH!"


    The immense pain messed up Zeran''s head, and he unconsciously followed Jareth''s order and started to laugh and cry at the same time while the immense pain tortured him.


    "YES! Just like that! GOOD!"


    Zeran became a bit relieved to see that Jareth was satisfied, and he was hoping that Jareth would let him go now, but before he could be happy for too long, Jareth''s expression became cold again, and he said, sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hmm? WHO ALLOWED YOU TO LAUGH!? You piece of SH*T!"


    The shackles tightened and twisted Zeran''s other leg so horribly that it was bent to the point that it could now flail in wind.


    "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

 Chapter 132 - 132: The Monster Born From Sin... Part-2.

    Hark desperately tried to run and free himself from those mana shackles, but it was useless.


    These shackles are enhanced by ''Mana singularity''; it''s extremely difficult to break them.


    Unless you use the power of a ''law'' or another ''legendary skill'' like ''Sword Intent'' or ''Dao Rhythm'' to counter this, there''s no breaking these shackles now.


    "L-let me go! Let me go! I am innocent! We were just mere pawns! We only followed the orders of the boss!! He accepted the assassination request given by the Blaze family to assassinate your mother!!"


    "We have been hiding like rats since the day we found out that you became strong!"


    "I am telling you the whole truth! I know nothing more than that!"


    To save his life and avoid getting tortured, Hark immediately spilled all the beans.


    Although, as an assassin, it is against the code to be spilling all the information, he''s already retired from that job, and he no longer wants to risk his life anymore.


    The desire to live took over his head, and he immediately told Jareth everything he knew after seeing how horribly Jareth tortured Zeran.


    "Ah, you should have told me about it all sooner. Look how injured poor Zeran has become from laughing too much¡­ Sigh, he really ended up destroying his own throat from shouting too loudly¡­"


    "Oh, by the way, I already put a silencing spell in place when I came in, so you don''t need to worry about others hearing his laughing voice¡­"


    "After all, people will get scared if they hear a man laughing so loudly and so late at night¡­"


    Jareth was behaving like he was the most gentle person possible, and what he was doing was for their own good, yet his expression remained cold, which made Hark feel a chill run down his spine.


    ''M-monster¡­ This guy is a monster! He is enjoying this! Sh*t! I shouldn''t have come here today!''


    Even if Hark hadn''t come here, Jareth would have still found him somewhere, and the outcome would have been the same.


    In other words, once Jareth recognizes your mana fluctuations, it''s meaningless to try to run away from him, as ''Mana Singularity'' can help him detect you easily.


    At that moment, Jareth kicked away Zeran''s half-dead body and then glanced at Hark.


    "Ah, no hurries, my friend; I have more than enough time. Take your time and tell me more about this ''Boss'' of yours, actually¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    With a wave of his hand, a magic circle appeared and fired a mana beam, directly blasting Zeran''s head into pieces like a watermelon.


    Then Jareth used his telekinesis to make a chair float; he put his hand on Hark''s shoulder, forcefully pushed him to sit on the chair, and then bound his hands and legs to the chair with the mana shackles.


    "I actually went through all the police recorded data on you, Mr. Hark, and it turns out, all of your victims have chunks of flesh missing from their bodies."


    "You are a cannibal, it seems, and you sometimes force your victims to eat their dead relatives or friends too¡­ So, today I have prepared a massive feast for you¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand, and a massive iron box filled with dead mice appeared from his space ring.


    "Before I came here, I actually went to the sewers myself to collect all these beautiful things for you¡­ You like meat a lot, right?"


    "You know what? I had to eat dead mice to fill my stomach when I had nothing to eat and was living like a dog, starving from hunger¡­ all because you guys f*cking killed the one person who gave a sh*t about me¡­"


    "So, today, I want you to know how amazing it feels to eat dead mice. Okay, trust me, the taste is so heavenly that you wouldn''t want to eat it ever again¡­ Oh, wait, you won''t even be alive to be eating them again¡­"


    "But forget about that; let''s get to the business¡­"


    The look on Hark''s face turned into horror. He certainly is a cannibal, but even he doesn''t dare eat mice that used to live in sewers.


    That''s beyond disgusting and unhealthy.


    "No no! Stay away! Keep them away from me-"


    Before Hark could finish his sentence, Jareth waved his hand, and four hands made up of condensed mana appeared in the air.


    Two of them forcefully opened Hark''s mouth wide open, and then the other two forcefully stuffed the dead mice in his mouth.


    "YES!! Don''t you like eating meat, Hark!! EAT IT!! Kahahaha, what''s wrong!? Isn''t this the same way you forced your victims!?"


    "Wasn''t you just boasting about the fact that you made a guy eat the dead body of your wife raw!? Isn''t this all your favorite!?"


    "Yes!! EAT HARK!! EAT!! THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING TO OTHERS!! Don''t deny it now that it''s happening to you yourself!!"


    "This is your true calling!! You should re-name yourself! Mice eater!! AHAHAHAHAH"


    ¡­


    Half an hour later.


    Hark died from being forced to eat too much, and his stomach literally burst apart.


    Zeran and Hark lived the ugliest lives, killed people in ugly manners, and died the ugliest deaths.


    Maybe it was ''Karma'' or something, but they got exactly what they deserved.


    Only when it happened to them did they figure out that ''torturing'' is not a thing of pleasure.


    They used to take pleasure in others''s misery, and now that Jareth did the same to them, only then did they understand the weight of their sin.


    Their sin was the reason why a monster like Jareth was born¡ªa monster born from sin.


    ''Unfortunately, the rest of the three members of their team are already dead, as they got the death penalty after getting caught by the police department; otherwise, I would have ''helped'' them out a bit too¡­''


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Slow Wild Fire!]


    A magic circle appeared, and the whole place started to burn crazily.


    The fire spread to every corner of the bar slowly and burned everything to the ground, including all the evidence of Jareth coming here and torturing the two assassins.


    Only after everything was burned to the crisp did the neighbors in the area finally notice the fire and call the firefighters and police, but by that time, Jareth was long gone.


    Both Zeran and Hark''s bodies were burned into ashes, and nothing was left on the scene.


    ¡­


    A Sky-scrapper on the east district, rooftop.


    ''To live in a world filled with darkness, you need to adapt¡­ but I fear that I am adapting too fast to this world¡­''


    ''I have become more numb to death and blood¡­ Now I don''t feel anything, even if my hands get bloodied¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but sigh continuously.


    He used to be an innocent and naive guy who just liked to play games and sleep all day, but now he''s become a monster in a human body.


    ''This body will not be fully mine unless it fulfills the last wishes of the original Jareth¡­ and that is to slaughter all those who caused the tragedies for Jareth¡­''


    ''But I fear that I myself might become something much worse in this journey¡­''


    Jareth clenched his fist and stopped thinking about this matter further.


    ''This world is already chaotic enough; if I want to make it out alive from here, I need to do all that needs to be done¡­''


    ''Without proper control over this body, I can never reach grade 1 in this life. I need to synchronize my soul with this body in ''perfect'' condition¡­''


    ''In other words, making the residual will of the original Jareth dissipate is important¡­'' S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth jumped from the skyscraper rooftop and flew in a certain direction.


    Before dying, Hark finally told all the secrets and told the name of his boss, who was still roaming free in the world.


    ''This is the last step; with this done, the original Jareth''s ''will'' should dissipate over time¡­''


    A mage who doesn''t have full control over their body and soul is just a half-baked person.


    He can''t even be called a proper mage, so to rid himself of this weakness, Jareth has no choice now but to do what needs to be done.


    Take revenge on the original Jareth''s stead, and then seize control over the body properly.


    If he lets this small problem stay and doesn''t make the final wish of the original Jareth come true, then he will have a fatal flaw in his soul, and the demon god, or whatever that thing is, can definitely exploit it.


    Jareth doesn''t want that; he wants to make everything full-proof, especially his own body.


    Although Jareth was using hideous methods to deal with his enemies, this was the most fair way.


    He did the exact same to the enemies as they had done to their victims.


    Zeran laughed at the corpse of his dead mother, and Jareth can''t forget that he had to eat dead mice to live while Hark was enjoying his time eating whatever he liked.


    Grudges of this magnitude can''t be forgiven, not even after death.

 Chapter 133 - 133: The Monster Born From Sin... Part-3.

    Capital City, Core Area.


    A luxury mansion, rooftop.


    An old man in his sixties was floating in the swimming pool wearing a floating tube, seemingly enjoying his free time with a relaxed smile on his face.


    The wind breeze felt particularly cold, refreshing, and comfortable today, and the night sky was adorned with stars and the bright moon.


    "Ah, this is life; it''s a good thing I retired; living like this and spending the rest of my days in luxury is not a bad idea at all¡­"


    Just when the old man was having a relaxing time, his phone, which was placed on the chair placed beside the pool, rang.


    The old man lazily reached for the phone while still standing in the swimming pool, and an annoyed look appeared on his face as he took the call.


    "What is it!? Why are you calling me so late in the night! Didn''t I tell you guys not to disturb me! I will go to the company to deal with the rest of the work tomorrow!"


    The other party on the phone hurriedly explained some urgent company-related business, to which the old man replied in a hurry.


    "Ah, forget about it; I will go to that banquet myself later. I can''t trust such a big deal to you newbies! You guys just know how to give me a headache and nothing else!"


    With that said, the old man cut off the call and threw away the smartphone in annoyance.


    "F*cking Garbage! These people can''t even do some simple tasks; the team I had in the organization was much better and more professional; these people are all so f*cking lazy!"


    "Tch, waste of time!"


    He jumped out of the pool and walked over to the edge of the rooftop to enjoy the amazing view.


    "Sigh, I really like this cold and refreshing wind¡­ If it''s like this, I can stay and enjoy it forever¡­"


    Just when he was enjoying the view, he suddenly felt an ominous premonition and then suddenly noticed an unknown man standing right beside him.


    The man took off his big hat that was partially hiding his face, and his dark purple hair flailed with the air.


    Seeing those dark purple eyes staring at him, the old man couldn''t help but feel a shiver run down his spine.


    "J-jareth Blaze? H-How is this possible?"


    Jareth tilted his head and said,


    "Nothing is impossible¡­ You are underestimating my capabilities, it seems¡­"


    The old man took a few steps back and said, in a shocked tone,


    "B-but I placed a self-destructive spell on the minds of all my minions!! The moment they try to reveal information about me, their heads will explode on their own!!"


    "I use a grade-1 magic artifact!! No one can undo such a powerful binding spell!! Not even a grade-1 mage!!"


    The old man was so shocked that his legs gave away, and he slumped down on the floor, desperately trying to run away.


    At that moment, Jareth just shook his head and said,


    "Yeah, indeed, if it were any other grade-1 mage, you could have really deceived them; no one could have found your whereabouts from your minions¡­"


    "But unfortunately for you¡­ you met me¡­"


    Jareth already sensed the presence of the self-destruct spell on Hark and Zeran''s bodies the moment he saw the two with his own eyes.


    He directly deactivated that self-destruct spell in Hark''s body and then tortured him till he spilled all the beans for him.


    "But I have to acknowledge it; your minions are really tight-lipped; if it were an ordinary person, they would have spilled everything the moment they saw my face¡­"


    "A grade-1 mage is in itself a force to be afraid of, after all¡­"


    The old man still refused to believe reality; his plan was full-proof, and he took all precautions that he could.


    Not only did he place the self-destruct spell, but he always used to wear a magically enhanced mask whenever he met with his minions, making it impossible for them to see his face.


    But what he didn''t know was that Jareth played the game, and he knew about all the major characters.


    "Old Man Barin, you really are very unlucky, you know¡­ Actually, I already had suspicions about you¡­"


    "So I was already doing my research on you, and when your minions told me about the general behavior patterns and your powers, I easily figured out your identity¡­"


    Barin is a warrior and has wind affinity; he uses wind to create massive wind pressure and increases his swordsmanship speed to an insane level.


    Jareth knew about all this because Barin is a mid-level villain character in this game.


    He is a minister in the government now, but originally he was an assassin and the leader of the whole assassination organization that assassinated Jareth''s mother.


    Barin was the one who accepted the task from the Blaze family to kill Jareth and his mother.


    That day, the minions killed Jareth''s mother but weren''t able to kill Jareth, as a neighbor actually called police when he noticed screaming sounds from Jareth''s house.


    Later, Jareth lived like a beggar on the streets, constantly hiding in the sewers for fear of getting killed, which continued until he was taken in by the vassal family that raised him up.


    But then these same assassins killed that vassal family too.


    Although they were just doing their so-called ''work'', Jareth can''t forgive them at all.


    Barin glanced at Jareth with a look of horror on his face and said,


    "S-stay away¡­ "I had nothing to do with your dead family or anything; all I did was just accept a request for work that was sent by the Blaze Family¡­"


    "I work for money, and that''s my sole motive. I had no conflicts with you, so if you want revenge, go for the Blaze family or it''s vassal families; just s-stay away from me¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head and said,


    "Yes, yes, I know you are innocent; in fact, you are so innocent that you like to throw your victims in the sky using your wind-type attacks, and then you watch them fall to the ground¡­"


    "Your favorite dialogue for that moment is ''How does the wind feel above?"¡­ am I right?"


    The look of horror on Barin''s face became even more intense after hearing those words.


    "H-how do you know that all!? I-impossible!?"


    "I never left any evidence! This is impossible!"


    Actually, Barin had a final showdown with the protagonist, and he always keeps saying this same boss dialogue whenever he uses his signature move of throwing the opponent high up in the sky.


    It was a difficult boss fight, and Jareth lost many times, so he remembers this dialogue fairly well as he kept hearing it for hours straight.


    It''s not that Barin was not thorough enough in his hiding methods; it''s just that Jareth knew about his powers and skills beforehand from the game and when he heard the explanation of the powers that Hark gave about his boss.


    Jareth immediately understood that Hark was talking about Barin.


    ''Originally, I wasn''t planning on dealing with the villains, as they are actually on my side and can be helpful for beating the protagonist to earn more ''CP''¡­''


    ''But this guy crossed the line, so I can only do the same¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "Forget it; I am too lazy to explain everything to you in that much detail; it''s just a waste of time¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Bubble Cage!]


    A spherical bubble-like cage confined Barin inside it in an instant.


    "You like the sky, the wind, and the cold, right? Let me show you what the real sky and cold are like¡­" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth cast a mana shield on himself and flew into the air at an incredible speed.


    The mana bubble containing Barin also followed behind him.


    "You know what is really cold and high? ''The Space''!"


    Jareth increased his speed, flew straight into the sky like a rocket, and crossed thousands of meters in a mere second.


    Barin couldn''t help but start crying, like beg for mercy, but the bubble cage locked all sound inside, so no one could hear him screaming at all and no one would come to save him.


    "You like throwing people into the sky, right? Today I will show you what it really means to throw someone into the sky!"


    Jareth kept going up and up until he directly crossed the Earth''s atmosphere and reached outer space.


    At that moment, he deactivated his ''Mana Bubble'' spell, and Barin began to float in space like a rock.


    He clenched his throat and tried to breathe desperately but couldn''t, and his body started to freeze at an insane speed.


    "Grade-2 warriors like you can indeed survive the space much longer, but you know what? I directly destroyed your mana circuit, and you don''t have any mana now."


    "You are nothing but a helpless, ordinary old man¡­"


    A smile spread across Jareth''s face as he inquired.


    "So, tell me now, ''How does the wind feel above?'', Is it not blowing at all?"


    Barin died from lack of oxygen, and his body froze. The fatal radiation of the sun destroyed his body''s cells.


    Barin was completely dead.


    "You did say that if it''s cold and comfortable, you can stay for an eternity, right? I will let your dead body float in space forever now¡­"


    With that said, Jareth kicked the corpse, and it floated in the direction of the sun.


    ''Ah, it seems you aren''t going to stay cold for too long¡­ But that small time is good enough for you, right? The sun will burn you and give you a lot of warmth¡­ good bye¡­''

 Chapter 134 - 134: A peculiar experiment... (Skippable)

    "Okay, I get it that you guys are going there and all, but why the f*ck do I need to go there too!?"


    Shin, who just got the letter from Thomas yesterday that he had to accompany Jareth, Mark, and Risa on the trip to the Desert of Chaotic Thunder along with Aria, couldn''t help but complain endlessly.


    "You know that I am an ''Ice type'' mage, right? My magic will be the least effective in a desert!!"


    Hearing Shin''s complaint, Jareth just shook his head and said,


    "You and Aria are in the team as ''Emotional support'', I guess¡­"


    Shin gave me a strange expression and said,


    "Since when did you figure out the need for ''Emotional Support''¡­ O almighty sorcerer?"


    Jareth sighed at those words and said,


    "Not for me¡­ You are the emotional support for the students; when they see you two struggling to cross the desert, they will feel less conflicted in their heart¡­"


    Shin looked at Jareth with a look of annoyance and said,


    "Man, you are pure evil!! You are planning on me making ice for the kids when they get tired, right!? And then you will make Aria use her potions and healing magic for them!?"


    "You are a devil!! A schemer to the core!"


    Jareth frowned a bit at Shin''s loud voice and said,


    "Shut up, don''t you want to make amends with your wife for utterly destroying her lipstick? That famous company is located there in the central city of the desert; you can try your luck there¡­" Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Only when Shin heard those words did he finally calm down and stop complaining.


    "Er¡­ T-that¡­"


    A look of determination appeared in his eyes as he said,


    "Waifu is laifu!! Anything for the waifu!! Let''s go to the desert!!"


    Shin immediately changed his mind after hearing Jareth''s words and got ready to go in an instant.


    Jareth smirked a bit and said,


    "Then are you ready to work as the ''Ice Producting Machine'' for the students now?"


    Shin immediately gave Jareth a salute and said,


    "Yes!! I will produce so much ice! I will f*cking turn that desert into the North Pole!!"


    Aria, on the other hand, wanted to opt out of this trip, but she had no courage to say that in front of Jareth.


    ''Ahhh!! My ancestors!! Bless me with the strength to survive this ordeal!! I can''t say ''No'' or he will blast me off the face of Earth!!''


    ''I promise I will donate three.. no! Five boxes filled with sweets at the shrine as an offering to you all!!''


    Aria was holding onto Risa as a shield to protect herself from Jareth''s intimidating gaze; if not for Risa, she would have fainted from Jareth''s aura by now.


    On the other hand, Risa herself was confused at why Aria was hiding behind her, as if she were being targeted by some predator or something.


    Ignoring Jareth, who was waiting near the ''Helipad'' for the ''Helicopter'' to come, Shin came over to Aria''s side and said,


    "Hey, Aria, my dear comrade¡­ Don''t you dare say that you have an ''Idea'' okay!?"


    "Last time you said that and took the students to have a training at the ocean, a massive tsunami nearly drowned them all!! Don''t you dare jinx us now¡­"


    Although that tsunami was produced by Jareth, who was firing massive mana beams at the regenerating tree at the bottom of the sea, people still blamed Aria for jinxing it all.


    It was her ''Idea'' after all.


    Just when Shin was about to go back and grab some other important things for the trip, Aria said,


    "Uh, I actually had an Ide-"


    Shin quickly placed a hand over her mouth and spoke.


    "Don''t say it, idiot! You are gonna get us killed!!"


    Just when Aria was about to stop talking, Thomas arrived at the scene and said,


    "Come on, don''t blame her like that¡­ It was not her fault that things happened like that¡­ Her ideas are not that bad, actually. Professor Aria, please tell us what is on your mind?"


    Aria smiled happily and nodded her head,


    "Actually, there are quite a few ''one-way teleportation scrolls'' in the university''s inventory; we can just use that to go to the central city of the desert by just using its coordinates¡­"


    Thomas nodded his head at those words and said,


    "Oh, that''s actually quite a good idea; if this works, we won''t need to walk through that dangerous desert on our own¡­ In the past, people didn''t seem to have tried it, right?"


    Shin shook his head and said,


    "No, the technology of making ''one-way teleportation scrolls'' is relatively new; people likely didn''t try it in the past, and even if they have tried it in recent times, there is no information floating about it on the internet either¡­"


    "Which is quite strange, actually¡­"


    Hearing those words, Aria said them in an excited tone.


    "Doesn''t that mean we can create history if we succeed in it!? Let''s give it a try!!"


    Aria immediately ran to the storeroom of the university and brought back a ''one-way teleportation scroll'' with her.


    "Planes and other vehicles can''t go to that place because, for some reason, they get targeted by thunder, but if we teleport, then there will be no problems, I think¡­"


    With an excited look on her face, Aria put the scroll on the ground and embedded her mana in it.


    Jareth, who was standing far away, didn''t stop the experiment, but he used his telekinesis to secretly grab Mark and Risa and bring them to his side.


    A few seconds passed, the scroll started to shine brightly with mana, and a magic circle started to appear on the ground.


    Just when the three of them were about to laugh from happiness, a massive explosion happened, and then the teleportation scroll burst apart like a bomb.


    Mark and Risa, who were still confused as to why Jareth had forcefully dragged them back with telekinesis, looked at that scene in shock.


    "T-this!? The teleportation scroll exploded!?"


    Seeing the shocked look on Mark''s face, Jareth shook his head and said,


    "This is what happens when you try to mess with the power of the manifestation of a ''Law''¡­"


    "The ''Law of Thunder'' has itself manifested in that desert area; it prohibits any ''shortcuts''¡­ You are forced to go there by your own capabilities¡­"


    "It''s like a test placed by the world itself; if you can pass it, you will find your abilities improved¡­ But if you try to cheat, then this will happen¡­"


    When the dust finally settled, the scene inside the explosion became visible.


    The three of them were now covered in dust, and expressions of disbelief were fixed on their faces.


    Fortunately, the three of them deployed their mana barriers on time; otherwise, they would have gotten injured by this explosion.


    Jareth walked over to their side and wanted to say some words of motivation as the three of them seemed quite down, but his harsh mouth couldn''t say kind words at all.


    "Tch! Pathetic¡­"


    Actually, Jareth himself wanted to know what would be the result of this experiment, and he was ready to see them fail, but even he didn''t expect that they would fail so miserably.


    "Ahem¡­ I remember I still have some work to do. I shall leave now¡­"


    Thomas scrathed the back of his neck in embarrassment and left in a hurry to take a shower.


    On the other hand, Shin glared at Aria, saying,


    "I knew it! You truly have a cursed tongue! You jinxed it again!! D*mn! Why did I believe you!? I am such an idiot!"


    Jareth nodded his head at that moment and said,


    "Glad you have some self-knowledge¡­"


    Shin just sighed at those words and hurriedly left with a look of annoyance as he wanted to take a quick shower to clean up the dirt and change clothes.


    Aria, whose legs had already gone soft from the explosion, had slumped on the ground.


    Jareth glanced at her and said,


    "Well, although the experiment failed, it is still quite commendable that you have the courage to do such a dangerous experiment. You have my respects, Professor Aria¡­"


    Jareth was certainly praising her, but from Aria''s perspective, it all sounded different.


    "You really have the nerve to do such dangerous experiments!! You are so bold, Professor Aria!!"


    That''s what she actually heard. Fortunately, Risa helped her get up and supported her on the way back to her room; otherwise, she would have fainted right there.


    Just when everyone had left, the awaited helicopter arrived, and the pilot looked at Jareth with a look of confusion and said,


    "Uh, sir, I was told that there would be five people¡­ Where are the rest?"


    Jareth scoffed at those words and said,


    "Three of them just exploded in a bomb explosion¡­ Their ashes are flying in that crater right there¡­"


    The pilot was taken aback for a second, and he couldn''t help but gulp his saliva.


    He''s aware of Jareth''s reputation, he thought.


    ''Could it be that the people were not pleasing to the eye, so he blasted them off with his fire magic, and only ashes are left now¡­ h-how scary¡­''


    The pilot obediently shut off the helicopter and said, in a respectful tone,


    "Uh¡­ I-I will wait till you are ready to go, sir. Tell me anytime¡­"


    ''F*ck me! I shouldn''t have taken this job!!''

 Chapter 135 - 135: The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-1.

    "We can only go half-way with the helicopter? Man, that''s such a pain~"


    Sitting in the helicopter, Shin couldn''t help but complain as he glanced below and looked at the last city on their way before they entered the desert area.


    Jareth nodded his head and said,


    "The few cities in the desert have always been independent from the influence of the human nation; originally, they used to be places where talented earth mages would gather every decade or so to compete¡­"


    "But now they have established cities there¡­ Only a few of the people there can leave as the journey is dangerous; thunder can strike you from the sky at any moment..."


    "If not for the internet, people there would have been totally isolated from the whole empire¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but nod his head at Jareth''s words.


    "The Internet is a miraculous thing indeed; it can connect you to people that are located in faraway corners of the world¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Jareth thought of something and said,


    "Actually, there is one more method¡­ but well¡­ it''s not so ''friendly'' in nature¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the sky and said in a serious tone,


    "There is a ''Forbidden Magic'' called ''Mind connect''¡­ You use powerful human brains, extract them from the person''s body, put them in a glass box, and fill them with compressed and liquefied mana¡­"


    "Then put a particular magic circle that will directly connect to your brain¡­"


    "If you repeat this process and put similar brains in many places, you can use them to access the internet just by using magic and spells; there is no need for phones or devices¡­"


    "They can even be used as communication devices¡­ This used to be a famous practice for demon cults in the era of the Cult of Demon God Therath¡­"


    "Although they didn''t have internet back then, they still used to use this method to communicate..."


    Jareth glanced at Mark, who was shocked to hear this all, and said,


    "They use the brains of young people, so you should always remain careful. Who knows if there are still people out there who know this method¡­"


    Aria was already shivering in the corner and was unable to talk after hearing those words. On the other hand, Shin glared at Jareth and said,


    "How the f*ck do you know about such a ''weird'' magic?"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders and said,


    "I have my own sources¡­ By the way, the brain of a grade 2 mage is most suitable as the main brain, so you should also be careful about this actually¡­"


    Shin couldn''t help but frown at those words.


    He doesn''t fear death at all; he already has children, so he can rest assured that his legacy will carry on, but no one wants to become a brain living in a confined box.


    "This sounds more like sci-fi horror than a magical spell¡­ Are you sure such a thing even exists?"


    Jareth nodded his head in agreement with Shin''s words.


    "I haven''t personally seen one, but they surely do exist out there¡­"


    "Just like darkness cannot be extinguished from the world as long as there is light, these morally questionable practices can never truly go extinct¡­"


    Even Risa couldn''t help but frown.


    "This is even more disturbing than torture¡­ What if the person''s brain can still remain conscious while still in that state?..."


    Mark nodded his head and said,


    "If such a thing exists out there, I surely wouldn''t want to see it¡­ It would be so disturbing afterall¡­"


    Jareth didn''t say further about this matter and only said,


    ''Well, Mark, it doesn''t matter if you want to meet it or not, that''s exactly how your lackeys ended up in the original story¡­''


    There are some surviving members of the lost, extinct cult of Therath.


    One of their successors is the mad man who turned your younger sister into a human chimera and then turned your lackeys or so-called friends into these communication ''brains'' used for connecting to the internet.


    Fortunately, Risa already died from the onslaught of the hero''s party; otherwise, the developers of the game would have definitely messed her up in this same horrible way.


    ''As I already figured out¡­ this world is totally messed up; any kind of horror you can imagine can actually exist here without you ever knowing¡­''


    The existence of the massive sea of Miasma itself is a horror that is beyond human comprehension.


    An ordinary mortal cannot dream of understanding the ''Laws'' of this world, and thus they remain incomprehensible horrors that haunt you forever once you know about their existence. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''I can kind of understand why most Grade 1 mages die from going insane instead of dying from age¡­''


    Imagine that you know that your world is doomed, your soul will be tortured for millennia by the sea of miasma once you die, and then there are your loved ones in front of you who are totally unaware of this all.


    They don''t know anything and are living normally. You can''t tell them the truth or save them from the inevitable doom they''re about to face.


    In other words, all grade-1 are just living while constantly under the stress that their loved ones will one day have to get tortured and turned into demons by the sea of miasma.


    The souls of your loved ones will one day float into the sea of miasma, and there is nothing you can do for them.


    {Sometimes, too much knowledge can also be a curse, and ignorance can also be a blessing¡­} (Source: Trust me, bro¡­)


    After three hours of long travel via the superfast helicopter, Jareth and the group finally reached the halfway mark.


    The helicopter landed on the sand, and the group got down one by one.


    Jareth nodded his head at the pilot and said,


    "Good work, you shall go back now; we will make the trip from here on foot; the helicopter will get struck by thunder if we go any further with it from here¡­"


    The pilot nodded his head and left in a hurry, as if he wanted to just be done with this job and go home.


    The pilot will go on and brag to his children that a Grade 1 mage sat in his helicopter today.


    ¡­


    Jareth used his mana detection to sense the surroundings and then pointed in a direction before saying.


    "There is an oasis there in this direction¡­ About thirty kilometers from here, let''s go there; we will set up a camp there for tonight¡­"


    The desert of chaotic thunder is vast; you can already see the dark clouds above the desert in the distance.


    Jareth and the others will need to travel at least three hundred kilometers before they can finally reach the central city.


    "You are free to use magic, but make sure you don''t pass out from depleting all of your mana. Use it sparingly¡­ Consider this as part of the training too¡­"


    Before Jareth could even finish talking, the whole group had already run away in that direction using their magic; only Mark was still standing beside him.


    ''Sigh, these people are always in such a hurry¡­''


    Jareth patted Mark on the back and said,


    "The key is not using your mana like a brute; find a method that can improve your speed yet conserve mana¡­"


    Mark thought hard for a moment, and then he pointed his wand on the ground and created a giant off-road muscle car from his stone magic.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Mark carrier type C!]


    Mark jumped inside the giant car, and that car ran surprisingly fast on the sand; even Jareth was surprised by it.


    ''It would have been good enough to make a simple ''pick-up'' truck¡­ Why the f*ck is a huge machine gun placed on both sides of this car!?''


    ''Isn''t that unnecessary weight!?''


    Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head.


    ''This kid is really obsessed with guns¡­''


    Mark actually caught up to Risa, who was using shadow magic to glide on the sand like she was skiing on water.


    ''Er¡­ I guess I should also head there; I wouldn''t want to be the last one to reach¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Acceleration!]


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Rocket thrust flames!]


    Jareth bent his knees a bit and took the position a professional athlete takes before going for a run.


    ''You think you guys can win just because you started the race early? How naive of you¡­''


    *Boom*


    Jareth directly broke the sound barrier and launched like a rocket in a straight line.


    Due to ''Active Heal'' he was able to raise his physical stats and is not way weaker than a veteran warrior in terms of raw physical power; moreover, his basic magic is much stronger than others.


    Thus, the ''Acceleration'' magic gave him immense speed.


    And lastly, the fire magic, Rocket thrust'' produced a continuous fire behind Jareth''s back that gave him a continuous boost in speed, as if he had a rocket''s thruster attached to his back.


    In an instant, Jareth''s speed crossed the speed of a fighter jet, and he ran faster than a bullet train, leaving the whole group behind in an instant.


    In other words, he was the one who reached the oasis first; others couldn''t catch up to his insane speed at all.

 Chapter 136 - 136: The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-2.

    By the time the others reached the oasis, Jareth had already placed a deckchair near the oasis and was lazily lying on it with sunglasses on, as if he was enjoying a vacation on a beach or something.


    Of course, Mark and Risa were the last to arrive, as Shin and Aria both just used ''Float'' magic to fly and reach the place faster.


    Mark and Risa can''t compete with genuine grade-2 mages like them yet, so they were bound to lose.


    The reason why Jareth didn''t use ''Float'' himself is because he wanted to try out the new spell combo with his amazing physique.


    ''Maybe I should start learning a few martial arts techniques myself¡­ With such a strong body, it would be a shame to not have some close-range fighting capabilities¡­.''


    Although Jareth doesn''t really need any close-range combat abilities due to the existence of a ''Nearly indestructible mana shield'' that can protect him perfectly from any close-range attacks, it''s always good to have more cards in your arsenal.


    ''If not for my low affinity for ''Fire magic'' I would have already been a genuine grade-3 mage by now¡­ sigh~''


    Currently, Jareth only has basic magic in his arsenal.


    Although he can indeed use fire magic too, its effects are far too weak due to the low ''Fire affinity''.


    When in combat, he can only use basic magic or his physical abilities to score a victory; he has no other methods, which is indeed quite concerning.


    ''Right now, I have four thousand credit points¡­ I wonder if I should buy an ''attack enhancement card'' or wait and collect more to pull a better lottery¡­''


    ''Sigh, if only I had an infinite number of credit points, then I would have splurged the money on the lottery to my heart''s content¡­''


    Just when Jareth was still contemplating the credit points in his mind, the rest of the group started to chatter loudly.


    "Hoho! You collected wood while on the way!? You are indeed an excellent person, Student Mark!!"


    Shin couldn''t help but pat Mark''s shoulder again and again while smiling in satisfaction.


    Mark used a massive car-like thing made out of magic, so he directly toppled down any dry trees that came in his way, and then he made them float and placed them on the roof of the car.


    "Yes! This place is a desert; it may be hot during the day, but at night it will become very cold here. It''s good we lit a bonfire¡­"


    Although temperature won''t have much effect on mages as they can just use their mana shield and keep the temperature inside it normal, it''s always good to have a bonfire when you are out camping.


    Jareth glanced at Shin and Mark, who were trying to make a bonfire, and said,


    "Do we really need it? It would be much better for your training if you tried to maintain your mana barrier for the whole night while in sleep¡­"


    "Learning how to keep a spell going unconsciously is a great skill¡­"


    Shin shook his head at Jareth''s words and retorted loudly while saying,


    "If not for a bonfire, can it still be called a camp? It''s a classic! There''s no point in camping if you don''t make a bonfire!!"


    Jareth sighed at those words and said,


    "Alas, stupidity has no cure; otherwise, you would have been the first test subject for that cure if it existed¡­"


    Hearing those words, blood veins appeared on Shin''s face as he said in anger,


    "Go away! You don''t know what it means to be camping!"


    Jareth ignored Shin''s words and glanced at Mark before saying,


    "How are you planning on lighting the fire? Do you need my help?"


    Jareth is a fire mage; he just needs to flick his finger, and he can make the wood burn.


    "Er¡­ N-no, I want to try the method written in the survival books¡­"


    Mark has seen Jareth use the lowest and weakest fire magic and turn it into lethal attacks.


    Thus, he thinks that if Jareth used his fire magic, he would blast off half a kilometer of area just to light a fire.


    At that point, it can''t be called a bonfire; even the sand in the desert will start to melt into molten lava if Jareth uses his fire magic.


    Simply speaking, Mark has misunderstood that Jareth''s fire magic is just too strong; that''s the main reason why he uses basic magic most of the time and rarely resorts to fire magic as it''s too destructive in nature.


    "Well, do as you wish¡­"


    Seeing that Mark also wanted to pass time like Shin, Jareth lost interest and stopped caring about it.


    The main desert area that they have to travel to is still far away, and the sky here is not covered by the dark clouds, so there is still sunlight here.


    ''It''s already evening; it will be night soon¡­''


    ¡­


    Just when it was about to get dark, Mark and Shin succeeded in lighting up the bonfire by rubbing two dry pieces of wood against each other at a fast speed.


    The whole group took a big bark of the wood and used it as a seat to sit beside the bonfire; only Jareth was still lying lazily on his deckchair.


    Just when the group was about to start chatting, Jareth suddenly said,


    "Although we are in the outer area of the desert of thunder, we can still experience its mild effects even here."


    "During nighttime, a strange phenomenon happens: if someone tells a ''lie'' during the night in this desert, then they will get hit by thunder¡­"


    "We are in the outer area, so we will likely only get hit by a much weaker thunderbolt... but it''s still a bad idea to try this¡­"


    A serious look appeared on Jareth''s face as he said,


    "In other words, either talk the ''Truth'' while chatting or don''t talk at all; this is the rule of this place¡­"


    Jareth has been here before in the game, so he knows the general way things work here, but the reason behind it was never explained in the game.


    ''Although it wasn''t explained in the game, I can guess that this is also one of the effects of ''Law of the World''... The ''Law of Truth'' manifests in this place at night¡­''


    ''This place is so interesting and mysterious¡­ I am sure if it were the original Jareth, he would have definitely liked to do research on this strange manifestation of the ''Law'' of the world here.


    The original Jareth was kind of a scientist type of person; he liked to do research on mysterious things, and he had a smart mind.


    If he had grown up in a better family, maybe he would have become one of the most famous scientists of this era and would have invented many shocking things.


    ...


    While Jareth was busy contemplating the original Jareth''s life, the rest of the group was already shocked by his words.


    They had no idea that there was actually such a thing happening in this place.


    First of all, there is a scarcity of information about this desert, even on the internet, making it challenging to gain comprehensive understanding.


    "Er¡­ I will only say the truth from now on-"


    Just when Shin said those words, a small bolt of thunder came flying from far away and fell right on his head as if it were targeting him.


    Fortunately, he had deployed his mana shield beforehand; otherwise, it would have caused a minor injury at the very least.


    Mark and the others were really shocked to see this strange phenomenon.


    "Er¡­ I just wanted to test out if it was really true, but it seems it''s indeed the case¡­ If you lie, you get his by thunder; this has piqued my interest-"


    Before Shin could finish his sentence, another bolt of thunder fell on him again.


    Mark made a complicated expression and said,


    "Uh¡­ Professor Shin, maybe you should stop lying too much; it''s bad for your health¡­"


    Shin just smiled at those words and said,


    "Haha, what are you saying, I never lie¡­ lying ain''t that bad¡­"


    Bolts of thunder kept falling on Shin like crazy, as if they were purposely targeting him for some reason.


    Shin got up from the seat and shouted at the sky. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I am the most handsome man in the world! I am the best teacher in the world!!"


    At this point, Shin was trying to get hit by thunder on purpose, as it seemed kind of fun; thus, he kept shouting lies and kept getting hit by the thunderbolts like crazy.


    If someone who didn''t know about the situation had seen this scene from far away, they would have thought that the dark clouds had some personal beef with Shin.


    Seeing that Shin was enjoying the effects of the thunder, Risa''s eyes shone brightly too.


    She glanced at Mark and said,


    "This is like a naturally made lie detector! How about we do a truth and lie test? We will ask one question to each other, and the one who lies will get hit by thunder!!"


    Mark became kind of interested in the game, so he nodded his head.


    "Let''s do it¡­"

 Chapter 137 - 137: The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-3.

    "Okay! The first question is, ''What food do you like the most?'', I wanna know more about you! So tell me~"


    Risa just directly wanted to ask the question about whether he likes her or not, but she hesitated and decided to ask some random questions first to lower his defense.


    Mark took a moment to consider Risa''s question before responding.


    "Hmm, generally, I like pancakes a lot... but if they''re made by you, I would like them even if they''re poison¡­"


    Risa was taken aback by Mark''s words, and she nearly fell off her seat. Mark rarely praises her or ever flirts with her, and now that he suddenly said those words, Risa was shocked to hear that.


    And surprisingly, the thunder didn''t strike him at all; in other words, he really does trust Risa so much that he can eat and like anything that she might make, even if it was poison.


    A slight blush appeared on Risa''s face at the moment.


    "Y-you could''ve told me about that sooner¡­ y-you idiot¡­"


    Mark just shrugged his shoulders at those words and said,


    "It would have sounded so fake if not for this ''magical lie detector'' being here to testify to the authenticity of my words¡­"


    Mark rarely ever spends much time with his family, and the most he interacts with is Risa. He knows that she is a skilled assassin, and she can do harm to anyone easily if she wants.


    But Mark trusts her a lot because they have spent a lot of time together.


    "Okay, now it''s my turn¡­ Hmm, so tell me, ''Why do you keep pestering me all the time?''¡­"


    The blush on Risa''s face deepened even more as she hesitantly said,


    "I-I want your attention¡­ all day, every day, forever¡­"


    Now Mark was taken aback by those words. He used to think that Risa drags him around because she likes to tease and mess with him; he didn''t expect it to be so simple.


    "Er¡­ this game is kind of making me feel embarrassed, even though I am not even a part of it¡­"


    While Mark and Risa were having a heart-to-heart talk, Aria, who was sitting nearby, muttered in a low voice to herself and complained in her heart.


    ''Ugh¡­ Why do I have to sit here and watch them flirt!? Argghhh watching them flirt makes me feel so miserable!! Is this what single people feel when in the presence of couples!?''


    Aria couldn''t help but stare at the bonfire with a complicated look on her face as she questioned her life decisions in her mind.


    On the other hand, Shin was trying every method to attract the thunder and was getting hit again and again, like a thunder-attracting pole placed on the top of a skyscraper.


    Meanwhile, Jareth was lying down with his eyes closed on his deckchair; nobody knew whether he was sleeping or thinking about something.


    ¡­


    "Uh¡­ Did you like it when we went to the last date?"


    Mark nodded his head at Risa''s question and said,


    "It was awesome! The garden outside the museum was so beautiful, and the museum itself was so interesting from inside!"


    "I was quite surprised that they even had the fossils of several long-extinct sea monsters stored there¡­ I certainly would like to go there again someday¡­"


    Risa pouted her cheeks and said,


    "I was asking about how you felt being with me at that time, not about the museum¡­ Sigh, I am glad you liked it, though¡­"


    Mark rolled his eyes and said,


    "Well, aside from the times when you deliberately try to mess with me, I certainly do like being with you¡­"


    After a few more random questions, the two went silent all of a sudden.


    Only the crackling noise of the wood burning in the bonfire and the thunder falling on Shin''s mana barrier could be heard from the distance.


    Aria seems to have sensed something in the mood, and she got up and did a tactical retreat from the area.


    At that moment, only Risa and Mark were sitting beside the bonfire.


    The light of the fire made their faces glow, and the sky was filled with stars.


    The bright moonlight shined and added another charm to the already clear water of the oasis, making the scenery even more beautiful than it already was.


    A cool breeze blew up, and Risa finally mustered the courage to say what she had wanted to say for so many years.


    "Mark, I like you."


    Mark wasn''t surprised by those words; he''s not a fool. He''s seen how persistent Risa has been in chasing him.


    Even a fool would have realized by now that the other person harbors feelings for you. No random girl will go against her parents will and sneak out of her house just to meet you.


    No random person will take the risk of getting punished by the professors and sneak in your room just to see you once, and no random person will try to spend so much time with you.


    Mark has known about it all for a while now; it''s just that he is afraid.


    He''s afraid that he can''t give her the time or love that she deserves, as he has dedicated his life to magic.


    Still, no matter how much he denies it and how much he tries to ignore it, he can''t hide the fact that the persistent efforts of Risa have indeed influenced him.


    A boring guy like him who never liked to socialize now can see the beauty of the world and can spare some time from his magic research just to spend some time with her.


    This just proves one thing.


    "Me too¡­ I like you too, Risa¡­"


    And as expected, no thunder appeared when the two of them confessed their feelings; in other words, those were true feelings, and even the ''Law of Truth'' had to acknowledge it.


    A mutual love that was acknowledged by the laws of the world itself, a relation that formed in the presence of the ''Absolute Truth'' itself.


    Clouds appeared in the sky, and for the first time in a hundred years, it rained in the desert of chaotic thunder that night.


    Usually only dark clouds remain in the desert, but they never rain and only pour down thunder. But when a ''Truth'' gets acknowledged by the ''Law of Truth'' itself, then a miracle like this can happen too.


    And that''s exactly what happened; it rained like crazy in the desert that night.


    Jareth and the group had to use their mana shield to resist the rain and protect themselves from getting wet.


    Even though Mark and Risa were the ones who created this inconvenient situation, Jareth and the other two weren''t upset at them at all.


    Instead, they were happy for the two.


    Jareth simply shook his head, saying,


    ''They influenced the ''Law'' of the world just by saying a few words? Man, this is insane¡­ Sometimes I end up forgetting that Mark and Risa are both villain-type characters¡­''


    ''It would have been so much better if Mark was the real protagonist and not that dumb guy called Allen¡­''


    ¡­


    Ignoring the fact that they had created a massive rain just by talking, Mark and Risa just deployed their mana barriers and then kept on talking like normal as if nothing happened.


    "So, Uh,¡­ I have always wanted to know it but never had the chance to ask, What made you like me so much?"


    Hearing Mark''s question, Risa replied without hesitation,


    "What do I like about you? Hmm, I would say everything! The way you act when I tease you is so cute; the way you are so confident in your skills is so charming; the way you talk is so good¡­"


    "You are smart, you are dedicated to your goals, and you are just so good that I can''t praise you enough; I like everything about you!"


    Risa is literally just totally obsessed with Mark; she fell for him at first sight, and she''s been a ''yandere'' for him ever since.


    The two kept talking for a few more minutes until they fell silent and had nothing to talk about anymore.


    They just sat there, holding hands, with a happy smile on their faces.


    Although they have been engaged for years now, this is the first time they have confessed to each other, and only now can you consider them a proper couple.


    Originally, Risa was planning on one day defeating Mark in a fair and square fight and then making him acknowledge her love.


    But Jareth''s intervention changed everything.


    He brought them here to the land where the ''Law of Truth'' had manifested itself, and the two broke the wall of miscommunication and finally realized each other''s feelings for them.


    Of course, Jareth didn''t expect this outcome either; he just brought them here because he wanted them to get stronger for his sake.


    This event was just a bonus that he never anticipated. Nonetheless, it was still quite beneficial for Jareth. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Ding! You indirectly caused those two hearts to meet, who were supposed to never be together!]


    [Ding! You have received 4000 Credit Points!]


    Jareth was really shocked by this message.


    ''F*ck! Messing with the main protagonist only gave me 1k credit points, but helping out these two villain characters gave me 4k credit points!?''


    ''This is crazy!''


    At that moment, Jareth secretly gave a thumbs up to both of them and said in his mind,


    ''Good work, you two! Now get married soon and give me tons of credit points soon!!''


    Jareth seems to have discovered a new method to farm for credit points all of a sudden, and his eyes were shining brightly at the moment.


    ''Hehe, it was a good idea to bring them with me; from now on, wherever I go, they go with me! Kekeke¡­''

 Chapter 138 - 138: The Desert of Chaotic Thunder! Part-4.

    The next day, the group used ''Float'' magic to head towards the designation.


    All of them flying together caused them to look like a pack of birds trying to migrate to warmer areas.


    "Ugh, we have been flying for the whole day! Can''t we rest at night now?"


    Jareth shook his head at Shin''s words and said,


    "I think yesterday''s rest was enough; we need to pick up the pace, and if we don''t travel at night, then we will waste a lot of time in this desert¡­"


    "There''s nothing here that can be considered a good practice target for Mark and Risa; the thunder that falls from the sky is much stronger in this place now that we are so deep in the desert¡­"


    "They can''t withstand it if it falls on them¡­"


    "In other words, wasting our time here is pointless; just keep moving till we reach the central city¡­"


    Shin shook his head and stopped complaining, seeing that Jareth had already made up his mind and there was no point in arguing anymore with him.


    Considering the fact that Jareth is misunderstood as a Grade 1 mage, Shin doesn''t want to offend Jareth too much.


    A few months ago, Jareth and Shin were in the same grade, so Shin didn''t care about offending Jareth and never held back from saying rude things.


    But things are different now; he can''t keep saying rude things because Jareth has become too strong for him.


    Unless he himself becomes a Grade 1 mage, Shin won''t be messing around too much from now on.


    The only reason he can still talk to Jareth so frankly is because he considers Jareth a rival and a friend.


    What Shin didn''t know was that Jareth only thinks of him as an acquaintance, not even a friend.


    ¡­


    Risa was getting bored from all the traveling, and she suddenly thought of an idea.


    ''Its night right now, which means even the professors will not be able to dodge if they lie¡­''


    She smiled a bit, glanced at Aria, and asked,


    "Professor Aria, are you a siscon?"


    Aria was so taken aback by that sudden question that she nearly lost her mana output and barely avoided falling down from the sky.


    "Eh¡­ w-where did that question come from so suddenly? Of course I-I am not a siscon-"


    Before Aria could finish her sentence, a massive bolt of thunder fell on her from the dark clouds above; fortunately, she was already using her mana shield and had avoided getting hit by it.


    "Ah! Student Risa, stop messing around! I nearly had a heart attack just now!"


    Aria was scared witless by that sudden thunder strike and complained to Risa with an aggrieved look on her face.


    Risa ignored her words and glanced at Shin before saying,


    "Professor Shin¡­ Who do you like more? Your wife or your favorite barber shop?"


    Shin started sweating buckets after hearing that question.


    "Er¡­ uh¡­ t-that''s quite a difficult question¡­ er¡­ i-I like them both-"


    A massive bolt of thunder fell on Shin and revealed that he was lying.


    "Ah, professor, you are lying. Tell me about who you like more!"


    Shin refused to say anything further; he wasn''t going to get tricked into saying something that he shouldn''t.


    Seeing that Shin was not going to say anything, Risa stopped talking to him and then glanced at Jareth for a moment before thinking.


    ''What do I ask him about?... uh¡­ I don''t seem to know much about the Vice-principal¡­''


    Just when Risa was hesitating to ask, Shin suddenly smirked and said,


    "Hey, Jareth, Tell us, Did you ever date anyone before?"


    Everyone was taken aback by Shin''s question and gulped their saliva in nervousness.


    All of them know, at least, that Jareth is a very cold and strict person; for him to fall for someone is an impossible thing. Even Mark and Risa knew that discussing such a topic with him would be a bad idea.


    Only Shin has the guts to ask such a question of Jareth, as he considers Jareth a friend.


    At that moment, Jareth remained silent for a while, and the answer he gave was extremely shocking for the group.


    "Of course I have¡­"


    Shin immediately glanced at the sky, and no bolts of thunder fell from the sky.


    Which means Jareth was telling the truth.


    "WHAAAAATTTTT!!!!!??????"


    Shin shouted so loudly after hearing those words that his voice seemed louder than the sound of the thunder hitting the ground.


    Jareth sneered at Shin and said,


    "What? You think you are superior or something just because you have someone to love? The heir of the Isaz family is indeed a weird guy, tch!"


    Although Jareth said that, he was actually quite surprised in his mind.


    ''I dated her in my past life, which has nothing to do with this body; then how come the thunder didn''t fall on me¡­ According to this world, I can''t be considered to have ever dated, right?''


    This thought made Jareth question many things.


    ''Wait, could it be that this ''Law of Truth'' only works according to what the ''Individual'' believes in their mind?'' sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    According to the speaker''s beliefs, the ''Law of Truth'' determines whether the words are true or not.


    In other words, if Jareth himself firmly believes that he has indeed dated someone before and thinks that this is the real truth, then the ''Law'' won''t consider it false either.


    It will only be considered false if you yourself know subconsciously that your words are false.


    ''I see, so if someone believes that they are true about something and has no idea about their falsehood, then they won''t get punished by this thunder, as according to that person, the false thing will seem like a truth¡­''


    ''It seems quite complicated, but it''s much simpler when considered carefully¡­''


    Although the expression on Jareth''s face remained as cold as always, he was already smiling happily in his mind, as he had found an amazing loophole in this so-called power of the ''Law''.


    ''If this law has a loophole, then other laws must have it too, which means there must be a way to counter the ''Law of Miasma'' too¡­ I just need to find that weakness¡­''


    ''Only by finding this weakness can I save my soul and get rid of the sea of miasma¡­''


    For Jareth, every little thing that can help him understand the laws of this world is very beneficial.


    Shin and Risa indirectly helped Jareth consider this aspect by making him a part of their stupid game.


    ''Is this what they call the power of working together and having good allies?''


    While Jareth was busy thinking about the new discoveries that he had made, Shin asked in a panicked voice,


    "W-wait, if you had a girlfriend then, where is she now?"


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "She isn''t in this world¡­ Stop talking about this topic further, or this place will be your grave, Shin Isaz¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s warning, Shin finally shut up and understood what was going on.


    ''She isn''t in this world¡­ That means¡­ She died for some reason, and he doesn''t like talking about this matter¡­''


    Shin and the others misunderstood Jareth''s words and thought that Jareth was saying that the person he dated had already died, as she wasn''t in this world.


    Everyone went silent after hearing those words and didn''t dare say anything rude for fear of offending Jareth with their words.


    Thus, the rest of the journey was quite uneventful.


    Everyone remained silent, and Jareth kept thinking about what loopholes he could find in the ''Law'' of miasma.


    Eventually, the group crossed the desert and finally reached the outskirts of the central city of the desert.


    Jareth waved his hand and said,


    "You guys, go ahead; I have some other things to do¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Shin and Aria and said,


    "Take care of the students and have them experience the culture of the city; also, there''s a very large dungeon to the south of the city; take the students there to train¡­"


    "I am leaving their responsibility to you¡­"


    With that said, Jareth flew away in a different direction without hesitation.


    In the first place, the main reason why Jareth came here was to do some personal things and pick up a talented kid on the way.


    The only reason he even brought Mark and Risa was so that they could train, and Shin and Aria were brought here so that they could keep an eye on the students when he''s gone.


    Thus, he left Mark and Risa in their care and left to do his own things without worrying.


    Although Shin is a clumsy guy, he can keep the students safe, and Aria might be weak in combat, but her alchemy and healing magic are both very good.


    If Mark and Risa get injured, she can heal them in no time and can also give them some tips on how to improve their alchemy skills.


    ''That dungeon should be very beneficial for them both¡­ By the time I come back, they might have already conquered a few floors of it¡­''

 Chapter 139 - 139: Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-1.

    "Er¡­ and there he goes¡­" Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shin sighed while staring at Jareth''s fading figure in the sky and glanced at Mark and Risa before saying.


    "The big bad guy is gone, so what do you say, kids? What do you want to do next? Directly go to the dungeon to train, or should we first wander around in the city?"


    Before Mark could say anything, Risa directly raised her hand and said, with a big smile,


    "Let''s visit the city! I wanna see what unique food they have here!"


    Hearing the word food, Aria also became excited and nodded her head.


    "Yes! Let''s go and eat something delicious!!"


    And since the two had already said it, Shin and Mark also decided to go with the flow, and thus the dungeon training was put on hold for the time being.


    ¡­


    When the group reached the city wall, the guards at the main gate had a shocked look on their faces.


    The journey to this city is very difficult; not only can thunder fall on you anywhere and anytime, you can''t even use any vehicles.


    Which means that the number of people who come to this city is extremely low.


    The only time people travel between this city and the others is when they have to import some resources, and even then, they have to use space rings to carry the resources while traveling on foot.


    You can''t even use mounts to travel in this place, or you will get struck by thunder.


    Thus, when the guards at the main gate saw Shin and others, they were really shocked and curious.


    But when they felt the aura of a peak grade-2 mage from Shin, they dared not behave rudely and treated the group with respect.


    This place might be located in an isolated area, but even the people here know how to respect the strong and avoid trouble.


    A Peak Grade-2 mage alone can level cities in a single attack; there''s no point in trying to offend such a strong person just to satisfy your curiosity.


    The person in charge himself came down from the office and said it with a flattering smile on his face.


    "Welcome honored guests to Bastille, the city built around the oasis of the full moon!"


    The chief guard hurriedly led the way for Shin and the group and decided to arrange a car for them.


    Although it''s nearly impossible to bring a car here from outside, that doesn''t mean you can''t build it here.


    There are car-making factories in this place too, so they have cars and other facilities.


    The place is isolated, but the government has made every effort to keep it as connected to the rest of the empire as possible.


    Although there is corruption in the government, they don''t want to lose even a single inch of the land under the human empire.


    So they take a lot of measures so that the people of this city don''t end up separating themselves from the rest of the empire.


    Shin nodded his head at the chief guard and spoke.


    "Good, take us to the most luxurious hotel in this place¡­"


    The chief guard smiled happily and ordered the driver to do as Shin said.


    Only when Shin and the group finally left in the car did the chief guard relax and wipe the sweat from his forehead.


    "D*mn, this is the first time I have seen a grade 2 mage up so close; only after meeting one in person did I understand why they are respected all over the empire¡­"


    Despite his extensive experience as a grade-4 mage, the chief guard seldom encounters any grade-3 or higher-grade mage in this city due to its isolation from the rest of the empire.


    The resources they have are not enough to support the growth of a grade 3 or higher mage, so even if someone talented had appeared here, they wouldn''t be able to grow up properly.


    Without resources, a person''s talent gets wasted.


    Unlike Jareth, who has a mana singularity, all mages need various rare elixirs and precious herbs while meditating and training.


    Imagine a scenario where one person has to sleep and take rest to recover their mana after every training session, but the other person can just take a mana recovery potion and continue training without rest.


    That means the person who has more money can train for a longer time and can avoid many detours by consuming rare herbs to improve their abilities.


    This is the reason why people say that ''becoming a mage is all about who can splurge more money¡­''


    It''s a profession where the person with more money will always win, unless, of course, you are insanely talented like Mark or have legendary skills like Jareth.


    ...


    Sitting inside the car, Mark glanced outside and saw a lot of unique things.


    Not only the clothes that people wear in this place are different, even the vehicle designs and architecture of the houses here is very different.


    The houses in the capital city are more inclined towards the ''Modern'' look, whereas the houses in this place seem more traditional yet amazing to look at.


    At that moment, Mark noticed a small group of guards walking on the road, and they were dragging a lot of people in haggard clothes whose hands were bound by ropes.


    Mark glanced at the driver and asked,


    "Uh, what''s happening there? Why are those people being treated like that?"


    The driver took a quick glance and then said,


    "Young man, you don''t know¡­ There are certain rules in this city¡­ We live in a place that is surrounded by desert, and thousands of underground monsters are always ready to lay siege to our city¡­"


    "This city needs a lot of money to operate as the maintenance cost of the mana barrier is high, and we also need a lot of rations secured¡­"


    "Surely the government is helping us from outside, but that''s not enough¡­"


    The driver sighed and said,


    "So the minister in charge of this place created a few rules; they collect a lot of tax from people who live in this place¡­"


    "The tax is used to maintain the defenses of the city and provide better equipment to the guards¡­"


    "But the thing is, this tax is too high, and everyone has to pay it, so the people who are jobless and poor are helpless against it¡­"


    The driver hesitated for a moment but then said,


    "Those people who fail to pay tax for more than six months get dragged out of their houses and exiled from the city¡­"


    "This is what''s happening to those people right now¡­ Every single year, at least three or four thousand such people get thrown out¡­"


    Hearing those words, Mark asked back curiously.


    "And what happens to those people after their exile?"


    The driver shook his head and said,


    "Do I even need to say it? There''s nothing out there to eat; it''s no man''s land; thunder can fall on your head at any moment; hungry underground monsters roam the whole area¡­"


    "Most of these exiled people either die of starvation or become food for the monsters outside¡­"


    "It actually quells the hunger of the monsters, thus reducing the monster siege''s intensity every once in a while¡­"


    The driver sighed and said with a sad voice,


    "Although it''s sad, there is nothing we can do; for the survival of the majority, a few people''s sacrifice is always necessary¡­"


    "Unless the government starts sending tons of money from outside to support the lives of these people, there''s nothing we can do¡­"


    Hearing those words, Mark couldn''t help but sigh. He wanted to help out these pitiful people, but even he knew that this was an unrealistic thing.


    Even Shin sighed and said,


    "Helping a few of them won''t change the situation¡­ As long as this city exists in this desert where monsters keep attacking, there will always be a need for a lot of money to maintain the barrier¡­"


    Mark also stopped looking at that group of people, as he knew that helping them wouldn''t change anything.


    He can pay money for them today, but then what next? What about the other people who are also in need of money? Will Mark have to donate money to the whole city then?


    Even though Mark himself is a prince and has a lot of money in his bank, even that bank balance is extremely small when compared to the expenses of a whole city filled with millions of people.


    "Forget it, young man; leave things be; don''t get emotional over something that you have no control over... This is the way of the world¡­"


    "Only the fittest survive; without money, you have nothing in this world; either you earn or you die¡­ That''s how the world works¡­ Don''t blame yourself for it¡­"


    Hearing those words from the old driver, Mark nodded his head and said,


    "Thanks for the advice; I will keep it in mind¡­ This world really isn''t a place for innocent souls¡­"

 Chapter 140 - 140: Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-2.

    In comics and movies, it is usually shown that when the protagonist encounters such a situation, his first action is to go beat up the guards and rescue the people who are being forcefully dragged to their deaths.


    However, those films always fail to show the greater implications of this action.


    The main thing is that the government also doesn''t want to throw them out, but for the survival of the majority, they have to make this sacrifice.


    By exiling these people who give no returns to society, the government is fulfilling many goals at once.


    Not only does this serve as a warning to other people that they need to work hard if they want to live in their safe houses, but it also quells the massive monster siege.


    Once the monsters eat their fill, they don''t attack the cities like crazy, and massive monster sieges don''t happen.


    The army from the outside can''t be deployed in time, and even if they deploy it beforehand, a massive army needs a massive amount of resources to maintain.


    If you increase the number of soldiers, you will need to keep in mind that you will need more money.


    More money means you will need to increase the tax more, or you will have to ask the government outside for support.


    Even though the government is trying its best from outside, they also have to take care of the rest of the empire; they can''t just keep funding this isolated city for free.


    In this desert, not a single crop thrives, and there are no regional specialties that are unique to this area.


    Which means that the government gets literally no benefits from funding this city that is isolated from all directions.


    Thus, the funding for this city can''t be increased, and more military personnel can''t be deployed here either.


    In other words, the government is just as helpless about this place as the people living here.


    Even if you want the people to relocate, you can''t possibly relocate millions of people.


    Where will you take so many people? How would so many people get new jobs so soon? Who will give them excellent living conditions for free?


    All in all, if you look at the bigger picture, the situation in Bastille is already in much better condition.


    If the government wasn''t funding it from the outside, then even more people would have died every year.


    Right now, things are in a proper balance.


    And imagine that suddenly an idiot guy comes and tries to destroy this equilibrium just because he doesn''t want the poor people to die.


    This will not only put the lives of the rest of the people in the city in danger; it will cause massive chaos for everyone.


    This is the reason why ''being a hero depends on circumstances; if the conditions are already in balance, you will only be a villain if you try to mess with them¡­''


    By saving a few people, you may feel happy, but you will fail to realize that you are putting the lives of millions of other people at risk.


    What if the monsters outside went crazy and attacked the city desperately due to hunger?


    You won''t have enough army to counter it, and no help will come from the outside as this place is very isolated.


    Even a grade 1 mage will need at least half a day if he wants to come here by flying while avoiding the thunder from the sky and the monsters below.


    And that half a day is enough for the tsunami of monsters to level the whole city to the ground and kill millions of people.


    It is often depicted in movies that a hero can do a last stand and keep thousands of monsters at bay, but that''s not a realistic scenario.


    There is barely one grade-3 mage in this city, and he himself is the city''s minister, so how would the city defend itself against hordes of monsters outside if the barrier collapsed? S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thinking like a movie''s hero is a ridiculous thing; reality in this world is more cruel.


    ¡­


    Bastille, Core area, Hotel Grand Moon.


    When the car finally arrived at its destination, Mark and the other got down, and a gigantic skyscraper appeared in their view.


    Although the skyscraper looks modern, it also has a lot of traditional-type architecture in it.


    Just looking at it from the outside, you can tell that this building is definitely a five-star hotel.


    When the group was still looking at the hotel with an excited look on their faces, a luxurious car suddenly arrived at the scene, with several muscle cars following behind it.


    A man wearing a silver suit and dark red hair got out of the car and walked over to the group with a smile on his face.


    The man glanced at Shin and said,


    "Nice to meet you, sir. I am Zang Shao, a minister in the parliament and the mayor of this city¡­ It''s a pleasure to meet someone as strong as you¡­"


    Bastille also has internet, so the people here can access social media; thus, the city knows about Shin as he''s a famous grade 2 mage.


    And as grade 2 mages are quite rare in this place and rarely appear, the mayor decided to come himself to greet Shin and, if possible, try to coax Shin into staying here.


    If a grade-2 mage decides to stay in this place, the safety of this city will be improved.


    The main reason why no grade-3 or higher-ranking mages want to stay here is because they don''t have enough resources here.


    But if the mayor himself tries to arrange it, then they can certainly collect enough money to tempt people.


    "Ah, you''re the mayor? Nice to meet you, Mr. Zang. I see that you are running your city quite well. I came here thinking that things here would be much more backward¡­"


    "But you have surprised me; this place has developed well even though it''s isolated from the outside world¡­"


    Zang smiled dryly at those words and replied,


    "Mr. Shin is joking, haha. I am merely doing my duty; keeping the lives of the people safe is my responsibility, hahaha¡­"


    Shin didn''t mention the matter of the people who were being sacrificed, and Zang also didn''t acknowledge the fact that he was sacrificing the lives of people to save others.


    In other words, both of them were tacitly talking in a way that didn''t highlight each other''s problems.


    Shin himself has nothing to do with this city, and he doesn''t give a single sh*t about who is getting sacrificed here, so he didn''t bother arguing with Zang about this matter.


    Surely Shin''s words may put a lot of pressure on Zang as he''s a grade-2 mage, but even if Shin tries to argue about it, it won''t change anything.


    Matters like this are not so easy to resolve; they have many complicated things behind them.


    "Ahaha, look at me, I totally forgot about the main matter. Mr. Shin, please feel free to stay in this hotel; I will personally fund your and your group''s stay¡­"


    Shin was surprised by those words, and he nodded his head.


    "Hoho, Mr. Zang is indeed a generous person, it seems¡­"


    Zang laughed a bit at those words and said,


    "Haha, no, no, this is what I should do¡­ Okay, I won''t stop you anymore; please rest in the hotel; you must be tired from the long journey¡­"


    Zang only came here to show his goodwill, so he decided to leave early so as to avoid any unpleasant things from happening.


    From other people''s perspectives, Shin and Zang were talking happily with each other while laughing and smiling as if they were old friends who had met after a long time.


    But only the two of them knew that they were both just being polite with each other to avoid trouble.


    Zang doesn''t want to offend Shin, as he wants to hire him.


    On the other hand, Shin has come to this city for the first time, and he also has the students with him.


    So, he wants to avoid any misunderstanding with the mayor so that he doesn''t target the students.


    The two were laughing happily, but they were actually scheming in their minds.


    "Ah, I forgot about one other thing¡­"


    Just when Zang was about to leave, Shin suddenly called out to him and said,


    "Actually, we are not the only ones here; Jareth Ayad has also come here with us; he went out to resolve some personal business, but he will likely come to the city later in a few days¡­"


    "So I would request the mayor to keep things ready for him too¡­"


    Hearing the name ''Jareth'', Zang was so shocked that he nearly fainted on the spot.


    Even a grade-2 mage is extremely rare in this city, and now suddenly a grade-1 mage who is known for being extremely powerful has suddenly appeared here.


    This information not only made Zang nervous, but even the bodyguards and other people nearby were shocked to the core.


    Zang glanced at Shin and confired again,


    "uh.. A-are you talking about ''The Wyvern Killer'', ''The Divine Flame'' Jareth Ayad? A-are you sure he''s the one who''s here?"


    Shin nodded his head and led the students inside as he spoke.


    "Yes, yes, that guy¡­ Just keep an eye out for him; he should be here soon¡­"


    Although Shin and the group were being casual, Zang and his bodyguards were already trembling in shock.


    Only one thought was ringing in Zang''s mind at that moment.


    ''F*ck me! How the f*ck did I attract a walking nuclear bomb on myself out of nowhere!?''

 Chapter 141 - 141: Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-3.

    "Er¡­ Are you sure we should be sneaking out of the hotel like this without even telling the professors?"


    At Mark''s words of concern, Risa smiled and said,


    "No worries! We will just make a quick trip and go back soon~, they won''t even notice it~"


    Mark sighed at those words and said,


    "Do you really think it''s so easy to escape the detection range of a grade-2 mage? We are years away from becoming strong enough to be competing with giants like them¡­"


    Risa shrugged her shoulders at those words and said in a confident voice,


    "We successfully made it out of the hotel, and no one appeared to stop us, which means the professors likely already detected us but gave their silent permission!"


    "So we are good to go~"


    At those words, Mark finally nodded his head and stopped thinking too much.


    "Well, if you say so, then let''s go¡­"


    The two of them held hands and walked towards the central market area of the city of Bastille.


    They took a bus to arrive here earlier and are now going on a shopping trip.


    Originally, Risa said that she just wanted to buy something quick and they would come back soon, but then she dragged Mark into the bus, and they both ended up coming here.


    But Mark can''t complain; this place is indeed unique.


    He glanced towards the sky and noticed the dark clouds don''t shroud this small area, and this city is free of their influence.


    Moreover, the weather here is much more normal when compared to the desert.


    The old architectural style just adds another charm to this place, and the decorated market area is just so unique and amazing that even Mark can''t help but be fascinated by it.


    When Mark and the group were living in the desert, the temperature would get extremely hot during the day and freezing cold during the night.


    Although the clouds in the sky cover the sun, this place still gets hot and cold, just like a normal desert, which is a strange phenomenon in itself. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    On the other hand, this city isn''t covered by those dark clouds, and the temperature here is much more normal and remains the same all day long.


    It doesn''t get too hot or cold, which is quite a beneficial thing for the people living here.


    Mark and the group came to this city yesterday, and Mark already did a bit of preliminary research on his own by reading through the books that were already placed in his room.


    The place they stayed at is a luxury five-star hotel, so they have a small collection of books in all of their rooms that describe the general details of this city in brief.


    Mark, being a knowledge-obsessed guy, read through nearly half of them in one night and didn''t even sleep.


    Nonetheless, full-night training and learning sessions are normal occurrences for him, so he wasn''t very exhausted in the morning, even though he didn''t sleep for the whole night.


    One of the few interesting things that he read about was that as this city expands with the increasing population, the dark clouds in the sky retreat further away, as if they are giving this city space to grow.


    This phenomenon is so strange that the researchers in the area have theorized that these dark clouds themselves are partially conscious and can sense that the people in the city are increasing, so they need more free space.


    This city is acting like a ''Safe Spot'' for the whole desert of chaotic thunder. You will get affected by the thunder outside, but once in the city, you are safe.


    If Jareth were here, he would have already figured out that this is basically a mechanism from the game world.


    Originally, there was no explanation for this in the game, but now Jareth knows that all this happens due to the manifestation and interference of the ''Laws'' of the world itself.


    The whole world is buried in a sea of miasma, and thus subtle changes in the ''Laws'' of the world happen often.


    These chaotic interferences from the ''Laws'' of the world cause strange phenomena to manifest in this world.


    In the first place, the manifestation and interference of the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' itself is the main reason why people can become wizards and can use mana and create unscientific things by using ''Mana'' as an energy source.


    They literally use ''Mana'' to mold the atoms in various forms and shapes to create things that would have been unscientific and unexplainable if there was no mana in this world.


    The ''Law'' of ''Mana'' itself is a strange phenomenon that can''t be explained by an ordinary mortal''s comprehension capabilities.


    Either you need to reach a realm that can manipulate the ''Laws'' of this world itself or you will have to invent a technology so powerful that it can see through the very fabric of reality.


    The current humanity is extremely far away from ever creating a technology of such a level.


    It may take millions or years, and the human race doesn''t have that much time; moreover, the existence of mages and mana itself causes a lot of hindrance to the development of technology.


    If the technology keeps depending on mana stones to fuel their cars and other things, it will create problems if something changes in the ''Law'' of mana.


    All technologies that are working on this ''Law'' of mana will stop working; moreover, changes in the ''Laws'' of this world are very random; you can''t rely on them forever.


    That''s one of the many reasons why only an extremely talented person can become the hope of this world.


    Reynald and Jareth both know this, and they both know that the human race can now only be saved by a single ray of ''Hope''.


    But as they say:


    {Even the hope itself needs an origin; if it''s not strong enough, that hope can never provide enough comfort to the masses¡­}


    ¡­


    Hotel Grand Moon, Parking Area.


    Shin sighed and said, in a sad tone,


    "Please, Ms. Aria, I beg of you, accompany me to the place where that company''s headquarters are located¡­"


    "I have no knowledge about makeup and stuff that women use, so help me out this one time, and I will definitely not make fun of your ''ideas'' ever again!"


    Aria, on the other hand, smiled with a pleased smile on her face.


    She nodded her head and said, with a smirk on her face,


    "Hehe, now you know how wonderful my ideas are? Of course I am the best when it comes to making plans!"


    Aria crossed her hands and smiled happily after hearing Shin''s promise.


    "Well then! It seems my help is indeed very important, so I will reluctantly help you out, Professor Shin¡­"


    Shin showed appreciation on his face while he had completely different thoughts in his mind,


    ''D*mn, this trick of getting others to work for you is really effective; good thing I learned it from Jareth¡­ That guy really does have some shady skills indeed¡­''


    Shin himself is not a big fan of being a shrewd person and manipulating others; he likes being straightforward, as he thinks of the former as a tactic of deceivers.


    But when push comes to shove, even the mightiest of people have to bend their heads to make do with things.


    Shin had to use this trick to deceive Aria by saying that her plans are amazing just so he could ask for her help in figuring out the gift for his wife.


    And sure enough, the plan was a big success.


    Shin glanced at Jareth''s image in his mind and said,


    ''You are a shady person¡­ but I trust you, bro¡­ just like how I trust the reels that have information on a car in their caption¡­''


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in the mayor''s home.


    "Yes! Gimme that enchantment too! And that one too!!"


    Several mages were casting strong enchantments on the mayor''s overly luxurious and shiny protective gear for some reason.


    "Yes!! Although I can''t withstand the attack of a grade 1, this should be enough to get me through his aura at least¡­"


    Indeed! All this preparation is being done to defend against Jareth''s imminent arrival.


    The mayor once saw a random video where they were saying that a random fat guy was once stared at by Jareth, and the poor guy had so many nightmares from the residual effect of the aura that he became as thin as a dried stick in just a few days.


    Although there is no guarantee that this rumor is even true or is just some random, made-up bullsh*t, the mayor believed in it.


    He has never met a grade-1 mage before, so he misunderstood that Jareth''s aura might really be that strong.


    Now he''s making proper preparations to meet with Jareth without fainting from just getting stared at by him once.


    He even hired the best artifact enchanters in the city to come and upgrade his protective gear.


    (Bro really thinks that Jareth is some kind of walking eldritch horror that can make anyone faint at random¡­)

 Chapter 142 - 142: Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight! Part-4.

    Bastille, Central Market Area.


    "Whoa~ A live music performance is going to happen here!"


    Looking at the giant posters and banners outside an auditorium, Risa''s eyes shone with excitement.


    Seeing that excited look on her face, Mark sighed and said,


    "Let''s go in. I myself haven''t seen a live music performance before; let''s try it out now that we have the chance¡­"


    Mark walked over to the ticket counter and brought out a platinum card with a dragon design printed on it in golden.


    When the person at the counter saw that card, he nearly fainted from the sheer shock.


    The person at the counter glanced at Mark with a shocked look. He wanted to say something, but he stopped and hurriedly gave two tickets to Mark.


    When Mark left the counter, the man got up, went to a more secluded area, and screamed like crazy, saying,


    "I f*cking saw a ''Royal Draconic Platinum'' in my life! Ahhhhhhhh~~~"


    From that day onwards, that man will go on and brag to his friends and family that he actually saw the real ''Unique'' ATM card that only the royal family members have.


    Seeing that legendary card that is only seen on TV and the internet in person is a very big flex indeed.


    Mark, on the other hand, had no idea about all that; he just took the ticket and held Risa''s hand before entering the auditorium.


    He''s been using this card since childhood, and he doesn''t really care much about it; thus, he doesn''t know that the card he has has an unlimited amount of money in it.


    Mark was given this card as a birthday gift, and it has no limits at all.


    Additionally, it recognized Mark''s mana fluctuation, and since only he can use it, it doesn''t matter if it disappears.


    This card is directly linked to the family account of the Royal Family, and it will never run out of money unless the whole royal family goes bankrupt.


    Moreover, the royal family is so deeply involved in the government and companies all over the nation that the whole nation will go bankrupt before this card can run out of money.


    In other words, Mark literally holds the entire nation''s worth of fortune in this pocket.


    People on the internet make a lot of posts about the awesomeness of this card.


    Thus, seeing this card in person can make any ordinary person feel shocked, unless they live in a ditch and don''t even know about it at all.


    The unique thing is that this card has a certain magical aura of its own, and even ordinary people can feel its uniqueness just by being in its presence¡­


    So even if you don''t know about its existence, you can still feel that it''s ''unique'' once you encounter it¡­


    ¡­


    "Hurry, hurry, it''s about to start! We came just on time!"


    Risa and Mark hurried inside and took the VIP seats right away. Mark didn''t care about the money, so he bought the seats with the best view for Risa.


    Once the duo sat down, the curtain slid away from the stage, and an old man walked over to the stage. He appeared to be in his late sixties.


    While the old man took the microphone, a few other people also appeared and took their respective seats on the stage to play the various music instruments, such as the piano, guitar, drums, flutes, and so on.


    "Welcome everyone! Today we are presenting a song from the local folklore of Bastille. This one is the classic and one of the most popular songs that describes the history of our blessed city of Bastille!"


    Hearing the old man''s words, the whole audience clapped, and excited looks appeared on the faces of the audience.


    "Bastille didn''t originally used to be what it is today, so let us know about its origins more with this song!"


    The old singer smiled happily at the enthusiasm of the audience, and he also noticed the presence of Mark and Risa in the VIP seats.


    There are usually no people who buy VIP tickets for his show, so he was even more motivated to give his best today just for Mark and Risa.


    On the other hand, Mark was more surprised by a completely different thing.


    ''A grade-4 mage working as a singer? This is interesting¡­''


    Mark himself is a grade-4 mage, but his mana control is already grade-3, due to which he can sense the mana fluctuations better than other grade-4 mages.


    Thus, he easily saw through the old singer and figured out that the other party was magic too.


    Usually all mages go for a career that suits the dignity of a mage; for example, most of them become teachers, dungeon explorers, and some even join the military.


    It''s very rare to see a mage working in any other profession than these few.


    ''Let''s see what he has got¡­''


    The old singer closed his eyes and started his performance at that moment.


    "The story goes something like this¡­"


    [A broken shard of the bright moon,


    Once fell upon this land,


    Blessed was the land by the ''Laws'',


    And the people came from afar to see the miracle,


    Eventually, the shattered shard was forgotten,


    And people lived here to worship and admire the shine,


    Of that once forgotten Shard. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    May the shard forgive the world~


    May the shard bless the city of desert~


    May the moonlight shine on Bastille forever~]


    The old singer''s voice was solemn yet amazing to hear; even Mark was impressed by it.


    This amazing voice clearly showed that the man has a lot of experience in this field and has been working as a singer for years now.


    Not only did he sing the song, he also told the history of Bastille in brief.


    ¡­


    ''This must be a story that was passed down from generations to generations and then turned into a poem and then into a song by the people¡­''


    The history of this city alone holds a lot of mysteries.


    First of all, there is a mention of a ''shard of the bright moon''.


    ''I think that they are referring to some random meteorite that fell in this place¡­ People then came to see it from all over the world, and eventually some of them settled down here...''


    Although Mark failed to comprehend the ''Laws'' part of the song and only understood a few lines, this song indeed improved his knowledge of this city.


    If Jareth were here, he would have figured out that this is the same song that appears at the end of a certain quest in the form of a cutscene.


    You arrive at this auditorium to enjoy this song with your harem members, and it tells you more about the history of the place.


    But in the game, it was impossible to find out more about the ''Laws'', but now Jareth can understand it all.


    He can see that the person who originally created this story must have had some knowledge of the ''Laws'' of this world and must have witnessed the events happening in this place.


    Alas, there is no mention of who was the person who first created this story, told the people about it, and helped it pass down from generation to generation.


    Thus, it''s not possible to track the roots of this song.


    If he could have met that person, then he could have solved a lot of his questions, but now Jareth will have to find some other way to figure it all out by himself.


    Mark, on the other hand, also figured out a few other things from the song.


    ''That meteorite then went missing for some reason, but the city is still blessed by its shine?''


    ''This seems more like a puzzle than a song... Forget it; I will think about it later¡­''


    Mark and Risa got up from their seats and clapped at the end of the song, along with the rest of the audience, to show their appreciation for the performance.


    Aside from the singer, the piano artist and the other instrument users also did extremely well and kept up with the old singer''s rhythm perfectly.


    This just shows that this whole band is made up of experienced people who have been working in this field for years now.


    After the end of the live performance, when Mark and Risa were just about to leave, they met the old singer in person, and the old guy handed over his autographs to both of them.


    He saluted them and said,


    "Thank you for buying the VIP tickets; it''s rare for people to pay so much just to watch a single performance of our band¡­"


    Mark waved his hand and replied,


    "No worries, you are an excellent singer; perhaps you should come to the capital; you will get more opportunities there for sure!"


    The old singer waved his hand and said,


    "Haha, that might have been the case if I was still a young man. Today was my last performance, and our band will disband after today. It was indeed a lucky thing that I still had some VIP audience members at my last performance¡­"


    "I am getting old, so it''s about time I give my voice rest. I will leave the stage for the younger generation, hahaha¡­"


    With that said, the old singer left with a happy smile and went on to live a happy life with his grandchildren.

 Chapter 143 - 143: Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight Part-5.

    "Eh, I look so weird in these clothes¡­ Do we really need all this just to get a couple photo for us?"


    Mark, who was forced to wear the costume of a knight, walked out of the changing room and complained with a complicated look on his face.


    They both left the auditorium a while ago and then came to this photo booth to get a couple''s photo of them both.


    And he was forced to do cosplay by Risa, as she wanted to get a photo of him in knight armor protecting her as a princess.


    "Forget about that; tell me¡­ How do I look?"


    Risa, wearing the pure white dress, looked like a real princess.


    The moment Mark saw her, he was stunned.


    "I get it now¡­ It was indeed worth doing all this costume and all.. You look like a real princess¡­"


    A proud look appeared on Risa''s face as she heard the praise from Mark.


    "Humph! Now that you know the charm of this young lady, be proud; you will get a charming wife¡­"


    Seeing that smug look on Risa''s face, Mark suddenly had the urge to pinch her cheeks.


    "It hurts~ Don''t stretch my face like that, you idiot!"


    Risa ran away with an annoyed look on her face, while Mark laughed happily to himself.


    The two of them went and got a couple photo. Mark looked like a real knight in that armor-like costume, and his handsome face just added another charm to it.


    The two of them left the photo booth with a happy smile on their faces and found themselves at a caf¨¦ to have lunch.


    "Sigh, today is the only day we will get to enjoy something like this; we will likely be heading to the dungeon by tomorrow¡­ Ugh, why is time moving so fast¡­"


    "I don''t want this happy time to go away¡­"


    Hearing Risa''s complaints, Mark replied.


    "Well, the day isn''t over yet, milady; we still have a lot to do today¡­ For example, how about we eat as much as our heart desires¡­ The food in this place is quite unique¡­"


    "We should enjoy it when we still have time; it might not be possible to eat the food of this place again for a long while¡­"


    Risa also nodded her head and immediately ordered a lot of tasty food for them both.


    Both of them are kids from rich families; they aren''t worried about money at all; in fact, they have so much money that they can''t even spend it in a lifetime.


    "By the way, how''s your progress in magic these days?"


    At Mark''s question, Risa smirked and replied,


    "Worry not, my knight; this princess is already making a lot of progress! I shall soon ascend higher and render the bright sky dark!"


    Mark''s expression turned complicated while hearing that overly ''Chunni'' style of talking.


    "So, you mean you are about to ascend to grade 4 soon?"


    Risa glared at Mark agrily and said,


    "Idiot! You had to follow my word by saying, ''Yes! Milady!'', that would have been so awesome! But you broke the flow¡­"


    "Forget it; the food is here! Let''s eat!"


    Mark sighed at how fast Risa''s attention shifts from one thing to another; she really is a ball of random emotions.


    One moment she''s happy, and the other she''s glaring at you like a kid.


    Looking at all these different expressions on her face, Mark was enchanted for some reason and couldn''t take his eyes off her.


    ¡­


    Bastille, West District, ShineMoon Company,


    Parking area.


    "Seriously, all that trouble for just this?"


    Shin couldn''t help but sigh while looking at the box in his hand with a complicated look on his face.


    He came all the way here to Bastille and even asked Aria for her help, just to get his hands on the exact same product from the company.


    "Well, it was a discontinued product; the one your wife likely had was from the last batch¡­ Fortunately for you, the staff was able to find one for you in the storerooms¡­"


    Hearing Aria''s words, Shin sighed and said,


    "Ugh, it''s likely that they got frightened by the appearance of a grade-2 mage and went out of their way to bring out a discontinued product¡­"


    "I guess being strong has its own perks¡­" S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shin is a straightforward and honest type of guy; he isn''t the type to frighten people to get his work done, like Jareth.


    Thus, it felt quite weird to pressure the people here with his power.


    ''I don''t want to do it ever again¡­''


    Fighting monsters and evil people is another thing, but frightening innocent people is a completely different matter.


    You need a cold heart to be as ruthless as Jareth, and Shin doesn''t have that; he has family to look after and children waiting at home for him.


    He can''t take too many risks; all he does is for his family.


    On the other hand, Jareth doesn''t give a single sh*t about anyone else; everything he does is just for himself.


    Even the reason he''s helping out Mark and Risa is because he wants them to help him in return.


    Although with the ''Mana singularity'' Jareth is sure that he can become strong enough himself, it''s always good to have some backup plans.


    If he has the support of two more excellent mages in the future, why not have it? There''s no point in losing out on such a good deal.


    Except for the only person he once loved, Jareth never cared genuinely about the life of anyone else.


    ¡­


    Bastille, Central Area.


    "So, there is a lake here in the central area of the city! This place is so beautiful!"


    By the time Mark and Risa completed their trip to the market area, the sun had already set and the sky had started to get dark.


    The two of them took the nearest path to get to a bus stop, and while walking on the path, they noticed the giant lake.


    Risa was so excited by the scenery that she totally forgot about the bus and ran away towards the lake to get a closer look.


    "Hey! It''s getting late! We need to go back now~"


    Risa ignored Mark''s words and found a bench nearby to sit and watch the scenery.


    A smile appeared on her face as she said excitedly,


    "Look, the water is shining!"


    Mark frowned a bit at her words and said,


    "What? Don''t tell me you are having hallucinations from exhaustion after wandering around too much-"


    Before Mark could say anything else, Risa grabbed his hand and forced him to sit beside her.


    His eyes fell on the water of the lake, and he noticed that the water was indeed glowing with a bright blue color.


    If it were daytime, it would have been normal for water to look blue, but now it''s already quite dark.


    Just when Mark was a bit confused, the moon suddenly appeared from the clouds, and the moonlight seemed to have activated some phenomena.


    The whole lake began to shine brightly; even the moisture in the air started to shine, causing the scenery to become extremely beautiful.


    It looked as if the whole lake had turned into a starry sky, and the moonlight was adding amazing charm to it.


    Even Mark couldn''t help but be fascinated by this amazing scenery, and thoughts came to his mind.


    ''Ah, so this is what the song mentioned! The moonlight causes phenomena like this, and people consider that this city is blessed with moonlight¡­''


    ''That''s likely the reason why the city is called ''Bastille, A City Blessed By The Moonlight''¡­''


    Not only is the manifestation of the ''Laws'' outside of this city quite fascinating, but this city itself is an amazing place on its own.


    Looking at that amazing scenery, Mark started to remember all the happy memories he had in his mind.


    ''This strange phenomenon has the power to make people remember their past memories. A strange power indeed¡­''


    Mark remembered the days when he used to mess around with his lackeys and annoy his classmates in school.


    He also remembered how he went on so many trips with his lackeys and enjoyed days of gaming together.


    ''I think I kind of understand why people don''t want to leave this city, even though it''s so isolated and remote. This city has what the capital city doesn''t¡­''


    ''People live on feelings, and if the moonlight here can help people relive their past memories of the time spent with their loved ones, then no one would want to miss on this opportunity¡­''


    Mark couldn''t help but think,


    ''This power is just as beautiful as it is terrifying¡­ To be able to influence the minds of people to this level, it''s insane¡­''


    Mark glanced at Risa and found that she was also mesmerized by all this.


    He held her hand, and the two of them spent a few moments of silence while looking at that breathtaking scenery.


    ''This day might become one of the happiest memories of my life¡­''


    "Thanks for bringing me here, Risa¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Risa smiled and said,


    "Me too¡­"

 Chapter 144 - 144: Stealing Session Again. Part-1.

    Bastille, City Outskirts.


    A day ago.


    Jareth flew in the air like an arrow and headed in the southeast direction of the city.


    ''Hmm, I don''t know the actual location of that place, and I can''t even track that ''thing'' with my mana detection¡­ but I guess I can track ''them'' down instead...''


    What Jareth is looking for today is one of the few most important ''Chances'' that the protagonist got in his journey to the peak of this world.


    ''With ''that'' thing, the ''mana nuke'' making program can progress much faster¡­ Moreover, the power of the nuke can be enhanced further with it¡­''


    ''And forget about just a mere ''mana nuke'' with that thing in my hand; I can aim to create more sophisticated things like a wormhole or a portal to a different location¡­.''


    ''Even if I can''t save the world, I can at least try to save myself¡­ and that''s all I need¡­''


    Jareth doesn''t care if this world has any hope or not; he only needs hope for himself, and he will create that hope with his own hands if there isn''t any.


    ''I read through that secret book that told about the ''Golden Lights'' words again and again¡­''


    ''And one obvious clue to escape the current situation is to find something called the power of origin, and to do that, you need to reach the demi-god realm¡­''


    ''Although I don''t know what all that means, if there is anything in this world that can be considered a real ''Divine'' object, then it must be the ''Chance'' buried here in the desert¡­''


    Out of all the opportunities and chances that Allen had on his journey, this one carries a small trace of the evolved form of mana.


    The power to turn miracles into reality. The power to influence the strings of destiny.


    A power that can turn the fate of the world around and conquer all that exists and doesn''t.


    That power is called ''Divinity'' or ''Divine Power''.


    ''Although it''s just a trace amount of it, it''s enough¡­ The bigger problem will be how to extract that thing¡­''


    Thinking about this, Jareth''s expression became solemn.


    The game did not explain the origin of this strange power known as "Divinity" or how to create or destroy it.


    But now that Jareth has read through the secret records and the words of the golden light, he is certain about one thing.


    ''In the game, it''s explained that the central lake in Bastille shines blue due to the presence of a unique object below it.''


    ''Without proper clues, everything seems so random and difficult to understand¡­ But when you have all the pieces in your hands¡­ the puzzle becomes very simple to solve¡­'' S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With all the clues from the game lore and the words from the secret book, Jareth figured out a lot of things.


    ''First of all, I can assume that the ''Meteorite'' or whatever that ''Shard of Moonlight'' that fell in this place likely fell around the same time when the ''Golden King'' descended to this world¡­''


    ''Which means that this ''meteorite'' is related to a power existence like that ''Golden King''¡­''


    ''Moreover, this thing has a trace of ''Divinity'' in it. From that, I can assume that this ''meteorite'' is likely not just a rock or something inanimate¡­ It likely used to be a living being¡­''


    ''And Lastly, if I can harness it''s power, I can make something that can be so powerful that it can smash the fabric of space-time itself while keeping it stable enough at the same time¡­''


    A smirk appeared on Jareth''s face while he was thinking about this.


    ''And that is enough for me to escape¡­''


    Although Jareth himself has shattered the space-time fabric twice, once while fighting Zero and once while destroying the Demon God''s incarnation,.


    Both of those times, the gaps he created in the space-time fabric were just unstable factors.


    They couldn''t be considered proper ''wormholes'' as they had no proper end location; they were just empty gaps created in the void and filled with nothingness.


    What Jareth wants is a fully-functional ''Wormhole'' that can literally send him out of this ''Sea of Miasma''.


    Humans in this world are slowly progressing and might achieve this wormhole technology eventually.


    But Jareth knows that there''s not enough time.


    The seals of the ''False Dome'' are uncertain factors; they have already started to show signs of corruption, as told by Sylvie.


    Moreover, Jareth doesn''t have the long life span of a dragon or an elf.


    Even a Grade-1 Human Mage can''t live for a thousand years, which means that even if Jareth becomes a Grade-1, he doesn''t have enough time to wait for the human race to progress to the point that they can create ''Wormholes''.


    Unless he himself takes things in his own hands, things won''t change for him.


    Jareth knows that he can''t rely on the slow progress speed of the human race for this matter; thus, he can only try and look for shortcuts himself.


    ''First of all, you need massive amounts of energy to sustain a working wormhole that can connect two faraway places in the space-time fabric¡­''


    ''And this trace of divinity can become a great source of power¡­ Even the smallest trace of it is enough to sustain a ''Wormhole'' for a short time at least¡­''


    ''I cannot afford to lose this ''chance'' as it is my key to success¡­''


    Originally, Jareth was planning to fight with the siege of Miasma when time came with the help of Mark and the others.


    But now he has a much better plan.


    After he found the research documents of the original Jareth, he figured out a new way to counter this calamity.


    Even though the original Jareth was just a weak guy, he certainly had an extraordinary brain.


    The only reason such an excellent man failed to achieve his ambitions was because he wasn''t blessed with luck like Allen.


    If he had been born into a better family or had been given a good environment for research, he would have been one of the most famous scientists of this era.


    The human race would have progressed a lot with the help of his discoveries and research.


    Alas, ''Genuis'' and ''Talented'' are always shunned by the ''Heavenly Luck''; it''s as if the heavens themselves hate the existence of a ''Genius''.


    On the other hand, people like Allen who have no real ambitions or talents are strangely more loved by the ''Heavenly luck''.


    It''s almost as if the strings of destiny themselves don''t want a real ''Genius'' to achieve their full potential and always try to promote a person who clearly is the worst option to reach the peak of the world.


    ''I have a premonition... that even the strings of destiny and the so-called ''Law'' of ''Luck'' is ''Corrupted'' in this world.''


    ''No¡­ Not just this one ''Law'', I have a premonition that there''s not a single ''Law'' in this world that hasn''t been corrupted¡­''


    ''The influence of ''miasma'' and ''corruption'' runs extremely deep in this world¡­''


    Thinking this far, Jareth couldn''t help but frown a bit.


    ''And if this speculation is true, then it means that even if I escape this sea of miasma¡­ there is no safe place outside either¡­''


    ''Well, even if there aren''t any safe places, it would be better than this place at least¡­ The only thing I want is for my soul to stay unaffected after my death¡­''


    The power of the ''Laws'' is just too far away. Jareth can already guess that you can barely even control the power of ''Laws'' with the help of ''Divinity''; anything that''s weaker than that can''t even do that much.


    Even Jareth''s ''Mana Singularity'' can only influence the smallest trace of the ''Law'' of ''Mana''.


    If even a legendary skill is only capable of this much, then you can understand the vast power a ''Law'' of the world holds deep in itself.


    ''First step is to have a legendary skill, and the next step is likely to have ''Divinity''¡­ These are likely the basic steps to even having the qualifications to control a ''Law'' of the world¡­''


    ''But I think there is something more that you need¡­ something that''s even more important than these two things¡­''


    Thinking this far, Jareth sighed and calmed himself down.


    ''Forget it¡­ Let''s take things step by step. The first goal I have to achieve right now is to find that ''Trace of Divinity''¡­ then I will go and strengthen the seals of the ''Fasle Dome''¡­''


    ''Which should buy me more time, and lastly, I need to work fast and try to make the ''Wormhole'' that can help me escape¡­''


    ''I have nothing to do with the people of this planet, and I don''t have anything to do with the ''Laws'' of this world¡­ I just need to save myself, and that''s all there is to it¡­''


    ''No need to think about anything that''s irrelevant to my plan¡­ Everything else is just a distraction and hinderance for my goals¡­''


    ''It''s better to keep myself focused¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and focused on his mana detection more afterwards.

 Chapter 145 - 145: Stealing Session Again. Part-2.

    "So this is it¡­ As expected, it''s quite hidden¡­" S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After hours of searching, Jareth finally found the location that he was looking for.


    The exact thing that he wants to find can''t be ''tracked'' with mana detection, so he had to resort to detecting the things that exist near ''that'' chance.


    And due to the interference of the trace of ''Divine Power'', it was extremely hard for Jareth to find this place.


    Even grade 1 mages won''t be able to find this place with their mana detection; Jareth only found it with the help of ''Mana Singularity''.


    ''Let''s go!''


    Jareth stopped hesitating and immediately landed on the sand.


    This place is located nearly a hundred kilometers away from Bastille, and thus it''s still the deepest area of the desert of chaotic thunder.


    But as it''s daytime right now, Jareth didn''t need to worry too much; moreover, he could resist the thunder with his mana shield, so there were no threats to his life.


    He brought out his grimoire from his space ring and placed his hand on the ground.


    Then he embedded a bit of mana in the ground, and sure enough, a massive magic circle appeared at that moment.


    ''It''s just a mere grade-5 illusion barrier; even a novice can break through it¡­''


    With just a small amount of mana, Jareth directly seized control of the mana circle and deactivated it easily.


    The illusion disappeared, and the ground suddenly rumbled a bit as if some kind of mechanism had been activated.


    The desert sand was pushed aside, and a square box made up of metal rose from the ground.


    It would have been impossible to track down the trace of ''Divine Power'' even with the help of ''Mana Singularity'', so Jareth chose a different method.


    He decided to detect the mana fluctuations coming from that low grade illusion placed here, and sure enough, when he deactivated the illusion, this crudely made metal lift came up to take him.


    Jareth entered the lift without hesitation after its doors opened for him.


    ''It''s smaller compared to the game¡­''


    In the game, you would be able to find this lift during a hidden mission found in Bastille.


    But Jareth has no idea where to find that particular NPC who gave the mission in the game.


    This is a real world now; an NPC won''t just keep standing in one place and waiting for the player character to come and help them with their quest.


    Moreover, Jareth currently has no extra time to waste on helping some random NPC.


    With his notorious reputation, it will take extremely long to win the other party''s trust and then ask them to bring him to this place.


    This world is real, and the people that live here have their own feelings and thoughts, so obviously the NPC responsible for handing out this quest will also have their own thoughts.


    Jareth didn''t want to waste his time, so he directly ignored the first step of taking the quest from the NPC and went directly to find this location himself.


    Anyway, he''s a villain, and he doesn''t need to please anyone at all; he''s not interested in brushing the favorability of others to do things.


    So, he directly located this lift and entered without an invitation.


    Although it''s quite rude to barge into someone''s house without permission, Jareth doesn''t care as this is the only way to properly locate that trace of ''Divine Power''.


    The lift slowly went down, and the illusion activated on its own. The place was covered with sand, and everything returned to normal after a while.


    Jareth, who knew about it all, didn''t care much, as he knew that this illusion barrier was just a low-grade protective measure and wasn''t worth caring about.


    Moreover, it''s in his control now, so there''s no need to think too much about it.


    The lift was crudely made, and it trembled over and over while slowly descending.


    It didn''t even have the option to choose floors, which means that this lift can only go up and down and has a limited number of destinations.


    After a few minutes of descending, the lift finally stopped in place with a loud ''clank'' sound.


    ''This lift itself is so poorly made; it''s making such loud sounds even though it has to carry only one person¡­ This clearly shows that it won''t last long¡­''


    Although Jareth noticed this problem, he didn''t think about it for too long. The lift has nothing to do with him, and it''s not his responsibility to repair it, so there was no need to think about it much.


    The doors of the lift opened with loud ''creaking'' sounds, and Jareth walked out with the usual cold look on his face.


    What appeared was a small underground town. He could see children playing on the streets and adults going on with their work.


    The place that the lift opened was located on much higher ground, and the underground village is located on much lower ground than this place.


    A small staircase leads down from this cliff to the entrance of the village, where a frail old man is sitting on a chair as a guard.


    Jareth glanced up and figured out that this place is a naturally formed cave.


    ''In the game, it''s told that this place used to be a mine a hundred years ago, but it was abandoned for some reason¡­''


    That nearly broken lift was also installed a hundred years ago, and due to the lack of maintenance, it''s in bad shape now.


    Jareth walked downstairs and slowly made his way to the entrance of the underground village.


    The old man sitting at the entrance as a guard suddenly noticed Jareth and said,


    "Ensha? You''re back so early? Didn''t you say you have something important to do outside and won''t return for a while?"


    Hearing that question, Jareth suddenly remembered that the name of the key NPC that gives you the quest for this area was ''Ensha''; that woman is the strongest and most talented mage in this hidden village.


    Even without the help of any teachers, she was able to reach grade 5 just by reading some books and past records.


    This shows that she''s quite talented.


    The original Jareth had the resources of the ''Great Ivan''s higher Arcane University'', but he wasn''t even a proper grade-5 mage after all those years of training.


    When Jareth didn''t reply for a while and was lost in thought, the old man frowned a bit and asked again.


    "Ensha? What happened?"


    Jareth used his mana detection and noticed that the old man is blind and can''t see; moreover, his one leg is missing too, which means he''s disabled.


    ''Sigh, a war veteran who sacrificed so much for the sake of his city¡­ got reduced to this state¡­ Life sure is strange¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "I am not Ensha; I am Jareth Ayad, a humble mage¡­"


    The old man hadn''t been to the outside world for years, so he didn''t know about Jareth''s reputation.


    But he was surprised to hear the voice of an unfamiliar person.


    "Eh? This place is quite hidden; how did you find this place? Uh¡­ we are just poor village folk; I don''t think there''s anything interesting here to attract a mage like you here¡­"


    Jareth just nodded his head at those words and replied in a calm voice.


    "It''s not that I came here to find you people in your village¡­ I accidentally noticed the existence of an illusion barrier and came over due to curiosity¡­"


    "Don''t mind me, I will just wander around for a while and leave¡­"


    Although the old man has regressed in strength and has become immobile, he once used to be a grade-4 warrior, and thus he still has the ability to detect the aura of others.


    He frowned a bit after he wasn''t able to see through Jareth''s aura, and a solemn look appeared on his face.


    ''I can''t even feel a single mana fluctuation from him¡­ This guy is¡­ ridiculously strong¡­ oh god! Where did such a monster come from in our small village!?¡­''


    The old man dared not be rude to Jareth, and he immediately waved his hand and said,


    "Haha, no need to be humble; although we don''t have much to offer, I sincerely welcome you to our village¡­"


    Although the old man was saying that with a smile, his heart was already filled with fear and anxiousness.


    ''I need to send a message to Ensha fast; only she has been to the outside world in recent times, she might know more about this person¡­''


    Jareth didn''t stop the old man from secretly using that low-grade artifact to send a distress signal to Ensha.


    If he wanted, he could just block that signal with his mana, but he didn''t do that as there was no need for that.


    He didn''t come here to mess with this village; he will just do his work and leave on his own. There''s no need to create an unnecessary conflict.


    With that thought in his mind,.


    Jareth entered the village with his arms behind his back and the usual cold expression on his face.

 Chapter 146 - 146: Stealing Session Again. Part-3.

    When Jareth entered the village, the children playing around on the streets noticed him and looked at his clean, new-looking clothes with awe in their eyes.


    Most of the children looked like they were from poor households, and they were wearing old clothes that had been clearly stitched many times already.


    Some of the kids didn''t even have shoes, and as they were all playing on the street, they were all covered in dirt.


    If not for the fact that Jareth has already fully taken over this body, he wouldn''t have been able to stop himself from saying unkind words to those kids.


    ''Sigh, as long as there are rich, there will be poor, and as long as there is light, there will be darkness¡­ Let''s not dwell on this matter for too long¡­''


    Jareth stopped looking at those kids, and the kids ran away with excited looks on their faces as they wanted to spread the news that an unknown man had come to the village.


    Jareth didn''t care about the movements of these kids.


    ''Once upon a time, you were also wandering around in the streets like a beggar; there''s no need to be overly conscious of them¡­''


    Jareth himself has lived a life worse than a sewer rat before, so he isn''t really in the position to be disgusted by these kids.


    In fact, these kids have parents, and even if they are poor, they are happy, unlike Jareth, who was neither happy nor loved.


    If you look at it from this perspective, these kids are living a better life than the previous Jareth did, so it''s not a good idea to look down on them.


    ''Ugh, why do I always start thinking about these things whenever I see such a situation¡­ Having the previous Jareth''s memories is just as big a pain in the A*S as it is useful¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and kept walking on the main street of the village.


    Some adults restrained their children and made distance from him, and some directly shut their house''s doors and windows for fear of getting involved.


    ''People here seem to not like visits from outsiders¡­ Well, it''s only natural; if a random stranger appeared in your vicinity and started to stare at your houses, anyone would feel anxious.''


    Jareth ignored the behavior of the villagers and walked on the main street until the end.


    He then took a few turns and reached the second gate of the village, through which he directly exited the village.


    He has nothing to do with the village folk here, and what he came here for is located much deeper in the cave.


    The only reason he even bothered to walk on foot to see the village was because he wanted to see if things were still the same as in the game.


    ''Aside from some minor details, most things are the same, which means there shouldn''t be much change in the deeper area either. I can rush there directly¡­''


    Ignoring the peeping eyes of the people of the village, Jareth waved his hand and cast his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    He flew into the air and immediately headed deeper into the mine.


    The underground village is located in the wide open area at the entrance of the mine, but the deeper you go, the darker and narrower this mine becomes.


    ''This place is like a maze; it will take a few hours for me to actually figure out the whole area, even with my mana detection¡­''


    Jareth used his mana detection at full capacity to create a mental map of this place in his mind.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    Jareth used the glowing mana orb to illuminate his surroundings, and he wandered aimlessly in the mine for quite a few hours before he finally figured out the path that led to the deepest area of this place.


    Even with his mana singularity, it took Jareth quite a bit of effort to locate the ideal path.


    ''I can kind of understand why this mine was abandoned; the power of ''that'' thing must have influenced the minds of the miners, causing them to leave eventually¡­''


    Jareth shook his head, took a left turn from the next intersection, and headed straight to the deepest area using the mental map he created with his mana detection.


    As this place is just an abandoned mine, Jareth didn''t even encounter a single monster or anything hostile blocking his path until he entered the closest area to his goal.


    Two giant golems made up of stone got up from the ground and tried to attack Jareth, but they were so weak that Jareth directly punched them, and they shattered into pieces.


    He didn''t even need to use his mana for such a small thing.


    ''The build quality of things here is very bad; these golems clearly used to be in grade 4 at their prime, and it''s only been a hundred years since they got abandoned, and they are already on the verge of falling apart¡­''


    Even if Jareth hadn''t destroyed them, these golems would have fallen apart on their own, as their core would have run out of mana sooner or later.


    ''These golems must have been used to guard and mine in this place at the same time¡­''


    As Jareth walked deeper, he found that the path ahead was blocked because the ceiling had collapsed.


    ''This is definitely the entrance to the deepest area¡­ If I remember correctly, the protagonist had to use a power mana bomb to detonate and clear the rubble here¡­''


    ''Using a mana bomb in a place that''s already prone to collapse, the game really did random things¡­''


    When he was playing the game, Jareth didn''t feel anything illogical about this operation, but only after seeing this place with his own eyes did Jareth figure out that if he really used a mana bomb here, the whole place would collapse.


    ''This must be another doing of the plot armor¡­ Otherwise, there''s no way that Allen could have survived if the ceiling of the mine had collapsed on him and his harem¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth used the float magic to make the rubble lighter, and then he used his telekinesis to put the rubble aside and create a path for himself.


    He even created a makeshift pillar made from the stones left behind by the bodies of the broken golems.


    Jareth placed his hand on the stone pillar and embedded his mana in it.


    [Basic Magic: Strengthen!]


    Although this is just a temporary solution, this much is enough.


    Jareth doesn''t need to stay here for long; just half an hour should be enough, and this small pillar made up of stone can definitely hold on for several days, at least before the mana runs out and the ceiling crumbles down again.


    Jareth walked in, and what came into his sight was a small space filled with strange-looking ''Bluish Crystals'' inside.


    The whole room is filled with giant blue crystals that seem to have a very peculiar aura coming from them.


    [Ding! You are getting attacked by memory-altering attacks!]


    [Ding! Your ''Mana Singularity'' makes you immune to such phenomena related attacks!]


    Jareth heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the notifications from the system.


    When Allen entered this place, he was also attacked by these memory-altering attacks, which also caused him a lot of trouble.


    But then Airin used her amazing healing magic and helped her teammates fight against these strange attacks with her purifying-type healing magic.


    Jareth doesn''t have the support of a healing mage who''s as talented as Airin, but he has mana singularity.


    He used it to strengthen his mana barrier, making it strong enough that no such brain-damaging attacks could pass through it. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thus, he was safe.


    Once you get hit by these memory-altering attacks, it will mess up your memory, and you will lose your sense of self and eventually go brain dead.


    It''s a fate worse than death.


    This is also one of the main reasons why this mine was abandoned; the miners who found this blue crystal-filled room went insane, and the mine had to be abandoned due to this.


    Unless you have legendary skills or some other ways to block these mental attacks, you are bound to lose your mind here, even if you are a grade-2 mage.


    And such high-level mages are already very rare in this remote place, so this blue crystal-filled room remained obscure for a long time, and no one else has found it yet except the miners who went insane after seeing it.


    ''Good thing I came prepared¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand and brought out a different space ring with much bigger space available in it.


    ''This crystal, or, I should say, this crystalized corpse of a powerful being, is a very strong material for crafting weapons and other things¡­''


    ''Even Allen used this material to get a sword created out of it, for his harem member, obviously¡­''


    ''But this crystal is just a bonus; my main aim is this¡­''


    Jareth directly stuffed all the blue crystals inside his space ring, and then found a golden crystal at the center.


    ''This is the crystal that contains the trace of ''Divine power''¡­ Although I can''t extract it right now, it''s a good thing that I was able to find this treasure¡­''


    A smirk appeared on Jareth''s face as he looted the future chance of Allen and didn''t even leave a single crystal behind for anyone else.


    ''Hehe, thanks for helping me find the perfect materials for my great plans. I will never forget your great contributions¡­ You are indeed my biggest helper, Allen¡­''

 Chapter 147 - 147: Stealing Session Again. Part-4.

    [Item Name: Radiant Crystalized Remains]


    [Item Rank: Semi-grade-0]


    [Item Description: As the sages witnessed it, there existed a beast that had sat its eyes on devouring the moon.


    Its arrogance attracted the wrath of the ''Bearer'' of the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'', and so the mythical beast''s reign came to an abrupt end.


    Its remains crystallized upon the land, and a city was created atop it that was blessed by its mythical radiance.


    Although not in its prime, this material is still worth every effort¡­]


    [Item Qualities:


    1. Can be used to forge semi-grade-0 artifacts or weapons.


    2. Can carry ''Divine Power'' if strengthened back to its prime.


    3. Can suppress mana fluctuations to extreme levels, making it nearly impossible to detect them.


    4. Any item forged from this material will be blessed by the radiance of moonlight.]


    ¡­


    Looking at the awesome item description and the item quality panel, Jareth couldn''t help but smile to himself.


    ''As expected of a material created from the dead body of a being that had surpassed the mortal realm! Even after several millennia, this thing is still powerful!''


    The reason why it''s said that the crystals aren''t in their prime is because, over the years, these crystals have lost a major amount of mana from them.


    Once an organism dies, mana slowly escapes from their body, and the same thing is happening to this crystalized body.


    Unless it''s used to create some artifact or other equipment, these crystals will keep losing mana, and eventually they will turn so brittle and weak that they won''t even be worth using anymore.


    Fortunately, Jareth found these crystals before they fell in grade even further.


    ''Moreover, if I can find some source of ''Grade-0'' level mana, I can still strengthen these crystals by nourishing them with it...''


    In the game, Allen took these crystals to the Dwarfs and asked them to create a sword that would be worthy enough to withstand the might of the Sword King.


    ''Sword King'' is a title given to a swordsman whose sword skills are acknowledged far and wide.


    This title can be claimed by anyone and has no restrictions in terms of gender, age, race, etc.


    In today''s world, currently there''s no one who has been able to claim this title, and there''s only three people who have the talent to become the next sword king.


    ''First is obviously Sylvie, who got the title ''The Broken Meteor'' after she split a falling ''Flaming Meteor'' spell of a grade-2 fire mage with one attack of her sword.


    The second one is a heroine from the cat folk who later became a member of Allen''s harem after he gifted her the sword made from this material.


    Thinking about these two, Jareth isn''t sure if he should create a sword and give it to them.


    ''I will think about it when the opportunity comes¡­''


    As for the last person, this is a special case.


    The third person is Mark''s younger sister, Alice. Originally in the game, she ended up becoming a human chimera, and her story ended quite tragically.


    They experimented on her so much that she died from a mental breakdown, and she went brain-dead directly.


    Mark didn''t even get the chance to say his last good-bye to her.


    Although Alice died tragically, she was Mark''s younger sister after all, a true descendant of the royal family that has been ruling over the human empire for more than a millennia.


    Her mother is one of the most skilled swordsmen herself, and her father has insanely pure mana.


    Alice inherited both of these factors; she not only has insanely pure mana from the start, just like Mark, but she also has insane talent for swordsmanship.


    In the game, when Alice dies, you get a quote that says,


    {If not for human greed, this sapling was meant to shine as the next King of Swords¡­ Alas, the world has lost another possibility¡­}


    Although you don''t really get to see her in combat in the game, Alice''s talent is indeed extremely good if we take the lore of this game into consideration.


    ''Although I don''t know how much things have changed, it''s worth a try¡­''


    Alice may look carefree and frail now, but a dragon''s kid is obviously not a frail sheep.


    Born with the legacy of the royal family, she''s not to be underestimated; maybe she''s the only one in this world who can rival Mark in terms of sheer talent and potential.


    Sylvie and that cat girl heroine are uncertain factors; Jareth isn''t sure if they can even reach grade 1, as they both didn''t accomplish that till the very end of the game.


    Sylvie ended up dying, and the cat girl was only in peak grade 2 by the time she became the Sword King at the end of the game with the help of the sword made of this material.


    There is no information in the game that can confirm that they really have the potential.


    However, Alice has an advantage in this matter.


    Her potential is guaranteed to be at least grade 1, and if she''s an equal to Mark, then she might go even further.


    ... sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Except for this single golden crystal that has the trace of ''Divine Power'' in it, I can see the description of all other crystals¡­''


    ''Hmm, is it because I am still too low in grade that I can''t see things that are too high in grade?''


    Although Jareth didn''t get to see a detailed description of it, he still knows most of the details about it.


    ''Everything about this crystal is the same as the other ones; the only difference is that it has one extra ''item quality''...''


    ''That is, ''It contains a trace of divine power''¡­ Everything else is the same¡­.''


    With all the crystals in his hand, Jareth immediately decided to go back.


    This place is located directly below the central lake of Bastille, and now that Jareth has stolen these crystals from here, the lake will lose its effects and will turn into a normal lake.


    In other words, people will definitely notice this sudden change sooner or later, and powerful mana detection artifacts will be used to do a thorough search of the lake.


    Although it''s nearly impossible for Jareth to get detected as he can suppress his mana fluctuations with his mana singularity, it''s always a good idea to be cautious.


    Moreover, there''s nothing left here that is worth his attention, so it''s better to leave this dark and gloomy place as fast as possible.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth waved his hand, cast the float magic, and flew away in an instant.


    ''As expected, float is really a very convenient spell¡­''


    Jareth couldn''t help but smile as he noticed how fast his speed was.


    Actually, float magic was originally only used to make heavy things float, thus making transportation easier.


    You can just load heavy artillery and weapons without the need for massive cargo cranes or anything else.


    This enhanced army mobilization, facilitated the slaughter of more innocent races, and enabled the human race to conquer more territory.


    A useful spell indeed.


    Later on, the mages found that if you keep controlling the direction of your floating magic and pouring a lot of mana, you can literally float in the air and it will seem like you are flying.


    All mages don''t have the ''Wind'' elemental affinity, so all grade-2 and low grade mages make do with this ''float'' spell if they want to fly.


    As for the Grade 1 mages, they can directly stand in void and ignore the constraints of gravity and all.


    This is a unique ability of the Grade 1 mages; they can simply ''fly'' because they are given this ability by the world itself!


    Their mana is pure, and they are closer to the ''laws'' of the world; thus, they can stand in void and fly freely.


    Jareth has already fulfilled the criteria of having pure mana; he only needs to improve his mastery over his ''Mana singularity'' or reach grade 1 so that he can get closer to the ''laws'' and fly like other grade 1 mages.


    Currently, the only thing that can cause people to figure out that Jareth is a fraud is this small detail of whether Jareth uses ''Float'' or not.


    Fortunately, he can hide the mana fluctuation to the extreme, so no one will notice that he has used ''Float'' unless they are semi-grade 0 or above.


    ''I may have become stronger, but I am still too far away from becoming someone who can protect himself in this world.''


    An endless sea of miasma has surrounded their solar system, and no one knows how many millions of demons and corrupted beings are present in that massive sea of corruption.


    ''I am quite sure that there are definitely more than one grade-0 being there¡­ which means I am still too weak to even withstand the very first wave of the demon siege if the seal of ''False Dome'' breaks¡­''


    As time passes, Jareth has to keep working hard to become strong; otherwise, let alone protecting others, he himself won''t survive even five minutes once the seal of ''False Dome'' is broken.

 Chapter 148 - 148: NPC Stories are important too... Part-1.

    Bastille, Underground Sewer Tunnels.


    "Look, I came all the way here just to buy this spell book; don''t waste my time any further¡­ If you don''t hurry up, then don''t blame me later for beating the sh*t out of you!"


    A woman wearing an oversized hoody glared at a thin and frail-looking old man.


    Although half of her face was covered under a mask, just by looking at her light blue pupils, you can already tell that this woman is a breathtaking beauty.


    The old man shivered slightly at her words and spoke in a panicked tone.


    "C-calm down, Ms. Ensha. I got delayed because recently police raided one of my hideouts, and it took a lot of effort to dodge the chase this time¡­"


    Ensha''s eyes turned serious, and she asked,


    "Are you certain that you really threw the police off your tail? I don''t want to get involved with the sh*t that you have created for yourself!"


    "I myself already have dozens of charges against me; recently, police have been tracking me even more fiercely than before¡­"


    "Even getting into the city has become a very troublesome thing now¡­ This is also the reason why we can only meet in this godd*mn sewer! Ugh¡­"


    Ensha frowned and complained deeply.


    "I seriously can''t stand how filthy this place is¡­ Even my village, which is practically a slum, is better than this place¡­ Well, this is to be expected of a sewer tunnel, I guess¡­"


    Ensha took out a small bag containing several mana stones and handed them over to the old man.


    "Take this; due to the police, my accounts have been seized; fortunately, I bought a lot of mana stones earlier just in case such a thing happened¡­"


    "I will use these mana stones to buy that spell book¡­"


    The frail old man grabbed the bag of mana stones with a greedy look and counted them with a happy smile on his face.


    After he was satisfied with appreciating the shiny mana stones, the old man brought out an old-looking spell book from his space ring and then stuffed the mana stones in this space ring.


    He then put on a mask and said,


    "Okay, the deal is done; let''s leave fast; staying here too long is risky¡­"


    Ensha also nodded her head. She grabbed the spell book, opened it, and found that it was the real thing, which caused a smile to appear on her face that was hidden under the mask.


    "Good, now I finally have a grade 4 spell! Contact me again if you get your hands on any other spell books¡­"


    Ensha waved her hand to say ''bye'' and immediately cast her magic.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    With the help of float magic, Ensha immediately flew in the air and headed in a different direction than the old man had headed.


    The two of them are used to dealing like this; they have been longtime partners.


    For a long time, Ensha has bought all of her spell books and magic-related items from the old smuggler.


    They have completed so many deals now that the two of them have mutual trust between them.


    ''Sigh, if only there was a way to do things in a more legal way¡­''


    While flying, Ensha couldn''t help but sigh at her situation; she was born in that hidden underground village.


    Her mother died while giving birth to her younger brother, and the people told her that her father was punished with the death penalty by the court as he was a mass murderer.


    From the start, Ensha''s life has always been filled with unlucky times.


    Fortunately, the old village chief raised her and her younger brother as their grandchildren.


    Ensha is much older than her younger brother; thus, she has always been responsible for taking care of him.


    She spoiled the guy so much that he grew up as a cheerful and mischievous kid. Nonetheless, she forged a bright future for him.


    On the other hand, Ensha herself went on to become a criminal with a dark future ahead of her.


    She''s charged with stealing, murdering, blackmailing, etc.


    As her village is poor and several of the people there die from starvation, Ensha just couldn''t bear to see it all.


    She wanted a bright future for her brother and all the other innocent children in the village.


    Once she got her hands on an abandoned wand while wandering in the mine, she found that she had some talent for magic.


    She came to the city, stole some money, and bought herself the basic magic''s spell book. By learning it, she started her journey as a mage.


    But this was just the start; she used that magic to steal more things and kill those who stopped her.


    She blackmailed rich people to cough up money, and she even went on to raid and loot the people who wanted to leave the city and go to the outside world.


    You can say that she''s more or less a bandit.


    Even though she could have had a bright future, she could have left her village behind and could have earned a lot by becoming a model, as she''s incredibly beautiful.


    Yet she chose not to leave and chose the most illegal method to help her village without even worrying about the consequences.


    She knew that doing an actual job would indeed earn her money, but that''s a slow process, and the starving children in the village needed food urgently.


    Thus, time passed, and she became a wanted criminal whom the police had orders to shoot at sight.


    The only reason she''s still alive and kicking is because she always goes on to hide in the hidden village that is practically undetectable by anyone.


    The reason why that village was so difficult to detect for even Jareth is because of the presence of those blue crystals that were suppressing the mana fluctuations in that area.


    Even a grade 1 mage can''t find that location as long as those blue crystals are there.


    Although Ensha herself doesn''t know why the mana fluctuations in that place get suppressed, she has always relied on them to hide herself.


    Even today, she came out to buy this spell book as she was aiming to become a grade 4 mage soon.


    If not for this spell book, she wouldn''t have left the village.


    After all, every time she needs to sneak into the city, she will need to wait for weeks or sometimes even months to find a proper opportunity.


    Going in and out of a city that is so heavily guarded that it can withstand any monster siege is not a small matter.


    The city walls and even the sewers have mana detection artifacts placed in them; you need an insane amount of planning and luck to make it in and out unscathed.


    Nevertheless, Ensha has done this many times now, and she has a certain amount of experience in infiltration and stealth by now.


    Unless there''s a grade-2 or above-level mage in the city who''s scanning the whole city with his mana detection, none can find her now, as she''s just so good at stealth by now.


    Fortunately for her, there are no grade 2 or above-level mages in this city, and even if there were, they wouldn''t waste their time scanning tens of thousands of people just to look for her.


    ¡­


    Just when Ensha was halfway out of the underground tunnels, a sudden ''beep'' sound came from her wristwatch, and the look on her face turned solemn.


    ''Sh*t! This is a distress signal from the village! I was planning on buying a few other things over the next month and then leaving after stealing some more money, but I guess I should go back fast!''


    Ensha doesn''t care about the world, but she has a soft spot for the village in her heart.


    She grew up in that place and has always loved the smile on the faces of the innocent children that live there.


    She doesn''t want anything to happen to her home, so she has no choice but to hurry back home.


    She didn''t even bother to think if it was really a good idea to go back; she doesn''t care about her own safety.


    Her younger brother is in the village too, and if something happens to him, she won''t be able to forgive herself for not being there to protect him.


    She has given her whole life to create a better future for her brother and the other children of the village, and if something goes wrong with them, then she will really be broken from the inside out.


    ''I need to hurry!''


    Ensha increased her mana output, hurried out of sewer tunnels, directly ignored safety, and flew right out of the city.


    Before the police could react, she had already left the sky of the city and flown straight in the direction of her home.


    Even if the police tried to chase her, they couldn''t catch up with her speed right now, as she''s putting her all into rushing back home.


    ''Please be safe¡­'' S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 149 - 149: NPC Stories are important too... Part-2.

    Imagine reaching home and seeing a literal nuke sitting on the sofa, ready to blast at any second.


    Or imagine a beast so strong that it could wipe out mountains and rivers and change the geography of an entire area with one attack, wandering around your home.


    Such a scenario would be so terrifying that you would rather take your family and run away from the calamity.


    But the problem is that this beast is sentient, and no matter where you go, you can''t escape its grasp, or rather, the beast won''t even let you leave in the first place.


    Just imagining this scenario can give chills to anyone who cares about their family''s safety.


    Ensha is the same; the moment she came back to the hidden village, she ignored her exhaustion that was caused by using too much mana and rushed to the village main entrance with a worried look on her face.


    Although she didn''t know what disaster had come to her village, she didn''t care about it and walked over to the old man sitting at the gate to ask questions.


    "Grandpa! Is everything alright!?"


    When Ensha asked a question, the old veteran replied in a panicked tone.


    "Oh, Ensha! You are finally back! Some unknown man suddenly came to the village a few hours ago¡­ He said he''s a mage! Just like you! So I sent a distress signal to you¡­"


    "We don''t have anyone in the village who can deal with him; also, I can sense that the other party is very strong; intuition tells me he''s dangerous¡­ You must be cautious¡­"


    Ensha nodded her head at the old man''s words.


    "Okay, I will keep that in mind¡­"


    Without waiting any longer, Ensha rushed inside and didn''t even wait to hear the last few words from the old man.


    "W-wait, he also told his name! A-are you there?"


    The old man tried to tell Ensha more information, but she just left in a hurry, which caused the old man to sigh deeply.


    ''Ugh, if only I was not such a useless old bastard¡­''


    Twenty years ago, the old man used to be a veteran in the army, and he himself was a strong warrior that was admired by many. But as time passed, he lost his eyesight and his combat senses due to an accident in the battle.


    Then he was forced to retire.


    With no kids or family, he had no source of income, and he was driven out of the city that he once used to protect.


    He wandered around for a while, but then he found a man who led him to this hidden village.


    The man was Ensha''s father.


    He was a criminal who found this hidden location by chance, and then he took as many people in as possible.


    He worked hard and brought all the people who had been driven out of the city to this hidden village.


    In other words, this whole village is made up of the people who were originally driven out of the city for not paying taxes on time.


    Eventually, Ensha''s father was caught and punished with the death penalty, as he was involved in many serious crimes that couldn''t be forgiven.


    The fact that he had saved many lives did not matter; in the eyes of the law, a crime is a crime, and one cannot avoid punishment.


    That man left his children in the old veteran''s and the village chief''s care.


    The old man never wanted Ensha to become a criminal too; he wanted a brighter future for her, but things were out of his control.


    An old man like him, who has already lost his eyes and even lost a leg while escaping from a monster while traveling outside in the desert, can''t really control much.


    Ensha chose her own path; her hands are already smeared with blood, and the law won''t forgive her crimes.


    At the very least, she will face fifty years in jail, and in the worst-case scenario, she may even face the death penalty, just like her father.


    And the old man can''t do anything to stop this; he can only sit here like a fool and watch it all happen. Such is the sad reality of his life.


    ''Ensha, be safe, kid¡­ and forgive me for being useless¡­''


    ¡­


    Inside the village.


    Ensha entered the village, and the villagers seem to have found their ray of hope.


    Several villagers who had previously hid rushed out of their homes to greet her with happy smiles on their faces.


    Even the children came over to greet her together.


    Ensha glanced at the old woman standing nearby and asked,


    "Village chief! Where is my brother?"


    The old lady smiled a bit and said,


    "Ah, I remember seeing him wandering around the other gate of the village with his friends¡­"


    Ensha frowned at those words and asked,


    "And what about that unknown mage who appeared a few hours ago? Where is he? Did he do something suspicious¡­"


    Before the old lady could answer the question, a kid suddenly said,


    "A-About that, I remember big bro saying that he would go and catch that stranger!"


    Hearing those words, a look of worry appeared on Ensha''s face.


    The ''Big Bro'' the kid mentioned is obviously Ensha''s younger brother; he likely must have wanted to show off in front of his friends and would have gone to trouble the mage.


    ''Not good! I need to stop him before things get bad¡­''


    Before Ensha could think about what to do next, a young boy''s voice resounded in the whole area.


    "AHAHAHA! See! I told you all! I will capture the stranger!"


    Hearing that voice, the village''s people turned their heads backward and then stepped back to clear some space.


    They saw a young man with light blue pupils and shiny white hair walking towards the crowd with a proud look on his face.


    Just behind him was a tall man with dark purple hair and eyes, wearing a luxury coat.


    Although the young man was declaring he had caught the stranger, the unknown man seemed to be walking behind him with an amused look on his face, as if he didn''t even care about those words.


    Ensha immediately rushed over and pulled her brother aside to check if he was hurt anywhere.


    "Azul! Are you okay!?"


    Azul nodded his head and said in a happy tone,


    "Yes! I am as good as always! In fact, I feel better than usual!"


    At that moment, a deep and cold voice sounded in Ensha''s ears.


    "I see¡­ So he is Azul¡­"


    Just when Ensha wanted to ask more questions from her brother, that cold voice brought her back to reality, and her eyes fell on the face of the man who was accompanying Azul.


    Only at that moment did she have a proper look at the man''s face, and just by seeing his face, Ensha''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    "J-Jareth Blaze!? ''The Wyvern Killer''!? H-how could this be!?"


    Ensha was so shocked that her loud voice surprised all the villagers and children nearby.


    Her body trembled, and she refused to believe the reality.


    "W-why¡­ would a grade 1 mage c-come to this abandoned place!? T-this is impossible!"


    Ensha retreated a few steps back in panic, dragging Azul behind her in hopes of protecting him.


    Even the villagers seemed to have understood the seriousness of the situation. They have never seen Ensha panic like this, so they also decided to step back in a hurry and make distance.


    But Jareth didn''t care about these small details at all.


    "Oh, your information is lacking, it seems. I am called Jareth Ayad nowadays, and there is no Blaze family in this world anymore."


    "But forget about that; let''s talk about what is more important¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the young man, who was refusing to hide behind his sister, and said,


    "Are you Azul Ignis, young man?"


    Azul was surprised that Jareth knew his name; he asked in shock,


    "Wait, I don''t think I ever told you my name before¡­ How do you-" S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth waved his hand and said,


    "No need to worry about minor details; I have my means¡­ But your words sure have confirmed that you are indeed Azul Ignis¡­ Then this lady must be Ensha Ignis¡­"


    Ensha frowned deeply at Jareth''s words. She brought out her magic wand and pointed it towards Jareth with a look of worry on her face.


    "Y-you, what do you want from us? Were you sent here to capture me by the government¡­ No, why would the government send a grade 1 mage just to capture a small-time thief like me-"


    Before Ensha could finish her words, Jareth glared at her with his cold eyes and said,


    "First of all, I am talking to Azul, not you¡­ do you mind stepping aside for a moment?"


    Ensha''s body trembled, and as if her mana seemed to refuse her will, her hand lost strength, and she backed off with a look of fear on her face.


    She could feel it in her bones that if she dared to fire her magic, she would be meeting ''Death'' the very next moment.


    Although Jareth himself is not going to do anything unpleasant, Ensha has been a criminal for a long time, and she can intuitively sense the insane killing intent hidden deep in Jareth''s body.


    At that moment, Ensha couldn''t help but question one thing in her mind:


    ''How did such an insane beast stumble upon our small village?"

 Chapter 150 - 150: NPC Stories are important too... Part-3.

    "Eh, me? What do you want to ask from me?"


    Azul was honestly quite surprised. When he went over to the back gate of the village to look for the stranger, he found Jareth coming back from the mines.


    So he just declared that ''you are my captive now'', and then he just led Jareth inside on his own.


    Jareth, on the other hand, seemed busy thinking about something and didn''t even bother talking to Azul at that time.


    But he came back to his senses after hearing Ensha call out the guy''s name.


    "Yeah¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand and used his telekinesis to drag a chair out of a nearby house, and he sat down on it with his legs crossed.


    "The thing is, I stumbled upon this abandoned mine purely by accident, so I went into the mine out of curiosity."


    "But in this abandoned mine, there are no gems left for me to pick up, except for one¡­"


    Azul''s eyes shone in excitement as he heard those words.


    "There is a gem in this mine!?"


    Jareth nodded his head and pointed his finger at Azul.


    "Of course there is¡­ It''s you, Azul Ignis¡­ You are the most precious gem in this whole mine¡­"


    Before Azul could even say anything, Ensha mustered her courage and stepped forward to block him.


    "No! I-I won''t let you sweet-talk him! I know all about you; you are a monster in human skin! You are a grade 1 mage who can wipe out this whole village in one spell, I don''t trust you-"


    Jareth didn''t even bother listening to Ensha''s words; he waved his hand, and his telekinesis directly made Ensha step aside.


    [Basic Magic: Silence!]


    Jareth''s mana control is higher by thousands of times when compared to Ensha, so it was extremely easy for him to force his magic on her by directly ignoring her magic resistance.


    He directly cast the silence magic to shut up her mouth.


    Ensha is indeed a very good person at heart and is one of the most useful NPCs in the game, but to Jareth''s, she''s just another person with no worth at all.


    Not only has she several unforgivable charges against her due to her years of criminal history, but she has even practiced ''forbidden'' magic spells that are harmful to the body and mind.


    She''s beyond the point of redemption; she''s already gotten the taste of murdering innocent people, and she won''t be able to contain her bloodlust anymore.


    Her talent has already been more or less wasted by the forbidden boost spells that she used to escape the grasp of the police several times in the past few years.


    Originally, she was a talented bright star, but now all that is left of her is a dimly lit fire that has no future ahead of it.


    Even in the game, after the player completes her quest, you will find her dead later on, as she will go back to the city and end up dying during a police chase due to the overuse of ''forbidden'' physical boost magic.


    Her death will turn Azul into a villain.


    Azul is the same age as Mark and Allen, and he''s born with dual elemental affinities.


    Not only does he have amazing fire affinity, he even has the extremely rare spatial affinity that barely any of the mages have in this world.


    Just look at Nathan; he was able to become powerful with just Grade 1 spatial affinity, and Azul, on the other hand, is already born with Semi-Grade 0 spatial affinity.


    Later in his path as a villain, he nearly succeeds in slaughtering the entire hero''s party but ends up dying purely because of plot armor.


    He cared a lot for his sister and wanted to help her out, but after she dies, he goes berserk and slaughters his whole village in pure rage and despair.


    This incident of slaughtering his loved ones with his own hands transforms him into a mentally unstable villain who can harm anyone and everyone.


    He later collides with the ''False Dome'' cult and becomes a significant obstacle for Allen and his harem.


    Unlike Jareth, who was merely a third-rate villain who didn''t even last a few minutes in the game, Azul is one of the end-game villains who is extremely strong and brokenly overpowered.


    Of course, he still can''t compare to Mark in terms of potential, but his dual elemental control indeed gives him a significant advantage.


    Jareth has already associated himself with villainous characters like Mark and Risa, so he doesn''t care if he adds one more villain to his camp.


    Having one more talented helper under his wing will be more beneficial to him.


    Jareth arrived with the intention of obtaining the blue crystals, but if he can secure Azul''s support, he can accomplish two goals simultaneously.


    ¡­


    Jareth glanced at Azul and said,


    "I am the vice principal of a well-known university, and I formally want to invite you to join the university. Don''t worry about money and all; the university is always ready to sponsor talented kids like you¡­"


    "As the vice principal, I will write a recommendation letter myself, and you will get a swift entry, even if you are uneducated right now and don''t even know the basics of magic¡­"


    "You can just take your time and learn it from your fellow classmates¡­"


    Azul frowned at those words and said,


    "W-why are you offering something like that to me? What will you gain from helping me?"


    Jareth smirked at that question and said,


    "I will gain a talented student, and in the future, when you become strong, I will gain a talented helper and a pillar of support¡­ We mages gamble on the future. I am betting my money on you¡­"


    Azul asked again,


    "But what about my village and what about Big Sister? I can''t leave them behind, and I have no interest in magic-"


    Jareth smirked a bit at those words and said,


    "Of course I knew you would say that... so I came prepared¡­"


    Jareth stretched out his hand and said it with a calm voice.


    "Your big sister is a wanted criminal, and all the residents of this village are those who were driven out of Bastille¡­ If they find this place, you guys will not be able to live peacefully anymore¡­"


    "The world of wizards is cruel; don''t expect mercy from the city once they find you..."


    Azul frowned even more at Jareth''s words and questioned,


    "Are you threatening me that you will tell the people in the city about this place?"


    Jareth shook his head in response to those words.


    "No, what I am trying to say is that this place has already become vulnerable; it won''t be a matter of time before you get found¡­" sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The only reason why any mage wasn''t able to find this place even with mana detection was because of the presence of those blue crytals who were blocking the mana fluctuations of this place.


    But now that those blue crystals are in Jareth''s pocket, they can''t protect this village anymore.


    This village will definitely be discovered by the patrolling squads of the city, and what will follow is a massacre.


    The wizards are inherently cruel and self-centered type of people; they will stop at nothing to conceal their errors, and the expelled individuals essentially represent a blemish on the city''s image.


    Eliminating them can help the city preserve its reputation from getting worse. By eliminating them, you can eliminate the possibility of people from the outside world finding them.


    It''s cruel, but that''s the reality.


    "Just think that there was some artifact that was protecting this village in the dark, but it broke apart after I forcefully entered this place. Now they can easily find you¡­"


    "In other words, your village is already as good as gone¡­"


    An expression of despair appeared on the faces of the villagers as they heard all this from Jareth''s mouth; some even started to cry in sheer despair as they already knew what would happen if they got found.


    Azul''s eyes trembled as he asked,


    "T-then, if I agree to join the university, you will take care of it all?"


    Jareth smiled like a villain after hearing those words of defeat.


    "Haha, now you are being honest! Good! That''s what I was looking forward to¡­"


    "Azul, the world works on profits and benefits; here''s my offer: become my disciple, and I will put in a good word for your sister¡­"


    "Although she will likely still get punished, the jail time will not be more than a year or two¡­"


    "I will personally cast a seal on this village; only the person you guys allow will be able to enter this place. This place will become so safe and secure that even a grade 1 mage won''t be able to enter it without permission¡­"


    "And in return for all this, all you need to do is help me out in the future¡­ Isn''t this quite a generous deal?"


    Jareth knew the NPC stories quite well, so he was able to coerce such an important character into submitting to him.


    That''s why... NPC stories are important too.

 Chapter 151 - 151: Jareth, a disaster? Part-1.

    Jareth offered too much.


    Due to the amazing conditions, Azul had no other choice but to agree.


    Not only did Jareth promise the safety of his sister and the villagers, he even offered Azul a bright future.


    If Azul enrolls in a renowned university, he will undoubtedly acquire a wealth of knowledge and enhance his strengths with greater ease. He will have access to so many training resources that others can only dream about.


    In fact, his own sister, Ensha, had to go out of her way to steal so much money just to buy the lowest-level spells from shady places.


    Becoming a mage is a very difficult task.


    Being born talented is just the first step; even the most talented people can''t go far if they don''t have the resources to turn that talent into actual power.


    If you are born talented but come from a poor family, then you will have to struggle your way up.


    To learn more about magic, you would need to show your excellence and get sponsorship, or you would have to get into prestigious universities or magic academies.


    Surely you can buy low-level spells and basic magic-related books on the market, but they are always overpriced when, in fact, you can learn these things for free if you get access to the library of the university.


    This is the reason why most parents in this world hope that their children can awaken their talent for magic and go to some prestigious school or university.


    Putting the low-level spells aside, you only learn the higher-grade spells from the academies or universities; they aren''t available on the market.


    There are only a few ways to learn high-grade magic: either you need to find a master who can teach them to you personally, or you will have to learn them while at the university.


    Usually, the mages who have already graduated from university and are already high-ranking mages can go and choose to join the mage guild.


    High-ranking mages founded the mage guild solely for their own benefit.


    Only individuals in grades 3 or above can join this organization, and it is the best choice for mages who want to sell or buy spells and other artifacts.


    Jareth himself never joined it as he was too weak for it, and after becoming strong, he didn''t have the time for it.


    ¡­


    "I-I agree. I want to help my sister and village, so I will accept your offer."


    "But aside from basic reading and writing, I don''t really know much; I haven''t gone to school before either¡­"


    Jareth waved his hand at Azul''s words and said,


    "No problem¡­ A magical talent like you is too precious to be buried just because he isn''t good at other things¡­"


    Jareth was already planning on asking Mark to help Azul with things like this.


    Mark, being a genius who has already revised his whole year''s worth of syllabus three times over, can definitely help Azul learn things easily.


    ''If he can make a carefree girl like Risa pass such difficult exams just with a few group study sessions, then he can surely help Azul too¡­''


    No matter how hard they tried to hide it, Jareth already knew that Risa often sneaked into Mark''s room to ask him to help her with her studies.


    This was true in the game, and it is still true even now.


    Nothing can be hidden from his insane mana detection ability, so it was impossible for them to hide this.


    But Jareth didn''t care about the fact that they were breaking the rules.


    The two of them are already engaged, and 18 years is the legal age. Both of them are adults, so they have the freedom to decide their life choices.


    Jareth used to make excuses to hang out with Shiina too when he was young; thus, he never thought about stopping them from meeting.


    Jareth got up from his seat and waved his hand to undo the ''silence'' spell on Ensha.


    Without waiting for the other party to say anything, he just walked towards the entrance and ignored everything else.


    "You have two hours; get your things ready and say goodbye to whomever you want to say goodbye; we will leave after that¡­ Also, you have already agreed to my words, so don''t try running or doing anything else¡­ it''s useless¡­"


    With that said, Jareth left in the direction of the broken lift that brought him here in the first place.


    ¡­


    Looking at Jareth''s fading back, Ensha wanted to just rush up and attack him, but her body refused to move.


    ''I was too powerless¡­''


    That day, Ensha realized that it didn''t matter how proud she was of her own strength; she was simply powerless in front of a being as strong as Jareth.


    ''Fortunately, he seems to have no ill intentions¡­ at least on the surface¡­''


    Ensha couldn''t understand why Jareth was doing all this just for the sake of the random kid he suddenly encountered.


    "Big sis.. uh, who is that man actually? Do you know anything about him?"


    Just when Ensha was staring at Jareth''s back with a look of worry and sadness, Azul''s questioning voice came into her ears.


    All the villagers also looked over curiously, as they also wanted to hear more about it.


    Seeing the curious look on everyone''s face, Ensha sighed loudly and said,


    "That man is a grade 1 mage; his name is Jareth¡­ He was in grade 2 just a few months ago, but he recently ascended to the grade 1 realm¡­"


    "Even as a grade-2 mage, he was already strong enough to kill an adult Wyvern with a single attack¡­ The attack he used to kill a peak grade-2 cyclops created an underground tunnel that is dozens of kilometers long¡­"


    "People use that tunnel nowadays like a normal tunnel to travel¡­ Also, he took part in the battle that was fought in Artavia¡­"


    "He has too many titles to his name by now¡­ ''Wyvern Killer'', ''Divine Flame'', ''Artavia''s War Hero''... these are just a few of them¡­"


    Out of them all, ''Jareth the goat'' is the most famous title, but Ensha didn''t say that as it was more of a meme.


    Ensha sighed again before continuing.


    "That man is so strong that he can blast this whole mine and wipe out the whole Bastille city along with half of the desert of chaotic thunder in just one attack¡­"


    "Thinking of going against is just pure insanity; only a madman will think of opposing his words¡­ For someone like him, we are just ants crawling on the ground¡­"


    "It won''t be wrong to say that he''s a walking nuclear bomb¡­"


    Hearing Ensha''s words, the villagers couldn''t help but get shocked.


    They thought that Jareth was someone strong, but who could have thought that he was someone so strong that his power was simply incomprehensible.


    Azul himself was the most surprised.


    If Ensha''s words are right that Jareth is an outstanding person, then it would mean that Azul is really very talented.


    After all, even someone like Jareth praised Azul so highly; that simply shows how talented Azul is.


    "Doesn''t that mean he has no reason to lie to us?"


    At Azul''s question, Ensha sighed deeply and nodded her head with a sad expression on her face.


    "Yeah¡­ Now that I have calmed down, I can think more clearly¡­ For such a strong person like him, there''s no need to lie to us mere ants¡­"


    "We have nothing that is worth attracting his attention; if someone like him has said that you have talent, then it is indeed likely true¡­ I don''t think he will get anything from lying to you about something like this¡­"


    All Ensha wanted was a bright future for her brother, and now that Jareth is offering it to Azul, Ensha can''t stop this.


    She walked over to Azul''s side and patted his head.


    "You should go¡­ Follow him and become a strong mage; your place is not in this dilapidated village; you are meant to achieve great things; don''t waste your life here¡­"


    "Go and follow the bright path¡­ I have already wasted my own life, but I want that at least you can be happy¡­"


    "Also, that offer of going to jail isn''t that bad either¡­ I will go and repent for all the sins I have committed¡­ I admit I am not innocent; I killed many innocent people. I don''t deserve a bright future anymore¡­"


    "So, just go; by the time I get out of jail, make sure you have already surpassed me at least."


    Hearing Ensha''s words, which were filled with deep sadness, Azul''s eyes became moist, and tears started to flow.


    "I-I will miss you a lot¡­ I-I¡­"


    Just like that, the brother and sister spent a few minutes trying to console each other''s sadness-filled hearts.


    Even the villagers couldn''t help but weep over this cruel fate of separation.


    Some of the adult villagers were even motivated by this incident, promising that they would stop being useless and would try to find some work in the city to earn money.


    With Ensha gone, they will need to find alternative means of providing for their families.


    First of all, the fact that the entire village relied on a single individual for survival was already problematic. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But at least now they will all wake up and try to work hard for themselves.

 Chapter 152 - 152: Jareth, a disaster? Part-2.

    Standing near the lift on the hill, Jareth could see the whole village from here.


    Looking at the crying and sobbing villagers and children, Jareth suddenly remembered some past memories.


    ¡­


    An orphanage.


    "I didn''t know you were the type to come and donate money to places like orphanages¡­"


    In response to Shiina''s question, he replied in a rather vague tone.


    "Er¡­ I do some good work from time to time¡­"


    Shiina smiled at those words and flicked her finger at his forehead before saying,


    "Hehe, these small good things you do are the reason why you stole my heart, you little thief¡­"


    At Shiina''s words, he just gave a dry laugh.


    He couldn''t muster the courage to tell her that he came here to do pre-mission scouting; he was gathering information on the security of this area.


    Shiina was oblivious to how evil her own father could be; she never knew how much darkness there was in that seemingly bright and happy world.


    Just a day after that random date, the whole orphanage burned to the ground, and hundreds of people and children lost their lives.


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    ''I have already crossed the line in my past life¡­ I can''t say that I have humanity left anymore; I carry the lives of several innocent people on my back¡­''


    Jareth decided to recruit Azul purely for his own benefit; if he wanted to escape, he would need time, so there is a need for people who can buy that time for him.


    ''Truthfully speaking, I am no different from Nathan; he took advantage of his students for his own sake, and I am doing the same¡­ In fact, I may be worse than him¡­''


    ''I am manipulating them to go for their deaths¡­ Humanity? Life? Sympathy? What a joke¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and entered the lift to leave the village.


    The things he came here for are already in his palm, so he isn''t planning on wasting any more time here.


    The only reason why Jareth was still able to live normally in his past life was because of Shiina''s existence.


    But now that she isn''t present to keep him connected to his humane side, he has finally figured out his true nature.


    ''Being selfish is the way of the world; if I was selfish enough from the start of my past life, I may have never died in the first place; being an upright and good person doesn''t suit me¡­''


    If Jareth had been selfish in his past life, he could have slowly seized control over the boss''s subordinates and overthrown him before things turned bad for him.


    His na?ve beliefs were his demise.


    ...


    The lift stopped and the door opened. Jareth walked out, and the same familiar desert appeared in his view.


    ''Come to think of it¡­ there are monsters with strong life essences in this world¡­ like a hydra or a phoenix... I can extract pure life essence from them and improve my own life span...''


    Ever since Jareth has found the truth of this world, he can''t help but feel that his life span is just too short.


    There is no guarantee of how long he will need to wait until he can find some proper solution that can help him leave this sea of miasma.


    He will need a long life span if he wants to wait for a longer time and a better opportunity.


    ''But the main problem is finding these two types of monsters¡­ There is only one hydra on this whole planet, and as for a phoenix, it never even appeared in the game¡­''


    In the game, Phoenix was only ever talked about in random quotes or lore-related stuff; it never really appeared even once.


    So, Jareth isn''t sure where to find it.


    ''Although I don''t know where to find a phoenix, I certainly do know where I can find that hydra¡­''


    There is only one hydra that ever appeared in the game, and it''s an optional boss monster that is located in the deepest depths of the sea.


    ''I will need to make some time to go and extract the life essence from it¡­''


    Just when Jareth was busy thinking about his plan to butcher innocent creatures to extract their life essence purely for his own selfish gain, time passed fast and two hours went by in a flash.


    Azul and Ensha took the lift and came out of the village with solemn looks on their faces.


    Jareth ignored their expression and directly placed his hand on the ground. He replicated the same seal that Nathan had put on his hidden library and placed it on the whole village.


    Now only the people of the village can go in and out of this barrier.


    Moreover, this barrier is of high quality; it will automatically register the aura of the new people that the villagers might bring in to live with them.


    Thus giving them its protection too.


    Nathan himself may not have been of any benefit to Jareth, but the treasures he collected and the seal he created were quite useful and of good quality.


    ''Sigh, if only I had some ability to steal others''s talent, I would have gone and extracted Nathan''s spatial talent to honor his good deeds for me¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and waved his hand.


    He used telekinesis to carry the siblings, and then he used ''Float'' to fly in the air.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    His float magic is nothing like others; it''s extremely fast and efficient due to his mana singularity.


    Ensha was shocked to the core after seeing the insane flying speed of Jareth''s float magic.


    If not for the telekinesis that was carrying and protecting them at the same time, Ensha and Azul would have already burned to a crisp from the friction created by flying in the air so fast.


    Honestly, it felt like teleportation; one second they were in the desert, and next they had already crossed nearly a hundred kilometers and could see the city walls already from the sky.


    Jareth didn''t bother stopping; he directly went ahead and did a full mana detection on the city just to figure out where Shin and the others were.


    [Basic Magic: Wide Area Mana Detection!]


    For someone with Mana singularity like him, scanning the aura and faces of one or two million people is nothing but child''s play; he already did something similar when trying to find the assassins.


    Thus, he has experience in this matter. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In fact, his scanning speed is faster than making a phone call; that''s the reason why he didn''t bother making a phone call to Shin to ask about where the group was staying.

 Chapter 153 - 153: Jareth, a disaster? Part-3.

    "Mr. Mayor, you really are quite enthusiastic about your work; I haven''t seen anyone as enthusiastic as you before, haha¡­"


    Although Shin praised Zang on the surface, he was already quite irritated by the other party.


    ''What''s the deal with this guy? This is the tenth time he has come to my room¡­ I have seen people trying to flatter me, but this is the first time I have seen someone so persistent and annoying!''


    Ever since Shin came back from the make-up company headquarters, Zang has been pestering him again and again!


    He even made several lame excuses to stay longer near Shin.


    ''I kind of feel like a woman who is being stalked by a pervert stalker who refuses to leave even after getting beaten up brutally¡­''


    ''M-maybe I should have borrowed the pepper spray from my wife before coming here¡­''


    Shin smiled a bit and said, in a serious tone,


    "Mr. Zang, let''s be honest. I am a married man, and I am not really interested in ''that'' kind of thing. I have a wife and children, so it''s really inappropriate¡­"


    "If you have any so-called¡­ strange intentions¡­ Please leave now, or I will have to kick you out personally¡­"


    Hearing Shin''s words, Zang wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and replied in a panicked tone.


    "S-strange intentions? I-I don''t know what Mr. Shin is talking about, ahaha¡­"


    Although the mayor was trying to keep himself as sane as possible, he was already losing his sanity from being stared at by a grade-2 mage.


    ''Sh*t! Did he perhaps figure out that I am trying to stay near him because I want to hide behind him and protect myself when that walking disaster called Jareth Ayad returns!?"


    Indeed! Although Zang had already prepared a lot of magical armor, he still wanted to be hundred percent sure.


    Thus, he was trying to stick to Shin''s side as much as possible, as he thought that staying by Shin''s side would increase his chances of surviving this great calamity.


    But this move was misunderstood by Shin, and he thought that Zang had some other intentions in his mind.


    Right now, the situation in the room is very complicated.


    On one side, Shin is on his highest guard, and he won''t let any pervert have his way with him at any cost.


    ''My wife likes to have her way with me, but that doesn''t mean I am someone who can be taken advantage of! If you dare to move, I will freeze you to death!!''


    And on the other side, the mayor is trying his best to stay longer in Shin''s room to save his own life.


    The two of them kept smiling at each other, and the tension in the room kept increasing bit by bit.


    *Knock!*


    Just then, someone ''Knocked'' on the door, and Shin''s eyes lit up.


    The door opened before Shin could even reply, and Jareth walked in with the same cold expression on his face as usual.


    His eyes fell on Shin and Zang, who were sitting quite close, and he stopped for a moment before saying.


    "Am I interrupting some unexpected development?"


    Jareth felt that the atmosphere in the room was quite strange, so he was already thinking of retreating for the time being.


    However, Shin hurriedly prevented him from leaving.


    "Ah, you are back! Meet this person; he''s the mayor of the city, Mr. Zang Shao, and he has offered us a free stay in the city¡­"


    Zang laughed dryly while looking at Jareth as Shin introduced him.


    "Haha, N-nice to meet you, Mr. Jareth; I have heard a lot about you! I am a big fan!"


    Jareth nodded his head and said, in his usual cold tone,


    "I appreciate your efforts¡­ also¡­ I can see that the mayor is quite enthusiastic about safety¡­" S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "This is the first time I have seen someone wearing so many magic armors¡­"


    Due to his insane mana detection, Jareth easily saw through Zang''s coat, which was enchanted by more than a hundred magic barriers.


    ''It won''t be wrong to say that the barriers on his body are thicker than the barrier placed on this whole city¡­''


    Zang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said,


    "Haha, yes, I have to take care of safety. I have a family and kids, so it would be quite bad if something happened to me¡­ My children will starve to death¡­"


    Seeing that things were quite calm, Zang got up from his seat and decided to take his leave early.


    "You two, please enjoy the stay. I still have some work left, so I will leave early¡­ If you need anything, please feel free to call me¡­"


    Just when Zang was about to leave, Jareth put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.


    "Ah, wait, you are the mayor, right? Here I have brought a wanted criminal with me; take her into custody and put her in jail¡­."


    "By the way, I have already punished her, so her jail time should not be more than two years¡­ I leave her in your care¡­"


    Zang nearly fainted from fright when Jareth suddenly stopped him.


    He nodded his head honestly and said,.


    "Yes! Yes! I will make sure that she gets two years in jail! You can trust me; I have a lot of connections in the city!"


    With that said, Zang asked his bodyguards to bring Ensha with them, and he left the hotel as fast as possible.


    Ensha also waved her hand to say a final goodbye to Azul and left with a sad look on her face.


    Zang has already shown his face to Jareth, and now he can just go and hide in some corner; there was no need to stay so close to a walking disaster.


    Thus, he left in a hurry.


    Currying favors is one thing, but saving your own life is another.


    If it were Reynald or Nathan, then Zang wouldn''t have been as nervous, as those two seem easier to talk to.


    But Jareth is just a straight-up terror incarnate; he''s famous for blasting monsters from the surface of Earth like they''re nothing.


    Just a simple stare from him is enough to make people nervous.


    ''Hmm, he seems quite enthusiastic about his work; I guess I can leave things to him¡­''


    Jareth decided to check out Ensha''s state tomorrow; for the time being, he handed over Azul to Shin.


    Zang was just too fast at running; Jareth didn''t even get the chance to ask him to arrange a new room for Azul.


    So he just asked Shin to let Azul stay in his room and also tell him basic details about the academy and the world in the meantime.


    After finishing everything, Jareth returned to his own room for a peaceful night''s sleep.


    That day, the mayor smiled from ear to ear in happiness, as he had survived a great disaster.

 Chapter 154 - 154: The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-1.

    Outside Bastille, Eastern desert area.


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Stone Spike Rain!]


    Mark waved his wand, and ten giant magic circles appeared behind him and fired gigantic stone spikes at a man wearing heavy steel-plated armor.


    The heavy armor-wearing knight jumped aside at an astonishing speed; it seemed like that heavy armor didn''t weigh him down in the least bit.


    Mark''s forehead was already drenched with sweat.


    ''This knight is too strong!''


    Mark has trained a lot, and he has amazing reaction speed and magic abilities, yet the other party is still able to dodge all of his attacks easily and is unharmed even after fighting Mark continuously for half an hour straight.


    This just shows that the other party is not a weak person either; he''s not only at the peak of grade 4 but is also extremely skilled.


    Just when Mark was still thinking about how to deal with this person, Risa also jumped in the battle and brought out her shadow sword to fight.


    [Shadow Fallen style: Moon Blade Dance!]


    Two wings made up of shadow magic appeared behind Risa''s back and increased her speed and agility. Not only was she able to dodge the knight''s sword attacks, but she was also successfully able to keep the other party busy.


    Mark took advantage of that moment and seized the opportunity to fire a stronger spell.


    ''I copied this one from ''him''¡­ It should be effective in this battle¡­''


    [Grade-4 Earth Magic: Stone Spear!]


    Mark concentrated a huge amount of mana on his magic circle, and two layers appeared on his magic circle.


    This means that Mark has achieved a higher proficiency in this magic, as he can stack up two circles of it.


    Mark timed the moment and unleashed the magic when the opportunity arose.


    Risa twisted her wrist and did an upward slash, causing the other party to back off and lose balance for half a second, and Mark didn''t miss that timing.


    His double-layered magic circle fired an extremely thin stone spear at three times the speed of sound!


    It was so fast that the knight wasn''t even able to react, and the spear directly pierced the other party''s heart.


    The power of that spear was so strong that the shockwave created by the collision of the spear with the knight''s upper torso blasted a massive hole in his chest.


    [Shadow Magic: Shadow Bubble!]


    A bubble made up of shadows directly covered the body of the knight, and Risa immediately jumped away without hesitation.


    *Boom!*


    The body of the knight exploded, and the explosion was strong enough to create a small earthquake that caused a small landslide nearby.


    Fortunately, this is in the middle of a desert, and there are nothing but giant hills of sand and boulders here; thus, no one was harmed by that earthquake.


    When the dust settled, Risa opened her eyes and found that Mark had created a giant stone shield to protect them both from the explosion.


    A smile appeared on her face, and she gave a thumbs up to Mark,


    "Nice work partner¡­"


    Although, Risa was happy, Mark, on the other hand, was calmer. He glared at Risa and said,


    "That was too dangerous! You shouldn''t have jumped so close! You could have gotten injured from such a strong explosion!"


    Risa shrugged her shoulders and said,


    "I am not so weak that a mere explosion will sweep me away¡­ By the way, it seems we have finally dealt with this troublesome guy¡­" sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Risa and Mark walked towards the massive crater caused after the knight self-destructed his own body, and a look of shock appeared on their faces.


    "This guy really was ruthless; he didn''t even care about leaving an intact body behind, and he really wanted to take us down with him."


    Mark also nodded his head at Risa''s words and said,


    "Yeah.. Well, we slaughtered several of his subordinates; as the leader of the bandits, he was obviously going to get angry at us¡­"


    Just when Mark and Risa were thinking about what to do next, Jareth and Aria landed on the ground.


    Jareth was holding a bandit by his neck, and the other party was desperately trying to get rid of Jareth''s hand.


    Jareth threw the bandit on the ground and glanced at Mark before saying,


    "This guy was sneaking around¡­ likely he was part of their group and had gone somewhere when you slaughtered the other bandits¡­"


    "Now that he has returned, we can extract information about their hideout from him¡­ Go ahead, student Mark, show me how good you are at information extraction skills¡­"


    Risa also wanted to give it a try, but Jareth stopped her by saying.


    "Student Risa, you can instruct him in the process; I think your information extraction ability is good enough¡­"


    Jareth had no doubt that Risa can extract information easily; she''s skilled at torture and other stuff, so it would be pointless to ask her to demonstrate her skills.


    Instead, it is a better choice to ask Mark to do it; this way, he will be able to train his mind more.


    Jareth himself has been a heartless murderer, so he is very resistant to killing and bloodshed.


    But Mark is not accustomed to too much bloodshed.


    In fact, Mark hasn''t even killed a human before; this is the first time he has even killed a real human.


    He has indeed fought quite a few battles, but he hasn''t killed a person.


    Born into a prestigious family and raised with care and love, Mark had no reason to turn into a heartless monster who could kill without batting an eye. That''s why it''s important to train his heart now.


    If Mark doesn''t take action now, he won''t have the courage to make decisive decisions in the future. A pawn is only good when it has some value; without abilities, a pawn has no value.


    ¡­


    Following Jareth''s words, Risa helped Mark understand how to put psychological pressure on the other party and make them spit out all the information.


    Mark frowned a lot at the start, but slowly he got used to it.


    As a genius, he has insanely fast adaptability; he can copy others spells to great extents and improve his own combat power, and his insane adaptability gives him a great advantage.


    Creating spells to counter specific conditions on the spot is just child''s play for someone like Mark.


    Jareth only used that fire beam spell on Mark once during the end of the three trial competitions.


    And Mark directly copied its fundamental ability to concentrate mana.


    Thus he enhanced his spell, turned it into a double circle spell, and made the earth elemental so concentrated and dense that its power was insanely strong!


    It directly killed a peak-grade 4 knight on the spot!


    Even Risa herself was surprised at how fast Mark learned the tricks that she taught him.


    A thought came to her mind:


    ''Could it be that Mark has a hidden talent to become a sadist torturer!? That''s so cool!''


    Risa''s idol himself is someone like Gazid who conducts illegal experiments; obviously, she will find ''Sadists'' types of people quite cool.


    ''Ah, how romantic would it be if we both stab each other and make hearts on the ground with our blood!''


    One thing was sure: Risa was definitely messed up in the head.


    Mark sighed and used a stone spike to kill the bandit and put him out of his misery.


    Although it didn''t seem quite good to hear the loud wails of the other party, Mark also knew that he needed to grow out of his passive mindset.


    He idolizes Jareth, and he wants to become a true mage like Jareth, who is strict, cold, and selfish.


    To become like Jareth, he has to learn to be decisive and ruthless.


    What Mark didn''t know at the moment was that the reason Jareth was making him do these unpleasant things was because he was angry.


    Jareth had originally expected that Mark and Risa would have already conquered at least a floor or two in the dungeon, but when he came back, the two hadn''t even gone out to practice yet.


    Jareth was so angry that he kicked Shin in the back and asked him to teach Azul while he personally led the group towards the dungeon.


    On their way to the dungeon, they found this group of bandits that were setting up an ambush to attack any passersby who were heading towards the dungeon.


    Jareth directly ordered Mark and Risa to fight this group of bandits just to punish them.


    Moreover, he has dragged Aria with him because he is going to punish her by making her heal the students at even the slightest scratch.


    ''Hmph! I thought they were going to work hard honestly. But who could have thought that they were busy buying ''make up'' materials all this time!''


    ''Forget it; let''s go to that dungeon; I will make them understand what it means to be strict!''


    Jareth smiled evilly in his mind, which caused the other three to feel ominous in their hearts.

 Chapter 155 - 155: The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-2.

    The other bandits also laughed heartily at those words.


    Actually, bandits are quite rare in this world.


    Society has shifted towards technology, and the lives of ordinary people have become much easier.


    Thus, bandits and thugs are very rare.


    But Bastille is different.


    It''s a very isolated city and is surrounded by a vast desert! Nothing grows in this place except for some inedible thorny plants.


    Most of their food is imported from outside.


    There are only three sources of food in this place; one is imported food.


    Second is the meat obtained from killing monsters that run rampant in the desert and often lay siege to the city.


    And lastly, the meat obtained by killing the monsters in the dungeon and clearing its floors.


    The city rewards the people who kill monsters in the dungeon and also buys the monster corpses from them at a decently good price.


    These three sources are barely sufficient to meet the food needs of the people in this city.


    The majority of dishes in this city are part of a non-vegetarian diet because meat is more readily available than vegetables.


    Due to their importation from outside, vegetables and other plant-based food ingredients are extremely expensive.


    Half the population in Bastille has never known the taste of Karela juice, which they consider to be their excellent fortune. (That sh*t is bitter as f*ck!)


    These three sources of food are crucial to the survival of the city; thus, a lot of mages and warriors often go to the dungeon to hunt monsters.


    And every so often, a few groups of bandits appear and ambush these warriors and wizards midway and then force them to give money as a ''tax'' for traveling on a ''non-existent'' road.


    The city police often do patrols to deal with things like this, but there''s just no end to them.


    Even if you exterminate one bandit group, a new one will appear in a year or two.


    Most of these bandit groups consist of individuals who were exiled from the city due to their inability to pay taxes. Eventually, they formed groups and joined forces with random, strong individuals to engage in extortion.


    Jareth is not particularly interested in charity work; he didn''t target the bandits because one day in the morning, a random thought occurred to him, like,


    ''Oh, I feel like being a good law-abiding citizen today! So, Let''s butcher some bandits!''


    No, Jareth''s decision to deal with them stemmed from his observation that their boss, a grade-4 knight, appeared to be an ideal practice dummy for Mark and Risa.


    So Jareth just threw his two excited monsters-in-training at that group of pitiful bandits without a second thought in his mind.


    ¡­


    Inside an underground cave.


    "But seriously, the boss''s idea of creating a hidden underground cave and covering it with giant boulders to make it inconspicuous was really great!"


    A bandit laughed happily as he gulped down a mouthful of wine in one gulp.


    Another bandit nodded his head at those words and replied in an amused tone.


    "Yeah! Furthermore, he acquired a mana fluctuation concealment artifact! With it, the patrol squads of the city police won''t be able to find up no matter what!"


    "Boss is mighty!"


    At that moment, one of the bandits''s wine jars got empty, and he said,


    "Tch! Someone has more wine left? Pass it to me-"


    Just when the bandit was about to finish his sentence, something flew to his side and directly landed on his wine jar.


    The bandit was confused for a second, but when he saw the severed head of his boss placed in his wine jar, his face went deathly pale, and he fainted from shock after screaming loudly.


    "AAHHH WHAT THE!!!"


    Before the other bandits could react to what was going on, a giant spike of stone burst out of the ground, pierced their bodies, and turned them into human sieves!


    Blood splattered on the ground, and internal organs fell everywhere. Some of the bandit''s brain got blasted by the stone spikes, and some had massive holes in their upper torso.


    Those bandits who were more quick-witted dodged that initial attack barely on time, but then a pitch-black shadow enveloped the stone spikes and increased their length and lethality.


    Causing the rest of the bandits to get caught up too.


    Moreover, the ground became pitch black, and a hand made up of shadows tightly locked their feet, stopping them from moving and causing them to die on the spot after losing their ability to dodge.


    With all the bandits dead, the shadows retreated, and two young people came in from the entrance to the underground cave.


    "Hmm, the ratio was slightly off; we need to make our control over this combination spell more, and less control reduces its destructive power¡­"


    Mark analyzed the performance of the combination spell he and Risa used just now.


    The two of them have done this same combination spell quite a few times before, but even then, they have yet to reach perfect sync in this spell. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "It will take us some time before we can reach Professor Gazid and Professor Yoseh''s level of combination spell mastery¡­"


    Risa also nodded her head at Mark''s words and replied in a calm voice.


    Gazid and Yoseh have fought many battles together before, and from their past battle videos, you can easily see that whenever they use combination magic, it seems like it''s in perfect sync!


    Even in Artavia, when fighting that death knight, Gazid and Yoseh were firing magic in perfect sync, as if they already knew what the other party was going to use and what they should use to maximize the power.


    They both fight a lot on the surface, but no one can deny the fact that there''s not a single duo in the human empire when it comes to cooperation in fights.


    It''s like they can read each other''s minds.


    When Jareth and Shin or any other mage fight together, they use hand-sign language to communicate in a stealthy and fast way.


    Sometimes they even use precise and specific words to describe the situation of the battle and pass instructions.


    Mark and Risa are still just first-year students, so they have a lot to learn.


    The university not only teaches you about magic; it also teaches you basic alchemy, battle tactics, mid-battle communication, practical combat, survival tactics, monster habits and skills, human and monster anatomy, etc.


    In other words, those who graduate from Ivan''s Higher Arcane University are proficient in many things that can increase their survival chances by a lot, no matter what the condition is.


    The reason someone as ''weak'' as the original Jareth graduated from the university was because he received full scores in all his exams, except for practical combat.


    And luckily, in Jareth''s time, the final test for practical combat was a dungeon survival; he easily survived it with his wits and tactics.


    In other words, you can graduate from the university even with sh*tty combat skills as long as you score well enough in other exams.


    Moreover, the teachers aren''t innocent; you can just bribe them to pass, and that method is even easier if you have the money.


    All mages are selfish beings after all; they all lack resources and money; no amount of money is ''too much''.


    Taking money to create a backdoor for the students to pass is an underhanded tactic, but it happens so often that people have now become numb to it.


    Even Nathan used to just close his eyes and pretend like he had seen nothing, as long as you gave him some part of the bribe you got willingly.


    The whole structure is corrupted, as expected of a world heading for ruin.


    ¡­


    After Mark and Risa confirmed that all the bandits had died, they left the cave, and Mark waved his hand and manipulated the sand in the area to directly bury the whole cave.


    Now there will be no evidence left about who killed this group of bandits.


    Although you can earn rewards if you tell the police that you dealt with the bandits, Mark and Risa weren''t interested in that meager amount of money.


    They have enough money to buy the whole police department through bribery; why would they need such a small reward anyway.


    Thus, the two just followed their hearts; they flew in the air and headed toward the dungeon with Jareth and Aria, who had been waiting for them all along.


    ¡­


    After an hour of flying, the group reached the dungeon entrance.


    After dealing with the bandits, the rest of the journey was very uneventful, so they didn''t stop anywhere and arrived at the dungeon before noon.


    "Whoa! So this is how the dungeon near Bastille looks like!"


    Risa''s eyes widened in shock as she saw that the entrance was a majestic and giant door carved out of stone with various traditional designs on it.


    Jareth shook his head in response to those words.


    "This stone gate was likely created by the city folks¡­ This dungeon has one of the most amazing entrances, but also the most depressing insides¡­"

 Chapter 156 - 156: The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-3.

    "I don''t really get it¡­ Why aren''t those undead attacking the monsters? Don''t all undead hate the living and attack anything that is alive, human and monster alike?"


    At Risa''s question, Mark nodded his head and said in a confused tone,


    "What you said is indeed the truth; this is the first time I am seeing a phenomenon like that. I haven''t read about something like this in any books either¡­"


    Even Mark had no idea what was going on.


    The group entered the dungeon just half an hour ago.


    Many others had already cleared and occupied the entire first and second floors of the dungeon. S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A lot of people come to this dungeon to hunt down monsters and earn money by selling their corpses in the city.


    So when Jareth and the others entered, they found that the first two floors had too many people, and it wasn''t a good idea to train there.


    Thus, they went deeper, bypassed the third floor, and finally stopped at the fourth floor.


    The fourth floor is the second-deepest floor of this dungeon, and mostly monsters of grade 4 or above wander in this place.


    There are extremely few grade-4 individuals in the whole of Bastille, so this floor hasn''t been conquered even once yet.


    You would need a full party of peak grade-4 individuals to conquer this floor, but there really aren''t any such parties in Bastille.


    As for the fifth floor, no one has even been there yet.


    There may have been someone strong enough to conquer this dungeon in the past, but even if you manage to conquer the entire dungeon once,


    Monsters will flock into it eventually as time passes, and there is likely at least one or two Grade 3 monsters in this dungeon''s deepest areas.


    For this reason, the city frequently dispatches veterans to patrol the outer area of the fourth floor, monitoring the movements of the monsters.


    And in the event that a strong monster attempts to emerge from the dungeon, the city will immediately deploy its strongest defenses to prepare for the worst-case scenario.


    ''If not for the fact that this dungeon is important for the economy of Bastille, I would have just smashed this whole thing with a giant mana beam and leveled the whole dungeon down¡­''


    ''That way, no new monsters will enter it, and the hidden danger of grade-3 monsters attacking the city will be eliminated¡­''


    ''But I guess I shouldn''t do so; I should just mind my own business, get Mark and Risa some decent training, and leave¡­''


    Jareth glanced at his system panel for a moment.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 5780/5780] [MP: 7800/7800]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the Goat, Divine Flame.]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 3), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 20100]


    [Evaluation: The Ruler of Mana, the Dominator of an era¡­ you are on the path to becoming a new ''King'' of the human race...]


    ¡­


    Initially, Jareth possessed ''5100'' credit points due to his frequent plundering of Allen.


    Then he went ahead and interfered with Ensha and Azul, thus changing the plot even further. He also stole a very powerful item from Allen this time, so it also added more points.


    Thus, the number of points he has now reached is twenty thousand!


    ''Alas, when I killed that assassination organization, it didn''t give me any points, which means that those people weren''t really relevant to the plot¡­''


    ''Nonetheless, I just need to collect a few thousand more, and then I can buy a new gold lottery again¡­''


    Last time Jareth bought a gold lottery, he immediately improved his mana purity to the max.


    Thus, he''s looking forward to getting something that can boost his powers further.


    He needs to get as strong as possible if he wants to survive the inevitable great calamity.


    ''In a world where your own parents might kill you at any moment for the sake of benefits, it''s always good to aim to become stronger¡­ This world is too corrupted, so I won''t feel any regrets for leaving this place¡­''


    Jareth shook his head, glanced at Mark and Risa, and then spoke.


    "The two of you¡­ Go, conquer this whole floor; I have already scanned it with my mana detection; only the boss monster of this floor is a semi-grade 3 monster; the rest are all grade-4¡­"


    "Which means that this place is an ideal training ground for you two¡­ Aside from that, if something happens to student Risa, then don''t bother coming back, student Mark¡­"


    "I want you two to reach the boss room in three days in a single piece; you aren''t allowed to fail this test¡­"


    Mark and Risa both nodded their heads solemnly and then hurriedly left to explore the dungeon.


    At this point, only Jareth and Aria were left standing alone.


    While Jareth was busy contemplating what to do next, Aria was already having a heart attack.


    ''AHHHH! I have to stay alone with a walking ballistic nuclear missile that can blast at any moment!? T-this¡­''


    Aria gulped her saliva and tried to remain as quiet as possible while chanting in her mind.


    ''I am a worm on the wall; please don''t notice me; I have no presence! My ancestor-''


    Before Aria could finish her prayers to her ancestors, a giant skeleton holding a bone spear and sitting on the back of a mutated pig-type monster rushed at them from a nearby corridor.


    Undead are fearless creatures; they attack any living being without hesitation; thus, the undead attacked Jareth and Aria even after sensing their strong aura.


    Every time the giant pig monster jumped, it created a loud noise, which interfered with Jareth''s thoughts and caused him to get irritated.


    ''Will you shut the f*ck up!!''


    Jareth bent his waist a bit and punched the pig monster in the head with the usual cold look on his face.


    That ''99'' strength stat in Jareth''s stats panel is no joke; that punch was so strong that the pig monster died in an instant as its body burst apart like a balloon from the impact of that punch.


    It was barely a grade-intermediate-grade-4 monster; such a strong punch was beyond its defenses.


    So it died in an instant.


    Aria just couldn''t believe what she saw at that moment, and she was shocked to the point that she had no words to speak.

 Chapter 157 - 157: The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-4.

    That punch alone created such intense wind pressure that Aria had to activate her mana shield to withstand the wind pressure and shockwave.


    Her mouth nearly fell to the floor from sheer shock.


    ''Er¡­ I-I feel like my eyesight has become bad these days. I just saw a mage punch a grade-4 monster to death! That''s unbelievable!''


    Aria rubbed her eyes a few times just in case, but she had no choice but to accept the reality.


    Jareth successfully killed a grade-4 monster by punching it to death and exploding its body like a balloon.


    Even the undead skeleton that was sitting on the back of the monster had all of its bones crack as it died on the spot from the shockwave of that punch.


    Although Jareth''s face remained as cold as usual, he was feeling quite complicated in his mind.


    ''Er,¡­ I used physical strength to deal with an enemy despite being a fully mage-type character. This seems so weird¡­ I feel like I have lost my dignity as a mage¡­''


    Jareth glanced at Aria, who was already half lying on the ground, as if she were getting ready to sleep on the floor, and said,


    "Professor Aria, keep my close range combat capabilities a secret, I wouldn''t want Mark and Risa to think that I helped them behind their back by dealing with a monster of the fourth floor myself¡­"


    Jareth made up an excuse on the spot, and as he knew that Aria has a more na?ve type of personality, she will be able to keep this secret, thus his dignity as a mage won''t get tarnished.


    ''I should use my physical capabilities as a last resort effort; it can surprise the enemy at critical moments. It''s better to not reveal this ability to the public¡­''


    ''Let them think that I am just a mage and weak in physique¡­''


    Although Jareth''s words were said in a calm and respectful manner, Aria heard everything completely differently.


    "You pathetic worm, you were so shocked that you fell from just that? How pathetic! You better not tell the world about your patheticness, or you will tarnish the name of the university!"


    Aria hurriedly nodded her head at Jareth''s words and said,


    "Yes! Yes! I-I will do as you say!"


    Seeing Aria''s face, which was on the verge of crying, Jareth frowned a bit but ignored her and stopped caring about the matter, thinking that Aria was moved by his strength.


    The two of them misunderstood each other and thus didn''t even bother to clarify the situation.


    Jareth shook his head and said,


    "Professor Aria, let''s go to the boss room. We will go and wait for student Mark and student Risa there¡­"


    Aria was taken aback by those words for a moment; she wanted to deny it, but just when she was about to say it, dozens of undead skeletons walked out of the several corridors in front of them and rushed towards them with their spears.


    This time, there were no living monsters; only skeleton-type monsters attacked them.


    Thus, Jareth raised his hand and cast his magic.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!] Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire


    The glowing mana orb has the ability to repel darkness and miasma slightly.


    Jareth, possessing mana singularity and incredibly pure mana, utilized this mana orb to its utmost potential.


    The miasma-repelling ability became extremely strong.


    When the bright light of the floating mana orb fell on the undead skeletons, they started to disintegrate into dust in an instant.


    Aria was forced to close her eyes as the brightness was just too high; it was so bright that if an ordinary person had seen this glowing orb, they would have lost their ability to see permanently.


    After getting extremely pure mana, it won''t be wrong to say that Jareth''s basic magic is indeed at the level of a usual peak grade-1 spell!


    It''s so strong that these grade-4 monsters die from just getting touched by the light of that glowing orb and don''t even leave intact corpses behind. In an instant, they turn into ash.


    Jareth was quite satisfied by seeing this outcome; he butchered dozens of undead skeletons while using the minimum amount of mana and wasting nearly zero effort.


    Jareth didn''t wait for Aria; he started to walk in the direction that was leading to the boss''s room.


    He has actually already scanned this whole dungeon with his mana detection, and he knows which way to go to reach the boss room faster.


    Aria was perplexed for a moment when Jareth suddenly started to leave, but then she immediately ran to his side to follow along with him.


    She''s more of a healer-type mage than a combat one; she doesn''t want to stay alone, as that would mean she would be stuck in a place where she would be forced to fight.


    But if she stays with Jareth, she will be able to safely survive this dungeon.


    ''Ugh¡­ to think I will need to depend on a hot-tempered person like him one day¡­ I just hope he doesn''t notice my meager presence too much and doesn''t end up killing me from the collateral damage of his spells¡­''


    Many people in the nation admire Jareth because of his strength, but Aria, being a weak-hearted person, can''t feel safe around someone who can blast wyverns and cyclops with one attack.


    For her, it''s like she''s walking with a giant wolf that can attack her at any moment without even giving an explanation.


    With how strong Jareth is, he can take advantage of her, and she won''t even be able to defend herself, which is a very scary thought.


    What she didn''t know was that Jareth never thought about taking advantage of her; instead, he feels that any other woman except for Shiina is not his type.


    They seemed too bland in front of her; she was mature, calm, cheerful, and mischievous at the same time. She stole his heart to the point that now he''s unable to like anyone else. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Moreover, Aria is engaged to someone else; it''s not a wise idea to ignore boundaries that should not be crossed.


    Jareth learned to be ruthless and cruel through his experience, but he also learned to respect boundaries from falling in love with someone as wonderful as Shiina.


    {After all, you can only mature in the truest sense if you experience all aspects of your own ''self''...} (Source: Trust me bro...)


    ¡­


    For the next three hours, Jareth and Aria flew in the direction of the boss room.


    Jareth already figured out the way out of this mage, so they were able to travel fast while ignoring all paths that lead to dead ends.


    Only Mark and Risa will have to work hard to reach the boss room, as they don''t have the same insane mana detection as Jareth.

 Chapter 158 - 158: The Dungeon of Undeads! Part-5.

    There are many types of dungeons in this world.


    Some are filled with acidic poison; some are hidden in forests, while others are hidden underneath the ocean surface.


    There are dungeons where thousands of monsters live, and there are also dungeons where only one strong monster resides.


    Most dungeons have several floors, and the lower the floor, the stronger the monsters that reside there.


    This isn''t because strong monsters like living in dark and deep underground hell holes; it''s because the stronger a monster, the stronger their intuition and intelligence.


    Strong monsters who are in grade 3 or above can understand the benefits of hiding in deeper caves.


    Ever since humanity conquered many races and became the overlord of the whole planet, they have been hunting and killing monsters like crazy.


    Before humans, monsters roamed the land freely, and everything followed the law of the jungle.


    Only the strongest survived, and the weak were just prey, but all this was destroyed by the interference of humans.


    Not only did they kill monsters, they killed their own kin, and they laid siege to many races.


    Hundreds of races went extinct, and millions of creatures perished in the long annals of history.


    Intelligent monsters learned from this experience; they adapted to the environment for survival and found deep caves and hidden areas to hide and strive for survival.


    This instinct of hiding in caves got passed down from generation to generation, and now it''s in the genes of these monsters to look for dungeons to hide in and live in.


    This is basically a result of natural selection.


    Those monsters who ran and hid in deep caves survived and were able to create offspring, but those who refused to hide died from the endless march of the human armies.


    Mermaids are just one of the few races that were wiped off the face of earth by the human armies just because of land and resources.


    These monsters who live in dungeons are not actually doing so because they get some benefit from it; this is their way of self-preservation.


    You can go and look at any race in the world and understand the terror that is the human race just by reading about their histories.


    Yet, humans still teach in schools that they are the ones who are always in danger of monster attacks and invasions from other races.


    The real truth is that there is no race in the world that has the capability to fight toe to toe with the current human empire.


    The current human empire is extremely advanced in technology and has huge numbers of strong wizards and warriors.


    No other race has this capability.


    Then why do humans spend so much money teaching false histories to children, you ask?


    The answer is simple: if you make humans seem like victims and brainwash the kids from a young age, they will have more patriotic sense in them when they grow up.


    Humans need money for the army, so they must always demonstrate that they are in constant danger of invasion. This way, funding for new weapons of mass destruction will never stop.


    And those who see through this fa?ade end up dying from ''Natural Causes'' after getting hit by ten bullets in the back of their heads.


    These monsters, who are forced to live in dark and humid caves called dungeons, are the best example of the terror of the human race.


    Humans have hunted them for several millennia, and they hunted them so much that all monsters went through natural selection and were forced to run and hide to survive.


    Today, the situation is so severe that various kinds of monsters go extinct every year, non-stop.


    Strong monsters push deeper into the dungeon and force weaker monsters to guard the upper floors for them.


    Those monsters that humans call ''floor bosses'' are usually the guardians who are keeping an eye on the entrance to the lower floors of the dungeon.


    The stronger they get, the deeper they can stay in the dungeon; this is how dungeons work in this world.


    But even after all these measures taken by the monsters, humans still never let them go.


    Whenever a new dungeon is discovered, humans rush to conquer it and slaughter all the monsters that were peacefully living there.


    All that is just for the sake of discovering rare artifacts that were originally dug up by the monsters from various places.


    Sometimes these monsters even decide to cooperate with other types of monsters to survive together.


    The same is true for the dungeon into which Jareth and others have entered.


    The wolf-type monsters here have learned to cooperate with the undead beings for survival.


    ¡­


    Still, regardless of the cause and reasons, a floor boss is by no means an ordinary monster.


    It rules over all the monsters on the floor of the dungeon and only takes orders from the dungeon master, who lives in the deepest area of the dungeon.


    Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire


    Aria has always thought that she won''t be able to face a monster without panicking her whole life.


    But today that misunderstanding was cleared from her mind.


    When she entered the boss room with Jareth, the floor boss of the fourth floor, a steel-boned wolf rushed at them to attack.


    Aria''s legs immediately went weak from just seeing that ferocious beast, but to her shock, Jareth didn''t even flinch. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Just when the wolf was about to attack him, he raised his hand and slapped the wolf on the face, and a massive shockwave was created.


    The wind pressure alone cracked the ground, and a loud sonic boom rang out in the air.


    The wolf''s face hit the ground, and the impact of the collision created a massive crater in the ground.


    The wolf jaw broke apart, and it suffered heavy brain damage from the impact, and one of its eyeballs shattered on the spot.


    Several of its broken teeth fell to the ground, and it fainted on the spot from that attack.


    For the wolf monster, that was the strongest attack it had ever faced, but for Jareth, that was just a casual flick of his hand.


    He ignored the monster as if he had done something completely insignificant, then glanced at Aria before speaking.


    "Hmm, would you like to stay here and wait for the students? I am thinking of going deeper to take a stroll¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Aria could feel complicated emotions in her mind.


    ''He made a semi-grade-3 monster faint on the spot with one attack¡­ I guess wandering in this dungeon is like taking a walk in a park from his perspective¡­''


    Aria was shocked at Jareth''s power, but she collected herself and said,


    "I-I will follow along with you¡­"


    Aria didn''t know if the wolf would wake up suddenly and if the students would take a while to get here, so she didn''t want to stay in this dangerous place.


    Instead, it was better to follow Jareth.


    At least by staying by his side, she can ensure her safety from the monsters.


    ''Actually, I am having difficulty distinguishing who is the real monster here¡­ This wolf looks more like an innocent puppy in front of this monstrous guy who doesn''t have the word ''Mercy'' in his dictionary¡­''


    Aria shook her head and followed Jareth to go to the next floor.


    While walking, she summoned her courage and inquired,


    "Uh¡­ Vice-principal, I wanted to become as strong as you¡­ b-but whenever I try to fight, I end up losing my will to hurt the other party¡­"


    "Er¡­ Can you tell me how to become as¡­. You know, as calm and indifferent as you?"


    Jareth was taken aback by Aria''s sudden question, but then he shook his head and said in a calm voice,


    "You want to become a ruthless, merciless, and cold ''monster'' like me?"


    Jareth felt quite funny thinking about this, but he replied in a serious tone,


    "Professor Aria, the thing is that I myself wasn''t born as a ''monster'' from the start¡­ I also had a warm heart once¡­"


    "In my opinion, having a merciful, warm heart and a benevolent personality is actually a much better option¡­"


    Jareth glanced at his palm and said,


    "With a good personality, you live an honest and happy life, but when you have the personality of a monster, you live a lonely life with your hands smeared in blood¡­"


    A rare look of envy appeared in Jareth''s eyes as he glanced at Aria.


    "In my opinion, you don''t need to change and turn into a ''monster'', you are already much better than that. Aim to become a savior, not an evil manic¡­"


    "Taking others lives is easy, but giving life to others¡­ that''s basically only a ''god'' can do¡­. It''s impossible for us mortals¡­"


    "Professor Aria, don''t taint yourself with darkness; you have a pure soul; it''s better to not pollute it with corruption¡­"


    Jareth''s own miserable life has contributed to his cold and ruthless personality.


    But if he had the choice, he would have preferred to live a happy and honest life with those he cared for.


    ''Entering that shady company in hope of impressing her father was the worst choice I made in my life¡­''


    Aria was taken aback by Jareth''s words.


    She thought that he would belittle her and say mean words to her in return. She was already expecting him to say that she could never become as strong as him.


    But the answer she got was completely different than she expected.


    Jareth praised her clumsy personality, which she was most ashamed of. In his opinion, no one should strive for the bloody path that he has been following.

 Chapter 159 - 159: The Benevolent Fairy powder... Part-1.

    Walking down the narrow path in the cave, Jareth used the glowing mana orb to illuminate the path.


    Right now, Jareth and Aria are at least ten kilometers deep underground; oxygen is nearly nonexistent in this place; and the temperature is also very hot.


    But for individuals in grades 3 and above level individuals, lack of oxygen and fluctuations in temperature matter very little.


    You can just deploy the mana barrier and use mana to forcefully pull oxygen molecules from the air inside the mana barrier.


    Even if there is no oxygen outside, they can still manage to survive on mana alone for a day or two.


    On the other hand, Grade 1 individuals don''t even need oxygen in the first place; they can just use the mana as their primary source of energy in the body.


    Thus eliminating the need for ''oxygen'' to break down proteins in the cells to form ''ATP'', you can use mana instead of ''ATP'' to power your body cells and can eliminate a lot of complex procedures.


    Although this is a complicated ability, the mana control of a grade 1 mage is strong enough to accomplish it.


    Thus, they have no need to either eat food, drink water, or even breathe; they can survive on mana alone.


    This is one of the reasons why grade 1 individuals aren''t even considered proper mortals anymore.


    Reaching grade 1 is said to be the very first step to breaking out of your mortal coil. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡­


    ''If it were me from previous lives, I would have likely never been able to experience this feeling of wandering in random hell holes like this where no one wants to come¡­''


    Only when you are strong will you have the confidence to travel to any and every place in the world.


    Embarking on adventures needs confidence, and if you are strong enough yourself, then you won''t need to worry about losing confidence in any situation.


    ''This feeling is kind of similar to when I used to raid low-grade dungeons with my max-level character¡­''


    Jareth glanced at Aria, who was shaking from fear of the darkness.


    Seeing that she might faint and become a dead weight on his shoulders, Jareth had no choice but to ask random things to distract her mind from the fear.


    "Professor Aria¡­ Why did you choose to become a mage? In my opinion, you would have lived a much better life without entering this dog-eat-dog world of selfish mages¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Aria was taken aback for a second. She thought that Jareth noticed that she was at the end of her wits and was shaking from fear, so he was being sarcastic.


    ''Ugh, is he trying to say that I shouldn''t have become a mage in the first place as I lack confidence in myself?...''


    If it were any other person, Aria would have definitely glared at them and said that they were being rude for doubting her abilities as a mage.


    But since Jareth was the one to ask the question, she dared not talk loudly.


    She has no idea what goes on in his head or when he might get angry, so she didn''t take any chances and just told the truth in a calm voice.


    "Well¡­ I wanted to become a musician originally, I had interest in music, all of my childhood friends chose to pursue their careers and ambitions, all of them avoided becoming a mage like a plague¡­"


    "My parents had a lot of expectations from me¡­ The younger me didn''t have the courage to say ''No'' to her parents, so she went along with their wishes and became a mage¡­"


    Aria sighed at her own words and said,


    "I wanted to make my parents proud of me¡­ But the younger me didn''t know the harsh truth: in this world, everyone and everything pursues ''benefits''¡­"


    "There are no eternal relationships, only eternal benefits¡­ My parents were urging me to become a mage from start to finish, all because they wanted me to earn a ton of money for them¡­"


    "It took me a very long time to understand this harsh reality¡­"


    The younger Aria did her best; she trained and trained¡­ Eventually, she became one of the best alchemists in the whole human empire.


    She earned tons of money just by filling out one or two commissions from the rich.


    But the harsh reality was that all that money that she gave to her parents was never enough.


    It is a human tendency that once you start getting benefits without putting in much effort, you become addicted to them and want more and more.


    The same happened in this case too; her parents kept demanding more and more money.


    There came a time when they started to threaten and use abusive words when she wasn''t able to give them money on time.


    At that moment, Aria asked herself a question:


    ''All these people do is just threaten me and abuse me¡­ Do I really need to appease them? Do I really need to continue caring for them?


    That is how Aria matured; now the only two people she cares about in this world are her sister and the person with whom she is engaged.


    She has stopped doing free charity work; she has stopped giving people money because they begged her with fake tears in their eyes.


    Most parents have the so-called ''superiority complex'' when facing their children. They think that their children can''t make their own decisions and have no rights to do so at all.


    They can''t afford to see the bird that was previously in their cage and used to sing and dance for their entertainment, so they leave the cage and fly away to pursue its very own sky.


    Most parents fail to realize that this very act of putting their children in a cage of false emotions will cause the children to become numb to their daily bullsh*t, and eventually there will come a day when they will lose them forever.


    Aria grew numb to her parents'' daily bullsh*t and went on to pursue her own career.


    She started living in the academy dorms and cut her ties with her family.


    Now, she is living a very peaceful life.


    Although she isn''t strong, there''s no one who will disrespect one of the best alchemists in the whole human empire.


    She was able to cure too many mana-related conditions and has even received several national awards by now from the president himself.


    Young alchemists from all over the country worship her as their idol and source of motivation.


    She may seem weak and cowardly, but doubting her capabilities as an alchemist would be a big mistake.


    "Well, things are going well for the most part¡­ The only trouble I have had recently is that my younger sister, Airin, she seems to like a shady person¡­"


    "I think she told me that the guy''s name was Allen; he''s been urging her to bring more and more training potions and rare elixirs lately, and she finds it hard to refuse him¡­"


    "This situation makes me think that she''s being taken advantage of¡­ I am worried about it, but I fear that I will interfere with her love life if I do something¡­"


    Jareth already knew most of Aria''s backstory from the game; he was only listening to it because he didn''t want her to faint and was trying to distract her from the darkness of this cave.


    But when Aria mentioned Allen''s name, he suddenly felt the urge to slap that sh*tty protagonist again.


    He glanced at Aria and said in a calm voice,


    "Allen?... Ah, isn''t that the student who got suspended for harassing his upperclassmen and getting into fights with quite a few students¡­"


    "Also, I remember some students saying that he beat up random classmates and extorted money from them¡­ Aside from that, he''s been repeatedly reported by many female students.."


    "Professor Aria, I think you should really have a serious talk with your sister¡­ Hanging out with a shady person like that will create a lot of problems for her future¡­"


    Actually, Jareth wasn''t even lying to Aria; many of the female students did report complaints against Allen because they saw him beat up Mia badly during a sparring session.


    Ever since Jareth saw that complaint, he has had doubts about Allen.


    ''Everything in this world has been tainted by corruption¡­ I won''t be surprised if the protagonist himself has been corrupted too.''


    Jareth was already expecting things to go in a different direction due to his own interference, which was further enhanced by corruption.


    ''Still¡­ it''s kind of weird that the protagonist, who was depicted as a bright and sunny person in the story, has now become a scumbag and sadist type of person¡­''


    Aside from Jareth, Aria was also frowning at this situation.


    She didn''t know much about Allen, but now that Jareth has told her about his dark history, her resolve to deal with Allen has strengthened.


    ''I don''t want my sister to suffer like I did¡­ People only see benefits; he''s likely only pursuing her for the resources too¡­ I need to be strict on Airin this time, it seems¡­''

 Chapter 160 - 160: The Benevolent Fairy powder... Part-2.

    An hour went by in a flash, and Jareth and Aria walked continuously and reached the end of the long path.


    Unlike the other floors of the dungeon, the fifth floor had no mazes or monsters residing in it.


    The only monster on this floor is the dungeon master.


    The final floor is basically the ''home'' of the strongest beast in this whole dungeon; thus, no other monster is allowed to wander around in its home.


    As a result, after walking for a while, Jareth and Aria arrived directly at the giant door of the final boss room.


    Most dungeons in this world follow the same pattern; the final floor in most dungeons is relatively empty, and only the final boss resides there.


    Strong monsters are extremely protective of their territories; after all, they won''t let random monsters wander around in the place that they live and consider their home.


    This is also one of the reasons why the boss monsters always attack the invaders at first sight, because they mistake the invaders for challengers who want to seize their home and territory.


    For a beast, its home and territory are its source of food and very important to its survival; challenging it for the territory is basically asking it to initiate a death battle that will only end when one party dies.


    Most adventurers who raid dungeons only have two endings: they either win and return with a lot of fortune, or they end up dead and never come back from the dungeon.


    There are rarely any who are able to run and make it out of the dungeon alive, even after losing a battle with the dungeon boss.


    The Dungeon boss won''t let you run; it will chase you till you die or run out of the dungeon''s main entrance.


    Therefore, you need to be ready for a life-or-death scenario prior to entering the ultimate boss room.


    ¡­


    Unless, of course, you are already too over-leveled for a dungeon.


    *Boom!*


    Jareth kicked the giant door casually, and the whole stone door broke apart and flew away as if it were made up of cardboard or something.


    Since Jareth already showed Aria his physical power, he didn''t bother hiding it in front of her anymore.


    For someone like him who has ''99'' in strength stats, most doors and barriers are just as weak as paper; he can break them easily.


    When the broken door fell to the ground, a gigantic hall appeared in Jareth''s vision.


    There were many statues of knights holding swords placed near the walls as decoration, and the floor was also quite smooth with a giant magic circle-like design carved on it.


    Jareth wasn''t much surprised about it, as he had already seen this in the game, but Aria was indeed quite surprised.


    She has rarely been to the final boss room of a dungeon, as she doesn''t really like fighting much.


    "This boss chamber looks quite beautiful, actually¡­ It''s hard to believe such amazing architecture is hidden beneath hordes of monsters that reside on the upper floor¡­"


    Aria''s eyes shone in admiration when looking at the amazing designs made on the ceiling of this hall.


    This place actually looks like the interior of a five-star hotel.


    "Well, of course it is beautiful; the great architect Erik Aigner personally designed this place!!"


    Just when Aria was admiring the scenery, a hoarse and eerie voice rang out in the hall.


    Jareth and Aria glanced towards the small stage built in the front area of the hall and found an undead person standing there.


    The undead skeleton was wearing a dark black robe and had a big hat on its head; moreover, it had a blue staff in its hand.


    Aria was really taken aback by the appearance of that undead.


    "A greater Lich!? How come there''s a peak grade-2 monster in this dungeon!?"


    There are many types of undead in this world, and this type of undead is one of the most dangerous of them all.


    They can control mana much more effectively than humans, and nearly all of them have the ability to control a huge army of lower-grade undead monsters.


    "Ah, no wonder the undead skeletons on the upper floors were cooperating with the wolf-type monsters!! You were controlling the skeletons and stopping them from attacking the wolves!"


    Erik nodded his head and replied in a shrewd tone.


    "Yes! Those are all my subordinates; I use them to monitor everything that happens in the dungeon; I keep an eye on all who come to this dungeon with their help of them¡­"


    "And whoever tries to reach the fifth floor, I gather all my minions and attack them continuously to make them retreat or die on the spot¡­"


    "You two are the first who have made it to this hall ever since I took over this dungeon¡­"


    Aria was perplexed by those words; she also used her detection before, but she didn''t sense the presence of the Lich, as he''s much stronger than her.


    This greater Lich is a peak grade-2 monster, and Aria is still not at the peak of grade-2; thus, it was impossible for her to sense his presence beforehand.


    "I see, so the reason why I was not able to sense the presence of any monster in the final boss room was because you were suppressing your mana fluctuations¡­ sigh, and here I thought that there were no monsters here¡­"


    Aria was not able to sense anyone in the final boss chamber, so she thought that it was empty, but it turns out that from the start to the end, their every move was being monitored by the greater lich.


    "W-wait, if you already knew that we were heading in your direction, then why didn''t you attack us with your minions¡­."


    The lich shook his head and said,


    "I may have lost my wits a lot after dying and becoming a lich, but I have become extremely sensitive to ''Death'' now¡­ and I didn''t want to provoke ''Death'' for no reason¡­"


    The lich glanced at Jareth and stopped talking.


    Although he can''t sense any mana fluctuations from Jareth''s, he can already sense in his bones that the moment he tries to attack, he will meet his death.


    Jareth, on the other hand, was still indifferent.


    He had already sensed Erik''s presence before even entering the dungeon; in fact, he knew that Erick would be here, as he had completed this dungeon in the game many times.


    The main reason for bringing Mark and Risa to train here was so that he could also visit Erik, who is one of the game''s few hidden NPCs.


    Yes! Erik is not actually a monster; he''s a hidden NPC merchant. You can buy a lot of rare and shady items from him.


    "Erik, the Greatest Smuggler of ''Benevolent Fairy powder''¡­ It''s nice to meet you. I am Jareth Ayad, a humble wizard¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Erik went silent for a moment and then laughed a bit,


    "Hahaha, I didn''t expect that there would still be some people left who would have known about me! Ahahaha, this is amazing!!"


    "It''s been more than fifty years since I have felt so excited and happy!!" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Erik didn''t bother upholding the status of the boss monster anymore; he put his wand back in his space ring and walked over to Jareth and Aria''s side, completely defenseless.


    Jareth wasn''t surprised by this move, but Aria backed off quite a few steps in fright.


    In the game, you have two options to deal with this hidden NPC: one is that you fight him and loot his equipment; the other is that you say that he used to smuggle ''Benevolent Fairy Powder''.


    Saying this will turn him from an enemy to a friend.


    He will consider you a customer who came to buy the ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' from him, and thus he will turn into a merchant.


    Aside from that powder, you can also buy some other things from him, like the heart of a fox-man from the fox tribe that lives in the Beast Folk Empire.


    Also, he sells illegal drugs and poison, and if you buy a lot of Benevolent Fairy Powder from him, he will even sell you some shady forbidden spells.


    One of them is the spell that can be used to turn humans into literal potions that can help you improve your grade temporarily.


    That kind of potion has severe side effects, and you need to use a human as ''material'' to extract life essence and soul power to make that potion.


    Thus, it''s forbidden magic.


    In the game, there are also unique methods to use these forbidden magic books. If you give this book to Aria, who''s a pure-hearted merchant, she will go mad and lose her mind.


    Eventually turning into an evil alchemist, this is basically a bad ending scenario for Aria''s character in the game.


    Some players, who like to complete the game 100%, engage in this shady behavior to earn trophies.


    Jareth himself never tried it, as Aria is a very useful NPC in the game, and he didn''t want to lose a merchant who sells potions at a low price.


    Even today, Jareth only came here for that ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' and not for those shady forbidden spells.


    "Let''s cut the chit-chat and talk about business¡­ I want the whole stock of that powder you have; we can negotiate the price¡­"


    Erik laughed happily at Jareth''s words and said,


    "Hoho, it''s a rare occasion to meet a customer who has a lot of money in their hand, it seems it''s my lucky day today!"


    "But, forgive me, Mr. Jareth, I don''t need money from you¡­ How about you do me a favor instead, and I will give you the whole stock for a very big discount!"


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed a bit at those words.


    "Hmm¡­ sell them to me first and then tell me more about it¡­"

 Chapter 161 - 161: The Benevolent Fairy powder... Part-3.

    As the name implies, Benevolent Fairy Powder has something to do with fairies.


    Innocent people will think that it''s some kind of usable powder or something that fairies make.


    But the truth about this thing is just as dark as it is lethal.


    In the human empire, there is an organization that regulates and checks the quality of food produced by various companies and factories.


    They have compiled a list of the 100 most deadly poisonous substances in the world.


    The ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' is ranked first on this list of the most lethal and horrifying toxins.


    If it''s a poison, you might wonder why it''s called ''Benevolent'' in the first place.


    We must understand its composition to comprehend the significance of its name.


    As the name already suggests, this thing''s main ingredient is related to ''Fairies'', but to what extent?


    Benevolent Fair Powder is made by squashing a fairy alive and grinding its corpse into a meat paste.


    You would need to grind the whole corpse; not even the bones must be left behind, and then you would need to dry the meat paste at insanely high temperatures that only a grade-2 or above-level fire mage can provide.


    Once you do that, the paste will burn into charcoal, and then you need to add a refined soul''s power to that burned charcoal.


    This will turn the charcoal into powder that will shine with a faint green light.


    The main thing is that you would need to torture the fairy for a hundred days at a time before turning it into paste; you would need to corrupt the fairy''s soul with hatred and darkness.


    Fairies are a small and very harmless type of creature, the size of a human palm. They are well known for having the best healing magic, and they often help people in need.


    They are the most benevolent and kind race out there, and it''s near impossible for hatred to corrupt them, even in extreme cases.


    Only one in a thousand fairies will get corrupted by hatred if you use this process on them, which means most fairies will die a meaningless and pointless death in this process and will turn into waste material.


    This powder bears the name ''Benevolent Fairy Powder'' due to the benevolent nature of the fairy race, which prevents even a few from succumbing to hatred.


    It''s a substance cultivated with the purest form of hatred and darkness; just by a touch of it, anyone below grade 3 will instantly lose their mind and will get corrupted to the point that their body will start rotting while the person is still alive.


    This was the primary reason the entire fairy race went extinct a century ago.


    Not only did the various demon cults use this method to kill their enemies in the most brutal way, but they also hunted down fairies like crazy.


    Fairies used to exist in every corner of this planet, and you could encounter one or two every day by simply taking a casual stroll outside.


    Yet, now there are none left in the world.


    Such a successful race met its demise in the most brutal manner.


    The fairies were unable to protect themselves.


    Fairies never learned any other magic except for healing magic; they believed that harming others was a great sin and that only healing magic was the true path to ascension.


    Although the path they walked was indeed very good, and they could have achieved a lot with it, they forget one thing: people''s greed knows no bounds.


    The king who ruled the empire during the height of the Cult of Therath even recognized the use of this fairy powder as legal at one point.


    Tens of thousands of fairies were killed every day to make this powder and create lethal poison to kill the enemy.


    The fairy race kept declining, and eventually they went extinct a hundred years ago.


    Even though the previous king had placed a ban on this thing, the fairy race was never able to recover from this blow, and there was no saving them.


    In the whole fairy race, there is only one type of fairy that barely learns basic combat skills.


    That is the King Fairy.


    Every hundred years, a king fairy with extremely high talent is born among the fairy race.


    The King Fairy usually has the potential to reach grade 1 on its own. But the sad thing is that no King Fairy ever reached that level, as they never really trained seriously.


    The fairies would inevitably become targets again and again without the ability to defend themselves.


    Teenage children can easily capture fairies without the use of mana because they are such weak creatures!


    And once caught, their end would always be horrible!


    Jareth has read about many races that were destroyed by humans in the past in this game''s lore, but the fairy race met the most tragic ending of them all.


    They weren''t even regarded as living creatures; they were treated as mere ''ingredients'' and slaughtered mercilessly.


    And what did the fairies do to retaliate?


    Nothing; they still kept helping injured people and never chose to abandon their kind-hearted ways.


    That is the reason why anything related to a fairy is associated with ''benevolence and care''.


    Even the most lethal toxin has the name ''Benevolent'' in it¡­ how ironic.


    Just by seeing this item once, weak-hearted people can lose their minds and go mad.


    That''s how lethal this thing is; its very existence is a curse on the world itself.


    The world''s kindest existence turned into the most lethal toxin; this is the cruelty of this corrupted world.


    ¡­


    Jareth knew the whole history of this item, and he also knew what its effects were.


    This substance is not only a potent toxin, but it can also aid him in his goal of creating a ''wormhole''.


    Although it feels awful to be using this item, Jareth has no other choice.


    The whole fairy race is already extinct; only a few ancient tombs and dungeons have some hidden bottles left that have fairy powder stored in them.


    The fairy powder that Erik has was also extracted from one of the ruins of a previous demon cult''s headquarters.


    Nowadays, this thing is strictly banned; whoever is found carrying it with them is sentenced with ten years in jail just for having it.


    ''Although they created monuments and statues to sympathize with the fairies¡­ it''s all useless in the end¡­''


    The sins committed by the humans of this world are just endless; there are just too many beings whose lives were destroyed by the human race.


    ''I guess living in a solar system that is surrounded by an endless sea of miasma indeed causes a lot of subtle influence¡­''


    In Jareth''s previous world, humans were evil, but they weren''t this corrupt.


    Miasma undoubtedly affects people in this world, if only very slightly, but even this little impact can lead to significant changes. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth doesn''t think of himself as an incarnation of justice, so he isn''t going to slaughter the human race for doing what they did.


    All he can do is just feel pity for what happened to the fairies. In his opinion, the humans have failed humanity itself; it won''t be wrong to say that they are the real monsters in this world.


    ''The longer I stay in this world, the more I want to leave this place¡­ sigh. If not for the circumstances, I would prefer not to use this item for myself¡­''


    The fairy powder can be used as a fine material to stabilize the wormhole, and as the fairy race is already dead, there is no point in hesitating.


    Jareth shook his head and urged Erik to bring out the stuff.


    Erik nodded his head and pulled out two palm-sized glass bottles filled with Benevolent Fairy powder that were glowing with a faint green light.


    Jareth hurriedly put it in his space ring, as he didn''t want it to affect Aria''s mentality.


    He then transferred money to Erik, just as he had promised.


    Erik smiled happily after he found out he got the message from his bank account on his phone.


    But before he could remain happy for a long time, Jareth directly increased the size of his ''Glowing Mana Orb'', and the ''Mild Darkness repelling'' effect got boosted in an instant.


    "NOOO!!! You are a Liar!!! You f*cking monster!! AHHHHHH!!!"


    Jareth sighed while looking at Erik''s body, which was turning into dust, and said in a calm voice,


    "You seem to have misunderstood something¡­ I fulfilled my promise, made a proper exchange, and even gave money; thus, I am not a liar¡­ But yeah, you can say that I am indeed a ''Monster''¡­"


    Erik, a shady individual, resorted to transforming into an undead lich to evade the police''s relentless pursuit. He staged his death to make his escape possible.


    However, even after becoming undead, he never stopped his business of smuggling illegal drugs and harmful substances to various places.


    Many innocent lives have been destroyed by him for profit, and he also has many forbidden spells in his arsenal.


    If one day he sells those forbidden spells to others, then more people will die horrible deaths.


    Jareth simply eliminated this unstable factor on the spot. Although he can''t bring back the dead fairies who died unjust deaths, at least he can prevent a few innocent people''s lives.


    The fairies would have also chosen to help, so Jareth just did this to make amends for the fairy powder he was going to use.


    Fortunately, he had cast a silencing spell earlier, so Aria didn''t hear what he talked about with Erik, and he also hid the powder fast enough without letting her catch a single glimpse of it.


    Thus, she was unaffected.

 Chapter 162 - 162: Konda, The Incarnation of Terror! Part-1

    "Hmm, I guess we should head back now¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Aria immediately nodded her head.


    Although she didn''t know what Jareth was talking about with that monster or why he suddenly killed it on the spot, she agreed to leave immediately.


    She knew that asking too much might get her in trouble, so she didn''t bother questioning Jareth''s decision to cast a silencing spell nearby while he was talking with Erik.


    Jareth also didn''t bother explaining too much and turned back to leave, but just as he took one step back, he stopped and glanced at the ground.


    *Rumble!*


    The ground suddenly started to rumble. At first, it was just a weak trembling, but the rumbling started to get stronger and stronger.


    It seemed like an enormous earthquake was coming.


    ''What''s going on? I don''t remember something like this happening in the game¡­''


    Jareth has cleared many dungeons in the game, and not a single dungeon collapsed after killing the dungeon master. Such a thing doesn''t happen in this world.


    But the current scenario seems to differ for some reason.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Detection: Maximum Output!]


    Jareth waved directly, used his mana detection at full power, and tried to figure out what was happening.


    And after seeing the results of the mana detection, Jareth''s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    ''What is this thing doing here!?''


    [Basic Magic: Float: Maximum Output!]


    Jareth directly used telekinesis to grab Aria, and he flew towards the ceiling at an insanely fast speed. He directly smashed the rock ceiling of the fifth floor and arrived at the fourth floor in an instant.


    Then he used mana detection to find Mark and Risa in an instant.


    The two of them were trying to navigate their way in the maze of the fourth floor, and since Jareth''s telekinesis''s range is very big, he wrapped them with telekinesis, and they flew towards him on their own.


    Jareth didn''t waste a single second; he flew higher and broke the ceiling of the rest of the three floors before finally coming out of the dungeon in a hurry.


    Aria, Mark, and Risa were taken aback by the sudden change in scenery and had a hard time understanding what just happened.


    One moment they were still in the dungeon, and the other they were floating in the sky above the dungeon.


    Although it may seem that Jareth did many things at once, he might have been slow, but the fact is that from the start to the end, it only took Jareth three seconds to bring himself and the rest of the three out of the dungeon.


    His mana singularity gives him an amazing boost in flying speed, so he was able to achieve it by expanding some extra mana.


    Just as Mark and the others were about to inquire about the situation, Jareth waved his hand, causing three of them to fly towards the city.


    "You three, go back to the city and tell the mayor to deploy the city''s barrier at full power¡­ Tell him that it''s an order from me, a grade 1 mage."


    "This place is about to turn into a hell hole soon, so make sure you protect yourself. Leave now¡­"


    Jareth used his telekinesis to throw the three in the direction of the city. He threw them like he was throwing rocks.


    Aria was the first to react; she immediately covered Mark and Risa with her own telekinesis and protected them from the insane wind pressure.


    Then she flew towards the city, using the boost from Jareth''s throw.


    Although she didn''t know what was going on, if something can make even Jareth serious, then the situation is definitely not good.


    Seeing that the three of them had gone far away, Jareth heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''They are carefully chosen assets; I can''t lose them here¡­ Good thing they are quite obedient and left early without asking too many questions¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stared at the dungeon below while casting several buffs on himself.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    [Basic Magic: Physical Enhancement!]


    [Basic Magic: Smoothen Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Enhanced Mana Fluctuation Sensitivity!]


    Jareth held nothing back at the moment; he was ready to go all out at this moment.


    ¡­ S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    While Jareth was preparing for the fight, the dungeon started to crumble from that insanely strong earthquake.


    All the warriors and mages who were present in the dungeon also started to run out in a panicked state, and those who couldn''t make it out got buried under the debris as the dungeon walls started to collapse.


    The earthquake spread far and wide; even Bastille was affected by it, and an urgent earthquake emergency warning was broadcast on all internet devices in the city.


    Those adventurers who were able to make it out of the dungeon became happy that they had survived, but before they could enjoy the happiness for too long, cracks appeared in the desert.


    The sand of the desert sank in the giant cracks, and a gigantic claw broke out of the ground.


    *BOOOM!!!*


    The pitch-black claw was covered in pure miasma; it was so eerie-looking that just its mere presence was giving people chills.


    When the miasma of that enormous claw touched the adventurers who had survived, they instantly died and their bodies rotted away on the spot.


    *BOOOM!!*


    Another claw broke out of the ground, and massive amounts of sand and debris flew in the air.


    The giant being violently excavated itself from the ground, showing no concern for its surroundings.


    Observing this, Jareth smirked slightly to himself and said,


    "It''s been a while, Abysmal Bone Dragon, Konda ''The Empty shell''¡­"


    [Ding! Warning, You are standing in the presence of a former ''true dragon''!]


    [Ding! Warning, you are in the range of ''Dragon''s Aura''!]


    [Ding! Due to the ''Dragon''s Aura'', all creatures in the vicinity will have their power reduced by 75 percent in the presence of the true Dragon!]


    [Ding! Mana Singularity triggered! You are unaffected by the ''Dragon''s Aura''!]


    [Ding! When in the presence of the Former ''True Dragon'', all creatures in the vicinity will be inflicted with ''Extreme Fear''! and other mental Debuffs!]


    [Ding! Mana Singularity triggered! You are unaffected by the mental debuffs placed by the dragon!]


    Looking at that giant bone dragon standing in front of him, Jareth couldn''t help but marvel at how amazing that creature looked.


    Even though it had no dragon wings or a living body, just its bones alone seemed too beautiful, as if it were a piece of world Class Art.


    Although it only had a body made up of just bones and nothing else, that existence itself seemed so majestic that even Jareth was in awe for a moment.


    Even when corrupted by miasma and rotten to the point of only bones being left, this being seemed so majestic and awe-inspiring that people might have mistook it for a divine being if not for its eerie presence.


    That bone dragon was so tall that even Jareth''s whole body seemed shorter than the size of the eyeball socket on its skull.


    Jareth had seen this so many times that he was just too familiar with it.


    ''Abysmal Bone Dragon, Konda¡­ the destroyer of civilizations and a great calamity for the world¡­ This thing, this awe-inspiring and majestic shell of a former true dragon, is one of the final three boss opponents of this game¡­''


    The more Jareth thought about it, the more serious he became about the situation.


    ''A peak Grade-1 monster that has insanely high resistance to ''Magic''¡­ How can I forget you¡­ After all, you are the ''Dread'' of all players¡­''


    In this game, not a single boss monster has higher magic resistance than this absolute beast; this thing is exactly what you would depict in the history books as the literal incarnation of terror.


    This game has a decently sized player base, but there was not a single player who didn''t complain about how difficult this beast ''Konda'' was.


    In this world, mana primarily enhances most skills and attacks, making them either complete or partial magical abilities.


    And Konda, the ''Abysmal Dragon'' has 95 percent magic resistance.


    Since most bosses in this game are weak to magic, most players used a magic build; as a result, this very dragon nearly defeated all players to the point of absolute frustration.


    And if you think that he might be weak to physical attacks, then you are sorely mistaken.


    Despite how fragile its bones may look from the outside, this beast is 99.99 percent immune to physical attacks, even if that minimal amount of 0.01 percent of a physical attack landed on it.


    It will still be reduced further by the 95 percent physical attack resistance.


    In other words, using physical attacks on this thing is basically useless.


    This thing is so brokenly overpowered that the game developers had to later turn it into an optional boss so players wouldn''t keep complaining about him.


    This boss monster alone caused nearly 90 percent of the of the player base to quit this horrible game.


    Fighting Konda is like attacking your own foot with a nuclear missile; you are wasting your life.


    The number of players who have ever defeated this boss monster can be counted on the fingers of a single hand, and obviously Jareth was not one of them as he was a casual player.


    ''Ah, what bad luck! What is this thing doing here!? It should be sealed in the depths of the ''Abyss altar'', which is basically the end game area!!''


    Jareth had no idea why this beast had suddenly appeared here; all he knew was that unless you kill this thing right here right now, nothing will survive.

 Chapter 163 - 163: Konda, The Incarnation of Terror! Part-2.

    ''This won''t do¡­ Even if I use the attack enhancement card, there are still high chances that this thing can tank it¡­''


    Jareth hasn''t defeated this bone dragon in the game, but he has certainly fought it a few times.


    He has also used boosting cards like ''Attack enhancement'' cards, but still, this monster has just too much resistance.


    It won''t be wrong to say that in terms of resistance, this bone dragon is stronger than a semi-grade-0 existence.


    Even that incarnation of the demon god had much weaker magic resistance than this thing.


    If it were any other powerful beast, Jareth would have either killed it or run away to avoid battle.


    But right now, Jareth has no choice.


    He has to kill this bone dragon right now.


    The very reason why this bone dragon was sealed in the depths of the ''Abyss Altar Area'', was because this thing can spread miasma and corruption on its own without even doing anything and just existing.


    Jareth glanced down and found that the ground that the bone dragon was standing on had already started to turn pitch black, and this corruption was spreading outwards extremely fast.


    Just by existing, this thing can corrupt and corrode everything that''s in it''s vicinity. If it''s not killed right now, then it will keep rampaging all over the continent and eventually corrupt everything.


    This will greatly hinder Jareth''s ultimate plan of escaping the corruption; the weakening of the false dome''s seal will accelerate, and things will become even worse than they already were.


    ''The main problem is¡­ why is this thing here? Did someone break the seal placed in the abyss altar?''


    Ever since Jareth read the map in Nathan''s hidden library, he already knew that there was one of the seven nodes of the False Dome seal located in the abyss altar area.


    The fact that this beast has escaped indicates that someone has already broken one of the false dome''s seven nodes.


    ''This is extremely bad news¡­''


    Jareth already knew who had an idea and was behind all this.


    ''I see, the false dome cult likely has found some method to track down the nodes, and they have already started their work of breaking the nodes¡­''


    The abyss altar area is a dangerous place, but for the False Dome cult, which has quite a few peak grade-1 mages, it''s not that difficult.


    ''They must have found this dragon sleeping there in the seal and likely set it free when they broke the node¡­ The thing that the abysmal dragon hates the most is the pure form of mana¡­''


    ''And in this world, I have the purest form of mana, which means it sensed my presence when it was wandering around underground¡­''


    Although Jareth knew that this theory was not likely 100 percent correct, he had already figured out most of the truth in a matter of seconds.


    His genius mind talent is no joke; he can figure out hidden things with just a few clues. If he were back on earth with this talent, he could have become one of the best detectives in the world.


    ''No matter the case, I will still need to fight this thing anyway¡­ better early than late¡­''


    This boss monster prevents access to the Abyss Altar Area''s deepest hidden chamber, which contains a sealed item of utmost importance.


    Jareth would have gone to fight this boss even if it hadn''t come looking for him itself.


    Thus, this fight was inevitable; he just didn''t expect that this beast would suddenly detect him when he was on a random stroll on the fifth floor of a dungeon.


    [Basic Magic: Wide Area Type: Magic Beam Bombardment!]


    Hundreds of giant magic circles measuring half a kilometer each appeared in the sky and began to fire massive beams of mana at the bone dragon below.


    ''Small attacks won''t do much damage; I need to slowly accumulate some damage before finding an opportunity to launch a big attack that can insta-kill this thing; otherwise, there''s no end to it¡­''


    Those giant beams that could have turned a peak-grade-2 mage into ashes weren''t even scratching this dragon''s bones.


    It seemed like there was barely enough to even tickle its body.


    The dragon didn''t even bother dodging these attacks, as they seemed as weak as a fly trying to hit it.


    The bone dragon raised its head toward the sky and opened its giant jaw.


    [Dragon Breath: Rotten Abyss!]


    The bone dragon fired a massive amount of miasma and corruption from its mouth as a breath attack and directly corrupted those mana circles in the sky before breaking them easily. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth knew that if he didn''t cut off his connection to those magic circles, Miasma would corrupt the connection as well, harming him in the process.


    Simply attacking this dragon is not the problem; the bigger issue lies in its ability to counterattack you so severely that your own magic can become harmful for you.


    Simply speaking, this boss monster is so overpowered that it seems like the developers created it just to torture the players on purpose.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    Even the darkness-repelling effect of the glowing mana orb was pretty useless on this boss, even after being enhanced by ''Mana Singularity''.


    At best, it was barely slowing the spread of corruption on the ground.


    ''Tch, this is the most troublesome enemy I have ever faced since coming into this world¡­''


    [Mana Command: Mana Shackles!]


    The mana in the ten-kilometer area immediately solidified at Jareth''s command and restrained the movements of all creatures within this range except for Jareth himself.


    The shackle momentarily halted the bone dragon, but it soon began to actively disperse miasma from its body, thereby contaminating the surrounding area.


    But Jareth wasn''t sitting idle in this small time frame either; he raised his hand towards the sky, and the night witch''s grimoire shone brightly, boosting and amplifying his magic.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Flaming Meteor Bombardment!]


    Boosted by mana singularity and the power of extremely pure mana, along with the amplification effect of the grimoire, Jareth cast the grade-3 flame magic that he had just recently learned after becoming a grade-3 mage.


    An insanely big magic circle appeared in the sky, and a gigantic burning meteor flew down at the speed of Mach 5.


    Its target was the head of the bone dragon.


    The power of this attack was indeed immense; just by its mere presence, the meteor evaporated all the moisture in the area, and the air became extremely dry and warm.


    Even the people in Bastille felt this sudden change; everything became hot, to the point that even those dark clouds that always cover the sky of the chaotic thunder desert started to dissipate.


    This attack raised the vigilance of the bone dragon, and the bone dragon immediately took an offensive approach.


    It poured a massive amount of miasma into its tail and flung its tail towards the falling meteor before it could even hit its body.


    *Boom!*


    The tail and the meteor collided, a massive shockwave was created, hundreds of tons of sand flew in the air due to the massive wind pressure, and a giant sand storm was created.


    The debris of the broken meteor flew in all directions, and some of it flew so far away that it hit the barrier in Bastille City, causing temporary cracks to appear on it.


    Although those cracks healed instantly due to the output of mana being high in the barrier, the people of Bastille understood one fact.


    In front of those two absolute powerhouses, this barrier is as weak as a sheet of paper.


    If that Bone Dragon wanted it, it could easily break this barrier and slaughter all of the people in this city.


    It will take just one attack to wipe this whole city off the map.


    This realization caused people to tremble in fear.


    Some people denied reality and hid in the corners of their houses to find some sense of security, while others directly fainted from the sheer shock of being powerless and insignificant.


    Ordinary people are so weak and powerless in front of this monstrosity that even their own existence feels insignificant when looking at that giant monster.


    The Bone Dragon is so tall and big that it seems to be touching the dark clouds in the sky just by standing there.


    Although Jareth seemed as small as an ant in front of that giant beast, he was the only hope for the people at that moment.


    People started to pray for his victory, and some even started to chant Jareth''s name with reverence and awe in their eyes.


    The abysmal dragon itself is a source of terror, and to think that a human is fighting this source of terror head-on is a very exciting thing.


    Jareth and the dragon''s fight seemed extremely out of the reach of ordinary people; it seemed like two gods were fighting each other while the mortals could only look up to them and wait for their fate to be decided.


    Thankfully, Aria and the group returned to the city on time and informed the mayor about the situation before things escalated.


    The city barrier was deployed at maximum power, and even Shin was invited to defend in case some stray attacks came their way.


    Although Shin and others can''t take part in that battle of absolute giants, they can at least help Jareth by trying to protect the common people from the collateral damage.


    Everyone knows that when peak powerhouses fight an all-out battle, the collateral damage caused by them alone can be very devastating.


    Shin and the group immediately took positions to help reduce this; even the mayor deployed the whole police force to control the people and reduce panic.

 Chapter 164 - 164: Konda, The Incarnation of Terror! Part-3.

    Standing on the city wall, Shin looked at that giant behemoth with a nervous and shocked expression on his face.


    ''T-that bone dragon¡­''


    Shin belongs to one of the most influential and oldest wizard families; thus, he has had access to a lot of history books that were completely out of the grasp of ordinary people.


    In the history books, there is a mention of a dragon who came on this planet in a meteor and then rampaged like a berserk insane beast for years!


    Eventually, it somehow fell into a forbidden area and was sealed off by several powerful Grade 1 mages.


    This dragon is mentioned in numerous folktales.


    The dragon had dark black scales and was extremely intimidating to look at; it was a true Abyss Dragon; it could control miasma and corruption easily; and it killed millions in its rampage.


    Except for this one dragon, there are no mentions of dragons in the history of this world.


    In the long annals of history, no one has discovered another dragon other than this Abyss Dragon.


    In other words, the bone dragon that Jareth is fighting is likely the same one.


    ''It doesn''t have black scales or a proper body¡­ Perhaps staying in that so-called forbidden place caused it to age and its body to rot. or perhaps the miasma that it controls has corrupted and destroyed its own body¡­''


    ''No matter the case, it''s a relief that this thing is not in its prime form at least¡­''


    Indeed, Konda isn''t even in its prime; if it had a proper body, its defense would have been even higher.


    You can even see cracks on those shining bones of this bone dragon; they were likely also created from centuries of corruption running deep into its body and penetrating its bone marrow.


    Jareth''s flame meteor left only a few scratches on its tail and didn''t affect it much.


    Shin was extremely shocked by this outcome.


    An attack that could have easily wiped out a grade-2 mage like him didn''t even injure the bone dragon.


    ''T-this is going to be troublesome¡­''


    Shin can already see that Jareth will have to retreat if things keep going like this.


    Moreover, there is no one in the current world who can contain this dragon; in the past, the dragon was only sealed because of its own mistake, but that might be impossible now.


    Furthermore, nearly a dozen grade-1 mages were required to seal this dragon, and there are currently only two grade-1 mages in the human race.


    In other words, sealing the dragon is also impossible.


    Looking at that dragon, Shin could feel endless helplessness.


    In the face of absolute power, tricks are useless; the gap in power is just too huge.


    The current human race can''t even beat Grade-2 mages with their advanced technology, so the weapons of the human race are pretty much useless against the bone dragon.


    And if things stay this way, then the world really may come to an end; this dragon will rampage in all directions and slaughter anyone and everyone.


    Mark and Risa, who just arrived at the city wall with Aria, also had a nervous and worried expression on their faces.


    They were worried about Jareth.


    At that time, they didn''t know why Jareth was sending them away in such a hurry, but after seeing this absolute monstrosity burst out of the ground, they figured everything out.


    If they were still beside Jareth, they would have been a hindrance for him.


    Weak people have no place on the battlefield of the true giants.


    Mark couldn''t help but clench his fists tightly while looking at Jareth, who was standing in the air and was stopping the Bone Dragon with his power alone.


    ''I must work hard¡­ I want to help him too; I don''t want to be considered a hindrance by the person I admire¡­''


    Mark has always wanted to follow in Jareth''s footsteps and become someone whom Jareth could acknowledge.


    Although Jareth''s figure looked so small in front of that massive dragon, his presence was giving unwavering hope to the people.


    He was representing the ''Hope'' of survival for humanity right now.


    At that moment, Mark realized what he needed to accomplish in his life: he needed to become someone who can singlehandedly create ''Hope'' for people in the darkest of times.


    To be a hope is to create light in a situation where everything seems ridden with despair and darkness.


    ¡­ S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    On the battlefield,.


    ''So even a meteor didn''t do much?''


    Jareth is now sure of the fact that even if he used the ''Attack Enhancement Card'' he still can''t beat this dragon.


    With his current abilities, Jareth can surely launch an attack that is much stronger than the one he created in Artavia with the help of a grade-1 mage and four grade-2 mages.


    The attack they created in Artavia was not only boosted by the power of several mages; it was also boosted by Jareth''s mana singularity and even had the amplification boost from the night witch grimoire along with the attack enhancement card.


    ''We were able to break the space-time fabric with that attack, but the area was too small¡­ If I use an attack enhancement card, I can certainly break the space-time fabric, but the area will not be much bigger either¡­''


    ''This dragon is just too big; that attack will barely be able to injure a small portion of it even if used¡­''


    ''I need something that can directly target this dragon as a whole¡­''


    While contemplating in his head, Jareth wasn''t sitting idle at all; he was launching many strong attacks, one after another, on the bone dragon.


    But just like before, they barely left a few scratches on its bones and didn''t do much damage.


    *Boom*


    The bone dragon did a claw attack and pounced at Jareth like a lion, but Jareth immediately utilized his float magic to dodge the attack in mid-air.


    He has already placed a massive mana detection field in this area and has also boosted his mana fluctuation sensitivity.


    Every time this dragon moves, its miasma collides with the mana in the air, creating mana fluctuations.


    Although they are very small and nearly untraceable mana fluctuations, Jareth can sense them with the help of mana singularity and increased mana fluctuation sensitivity.


    Thus, he could easily dodge the attacks of the bone dragon, as he could detect them the very moment the dragon moved even a single inch.


    It''s like Jareth has some kind of ''Dodge Hack'' placed on his body; he can dodge all of the dragon''s attacks before the other party''s attacks are even half-way to actually attacking.


    The bone dragon has long lost its mind to corruption, and it can''t make strategies or perform coordinated, proper attacks.


    It''s just a beast with an overly resistant body who only does things purely on instinct.


    The most basic instinct of an abyss dragon is to destroy everything, as they are literal incarnations of terror and destruction.


    And because its body and mind have rotted away, leaving only this instinct in its bones, it will continue to rage wildly until it dies.


    The overly defensive body of this bone dragon rendered Jareth''s attacks useless, despite his ability to easily dodge the attacks of this mindless beast.


    The situation between Jareth and Konda is that neither of them is able to harm each other, and the fight has entered a stalemate.


    Whenever Konda tries to attack Jareth, he flies away and attacks from a different angle, but no results are created from those attacks.


    This back-and-forth battle of fighting like crazy kept going and going endlessly.


    Three days and three nights passed by, and Jareth kept replenishing his mana from the surroundings forcefully and kept bombarding the dragon while the dragon kept jumping at him and even swung its tail to attack.


    The two of them battled from near Bastille to hundreds of kilometers away; they fought on the ground and in the air; hundreds of gigantic cracks were left on the ground, and the desert became even more of a wasteland than it already was.


    Although Jareth did his best to contain the miasma and corruption, the endless battle started to cause mental stress, and he stopped caring about the corruption on the ground.


    Jareth''s expression remained as cold as always, but the battle kept going.


    This battle was so fierce and terrifying that the phrase "The heavens were pierced and the earth was shattered¡­" seems to fit it perfectly.


    But these three days weren''t for nothing.


    Jareth finally seemed to have figured out a way.


    ''Although I don''t know if this method will actually work but¡­ I have nothing else left in my arsenal¡­ I have already fired all types of magic that I know on it¡­''


    Jareth suddenly flew up towards the sky, glanced down at Konda, and then spoke.


    "Konda! Don''t you think that the weather is quite nice today?"


    The dragon had already lost its mind long ago, so it couldn''t understand Jareth''s words. It opened its jaws and used sound waves to create a roar.


    *ROOOOARRRRRR!!!*


    Jareth wasn''t intimidated by that roar; instead, a smirk appeared on his face.


    ''Got you!''


    The dark clouds in the sky shone with purple thunder, and a massive bolt of thunder was launched towards Konda.


    ''In these three days, I have been purposely wandering, trying to fight in the sky, as I was analyzing the composition of the thunder in the sky¡­''


    Jareth started to analyze the thunder in the sky as soon as he entered this desert of chaotic thunder.


    He knew that the thunder here has the power of the ''Laws'' of the world in it, and he can learn more about the ''laws'' by analyzing this thunder.


    He declared to Mark and Risa that he was bringing them here for their training, but in truth, he came here to train himself, not them.


    ''This is it¡­ I will gamble it all on this one move¡­''

 Chapter 165 - 165: Heavenly Punishment!

    The desert of chaotic thunder is blessed by the ''law'' of ''truth'' at night, and if you say things that are not true, then you will get struck by the thunder.


    The force of this thunder is always equal to what you can handle, and it varies from person to person.


    The stronger someone is, the stronger the thunder that falls on them, but the power of this thunder is usually very weak, and it barely just burns you a bit and numbs your body for a few seconds.


    It is never lethal and doesn''t do much harm.


    But things can be changed if another power of the ''Law'' interferes in the process.


    Jareth had been analyzing the thunder in the sky for a long time with his ''mana singularity''.


    After using mana singularity on full capacity for so long, he figured out one thing.


    ''Mana singularity is likely not a true legendary skill¡­ The power of the ''law'' of the world behind it is much weaker¡­ or perhaps it has been degraded¡­''


    An endless sea of miasma surrounds this entire solar system. And as the ''law'' of ''miasma'' and the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' are completely opposite factors, they suppress each other actively.


    Due to the presence of the endless seas of miasma, the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' is much weaker in this place, and thus the ''Mana singularity'' skill is a much weaker version of the true legendary skill.


    ''I played the game for quite some time, and I never knew such a crucial thing¡­ sigh, as long as I am still in this endless sea of miasma, I can likely never see the true form of mana singularity¡­''


    Jareth figured out that he will have to make do with it for now; if he had the perfect version of this legendary skill, ''Mana Field'', then he could have analyzed the ''laws'' even faster.


    But even with this weaker version called ''Mana singularity'', Jareth was able to analyze most of the composition of the thunder that has manifested in the clouds above the desert.


    He purposely asked a random question and made Konda use his skills to roar at him.


    Jareth already knew that Konda doesn''t have consciousness, and no matter what he says, it will be considered a ''Lie'' by the ''law'' of ''Truth''.


    Not only are the ''laws'' of this world themselves against ''Miasma'', but Konda''s inability to tell the ''truth'' made him even more targeted.


    Then Jareth took advantage of this matter, the very moment the thunder was about to launch from the clouds.


    He raised his hand towards the clouds.


    [Mana singularity: Mana command: Enhance Composition!]


    Jareth used mana singularity to interfere with the formation of the thunder in the clouds.


    He forcefully enhanced the power of that thunder by giving ''Mana Command'' and forcing the mana in the area to enhance the composition of the thunder.


    He not only poured nearly all of his own mana to carry out that ''mana command'', he even used the grimoire to amplify the power of that thunder.


    And now that Jareth has added his own mana into this thunder, it can ''technically'' be considered an attack on his own.


    Which means now Jareth can use his Trump card as he has fulfilled the condition.


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! You have used an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)!]


    [Ding! Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    When Jareth finally received the notification that the attack card had activated, an evil smirk appeared on his face.


    He pointed to the sky and glanced at Konda, who was rushing towards him by jumping in the sky.


    "If heavens don''t dare to punish you,


    I shall bring the divine punishment upon you, Myself!"


    *BOOM!!* *CRACK!!*


    Amplified by the grimoire, enhanced with Jareth''s mana singularity, and further strengthened by 500 times, the bluish thunder became so strong and overwhelming that it changed colors.


    After undergoing such significant enhancement, the "Law" of thunder fully manifested in that lightning bolt.


    The thunder itself changed color and became pure golden; at that moment, that bolt of thunder was so wide that even Konda seemed smaller in front of it.


    It was no longer even possible to refer to it as a bolt of thunder; it was ''Divine Punishment'' that descended from the heavens.


    The moment the ''Divine Punishment'' fell, it shattered the ''space-time fabric'', ruptured the void, and reduced Konda''s whole body into ''absolute nothingness'' along with the whole space-time fabric in that place.


    In front of the overwhelming power of that ''Divine Punishment'', the space-time fabric itself seemed as weak as a piece of paper.


    Even Jareth felt a threat of ''Instant Death'' from just looking at that massive bolt of thunder.


    Fortunately, ''Divine Punishment'' didn''t target him, and even when he stood directly in its center, it didn''t hurt him in the slightest.


    In the first place, this ''Divine Punishment'' was created by enhancing the power of the ''Law'' of ''truth,'' which only targets those who ''Lie''.


    It was Konda who didn''t tell the ''truth,'' and thus Jareth was not the target of this ''Divine Punishment''.


    As they say,


    {Only those who commit sins fear the heavenly punishment; those who are untainted from sin have nothing to fear about in the face of divine tribulations!} (Source: Trust Me Bro¡­)


    Jareth already knew he wouldn''t get harmed by that heavenly punishment, so he didn''t even bother dodging and stayed still so that Konda could get a chance to pounce at him.


    And as Konda had already lost its mind to corruption long ago, it couldn''t feel the ''Emotion'' called ''Fear'' thus he never felt that the heavenly punishment might kill him instantly.


    And as he was so sure of his defensive power, he didn''t bother dodging; this was the main reason for his demise.


    If he still had a functional mind, he could have at least dodged the attack, albeit with fatal injuries.


    ¡­


    Once the heavenly punishment finally disappeared, the broken crack in the void became unstable and started to heal rapidly.


    Upon witnessing this, Jareth sighed and pondered in his mind.


    ''Sigh, so even the divine thunder can''t create a permanent gap in the void? I guess I really need to work harder if I really want to create a stable ''Wormhole''¡­''


    Jareth has long figured out that the ''Fabric of reality'' in this world is likely much stronger than the one in his previous world due to the influence of ''Mana'' and other factors.


    Due to this, it will be more trouble to create a stable wormhole, which could have been easier in his previous world.


    ''Sigh, at least not everything was for naught, I figure out a little bit of the traces of how the ''Laws'' of this world works¡­ That''s already a huge gain¡­''


    Although Jareth was already mentally and physically exhausted, a rare smile hung over his face.


    ''I may not have the perfect form of the legendary skill, but at least I now have a proper direction¡­''


    The name ''Mana Field'' sounds quite underwhelming for a skill that is stronger than ''Mana singularity'' but there is a reason for it.


    When Jareth completed analyzing the thunder, he came in contact with the ''Law'' of ''Truth'' for a millisecond, and in that small time frame he got knowledge about the ''True'' function of his legendary skill.


    ''Mana singularity'' can do a lot of things, but it can''t enhance magic, which you don''t have affinity for.


    But Mana Field can do that.


    As the name already suggests, Mana Field can be used to create a ''Field'' that will let you do literally anything with the ''Mana''.


    As long as you master it to perfection, you can create a ''Field'' where you can use mana as if you are a ''God of Mana'' or something.


    You can forcefully enhance your magic, regardless of whether you have an affinity for it or not.


    If Jareth had ''Mana Field'' he could have easily used any and every type of magic in that specific ''Field'', he could have directly nullified others mana and could have even stolen mana from the bodies of his opponents.


    ''Er.. thinking about it¡­ Mana Field seems like a bit too overpowered, even when compared to other legendary skills¡­''


    But Jareth has already learned the ''Truth''.


    All legendary skills are very overpowered if you master them to ''Perfection''.


    For example, if you can achieve ''Perfect'' mastery over ''Sword Intent'', you can cut anything and everything in the world.


    You can even ''Cut'' the ''concept'' of ''Life and Death'' from your body, which means death won''t come for you no matter what, and you will technically become ''Immortal''.


    Every legendary skill is a direct manifestation of the power of the ''Laws'' of the world in a person''s body; that is what makes them so broken and overpowered.


    ''Sigh, if only I had mana field, I wouldn''t have needed to bother creating a wormhole at all; I would have mastered it to perfection and would have used the ''Field'' to create a wormhole with ''Spatial magic''¡­''


    Jareth has been trying to figure out the way to escape this place for so long, and only now did you figure out that this whole time, he already had the easiest way attached to his own body all along.


    ''Forget it; now that I have finally gotten rid of this troublesome dragon, I should head back¡­ ugh.. I am just too mentally exhausted from the long battle¡­''


    Jareth used his float magic and flew away in the direction of Bastille. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A notification rang out in his ears at the same time.


    [Ding! You successfully got rid of one of the three endgame bosses and changed the plot!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 15000 Credit point!]

 Chapter 166 - 166: A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-1.

    Hotel Grand Moon, rooftop.


    Shin kept moving back and forth with a nervous and tense look on his face. Mayor Zang was standing on the side with dark circles under his eyes, and even Aria was standing nearby with a dazed look on her face.


    The three of them were already under a lot of pressure, as they hadn''t heard any news from Jareth for a whole day now.


    When the fight originally started, Jareth and Konda kept fighting near the bastille, and with the insanely huge body of that dragon, it was easy to see what was going on.


    But eventually the two of them kept changing the battlefield; the fight kept going for hours, and the two of them disappeared in distance while fighting.


    Shin and the others dared not use mana detection ability on that dragon; the dragon will sense it instantly and might even target Bastille too.


    No one had thought that the fight would keep going for so long.


    Whenever the dragon moved or attacked, its huge body caused small-scale earthquakes, making the lives of ordinary people in Bastille a mess.


    People have been living under the threat of annihilation these few days.


    The mayor had to work continuously to stabilize the chaos in the city, and the whole city is currently under martial law; no one is allowed to come out of the house.


    In fact, the massive amount of debris that flew towards the city during Jareth and Konda''s fight has already destroyed the barrier.


    Thankfully Shin was there to deal with the collateral damage, so there are no casualties.


    The whole desert in a fifty-kilometer area where the dungeon was originally located has been scorched black, and massive valleys filled with lave have been created.


    All of this is just a result caused by the fight between two peak powerhouses.


    Shin and the others dared not even think about entering that battle, as they could feel in their bones that if they entered the battle, they would surely die.


    In fact, they will be a hindrance for Jareth and will drag him down.


    Thus, they never entered the battle and kept praying for Jareth''s victory.


    Now that it''s already the night of the third day, there has been no news about what has become of that battle.


    Shin and the others are dying to know the outcome, as the outcome of this battle will decide their fate too.


    Konda is corrupted with miasma, and miasma hates living things and always tries to corrupt them; thus, it is absolutely certain that Konda will definitely rush back to destroy the city if it wins the battle.


    The mayor sighed at the situation and said in a depressed tone,


    "Sigh, I have already sent a distress message outside, but they said that they can''t send army in this isolated place so fast as military vehicles don''t work here¡­"


    "They will think about dispatching the military after knowing the outcome of the battle between that bone dragon and the ''Divine Flame''¡­"


    Shin frowned at those words and replied,


    "No, by the time we know the outcome of Jareth''s battle with that beast, it would be too late¡­ Although I don''t really think that Jareth will lose, we need to be ready for everything¡­"


    "Jareth may be a grade-1 mage, but he''s a human too after all; he has a limited amount of mana¡­ I don''t know how he hasn''t run out of mana until now, but surely he can''t keep going at this rate¡­"


    "The attack speed of that dragon is too fast¡­ Despite it''s huge body, its power and speed are on par with a Grade-1 Warrior¡­"


    Unlike mages, the appearance of a Grade-1 warrior is more difficult in this world.


    The human body has limits; magic can help cross those limits and grant amazing power.


    Warriors don''t have the support of magic; they are just people with stronger bodies and flashy weapon skills.


    In this world, to become a grade-1 is to break through the genetic limits of your body; for mages, it''s much easier as they have an insane amount of mana and the help of the mana circuit.


    But Warriors don''t have massive mana pools or a mana circuit; their mana is just deposited in their body, thus ascending to become a grade-1 warrior is very difficult.


    There hasn''t been a single grade-1 warrior in the past three centuries.


    In the current world, only Mark''s younger sister, Alice, has the potential to reach the level of a grade 1 warrior and become a true sword king.


    Due to birth defects, she was born with broken magic circuits, and thus even grade 1 individuals can''t help extend her magic circuit, but as if to compensate for the inability to wield magic, she has an insane talent for swordsmanship.


    The power and speed of a Grade 1 warrior are by no means weaker than those of a Grade 1 mage at all.


    Which means Konda not only has the miasma-type grade-1 mage-level magic abilities, it also has the power and speed of a grade-1 warrior.


    The fact that Jareth has been able to even keep up with such an insane beast for three days without getting injured is already an insane feat.


    Not even Reynald or Nathan could have achieved this feat, even after going all out.


    Jareth has a very strong physique, and his mana singularity helps him replenish his mana at an extremely fast speed; thus, he technically has infinite mana.


    He would have been defeated long ago if not for these two abilities.


    ¡­


    Just when Shin and the other two were getting more and more stressed, the night suddenly became bright all of a sudden.


    Gold light came from the direction where Jareth and Konda had gone during their fight. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "W-what going on!? T-this golden light¡­ and this bone chilling sensation¡­ H-heavenly punishment!?"


    Shin has read a lot of history books; thus, he immediately figured out what that golden light depicted.


    Only when the heavenly punishment falls does such a pure golden light appear and spread such insane spatial fluctuations in the void.


    Shin could feel that the space-time fabric itself was trembling and even Mana was getting chaotic.


    Looking in the direction of that golden light, a shocked expression appeared on Shin''s face.


    Heavenly punishment is the highest level of punishment an individual can get; it not only annihilates your body, it destroys your soul, will, consciousness, and everything.


    It straight up ''deletes'' you from existence and turns you into ''nothingness'' along with the space-time fabric in the area.


    Heavenly punishment usually only appears when the ''heaven''s'' itself is angry at something or someone.


    Now that it has appeared here, it means that it either has killed Konda or Jareth.


    Heavenly punishment is impartial; it doesn''t matter if you are tainted with miasma or not; it can fall on anyone that angers the heaven itself.


    In other words, there is still a chance that it could have fallen on Jareth too, and that''s extremely bad news for Shin and the others.


    Once something happens to Jareth, they are all as good as dead. The bone dragon will not let go of even a single person, as it can sense ''living'' beings with the help of miasma from hundreds of kilometers away.


    You can''t hide from its detection. The only way is to fight him to death or just keep running.


    Time passed slowly, the golden light disappeared, and everything went dark again.


    Half an hour passed by, and the tension in the air kept increasing for the three of them.


    Just when they were about to collapse from stress, a figure flew towards the city and bypassed the barrier before finally landing on the rooftop of the city.


    Jareth was alive and well.


    The usual cold expression was still on his face, the only difference being that he had a tired look in his eyes at the moment.


    Seeing him appear so suddenly, the three of them were shocked for a moment, but then happy smiles appeared on their faces.


    Shin quickly inquired in a worried tone,


    "W-what happened to that dragon? Did you win? Are you injured somewhere?"


    Aria also hurried over to cast healing magic, but Jareth waved his hand and denied it.


    He walked towards the stairs slowly. But before leaving, he said in a calm and tired voice,


    "Dead, that dragon was destroyed by the heavenly punishment; I was lucky to survive as the heavenly punishment didn''t target me¡­"


    "I am a bit exhausted, so I will leave the aftermath to you three¡­"


    With that said, Jareth went downstairs and headed towards his room to take some rest.


    He has been fighting for so long, and he was already mentally exhausted.


    Continuously dodging the endless attacks of that dragon for three days without getting injured and still counterattacking with powerful spells along with trying to analyze the thunder in the clouds above.


    Jareth was doing all of these at the same time.


    If he didn''t have the help of the mana singularity and the help of insanely pure mana, this would have been impossible.


    But not everything was fruitless.


    ''I gained 15000 credit points¡­ And even after using 4000 on that attack enhancement card that I used on Konda¡­ I still had 16100 left¡­ Now I have 31100 cp¡­''


    ''Now I can do another gold lottery¡­''


    A rare happy smile appeared on Jareth''s face as he entered his room and thought about his gains.


    Konda really pushed him to his limits, but the rewards he brought were equally generous.


    ''Let''s sleep for now¡­ I will use the lottery once I am back to my peak state¡­ I can''t wait to see the result¡­''

 Chapter 167 - 167: A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-2.

    Next Morning.


    Hotel Grand Moon, Main Entrance.


    Jareth woke up early today because he had a press conference to attend.


    The fight with Konda was a big deal; even the government was alarmed, and the military was on the move. If Jareth himself doesn''t come out to say that he has dealt with the threat already, things will not settle down.


    The chaos in the nation will hinder Jareth''s plan to find various important items and will likely change a lot of things that were in the original plot.


    Although changing plots can earn Jareth a lot of credit points, Jareth''s real goal is not to earn credit points after all.


    His goal is to create a stable wormhole.


    If things change too much and become too unpredictable, not only will Jareth lose the advantage of having information about the future, but he will also lose various items as their location might change.


    ''Well, I have always been ready for subtle changes; the biggest issue is that one of the seven nodes of the ''False Dome Seal'' has been broken...''


    Konda was located extremely close to the seal, and if this guy managed to escape the Abyss Altar area, then it only means one thing: that the seal node in that place has already been destroyed.


    ''It''s likely the work of the False Dome cult¡­ Although I don''t know how they found the location of the seals even without finding the hidden library, they likely already have the information in their hands.


    ''This is very bad¡­ Now that they have the initiative, they might attack any of the seals, and I might not be able to stop them¡­''


    Originally, Jareth planned to visit all seals, strengthen them, and put up a very strong magic barrier around them with the help of his own mana singularity.


    A magic barrier placed with the help of his mana singularity will be at the level of pseudo-grade 0, and to break such a barrier, even the False Dome cult will need a lot of time.


    Moreover, once the barrier gets destroyed, Jareth will immediately find out about the other party''s location, and he can directly rush over to seize the opportunity and slaughter all members of the cult.


    Jareth now has enough power, so he isn''t afraid; the moment he finds out the location of the False Dome members, he will slaughter them on the spot.


    Currently, Jareth has the ability to disrupt the entire plan of the False Dome Cult if he discovers their whereabouts.


    But the main problem is that he has no idea where these people are hiding.


    Even with his insane mana detection skills, Jareth can''t scan the whole planet after all.


    He doesn''t have that ability yet.


    Of course, if he had ''Mana Field'', he could have directly asked the ''Law'' of mana to help him and guide him to his targets.


    Mana is practically everywhere in the world, and if Mana helps him out, then nothing in the world can hide him at all.


    This is the power of a ''Law''; if not for the suppression of the endless sea of miasma, Jareth would have had this power in his grasp.


    ''I will need to speed up things¡­ If I don''t hurry, things will really get bad¡­''


    As long as the cult is able to successfully destroy at least four of the seal''s nodes, miasma will start leaking at an unstoppable level.


    Once four nodes are destroyed, the other three won''t have enough power to keep resisting the insane pressure brought by the endless sea of curroption.


    The rest of the nodes will get corrupted at an astonishing rate, and the seal will break easily.


    In other words, Jareth has to at least protect four nodes of the seal if he wants to stop the calamity.


    Now that one has already been broken, the situation has already started to head towards a dire state.


    The main problem in front of him is that no one in the current world knows how to repair this node.


    The whole seal of the False Dome was created by that Golden King, and no one knows what methods he used to create the seal.


    Even if Jareth has to reverse-engineer this seal, it will likely take him a few years; at least after all, the seal is just too big; it covers the whole solar system.


    Even Jareth isn''t arrogant enough to think that he can reverse-engineer a seal that can cover the whole solar system in just a short time period.


    ¡­


    While thinking about various countermeasures in his head, Jareth walked out of the hotel entrance gate and approached a luxurious car that was waiting outside.


    The mayor personally opened the door of the car for Jareth.


    Jareth patted the other party''s shoulder and said,


    "I heard you did a good job protecting the citizens and keeping the chaos in the city calm¡­ You are indeed worthy of your position, Mayor Zang¡­"


    With that said, Jareth entered the car and waved his hand towards the mayor and asked him to enter the car too.


    Although Mayor Zang really didn''t want to sit in the same car as this walking nuclear missile, he had no other choice.


    He had to follow Jareth''s order, as he didn''t want the other party to get angry at him.


    He sat beside Jareth and kept wiping the sweat from his face with the handkerchief.


    These few days, Mayor Zang has sweated so much that he has lost half his weight by now.


    He used to be a bit fat, but now he looks much thinner. Jareth''s aura is really quite a good power for people who want to reduce their weight.


    "By the way, has there been anything unusual in the city lately?"


    Upon hearing that abrupt question from Jareth, the mayor panicked and thought,


    ''F*ck! Could it be that he found out I am purposely taking bribes from a lot of people!?''


    "Er.. Unusual¡­ ah! Come to think of it, several people recently reported that the central lake that always used to shine with bright bluish color under the moonlight has now stopped shining¡­"


    "People have now become unable to ''vividly'' remember their past memories, unlike before when sitting around the lake¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied with a calm voice.


    "That bone dragon was lurking underground before it burst out from the ground near the dungeon¡­ It is very likely that the bone dragon likely messed up with something that was important to the river¡­"


    Jareth directly pushed the whole blame of this matter on Konda without even batting an eye; he''s really too good at manipulating facts.


    The mayor also believed Jareth''s words without even a single shred of suspicion.


    To him, the words spoken by an all-powerful grade-1 mage like Jareth are like the words of God; they are absolute.


    Even if Jareth admitted that he was the one who caused this change, the mayor won''t dare to bother Jareth about it, as you can''t blame a ''nuclear weapon'' for causing destruction.


    Blaming a walking natural disaster for such trivial matters is like looking for your own death. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Even when the people came together to protest against Nathan back in the capital city, no one really dared to actually go and break inside the academy forcefully.


    They''re all afraid of an absolute powerhouse, after all.


    Even the nuclear weapons can''t kill Grade 1 mages, let alone these powerless ordinary people.


    All that protest did was damage his reputation and demonstrate the attitude of the populace.


    ¡­


    "Uh, I have been meaning to ask it¡­ Do you have any information about the origin of that dragon¡­ Not that I suspect you, sir, its just I need some information as I need to report things to my superiors¡­"


    Mayor Zang was really in a desperate state right now.


    His superiors are urging him to report everything related to the matter, but he doesn''t have the courage to just go and interrogate Jareth about the details.


    Although this is just an official and harmless procedure, it would be him who would bear the consequences if Jareth got displeased by this matter of questioning him.


    "Ah, yes¡­ Don''t worry about it much; just tell your superiors that this bone dragon likely came from the ''FA-AA''; they need to increase security¡­"


    "Once you tell them about this, they will understand immediately and stop bothering you¡­"


    Mayor Zang had no idea what this code word meant, but he didn''t dare to ask too many questions.


    Jareth has already given him enough of an explanation; there was no need to pester the other party for a further explanation.


    If Jareth''s words are true, then his superiors will figure things out on their own after hearing this code word; it doesn''t matter if he himself knows about it or not.


    ''Sometimes knowing too much is also harmful to yourself; it''s better not to get involved in things that are not related to yourself..''


    The mayor considered this in his mind and ceased his speech.


    The mayor didn''t know that this was one of the best decisions of his life.


    FA-AA stands for ''Forbidden Area¡ªAbyss Altar, and simply knowing about the existence of that area in itself is a curse.


    That area contains the vilest and corrupted creatures of this world. It''s a land fully corrupted by miasma; just looking at that place once is enough to drive an ordinary person insane.


    That place can easily corrode people''s minds and bodies and demonize them at an alarming speed.


    Even in the game, that place was so difficult that the developers had no choice but to turn that area into an ''optional'' place along with its boss monster, ''Konda''.

 Chapter 168 - 168: A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-3.

    Azul has never been to the outside world before.


    He grew up in the underground hidden village, and thus he never knew he saw the real sky.


    In fact, even people of Bastille can only see the sky over Bastille; the rest of the sky in the desert is covered with dark clouds after all.


    He originally followed Jareth here because he wanted to help out his village, but he was also quite excited to see the outside world with his own eyes.


    As he was promised, his sister was sent convicted for her crimes, but she only got two years of jail time because of Jareth''s words.


    Due to the urging of the mayor, the court hurriedly completed the Ensha''s case, and in just a mere half an hour, everything was a done deal.


    Usually it takes months to properly complete a case, but this one was so fast that it seemed rushed.


    Even the judges knew how serious the situation was; a grade-1 mage has a lot of say in the empire after all.


    Jareth''s casual words were enough to make them work fast and resolve things according to what he had said.


    For grade 1 mages, jail, law, and police, these are just mere decorations; they can''t really do anything to them at all. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A person who even a nuclear bomb can''t kill isn''t considered ''human'' by the court anymore.


    If someone dies due to a grade-1 mage, the court will simply declare that the death occurred due to a ''Natural Disaster'', not human intervention. Therefore, there is no need to initiate a case in this regard.


    Grade 1 mages are considered ''Natural Disasters''; they aren''t judged like human beings anymore; they are in their own league after all.


    This is also the reason why Mayor Zang has been so frightened these past few days.


    Even if Jareth kills him in broad daylight in front of a large crowd, no one will blame him.


    Instead, there will be people who will clap and come forward to say that Zang must have been a traitor or something.


    When you have power to overwhelm a country, common sense doesn''t apply to you anymore. People come forward to stick to you and try to gain your favor even when you are doing bad things.


    Mayor Zang has a family to take care of after all; he can''t afford to lose his life. As a grade-3 mage himself, he''s not afraid of death, as he has fought in many battles before.


    The thing he is afraid of is that his family will be implicated if something goes wrong.


    For a being who can destroy a whole country, killing a few people is just a matter of waving his fingers slightly.


    Mayor Zang''s fear has genuine reasons behind it.


    Only someone like Shin, who has been hanging around Jareth for a long while, can afford to behave so carelessly; Zang does not have that luxury.


    ¡­


    Bastille, Central Area, City Park.


    ''I wonder what he will say in the conference today¡­''


    A large press conference has been arranged by the mayor for Jareth in this central park.


    Azul, Mark, and the rest of the group were also sitting on the chairs that were placed in front of a temporarily made stage.


    Hundreds of bodyguards were standing on guard in the whole central park, and dozens of reporters and cameramen had already occupied all the chairs in the place.


    Now everyone was waiting for Jareth to come on the stage.


    Looking at this scene, Azul couldn''t help but feel nervous.


    Although he''s not who''s going to be on the stage, this is the first time he has seen such a grand scene after all.


    But this was not the real shocking thing for him.


    The biggest shock he got was when he saw Jareth fighting that massive bone dragon.


    Azul had heard from his sister that Jareth is one of the strongest people in the whole empire, but he had no idea just how strong Jareth actually was.


    Only after seeing Jareth in real combat did he figure out that Jareth is really an insanely strong man.


    Azul was already feeling dizzy just by looking at that dragon, but Jareth was able to fight with that beast toe to toe.


    And he even won the battle in the end after fighting continuously for three consecutive days.


    Jareth''s performance has completely shattered Azul''s worldview.


    Azul used to think that the magic of his sister was powerful and amazing, but in front of Jareth''s magic, it was not even worth comparing.


    "Uh, Big Bro, when is Vice-principal going to arrive?"


    Hearing Azul''s words, Mark couldn''t help but smile happily.


    "He should be here soon¡­"


    Originally, Mark was a bit tensed when he found out that Jareth had personally brought Azul as a student.


    Mark knew that if Azul has been acknowledged by Jareth as his student, then Azul is likely not a simple guy at all.


    In his opinion, Jareth is the most intelligent wizard in the whole empire; everything he does has a reason behind it, so Mark immediately figured out that Azul must have very impressive talent if he can catch even Jareth''s eyes.


    Jareth doesn''t seem to like untalented people, but if he finds someone who''s genuinely talented, Jareth always favors them.


    Mark has always liked this aspect of him.


    After all, being a wizard means that you must be selfish first. Only a student with great talent can return the investment you put in them.


    As someone who''s been following in Jareth''s footsteps for a while now, Mark has realized a lot of things.


    He was originally going to teach a good lesson to this newbie to assert his seniority, but it turned out that the other party is just a weak village kid who doesn''t even know how to use basic magic properly yet.


    There was no point in beating someone so weak.


    Mark will not gain any fame or honor from beating someone who''s already too weak for him; it''s pointless.


    Then Azul started to call him ''Big Bro'' after he figured out that Mark was the first disciple of Jareth and referred to Risa as ''Big Sis''.


    Both Mark and Risa were thrilled that they felt like they forgot about making things difficult for Azul.


    Mark indeed has a younger sister, but she''s a very mischievous kid who doesn''t even refer to Mark as Big Brother most of the time, so now that someone started calling him ''Big Bro'', it felt amazing.


    On the other hand, Risa doesn''t have any younger siblings, so being called ''Big Sis'' was a new and happy experience.


    She was originally going to give Azul her ''torture''-related books to read, but then she decided not to do so as that might break her ''Big sis'' like image.


    Azul, on the other hand, was totally unaware that his two seniors were originally planning to beat the sh*t out of him but didn''t do so after they figured out that he was too weak to even bully.


    Instead, Azul was thankful that there were others of the same age as him.


    But the difference is that Mark and Risa are much stronger than him.


    They have received a lot of training since childhood, and thus it will be near impossible for Azul to close the gap in combat power for a short time.


    He will likely need a year or two to even catch up to the current abilities of the two of them.


    Thinking about his own combat power, Azul sighed and clenched his fist tightly.


    ''I must become strong¡­.''


    When Azul was still in the village, he was unaware of how things were in the outside world.


    He was physically stronger than all the kids of the village and used to be proud of himself as his sister was the strongest in the village.


    But only after coming out of that small place did Azul realize that he was a just frog in a well.


    Only after coming out of that well did he realize that the world is very big and there are strong people in every corner of the world.


    Dangers lurk everywhere.


    That insanely strong Bone Dragon was lurking underground for who knows how long.


    Luckily it attacked the dungeon, and Jareth was there to keep it in check, but if the dragon had attacked their small village, nothing would have been left alive.


    Azul would have lost all his family in a matter of seconds.


    Only after witnessing the horror of that bone dragon did Azul realize how insignificant and weak he is in front of dangers of that level.


    ''I must become strong, or I will not be able to save those who I care for¡­''


    Azul firsthand saw just how much people fear and respect Jareth. Just a few casual words were enough to get his sister forgiveness for all those crimes she committed over the years.


    Now Azul has made it his life''s goal to reach the level of Jareth and protect his loved ones with his own power.


    He can''t keep relying on his sister or his newly found master; he must carve out his own path for himself.


    That is what Mark and Risa are doing, and he should also do the same.


    Without the power to defend yourself, you are nothing in this world; a random bone dragon may burst out of the ground any day and smash your home and family right in front of you.


    There is no guarantee that there was only one bone dragon; there may be more in the future.


    If he doesn''t have the power to keep his loved ones safe, he will regret and blame himself his whole life.

 Chapter 169 - 169: A New Beginning for Bastille! Part-4.

    Mayor Zang followed behind Jareth with a smile on his face; he kept wiping the sweat from his face and maintained those perfect mannerisms that nobles follow.


    Just standing in Jareth''s presence is already a difficult thing, and he''s been doing so for more than half an hour now.


    Fortunately, the mayor finally got the chance to breathe a sigh of relief after Jareth went on stage, and he himself got to sit on one of the seats in the front row.


    ''Phew~ after this speech, I guess they will be ready to leave¡­ although it would be good. If a grade 1 mage can permanently stay in this place and improve safety, that is just my wishful thinking¡­''


    Although Zang still harbors fear for Jareth, he understands the crucial role a Grade-1 mage can play in safeguarding civilians from extremely powerful threats.


    If Jareth hadn''t happened to be here at the right time, that bone dragon would have laid absolute destruction on Bastille.


    The whole city would have been wiped off from the surface of Earth.


    Everyone in Bastille owes Jareth a big favor now, including the mayor himself.


    ''I guess I should prepare a generous farewell gift for them all¡­''


    Just when the mayor was still busy thinking about random things, Jareth took the mic and glanced at the sky first.


    "Before we start the meeting, let''s change that gloomy weather first¡­"


    Jareth''s abrupt declaration stunned everyone at that moment.


    No one knew what Jareth wanted to do; he slowly floated up in the sky and raised his finger towards the sky.


    [Mana Singularity: Mana Command: Law interruption: Eliminate Phenomena!]


    ¡­


    (Sudden Flashback)


    Mayor Zang has always been a calm-minded person since childhood; he was good at studies and inherited the position he has today from his father.


    Once upon a time in his younger days, Zang had a conversation with his father.


    "Father, why is it that only our city is surrounded by clouds and the rest of the world isn''t? Is there no way to solve this?"


    Zang''s father sighed and patted the young kid''s head before saying,


    "My son, there are two types of phenomena in this world, one that we can control and study about¡­ And the other is the one that we mortals can''t control or comprehend with our abilities¡­"


    Standing on the balcony, Zang''s father pointed towards the distant dark clouds and said,


    "Those clouds represent the uncertain future, Zang; no one knows where or when they will rain thunder¡­"


    "Our lives are also like that; no one can see the future, and thus we never know what difficulties might come our way in the future; it may be calm one moment, but deadly the other¡­"


    "Life is a game of surviving difficulties and improving your mentality¡­"


    "Those who can pass these tests live, and those who can''t, end up forgotten in the long annals of history¡­"


    Zang''s father smiled and said,


    "So, I hope you will grow up strong enough to face any situation with a calm mind¡­"


    At that time, Zang asked a silly question out of curiosity.


    "But father, what if one day a person appears who can really control these clouds?"


    Zang''s father laughed a bit at that question and replied in an amused tone,


    "Well, if such a person were to exist¡­ that being couldn''t be called a ''Human'' anymore¡­ No mere human has the ability to influence the ''Laws'' of the world to this extent¡­"


    "I guess we can say that such beings would have transcended the''mortal'' form and can be considered something above the realm of mortals¡­"


    "Such a being would be even stronger than a grade 1 mage! At that point, we can already refer to such a being as a ''Demi-god''!!"


    ¡­


    (Back to present)


    Everyone, including the mayor, got up from their seats with a look of absolute shock in their eyes.


    Mayor Zang remembered the conversation he once had with his father and thought to himself,


    ''Father, you were right¡­ A being of this caliber can indeed be called a demi-god¡­''


    As if the sky had heard Jareth''s command, everything went silent for a moment, and then the change started.


    The clouds started to dissipate at an insanely fast speed, and the clear blue sky slowly started to become clear.


    The warm sunlight finally fell on the desert after who knows how many millennia.


    The sky seems to be blessing Jareth, and Jareth seemed to be blessing all the mortals at this moment; he seemed to be shining with divine radiance.


    This wasn''t an illusion though; Jareth had figured out how to ''influence'' the law of thunder in this area while fighting Konda.


    He figured out that he only needed to make a slight change in the way of the ''Law'' of thunder, and the whole sky would be free from its influence.


    If Jareth didn''t have mana singularity and the purest form of mana, doing something like this would have been just a pipe dream.


    But Jareth was able to achieve this today all because he had the ability.


    All the problems in Bastille are happening just because of these clouds; they make vehicles and other things completely useless.


    But now that Jareth has fixed it, everything will become normal.


    The government will be able to establish a proper trade route, vehicles will connect Bastille to the rest of the empire, and there will be no more shortage of food and resources.


    The military could be placed here much faster, and there will be no more need to exile people from the city as the excessive tax will be eliminated soon.


    Just by removing these clouds, Jareth not only improved his own control and knowledge over the ''laws'' of this world, he even helped nearly a million people who live in Bastille.


    Jareth''s previous feats were impressive too; he was able to beat strong monsters, but those were his personal achievements; they didn''t benefit anyone else much.


    But now that Jareth has helped a million people not only once but twice. Once from Konda and now from the fate of living in isolation.


    He''s created a miracle that no one has before.


    At that moment, Jareth didn''t know that this casual act of his will would cause his name to spread far and wide; his name will be recorded in history books, and the Flame God Jareth''s cult will gain thousands of believers after this event.


    ¡­


    As everything was being broadcast live on TV and various social media platforms by the reporters, all the people on the internet directly went crazy after seeing Jareth perform that insane miracle.


    "Godda*mn! We got the goat performing miracles before G*A 6!!"


    "Roses are red, violets are blue, dark clouds, f*ck you!!"


    "Ah, the sun, the sun!! Praise the sky! Praise the sun!! Praise the Holy Flame!!"


    "Babe, wake up! A new earth update just dropped; the dark sky glitch got patched up by the god of flames!!"


    "Looking at the dark scenery, the goat felt that it was lacking, so he waved his finger and said to the god of dark clouds, "Okay buddy, pack up; it''s time to piss off from here¡­", The mortals were left in shock at that arrogance¡­"


    The people on the internet went crazy on the spot.


    Several travel companies'' faced massive customer flow that day; people threatened the tour and travel companies to open trips for Bastille.


    That day, people willingly came forward to donate money so that the government could hurry up and build a road to Bastille.


    Unaware of all the chaos that Jareth created that day, he just went and gave a random speech.


    He told people some random details about the origin of the bone dragon and also told them that he used the heavenly thunder to help him out in battle.


    This made the people even more excited.


    No one in the long annals of history has been able to control the power of ''Heavenly punishment''.


    If Jareth has really achieved this feat, then he has really surpassed most people in this world.


    His name will be remembered by all, and people will create biographies and movies on his life and his achievements.


    Azul, Mark, and others who were present on the scene were so shocked that they had no words to describe their thoughts.


    They originally thought that Jareth would just give some speech, and then they would leave the city quietly and go back home.


    But who could have thought that Jareth would come forward and create such an insane miracle out of nowhere!


    Moreover, it seemed as if Jareth was thinking of this matter as just a casual thing; he didn''t even bother talking about it and just gave a speech and left afterwards; he didn''t even take a single question from the reporters.


    Although it was a press conference, no one was even able to question him, as they still hadn''t recovered from the shock by the time Jareth left the scene. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''He''s become stronger again¡­''


    Mark clenched his fist and figured out that Jareth had become even stronger than before now.


    The gap between the two was already very big from the start. Mark was hoping to close this gap slowly, but all his efforts were rendered useless by Jareth.


    No matter how fast Mark tried to improve, Jareth was always one step faster.


    ''At this rate¡­ I will not be able to catch up to him in my whole life¡­ I must work harder¡­''


    Jareth''s miracle marked the day for a new beginning for Bastille.


    From now on, people can come and leave Bastille easily, the place will no longer be isolated from the rest of the world.

 Chapter 170 - 170: The Bleak future...

    Next day, Morning.


    Standing atop the city wall, Jareth glanced at the military vehicles pouring into Bastille.


    Now that Bastille is no longer isolated, the government has decided to send the military to strengthen the defenses of this place.


    Moreover, they will soon be able to create a military base nearby, and the whole desert has now become available to the empire.


    The benefits this place will bring are immense.


    The government can create hidden bunkers and nuclear powerplants in this vast desert.


    Solar panel farms can be created now, and the amount of solar energy this place will bring is immense.


    Although most of the money will still end up in the pockets of corrupted ministers and officers, people will still have access to a significant amount of energy.


    The more energy sources the empire has, the cheaper the electricity bills will be.


    In the end, the whole empire will benefit from this one move of Jareth.


    This is the reason why Grade 1 mages are considered above ''Law'' in the empire; they have the power to sway the whole nation and change the geography of a country.


    Just by using his understanding of the laws in this area, Jareth directly influenced the change.


    From now on, Bastille will become a hotspot for those who want to personally come and see the traces of battle left behind by Jareth and Konda.


    Tourists will arrive in this place from all over the nation, and the economy will be boosted a lot.


    ''Even after all this, I barely got just two thousand credit points¡­ I guess that these clouds didn''t have much effect on the main plotline afterall¡­''


    ''Still, two thousand is more than nothing; I can still make do with it¡­''


    Jareth''s dark purple hair waved along with the warm breeze. He put his hands behind his back and glanced at the horizon with a look of contemplation on his face.


    ''Moreover, Bastille will not stay a desert anymore¡­ The reason why it''s currently a desert is because it hasn''t rained in this place for several centuries¡­''


    ''Now that those dark clouds are gone, the whole area will finally get to have changing seasons¡­ There will be monsoon soon¡­''


    Eventually the land will start recovering, vegetation will grow, and this vast desert will turn into a large forest area.


    ''Alas, it''s pointless¡­''


    If Jareth hadn''t known about the truth of this world, he would have thought that everything would become better now. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    But as he knows about it, he also knows that it''s pointless.


    The whole planet will get destroyed by the unavoidable tide of miasma; there''s no future for this world.


    Perhaps this was also the reason why none of the grade 1 mages in the past tried to solve the crises in this place.


    They would have had to devote a lot of energy to studying the workings of the ''laws'' here, and the result would have still been ''pointless''.


    Jareth can understand the thoughts of the grade-1 mages now; he can see why most of them are so fixated with benefits and stuff.


    They already know that the world is going to end; why not just enjoy the time they have left?


    If they already know that the whole planet will get destroyed, they won''t waste their time solving this crisis here, as it''s just pointless efforts.


    The reason why Jareth decided to solve it was not much different thought.


    He already knows that there''s no saving this planet, but at least the people will be able to live a decent life in these last few years.


    Death is not what''s terrifying; it''s the thought that it might happen to you that is more terrifying for the common people.


    If he tells people that the whole world is going to get destroyed soon, then panic and chaos will happen.


    But if he keeps them in the dark about it, then at least the people will die without suffering too much.


    Knowing about the exact date of death will just cause them to panic and anxiety.


    And now that he has already decided to escape from this place, Jareth is just trying to leave a few last gifts behind for the people.


    ''Sigh, if there was a way to completely resolve this sea of miasma and destroy it thoroughly¡­ I would really like to take that path instead¡­''


    Jareth personally doesn''t like the fact that he has to ''escape'' from something, but when things are out of hand, it''s always good to retreat.


    ''If my guess is right, the sea of miasma is much bigger in size than a whole galaxy¡­ It likely spans across many galaxies¡­''


    ''To destroy something of that scale¡­ I really can''t think of what can achieve it¡­''


    Even the mana-powered nuclear bombs are, but at the level of being able to destroy a continent at most.


    Against the power of a sea of corruption that spread across galaxies, this is nothing; it isn''t even enough to barely cause any damage.


    And it''s not just that the sea of miasma is big; it''s blessed by the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' itself.


    ''I wonder if there exists a legendary skill that can be used to command ''Miasma'' like how I use mana singularity to command ''mana''¡­.''


    If there was someone in this world who could control the power of Miasma, it would have been much easier to eliminate the Endless Sea of Miasma with their power.


    ''No wait, I need to consider the worst-case scenario too¡­''


    If there really is someone who can control the miasma with the help of a legendary skill, then that certain someone might be their actual reason why this sea of miasma even exists in the first place.


    Jareth''s thoughts weren''t actually baseless.


    He has mana singularity himself, and if he can get his hands on ''Mana Field'' and master it to ''perfection'' he would be able to control the law of ''Mana''.


    Then he can artificially create a massive sea of infinite mana too; in other words, there''s a possibility that the sea of miasma could be an artificial thing.


    Jareth has to consider all possibilities after all.


    ''Hmm, I can already consider that my escape plan might have three different possibilities..''


    The first possibility is that Jareth succeeds in escaping, learns mana field, and then counterattacks on some later date after perfecting it.


    This is the optimal result, precisely what Jareth is striving for.


    The second possibility is that his escape plan fails and he gets engulfed by the sea of miasma.


    At that point he will be stuck in a battle with the demons while still trying to resist the corrosion of the sea of miasma.


    Eventually he will run out of mana and die, then his soul and body will get corrupted and he will turn into a demon; at that point he will never be able to escape the control of Miasma.


    Once his soul gets corrupted, he will have no free ''will'' of his own.


    Jareth is trying his best to avoid this outcome.


    The third one is the worst possibility.


    The third outcome can be that the sea of miasma is being controlled by someone, and that demon god who is leading the False Dome cult is likely also just a minion of that certain someone.


    If this possibility is true, then the wormhole will never even open, and then the demon god will personally capture his soul and torture him till his soul gets annihilated into nothingness.


    This is the possibility that Jareth doesn''t want to face at all.


    It doesn''t matter if he can reach grade-0 or not; unless he has ''perfect'' mana field, he can''t win against someone who can control the sea of miasma.


    ''Sigh, I don''t know what the future holds for me¡­ but all I can do is get stronger for now¡­ I already have enough credit points, so I should do another lottery draw soon¡­''


    Just when Jareth was still contemplating his future, the mayor came over with a bright smile on his face.


    He saluted Jareth respectfully and then said,


    "Sir, the hidden village that you informed us about has been officially recognized; all of the people in that place will receive support, and that place will be turned into a new underground city for them¡­"


    "Bastille is open to the outside world now; there''s no need for extra tax, and people will get a lot of subsidy from the government. I promise you that there will be no more people who will be exiled anymore¡­"


    "It''s all thanks to you that things have improved so much. I would like to sincerely thank you for your efforts¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and replied in a calm tone,


    "I just did it on a whim, no big deal¡­ From now on, put your most efforts into improving the lives of people; that way your family will be able to wash away the sins of exiling so many people¡­"


    "Maybe those dead souls may not forgive you¡­ But you can at least try your best¡­"


    Originally Jareth was just going to leave that village as it is, but then Azul came over and requested that it would be better to connect the village to the outside world now that things are getting better.


    He even contacted the people back home personally and made them agree to this offer.


    Jareth directly agreed to this matter, as he personally doesn''t care much; in the end, it doesn''t really matter where these people want to live or how they want to live.


    This world''s fate is already decided; it''s just a matter of time.


    Even the false dome seal can only buy extra time but can''t save the world forever.

 Chapter 171 - 171: Flames of Destruction... Part-1.

    Bastille, A newly built helipad.


    Standing near the helipad, Jareth nodded his head at Mayor Zang and said in a calm voice,


    "I am surprised you were able to build a new helipad in just a day. I have to say, you are really a capable person, Mayor Zang¡­"


    Mayor Zang shook his head and gave a flattering smile in return for those words.


    "Haha, Sir is joking. I put a lot of workers on work just so that you and the others will have the opportunity to board a helicopter to return home¡­"


    "This way, your journey will be much smoother¡­"


    Zang wanted to show that he will work hard and improve the infrastructure in this place fast, and Jareth was really impressed by this enthusiasm.


    ''I guess there are still a few people in the government who are not corrupt and are genuinely working for the good of the common folk.''


    Jareth stretched out his hand to do a handshake with Zang and patted the other party on the shoulder.


    "Keep up the good work. I shall take my leave now. Let us meet again if fate allows it¡­"


    With that said, Jareth boarded the helicopter along with the rest of the group.


    Now that he has gotten both the important materials that he needed from this place, it is time to go back to the capital city first.


    Not only Jareth, the rest of the group also gained a lot from this small trip.


    Shin originally agreed to tag along just for buying the lipstick for his wife, but he got to witness Jareth''s battle against Konda and got a lot of new insights of his own.


    Aria traveled with Jareth in the dungeon, and she got a huge boost in her confidence. From now on, she will not be as intimidated as before; she will aim to conquer her fears.


    Mark and Risa both got to learn a lot of things and got to spend an amazing time in Bastille too.


    Lastly, Azul''s entire life was changed by Jareth.


    Now his fellow villagers will not die and will live a happy and decent life; his sister will be free from the endless pursuit of the police and will become a free person after completing just two years in jail.


    By that time, he will also be close to his graduation, and she will be able to attend his graduation ceremony from the university.


    For Jareth, his actions were meant for his own benefits, but he still ended up changing many lives with his actions.


    He even saved the people of Bastille from the endless cycle of taxation and exile.


    If you ask him about it, he will say that these people have clearly misunderstood him as a hero; he is no hero at all¡­ He''s a selfish person, working for his own benefits.


    Originally, Jareth was misunderstood as strong; now he''s misunderstood as a hero, but only he knows the reality of himself.


    In front of the endless sea of miasma, he is as weak as an ant, and due to his own goals of abandoning this planet, he''s not a hero at all.


    Still, he doesn''t really care about these things; he didn''t bother clarifying these misunderstandings at all.


    These misunderstandings can now work in his favor; after all, it''s better to let them stay for a while.


    ¡­


    The helicopter took off, and the people of Bastille collectively came together to wave their hands and say farewell to Jareth.


    In their eyes, he''s a hero after all; his name will be recorded in the annals of history as the Great Sorcerer who defeated a bone dragon and commanded the heavens to get rid of the twisted ''laws'' near Bastille.


    Mark and Risa glanced down and smiled when they saw so many people coming out of their homes, waving and cheering for them in the streets below. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shin glanced at Jareth, who was sitting with his eyes closed, and said in an amused voice,


    "You really created quite the scene this time¡­ How does it feel to be considered a hero?"


    Jareth opened his eyes and replied with his usual cold tone.


    "I did everything out of my own free will; what people think of me doesn''t affect me one bit¡­"


    "Connecting Bastille to the empire has its own benefits; in the future I will not have to worry about shortages in research materials, and there are a lot of rare ores in this desert¡­"


    "People will dug them out, and we mages will benefit from this by a great margin¡­"


    The price of rare artifacts and expensive wands will become much cheaper now; although this will cause short-term problems for some companies, it will benefit the whole mage guild by a large margin.


    And in return, all mages will have to spend less money on buying rare artifacts and wands.


    Mark also nodded his head at Jareth''s words.


    ''Yes! As expected of the vice principal, a mage''s thought process is much more inclined towards their own profits¡­''


    ''Not only he earned the respect and love of the people, he also achieved the goal of getting a lot of benefits for himself¡­ This is how a real wizard should be!''


    ''As I thought, except for Vice-principal Jareth, all other wizards are just random frauds who don''t even know what it means to be a real wizard!''


    While the group was busy chatting endlessly about various things, the helicopter flew out of Bastille and traveled a long distance in just half an hour.


    The speed of this advanced, magically enchanted helicopter was so fast that the group had already traveled more than a hundred kilometers in just half an hour.


    Jareth glanced down and noticed an oasis, then he asked the pilot to land as the area was already far away from the city.


    "Er, what happened all of a sudden? Why are you making the helicopter land here in the middle of nowhere¡­"


    The rest of the group was also just as confused as Shin.


    This helicopter is very fast in speed, and it can directly take them back to the capital city without needing to stop anywhere for refueling or maintenance.


    So Jareth''s decision to make it land near the oasis was really odd.


    "Well, the area here is deserted enough; if I go back to the city, it will cause damage¡­ You guys stay here for a while; I will be back in a bit¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth ignored the bewildered look on the rest of the group and directly flew into the sky and distanced himself from the group.


    Shin suddenly understood something and shouted in a shocked voice,


    "T-this!? D-don''t tell me he''s going to breakthrough again!?"


    From Shin''s point of view, Jareth just recently ascended to grade-1 and it should take him several years to achieve any further breakthrough.


    But what Jareth is doing now clearly shows that he''s preparing for a breakthrough.


    The reason he stopped in the middle of nowhere and distanced himself from the group, obviously, is because he will create a massive mana wave when ascending higher that might harm them.


    "Come to think of it¡­ He did say that he learned to control new powers and got new insights during his fight with that bone dragon¡­"


    "Could it be that fighting for three days straight helped him improve? Yeah, that must have been the case¡­"


    At this point, Shin and the rest of the group were simply too speechless to say anything else.


    For them, fighting a bone dragon would have been a death sentence, but for Jareth, it seems it was a wonderful opportunity.


    Not only did he get the admiration of millions of people, he even improved his strength.


    For others, Konda was a literal terror incarnate, but for Jareth, he was a great treasure box that helped him upgrade his strength.


    ¡­


    Ignoring the thoughts of the group, Jareth simply stood in the air and smiled to himself.


    ''Last time I used the golden lottery, I ended up creating a massive scene; thankfully I was standing on a faraway mountaintop at the time or I would have caused a lot of problems¡­''


    If Jareth was located in the middle of the city at that time, the mana tornado he created would have destroyed half the city, and many people would have lost their lives from being pressured by the insanely dense mana around him.


    Thus, Jareth didn''t want to take any risks now.


    He stopped the helicopter and decided to use the golden lottery while still in the desert.


    The desert is rather empty, so no one will be harmed in this way, and he can ascend without any worries.


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 5780/5780] [MP: 7800/7800]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Theory Genius, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the Goat, Divine Flame.]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: 6), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 3), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit, Chant less Magic]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 33100]


    [Evaluation: The Ruler of Mana, the Dominator of an era¡­ you are on the path to becoming a new ''King'' of the human race...]


    Jareth originally had 20100 CP, but then he bought an attack card for 4000 CP to beat Konda and then got 15000 as a reward for beating it.


    Also, he got 2000 CP for clearing the clouds; thus, now he has 33100 CP at his disposal.


    Now he can already buy a gold lottery, and there will still be a few thousand left to buy another attack enhancement card.


    ''Let''s start the party¡­''

 Chapter 172 - 172: Flames of Destruction... Part-2.

    ''First, let''s buy the attack enhancement card; I might end up needing it in the future anytime¡­''


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to buy ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    Jareth already has enough credit points to support the purchase of both the attack card and the golden lottery, so there was no need to hold back.


    [Ding! Congratulations, you have received an ''Attack Enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [-4000 CP]


    After finishing that, Jareth looked at the golden lottery and took a deep breath to calm his mind.


    ''Although I know now that there is basically no such thing in the golden lottery that can be considered useless, but still, I want things that can be of immediate benefit to me¡­''


    ''If I got something like a strong sword or something, it won''t be of any use to me; I will need to give that weapon to someone else instead, which would be quite the loss¡­''


    Currently, although Jareth has become stronger, he''s still nothing in front of the power of the laws; he needs more time to develop.


    The power of the laws is something that you can''t just understand and control in one day or two.


    Even though Jareth figured out how to control the thunder in the desert area, he was barely just able to modify it in the slightest.


    He can''t actually command the law of thunder like how he commands his mana singularity.


    His mastery over it isn''t that high; moreover, he has no affinity for thunders anyway, so it''s a waste of time to be trying to really learn how to command thunder.


    Without high enough thunder affinity, he will never be able to grasp the true core nature of the law of thunder, even with the help of mana singularity.


    ''Actually, ever since I got this system, it has been giving me things that I need the most at the moment¡­ So I am sure I will get something that''s useful for me¡­''


    May it be fate or something else, Jareth has been getting things that could improve his situation.


    When he didn''t have the original body''s memory, he got the newbie pack that gave him memories of the original body.


    Then he got the attack enhancement card that resolved his immediate crises of dealing with the wyvern.


    Afterwards, he was aiming to become stronger and got mana singularity, which directly improved him tremendously.


    Getting mana singularity was a turning point for him.


    Before getting it, he was relying on just his attack enhancement cards and random luck to survive.


    But if he hadn''t gotten mana singularity, he would have long died in the hands of those two death squad twins who came to the university specially to assassinate him.


    Even if he had used the attack card on them, the two of them wouldn''t have completely died as they were blessed with the power of miasma.


    Only the way of continuous bombardment and massive miasma repelling was more useful on them.


    In other words, from the start, this system has been supporting him with exactly the right things that he needed for the moment.


    ''Except for that one time when I got that questionable forbidden spell¡­''


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to buy a golden lottery?]


    [Yes or No]


    ''Yes''


    ''It''s time I use my luck-increasing ritual that I haven''t had to use since the Heian era; didn''t think I will need it today¡­''


    ''Oh, god of thieves and gamblers, bless me with luck, and my life is yours!!''


    Jareth rubbed his hands to pray, and as if the system really heard his pleas, he indeed got something really useful today.


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received the ''Affinity Improvement Card (Advanced)''!]


    Although Jareth''s expression was still as cold as ever, he was already crying tears of happiness in his mind.


    ''Ah, it''s indeed true; this system is really working according to what I need the most!''


    Jareth wasn''t sure about the origins of this system, but he knew one thing: that without this system, he couldn''t have reached his current heights so fast at all.


    If Jareth didn''t have the system, he wouldn''t have survived the very first event anyway, so he has nothing to complain about it.


    Currently, the one thing that Jareth was lacking the most was his fire affinity.


    He indeed has basic magic that is very strong, but basic magic doesn''t have many spells that can be used for offense.


    Most of the time, Jareth has to use mana beams and mana bombs; that''s all he has in his arsenal.


    In fact, the battle with Konda has taught him that if he one day met someone who is completely immune to basic magic, then Jareth will have no way to fight and he will be defeated extremely easily.


    ''Let''s not delay now¡­''


    [Ding! Are you sure you want to use the ''Affinity Enhancement Card (Advanced) on your Fire Affinity?]


    [Warning! This action will cause great changes in the strings of destiny and might lead to dangerous situations!]


    [Warning! This action will attract the prying eyes of many great beings across the universe!]


    [Warning! This action will cause great destruction in the nearby area!]


    [Warning! This action may cause great pain to the user''s body!]


    [Do you still want to continue?]


    [Yes or No!]


    Just when Jareth thought that improving his affinity would be just an ordinary matter, he was bombarded with several warnings one after another.


    ''So many warnings at once!? What the!? It''s not like I am launching a nuclear missile on innocent civilians; I am just trying to improve my fire affinity here¡­''


    There were no such warnings in the game, so Jareth has no idea what''s going on here.


    The very first warning is that if Jareth used the card to improve his fire affinity, it would change the strings of destiny.


    ''Actually, wouldn''t that be a good thing for me? The more changes there are in the strings of destiny, the more credit points I will be able to earn in the future¡­''


    In Jareth''s opinion, this was actually a beneficial thing for him, so he directly ignored this warning.


    This same warning had appeared before too, but aside from Konda appearing out of nowhere, not many great difficulties have come his way.


    ''Ah, yes, that incarnation of the demon god could also be considered something that I caused with my butterfly effects¡­''


    The second warning would have been the real problem, actually.


    The prying eyes of great beings would have caused Jareth a lot of trouble as all his actions would have been monitored by those so-called great beings.


    But now that Jareth knows that this planet is surrounded by the sea of miasma, there''s no need to worry about this matter.


    The seal of the false dome will hide this matter anyway, so there is no need to care about this warning either.


    As for the third and fourth warnings, Jareth already has distanced himself enough; no one will get harmed as it''s just barren desert near him, and only the last warning will cause trouble for him.


    ''Ugh, it seems I will be suffering a lot of pain next¡­''


    Jareth gritted his teeth, and a look of determination flashed by in his eyes.


    ''No pain, no gain¡­ For a better chance of survival in the future, the pain I suffer right now doesn''t matter¡­''


    If Jareth didn''t succeed in escaping, his soul will be caught in the sea of miasma, and he will suffer eternal torture.


    Suffering immense pain now for a limited time is a much better option than suffering for an eternity.


    After making up his mind, Jareth decided to finally use the card. S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Yes''.


    [Ding! You have used the Affinity Enhancement Card (Advanced)!]


    [Ding! Your fire affinity will be improved to the extreme levels!]


    At that moment, Jareth''s whole body started to heat up to a very high degree.


    His body became so hot that he was sweating buckets.


    All of a sudden, the mana in the air also started to turn into fire and rush towards him.


    The temperature in the area started to get hot at an insane pace.


    Shin, who was standing in the distance, immediately sensed the situation and cast a massive shield to protect himself and the others.


    Even Aria helped to strengthen that barrier with her mana so as to avoid any dangers.


    Jareth''s skin seemed to have caught fire at that moment, and an insane amount of fire elementals were rushing towards him at the moment.


    The sky turned red from that heat, and the sand on the ground turned into molten lava.


    Shin and the others had to close their eyes as Jareth was now emitting extremely bright light.


    It was as if Jareth had turned into the center of a nuclear explosion.


    The ground was turned into molten lava for hundreds of meters; even the moisture in the air evaporated, making it extremely dry.


    Yet the heat kept on getting more and more terrifying.


    In the center of it all, Jareth was trying to scream in agony, but no words came out of his mouth as the fire elementals had blocked his senses at the moment.


    It was as if his very soul was being burned by the flames. It was pure torture. Torture of the level that ordinary humans can''t survive for even a second.


    Pain, suffering, regret. Jareth experienced all of them in that half an hour.


    A massive tornado of flames rose in the sky, and the winds in the area became extremely chaotic.


    Shin glanced at all this and shouted in shock.


    "What the actual f*ck is happening!? I have never seen anyone create such a massive scene just to ascend a small realm!!"

 Chapter 173 - 173: Flames of Destruction... Part-3.

    (Broken Memory 1)


    Back on Earth, previous life.


    "BAHAHAHA! Yes! To prove your allegiance to the company, you definitely need to complete the candleburn ritual!!"


    The candleburn ritual is essentially a torture method that the company disguises as a welcoming ritual for newcomers.


    They used literal torture to ensure that the newbie joining their group wasn''t a spy or something.


    If the newbie is a spy, he will reveal all, and if not, he will obediently follow the procedure.


    It was a crude method, but that''s how Jareth joined that shady company and became an obedient dog of the boss.


    He did what he was asked of, and for the sake of impressing the father of the person he loved, Jareth went through great troubles.


    Jareth wanted to get the approval of Shiina''s father, and a poor guy like him didn''t have many methods to do so.


    He had no talent for business or anything, so there was no way for him to get close to the boss.


    He joined the company for the sole reason of impressing the boss.


    In the process of impressing others, he unknowingly lost his own humanity.


    The previous Jareth still had massive burn marks on his back. They had engraved a huge symbol of the company on his back by directly burning his skin.


    It was pure torture, but the original Jareth was a love-struck man; he did everything that he needed to.


    That was the first time he came into such long-term contact with ''fire''.


    ¡­


    (Broken Memory 2)


    Current Life.


    The day when all of Jareth''s misfortune started was the day when his mother was assassinated.


    The assassins laughed at his mother''s corpse, and the young Jareth cried tears of blood that day.


    Those assassins had twisted personalities; they left Jareth alive on purpose so that they could toy with him for a longer time.


    But the young Jareth was smart.


    He set his own house on fire, destroying all evidence of his escape; he immediately jumped into the nearby sewers and fled, unconcerned that his entire body now bore horrific burn marks.


    Living like a sewer rat, hiding his neck from the world for the fear of being killed, Jareth used dry wood to light fire and repel the darkness in the underground sewer tunnels.


    At that time, for the first time, Jareth thought.


    ''Fire is such a soothing element¡­ So warm and pure¡­ it brings comfort and protection¡­'' S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That small burning wooden stick that he created haphazardly brought him protection from sewer rats and various other small animals like stray dogs and food-stealing crows.


    Perhaps by that time the assassins had already been bored by the young rat rolling in mud, so they left for other missions after it was declared that the boy would be adopted by a vassal family.


    Their mission was over, and they had played enough.


    But by that time, the young Jareth had learned the true value of the pure strands of flame, which had the power to preserve his life.


    Perhaps his affection for that flame was the reason why he even got fire affinity in the first place.


    ¡­


    (Broken Memory 3)


    When Jareth got the news that the Vassal family that raised him was destroyed, he returned home to visit once.


    All he saw was a burnt ruin and nothing else.


    He was too late and too weak.


    He cried at how pathetic and weak he was; even with all the efforts and all the intelligence, he couldn''t reach his goals.


    He couldn''t take revenge and couldn''t even do justice for those who raised him.


    Let alone the mother who gave him birth; the one who raised him was also burned to death, and only her ashes were left for him to collect.


    Those broken and burned ruins taught Jareth that fire can protect and it can also destroy things.


    The same fire can be gentle and fierce in the hands of different people.


    Jareth used the fire to protect himself, and the assassin group used it to murder and destroy the evidence.


    These were two completely opposite matters, yet they seemed to have taught Jareth a lot of things.


    Walking a difficult path, Jareth lived a hard life.


    The constant pressure and fear solidified his mentality, causing him to mature quickly; his talent in theories flourished, and he fortunately graduated without any issues.


    By that point, Jareth had already become extremely familiar with the flame of protection and destruction.


    ¡­


    Back to current time.


    While suffering the immense pain of being burned alive, Jareth''s mind wandered off to random moments of his life and made him remember past memories that he had suppressed before.


    For fear and for regret.


    He wanted to hide and forget about these things, but the burning fire made him remember those times when he had faced the real, true nature of fire.


    ''Ah, how could I forget¡­ It was with me all along¡­''


    From previous life to now, Jareth has witnessed the ''True Nature'' of fire many times.


    He''s been in it''s close proximity many times.


    And every time he was in contact with the ''True Fire'' he was going through an unforgettable memory and had intense emotions in his heart.


    When tortured by the company in previous life, he had infinite love to support him through it; when running through the sewers and hiding, he had immense hatred in his heart.


    And when visiting his burned home, he had guilt and regret in his heart to the extreme.


    All three times, when he was in contact with the true flame, he had the power of extreme emotions.


    ''I had already grasped the nature of the flame long ago¡­ I just never acknowledged it¡­''


    Jareth had already realized the true ''essence'' of flames long ago, and he had already seen through the ''Law'' of ''Fires'', but he just refused to remember those past memories.


    The burning fire made him remember everything.


    ''I had been rejecting this warm, protective, and destructive fire¡­ I need to accept it, as it is my true nature afterall¡­''


    Jareth''s nature is the same as the nature of a fire¡ªwarm, protective, and yet destructive at the same time¡ªor perhaps he picked up this nature from the fire that fascinated him so much.


    ''Sigh¡­ I admit it then; I acknowledge you¡­ my eternal burning flame of destruction¡­''


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have achieved a feat that no one ever has!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have been acknowledged by the ''Law'' of ''Flames''!]


    [Ding! Your fire affinity has been increased to the extreme!]


    [Ding! You have become immune to Fire Damage of any type and form!]


    [Ding! You have received a new title ''Master of the True Flame''! All fire type attacks will be enhanced by 99%!]


    [Ding! Your Flame-type attacks will be blessed by the ''Law'' of true ''Flame'' from now on!]


    [Fire attacks will ignore 50% of the opponents defenses and resistances!]


    Controlling and manipulating the ''Laws'' of the world is a very difficult matter, and doing so needs immense mental power and magical capabilities.


    But if the ''Law'' itself has acknowledged you, then it is a completely different matter at that point.


    Instead of you needing to control the power of that ''law'' forcefully, the ''law'' will help you willingly and grant you immense power in moments of need.


    Although the presence of the sea of miasma is weakening the effect of all ''laws'', Jareth can still conjure immense power once he''s blessed by the Law of Flames.


    What normal fire mages use is a fire forcefully created from manipulating mana and turning it into fire elementals, but now that Jareth has the ''Law'' of ''Fire'' helping him out.


    He can directly consume the mana to summon the power of the ''Law'' of ''Fire'' itself.


    From now on, all his fire magic will be made up of the power of true flames, which means his fire magic has been enhanced to the extreme now.


    [Ding! All conditions met...]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have ascended to Grade-2!]


    Due to the forceful entry of an immense amount of mana in his body in the form of flame elementals.


    Jareth''s maximum mana capacity increased, his originally small mana circuit was forcefully enlarged, and he directly became a peak grade-2 mage on the spot.


    This is how terrifying the power of the blessing of a ''Law'' is. Jareth ascended from the level of an intermediate grade-3 mage to the peak of grade-2 in just a matter of minutes.


    The terrifying aura created by the appearance of the true flame in his body caused even the space-time fabric to tremble and warp unstably.


    Seeing that his immense aura might really cause some spatial phenomena, Jareth hurriedly suppressed the aura and used mana singularity to hide everything about him again.


    Shin and the others who were standing in the distance were simply too stunned to say anything, even after Jareth finished his ascension.


    Jareth created shockwaves directly in the space-time fabric and even made the space-time fabric tremble horribly.


    Not even Grade 1 mages create such massive scenes when ascending their small realms.


    At most, they create small mana whirlpools that cause disturbance in the air and create tornadoes in the worst-case scenario.


    But not even they are so destructive that hundreds of meters of area get turned into molten lava and even the space-time fabric becomes unstable.


    Jareth has directly changed the landscape of this area now.


    People will stand in awe when visiting this place in the future and will think.


    ''How is it possible that there is a massive lava lake just one kilometers away from an oasis!?''

 Chapter 174 - 174: Massive Improvements...

    Jareth flew down and landed on the ground after everything was done.


    The heat burned his clothes, so he immediately pulled the spares from his space ring and put them on.


    He could already feel that his mana reserve had become much bigger than before, and he could feel enhanced vitality from his body.


    ''Finally reached grade-2, I see¡­''


    After so long and going through so many troubles, Jareth has finally reached the level that the people thought he had reached years ago.


    ''At least I am not a proper ''fraud'' anymore¡­ I have beaten the ''fraud'' allegations, and now I am only a partial ''fraud''¡­ Once I get to grade 1, I will be completely rid of this identity of a fraud¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and glanced at his status panel.


    ¡­


    <Status>


    [Name: Jareth Blaze]


    [HP: 7800/7800] [MP: 10800/10800]


    [Titles: Ruler Of Mana, Wyvern Killer, Jareth the Goat, Master of the True Flame]


    [STR: 99] [AGI: 99] [SPE:99] [DEF: 99] [INT: 99]


    [Talent: Fire Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Affinity (Grade: X), Mana Singularity (Grade: X)]


    [Mana Purity: Grade: X]


    [Skills: Fire-Magic (Grade: 3), Null-Magic/Basic-Magic (Grade:--), Active Healing (Grade: 3)] (Basic magic has no grade because it entirely depends on the user''s ''INT'' and mana control¡­)


    [Passive Skills: Sharp Mind, External Mana Circuit, Chant less Magic, Blessed By the True Flame.]


    [Personality Traits: Cold, Arrogant, Ruthless, Fearless]


    [Shop] [Credit Points: 14100]


    [Evaluation: Blessed by the power of true flames, you have changed the course of destiny¡­]


    ¡­


    Looking at his own improved panel, Jareth couldn''t help but feel happy.


    The first and foremost improvement was in his health points and his mana capacity.


    His mana capacity directly broke through the 8000 level and he got promoted to grade 2.


    The second significant improvement is that he now holds the title ''Master of the True Flame''.


    ''I didn''t expect that I would get blessed by the ''law'' of ''Flame'' after using this enhancement card¡­''


    When you use this card in the game, it only improves your affinity to the grade-1 level; that''s the highest your affinity can get in the game.


    But now, Jareth directly got blessed by the ''Law of Flame'' and his fire affinity went off the charts in an instant.


    At this point, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that he has the strongest flames in the world, and no one can compete with him in terms of fire magic.


    ''I will need to learn higher grade spells soon; right now I only know grade 3 and lower level spells¡­''


    The reason why Jareth''s fire magic is still in grade 3 is because he hasn''t yet learned any higher-tier spells yet.


    Once he learns them, his fire magic level will also increase.


    And lastly, there''s the passive skill ''Blessed by the True Flame.'' This passive skill will enhance all his fire-type attacks with the True Flame, which will improve his powers by an immense level.


    ''Moreover, true flames are closely related to the power of a ''law'', which means they will have a more potent effect on things related to miasma¡­ Now I have stronger methods to deal damage to miasma corrupted beings¡­''


    If Jareth had this ability before fighting Konda, he wouldn''t have needed to fight the other party for three days and three nights.


    He could have directly used the enhancement card on the true flames and burned that pile of bones on the spot.


    ''Now that I have this ability, I can finally go and venture in the abyss altar area without worrying too much about safety¡­''


    Originally, Jareth was thinking of visiting that place only after visiting the other six nodes of the seal.


    That place is one of the most dangerous areas to go to after all, and most enemies there have very high resistance against magic.


    When miasma corrupts a being so thoroughly that they literally become slaves to corruption, at that point, mana-related attacks start to become weaker against such beings.


    Mana and Miasma are polar opposites after all; if miasma is stronger in a person, then the person will have a higher ability to resist mana as miasma repels mana and negates it.


    The same is true for mana; it can negate miasma if miasma is of lower density.


    Both the law of mana and the law of miasma are like mortal enemies to each other; neither of them can stand to gain an upper hand, and the outcome depends on conditions and various external factors.


    In Jareth''s case, he has extremely pure mana and even has mana singularity that further improves control over mana, thus his resistance to miasma is nearly high.


    Corruption will have a nearly nonexistent level of effect on him.


    Moreover, now that he has the blessing of the flames, he can eliminate even that nonexistent possibility of getting corrupted by miasma.


    ''With such high resistances and defensive powers, it would be stranger if I got corrupted in the first place¡­ If not for the sea of miasma, I wouldn''t have needed to be so frustrated¡­''


    Although Jareth has insanely high resistances, the sea of miasma is much stronger after all; the law of miasma has manifested in it to a very great extent, and Jareth can''t bet his life on these small resistances. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Regardless of this current matter, I still need to work hard to get stronger and leave this place fast; the road ahead is still very long¡­''


    Although the seal in the abyss altar has broken apart, the false dome seal as a whole hasn''t weakened too much yet.


    Demons still can''t get in, but Jareth can still go there and look for the hidden chamber that was located behind Konda''s boss area.


    ''If my luck is good enough, then the false dome cult hasn''t yet gotten their hands on that thing, and if it''s still there, I can take it and use it as another material for creating my wormhole opening device¡­''


    Jareth isn''t going to go in that god-forsaken place for no reason; he has a mission in his mind, and he has to find many rare items so that he can create the wormhole stabilizing device.


    He was originally planning on using some other material in place of the one that is locked behind Konda''s boss fight, as Konda is too f*cking strong.


    But now that Konda is dead and gone for good, Jareth can go ahead and infiltrate his home to steal the things that originally should have belonged to the protagonist.


    ''Well, the area is optional anyway, and I highly doubt that Allen could have ever been able to defeat this optional boss, so I am technically not stealing anything this time¡­''


    ''I am just claiming what I earned with my own efforts¡­''


    ¡­


    While contemplating various things in his mind, Jareth flew back towards the group and landed near the helicopter.


    "I have already dealt with my matters; we can continue our journey now¡­"


    The pilot was too speechless to say anything, and he just nodded his head at Jareth''s words before starting the helicopter again.


    The rest of the group also kept giving Jareth curious stares from time to time, but they also boarded the helicopter honestly along with Jareth.


    Once the helicopter started flying again, Shin was the first one to ask the questions.


    "Are you sure you are a Grade 1 mage? How did you end up creating such a massive scene just while ascending from early grade 1 to intermediate grade 1?"


    Yeah, Shin and the others think that Jareth just ascended to the intermediate level of grade-1.


    Well, their reasoning is not unfounded either.


    Jareth had just ascended to grade-1 recently, and right now, his next breakthrough will obviously be to grade-1 intermediate.


    What the others didn''t know was that Jareth is barely just a grade-2 mage right now, and he''s not even a grade-1, yet Shin is suspecting him of being stronger than an ordinary grade-1.


    "You are thinking too much; it''s just that my fire magic affinity is too high, so when I had a sudden ''realization'' it caused chaos as the fire elementals in the area went out of control¡­"


    Jareth''s reasoning was logical, and even Shin couldn''t find any flaws in it.


    "Your overly lethal basic magic aside¡­ your fire magic is really something else¡­ to think it would create such a massive scene just from a small improvement¡­"


    "Sigh, I wonder when I will be able to reach grade 1.. ugh.."


    Shin couldn''t help but complain and envy Jareth''s improvement speed.


    Just a few months ago, the two of them were still in the same grade, and now the gap between their strengths is just getting bigger and bigger as time goes by.


    Shin feels depressed that his improvement speed is much slower than Jareth.


    Looking at that depressed face, Jareth shook his head and spoke in a calm tone,


    "If you weren''t always busy lazing around, you wouldn''t have been left behind¡­"


    Shin spends most of his time nowadays being pampered by his wife and lazing around all day long in his house, so obviously he''s not making much progress.


    ''Still, I don''t blame him for being that way¡­ He''s not aware of the truth of this world and thus can live a happy life¡­ As they say, ignorance is bliss¡­''


    Being ignorant of the fact that this world is a literal hell hole that is destined to be doomed one day or another, Shin is able to live a satisfying and happy life with his family.


    What else does a man want anyway? A happy family and a peaceful life are the most sought-after things.


    ''I guess I would have done the same as him and lived a life of ignorance and bliss too if I was in his shoes¡­''


    As a wise sorcerer once said:


    {Love is the most twisted curse of them all¡­}

 Chapter 175 - 175: The Underground Lab... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, National Airport.


    The helicopter landed on the reserved helipad. Jareth and the others left the helicopter landing area and went over to the parking area to get in the cars waiting for them.


    Shin went back to his home as he couldn''t wait to meet his family, and Aria headed towards the academy with Mark, Azul and Risa in tow.


    Jareth took another car to head towards his own mansion that he had bought with the money taken from the Blaze family''s accounts.


    ''Abyss altar... sigh, this one is going to be a great hassle.''


    The promised date for the journey to the Elven Empire is also coming near, and there''s not much time left before he needs to go there, so if he wants to visit the abyss altar, he should be quick about it.


    ''This time, I should go there alone¡­ Taking anyone else will only hinder me; moreover, others don''t have as high miasma resistance as me¡­ Taking Mark and Risa there will also be a bad idea¡­''


    Jareth would have surely liked to take Allen with him to go on this trip, but it turns out that Allen is just a useless guy and isn''t worth mentioning at all, so there''s no need to do that.


    Even though Allen has the extremely rare ''Light Magic,'' he hasn''t made much progress in it; he''s more focused on ''Charm Magic'' instead. Which is basically useless in combat.


    Charm magic has a lot of restrictions.


    First of all, the effect of charm magic will get reduced by eighty percent if you use it on someone who already has feelings for someone.


    Secondly, the charm magic''s effect can be easily detected and negated if you are of the same grade or of a higher grade than the user.


    Third, charm magic doesn''t last for a long enough time, and the more you use it on the same person, the more the other party will get resistant to it, and at one point it will stop being effective.


    Risa went through hard training to become an assassin, so she has built up her resistance to many things.


    Not only is she immune to all poisons of the same grade or lower, she''s completely resistant to charm magic of the same and lower grades.


    Moreover, she''s been in love with Mark for a long time, so the effect of the charm spell was already very low on her.


    In the old times when they didn''t know how to counter charm spells in wars, they always used to advise the soldiers.


    ''Fall in love before going to war; that way you will be motivated to come back home alive and will also be more resistant to the enemy''s tricks¡­''


    This technique actually worked wonders in the war against the druids, and it became much easier to slaughter them mercilessly as fewer people were affected by their charm spells.


    Most of the forest area that the human race owns today was snatched from the druids by slaughtering them and eliminating them from the area.


    ''The point is, this useless guy is focusing more of his energy on charm spells instead of learning proper combat spells¡­''


    ''I seriously find it hard to believe that such a guy has been chosen as the hero of this world¡­ The heavenly luck must have had some personal beef with the ''world'' that it chose this guy to be the protagonist¡­''


    ''If I had light magic, or even Mark had light magic, it would have been twice as easier to deal with miasma¡­''


    Jareth simply gets irritated whenever he finds anything new about Allen, due to which he doesn''t like talking to that guy at all.


    ''Even if I want to take him as a student and train him properly, it would be impossible to make a proper asset out of that rotten apple¡­''


    No matter how rotten Allen is, he''s a protagonist after all; he has the blessing of the heavenly luck, and making him submit to anyone is near impossible.


    Allen will never acknowledge Jareth as his teacher from his heart, and he might even create problems in his plan of escape.


    ''Protagonists always like to pretend to be all-knowing and question others motives as they please¡­ If I helped him get strong, he will definitely become a great problem for me in the future¡­''


    Jareth has watched too many movies and anime to know that the villain teacher who helps out the main character just for their own benefit always ends up getting beaten themselves.


    ''Even if I am stronger than him¡­ there is still that bullsh*t called ''power of friendship'' that can beat even the strongest of villains in the universe¡­ So it''s better to keep my distance¡­''


    One of the main reasons why Jareth always avoids Allen like a plague is also because he''s a villain-type character and his motivations and goals are also quite selfish.


    No one knows which way the strings of destiny might get tilted if they stay too close to the protagonist.


    If Allen tried to make his escape plan flop, then there will definitely be many factors that can cause problems for him.


    ''I might even get unlucky, and the wormhole might end up connecting to some even more horrible place than this¡­ So I need to stay away from that unlucky omen¡­''


    Jareth has long known that it is impossible to kill Allen completely as long as he''s blessed by the heavenly luck.


    The luck of that guy is simply too high; he won''t die even if hundreds of grade-1 mages start bombarding continent-level magic on him and pursue him to the end of the world.


    This may sound like an exaggeration, but it isn''t.


    It is canon that Allen was on a whole year-long run from a grade-1 demonized human in the lore, and he managed to survive till help arrived and even was able to counter-kill the other party.


    ''My stealing activities are also just small things; they don''t really matter much in the grand scheme of things, and the heavenly luck will prepare more opportunities for him as a replacement anyway¡­''


    ''Opportunities, chances, heroines, side characters, etc. are all are replaceable parts of this grand scheme; if you kill one heroine, another will appear to fawn over him¡­ It''s just an endless loop¡­''


    The existence of a person blessed by infinite luck is already strange in itself; there''s no point in arguing about how ridiculous it can get from there.


    ''All that talent and luck¡­ and yet no progress and proper path¡­ Just how corrupted the heavenly luck has become to be choosing trash like that as the protagonist¡­''


    Jareth sighed and shook his head.


    ''Forget it; it doesn''t matter. If there is any way to save this world, then Allen can find it on his own. I have nothing to do with it; I will just mind my own business.''


    ''Leaving this place as early as possible is the way for me; it doesn''t matter how many unfair advantages Allen has; I have to focus on my own goals.


    ¡­


    The car reached the mansion while Jareth was still busy thinking about the protagonist.


    Jareth opened the door of the car and went inside the mansion.


    Ignoring all the beautiful decorations on the walls and that comfy-looking sofa, Jareth first went to the lift and decided to go to the basement first.


    ''Out of the ten items that I need to create the wormhole stabilizing device, I already have three of them now¡­''


    The lift door opened at the lowest floor of the basement, and a research lab-like place appeared in Jareth''s view.


    The main reason Jareth went out of his way to buy this overly luxurious house was to hide the fact that he is conducting illegal research underground in this place.


    No one in the whole empire, not even the government, would dare to raid a Grade-1 mage''s house without any extreme reasons, so this place is the safest to do illegal things.


    ''Even though I am working on technology that can benefit whole humanity, it is still illegal research as the items I am using are all questionable things¡­''


    There is simply no way that you can get permission to use these items.


    Aside from the illegal items, Jareth doesn''t want to reveal his technology just yet, so he has to hide and do things in secrecy.


    ''Maybe I will give this technology to them when I am already about to leave and am done with all the things¡­''


    Jareth is not a saint; all the items that can stabilize the wormhole strong enough to cross the whole sea of miasma are extremely rare items and are very few in quantity.


    If Jareth revealed the technology too early, others will try to get their hands on these already few materials, and he himself will have no way to continue his research at that point due to a lack of materials.


    For example, the ''benevolent fairy powder'' alone is so rare that there was only one merchant in the whole game who sold it; it was Erik, and even Erick only had this one bottle.


    If you want to find more, you will need to look through ruins of the past.


    It will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.


    ''Moreover, I highly doubt they can even find the blue crystals in any other place of the world¡­ All of them have been harvested by me already, and there''s likely none left¡­'' S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If Jareth had the ability, he would have at least tried to save the innocent people of this world, as this world has given him a second chance at life, but right now all he can do is just be selfish.

 Chapter 176 - 176: The Underground Lab... Part-2.

    Jareth walked inside the lab and reached towards a container made up of magically enhanced glass.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Opening the large container lid with float magic, Jareth poured all of the blue crystals into that specially prepared container.


    ''Good thing I already bought high-quality blue rhino blood to store these crystals¡­''


    The blue rhino blood is transparent in color, just like water, and is one of the highest-quality liquids that can preserve mana crystals and various other highly sensitive metals in top condition.


    ''The space rings in this world are very weak¡­''


    The biggest problem is that time works normally even in Jareth''s system space, and even the space rings only slow down time by barely a small margin.


    Thus, putting these blue crystals into the system space and the space rings is not a good idea. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There are only a handful of mages in this world who can even use time magic, and most of them end up becoming favorite employees of the space ring forging companies.


    Although they have high-paying jobs, the workload is also immense.


    They have to cast time-slowing spells on each space ring that is forged in the factory personally, so the process is not only slow; it also puts a lot of burden on the mage.


    Moreover, using time magic has a lot of restrictions, and most time magic users don''t even make it past grade 5 in their whole life as there''s simply not enough research done in that area.


    Most mages learn spells that were invented long ago and were researched and improved by many people over time.


    That''s the reason why fire magic is considered the strongest in this world, despite there being other powers like space and time.


    Fire magic was the first type of magic that humanity learned, and countless people have researched and improved the fire spells over many generations and centuries.


    Fire magic is the most researched and advanced branch of magic in today''s world.


    On the other hand, there has barely been any research in time magic.


    It''s not that people don''t want to do research and improve; it''s just that there''s not enough people to conduct research on.


    Only one person among a million mages has time affinity; it''s extremely rare, and most people who awaken time affinity don''t have high potential either.


    So they can barely use low-grade spells and can only work as space ring-making wizards to earn money.


    This is also the reason why space rings are so expensive; there''s just not enough people who are capable of making them.


    The demand for the space rings is high, but the supply is too low.


    ''Even if the supply is improved, the quality of these space rings is just too low¡­''


    There''s not a single-time type magician in this world who is above grade-4, which means at most only an intermediate-level space ring can be created in this world.


    Creating ''Advanced'' or ''Master'' level space rings that can directly slow down time by half or ever eighty percent than normal is just a pipe dream and is not possible.


    Unless a grade-1 time mage appears and personally creates a space ring, Jareth can''t rely on the space rings to store the blue crystals.


    ''It''s much more cost-effective to store the crystals in this specially prepared preservative¡­ At least it can suppress the quality of the crystals from degrading too fast¡­''


    These blue crystals were stuck underground, and there was nothing to preserve them from degrading; their power was leaking every day, and that leaking power was what caused those blue-shining lights on the central lake of Bastille.


    If someone had put these crystals in a preservative, like Jareth has done now, the power leak would have been suppressed greatly, and these crystals would have been of higher quality than semi-grade 0 now.


    ''Well, if there really was someone who knew the true value of these crystals, they would have rather hidden it somewhere extremely well, and I wouldn''t have been able to get my hands on them¡­''


    ''In one way or another, these crystals being located in that hidden mine was a good thing for me¡­''


    Just one of these blue crystals is precious enough to be sold at an extremely high price.


    Jareth can buy the whole country with these blue crystals alone. The value of these crystals is equal to the whole wealth of the human empire, which is currently the richest nation on this planet.


    ''To think that such precious treasures are now being placed in my lab as test materials is really something unique¡­''


    If people outside knew that Jareth was planning on using these precious crystals as experiment materials, they would shed tears of blood and curse at him and his whole bloodline like crazy.


    These crystals are indeed precious, but Jareth doesn''t care about them.


    When it comes to rescuing himself from the never-ending agony of corruption, monetary value holds no significance for him.


    ''If there was no such thing as the sea of miasma, I would have sold a few of the crystals to buy major companies, and then I would have directly retired from my job¡­''


    With such immense wealth in his hand, Jareth would have lived a life of luxury and peace.


    But things always don''t go the way you want them to; even with such precious treasures in his hand, Jareth can only forget about an easy life and try his best to survive.


    ''A momentary feeling of success is not worth getting tortured for eternity¡­''


    ¡­


    After submerging all the blue liquids in that large glass container, Jareth put the lid back on it and sealed the whole container with a mana barrier.


    ''Now, unless someone has the power to manipulate the laws of the world, it''s near impossible to destroy the barrier, thus the crystals can stay safely here for the time being¡­''


    ''Even when I am away on missions, no one will be able to take these crystals even if they make it to this lab safely¡­''


    Jareth has not seen a single NPC in the game who had ''Mana Singularity''; only players liked to use it, so he''s not worried that someone will come and steal these crystals.


    And even if the other party did manage to steal them somehow, Jareth has already placed a small trace of his own mana singularity on these crystals; he can track them as long as he''s in a 500-kilometer radius of them.


    Aside from the crystals, Jareth also placed the bottle containing the fairy powder on a nearby shelf and sealed it with a mana barrier too.


    The benevolent fairy powder and the crystals are both great treasures that can be sold for insane amounts of wealth.


    But these two are not the biggest treasures in his lab; the biggest treasure are the research notes of the previous Jareth.


    The other party poured all his genius into researching how much mana can affect atoms of the world and in what conditions mana can cause the atoms to disintegrate.


    The original Jareth failed to accomplish any great results in this research, and all he achieved was tons of failures and test results that showed no results at all.


    His notes are filled with the various failed test results, and there is not a single point of success in them.


    Even Nathan did more research in the past three years on this matter, but there doesn''t seem to be much progress.


    However, despite being nothing but records of failure, these few books, sheets of paper, and diagrams are enough to make any scientist tremble in shock.


    Any experienced scientist can see how extraordinary this research is. If this thing can be studied and a successful result is created, humanity as a whole will be able to progress further.


    Once you find the proper ratio of mana that can be used to break the atom and create energy out of it while also preventing radiation, you can literally create the most clean and efficient fuel in this world.


    Mana can also be used as fuel, but the number of mana crystals on this planet is finite, and creating mana crystals artificially is very ineffective.


    You would consume twice the energy to condense mana and create mana crystals than it can be produced from that mana crystal.


    This inefficiency has caused many companies to abandon artificial mana crystal production altogether.


    But everything could have been changed for the better if the research of the original Jareth was completed successfully.


    If a proper ratio is found, then a device can be created that can burst atoms by using that set mana circuit while emitting a set amount of mana.


    This will create a thousand times more energy than the energy used to burst the atom.


    All you need is to measure the mana ratio needed.


    And everything fell apart at this very step; not only Jareth but even Nathan failed to grasp this ratio.


    The original Jareth already knew that his mana control was lacking for such a minute and precise task, so he decided to hand over this task to Nathan, thinking that the mana control of a grade-1 mage would be enough to do this.


    But even that speculation was wrong.


    Even Nathan was not able to control mana to such a minute and precise level.


    That''s where ''Mana singularity'' comes into play; this is the only skill in the world that can influence mana in the most efficient way.


    In other words, only someone with this legendary skill is capable of completing this research that started from the original Jareth and now has reached his hands.


    ''Now it''s up to me to create success from this tome that is filled with failures¡­''

 Chapter 177 - 177: To The Snowy North... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, Core Area, President''s Residence.


    Main Meeting Room.


    Unlike usual, the president and the other ministers were not having a proper meeting today.


    They were just sitting on their respective chairs and staring at a single man.


    All the ministers sitting beside the roundtable were either thinking of running away or were sweating buckets at the moment.


    Only the president was the calmest among them.


    "Mr. Jareth Blaze¡­ No, it''s Jareth Ayad now¡­ Do you not know that barging into the president''s residence without permission is a crime?"


    Jareth ignored the question of the president and directly stated what he came here for.


    "I want permission to enter the ''Abyss Alter Area.'' I would like the president to make an exception for me and grant me a token that can help me enter that place¡­"


    "That''s all I need; grant me access to that place and I will be on my way; no need to make things difficult for each other, right?"


    The president also knew that there was no point in reciting the laws and restrictions in front of a Grade 1 mage, so he stopped caring about it; he only said so to show that he wasn''t afraid of Jareth.


    Although Jareth is a Grade 1 mage and the president is an ordinary person with no magical capabilities, the dignity of the whole nation is on his shoulders, so he won''t be afraid of anyone at all.


    Moreover, the current president is known for his strict policies and stubborn nature; he would rather die than bow his head.


    He''s the type of person that Jareth actually likes the most.


    Even at his advanced age, he''s still following a strict schedule and working, which is commendable.


    As for corruption and all, everyone in the government does that; it''s nothing new, so Jareth doesn''t care about it at all.


    He himself is no saint either; he''s not going to expose these guys for no apparent reason.


    Chaos in the country is not what Jareth wants to see right now.


    This is also the reason why he came over to ask for the token to enter the Abyss Alter Area.


    If he wanted, he could have forcefully broken the massive protective barrier to the entrance of that place.


    But that would have triggered the self-destruction functions, and even with mana singularity, Jareth couldn''t have stopped it on time.


    The Abyss Altar is a place personally created by the First King; the barrier alone involves the power of ''laws''; messing with something like that by force is not a good idea.


    The self-destruction of the main entrance of the Abyss Altar will create massive chaos in the nation, and that''s not what Jareth wants to see.


    Thus, he decided to choose a more peaceful method this time.


    He came over to ask for the token to get proper and official entrance permission in that place.


    Only the president has the token that can grant access to that barrier; thus, Jareth directly came to him to ask for it in person.


    Grade 1 beings are above the law; they can go wherever they want, and no one can stop them or blame them for it.


    Thus, Jareth didn''t bother putting in a formal appointment request.


    What will the president say to him? Put him in jail? There''s not a single jail that can hold a Grade 1 in it.


    Only something like the death cage can keep a grade 1 mage stuck in one place, like Nathan is.


    "You want to go into the Abyss Alter Area? That place is a literal hellhole; going there is suicide even for a grade 1 mage¡­ Are you sure about it?"


    A look of concern appeared on the face of the president.


    The human race recently lost Nathan, and Jareth''s presence has filled that gap.


    They can''t afford to lose another Grade 1 mage.


    Although Grade 1 mages are above the law and are quite the arrogant folk, they are also one of the greatest benefactors of the empire.


    Just look at Reynald; he''s the head of the royal family, and hundreds of industries are working under him.


    The tax his companies pay alone supports 40 percent of the nation''s GDP, and the fact that he also takes private commissions is also a matter of great benefit.


    Anyone who has enough money to gift him can go and hire him to help out in trouble.


    Many rich ministers or family heads go to him and request him to improve and extend the mana circuit of their children so as to give a brighter future to their children.


    Reynald aside, Jareth, who has only just recently become a grade 1, has already helped the entire nation by connecting Bastille and the whole desert to the nation.


    Moreover, he also helped out in dealing with Konda, who could have destroyed the whole nation if left alone.


    Not a single weapon of humanity would have worked on that bone dragon; it''s the fortune of the human empire that there''s a grade-1 mage like Jareth protecting them from such insane dangers.


    Grade-1 mages may be selfish and arrogant beings who are disliked by many, but their strength is indeed respected by the whole nation, including the members of the parliament.


    Jareth is being seen as a great pillar of support and protection by all of the citizens, as he has saved them once already, so if something happens to him, it will cause massive chaos in the nation.


    Jareth''s popularity is no joke either; even the children in the most isolated corners of the empire know his name by now.


    "I can give you access to that forbidden area, but are you sure you can make it back?"


    The president himself doesn''t care what excessive demands Jareth has; for him, Jareth is a great hidden weapon that is absolutely necessary for the safety of the empire.


    With demon cults like False Dome wandering around freely, people like Jareth are absolutely necessary right now.


    "Haha, president, you are the first one to be so concerned about my well-being after my mother¡­ You have earned my respect¡­"


    Jareth felt quite amused by the fact that the president was worrying about his well-being despite him being the weaker one.


    This situation is like worrying about the health of a walking nuclear bomb that can cause destruction on an immense scale.


    The president shrugged his shoulders and replied in a calm tone.


    "Well, I will give you the token¡­ But there''s one condition: there''s been reports recently about an outburst of miasma-infected beasts on a floating island near the northern regions of the nation¡­"


    "If you can help us solve that problem, I will give you the token¡­"


    The president smiled a bit and continued,


    "Please don''t consider this an order; it''s just a request¡­ It''s not compulsory..."


    Jareth felt even more amused hearing those words.


    "So, you''re saying that even if I refuse to do this work for you, you''ll still hand over the token to me? Interesting¡­"


    The president nodded his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "Well, I don''t have the means to stop you from directly taking the token from me; it''s just that I hope to make it an equal transaction¡­"


    "I have heard that mages believe in the law of equal transaction; you do me a favor and I will give you the token¡­ So, how about it?"


    Jareth nodded his head, and a rare smile appeared on his face.


    "Good! I will deal with this little thing of yours before heading towards the Abyss Altar; it would be too petty of me to just take advantage of this matter; I also believe in the law of equal exchange after all¡­"


    Jareth got up from the seat and walked towards the door of the meeting room.


    "I will be waiting in the main hall outside; ask someone to compile all details and give them to me; you have fifteen minutes¡­ Delay a single second, and I will directly take the token and leave¡­"


    The president nodded his head and agreed immediately.


    Only after Jareth left the room did the other ministers let out their suppressed breaths.


    Most of them were looking at the president with a look of absolute shock on their faces.


    All of them were having a hard time even breathing under Jareth''s pressure, yet the president was as relaxed as always.


    Which was quite a shocking thing.


    What they didn''t know was that the president already has an incurable disease and he won''t live more than two or three years, so he doesn''t fear death at all.


    As he already knows that the jaws of death are already quite near him, he has nothing to fear at all.


    When in a near-death state, even an ordinary person can show insane resolve; maybe this is the miracle of the so-called ''Indomitable Human Spirit''.


    "Don''t waste the time on chit-chatting; ask your subordinates to give the details of the mission to him; it''s a good thing that he''s in a good mood; don''t waste this opportunity!"


    "There are not many people who can solve this disaster; if we let this opportunity slip out of our hands, then no one knows how many people will die¡­" S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "That will create problems for our government¡­"


    After being scolded, the ministers worked faster and ordered their subordinates to gather all details that were important to the mission.


    They even assigned their strongest knight to go and accompany Jareth on this mission so as to patch all loose ends.


    The lady knight had a sore look over her face when she found out that she would have to accompany Jareth on a mission, but she had no other choice; orders from the superiors are unavoidable.

 Chapter 178 - 178: To The Snowy North... Part-2.

    President''s Residence,


    Garden, Near the Teleportation Altar.


    Sitting on a chair near the teleportation altar, Jareth was waiting for the maintenance staff to make some final adjustments to the teleportation altar.


    This teleportation altar will transport him directly to the northernmost city, eliminating the need for him to exert any additional effort to fly to the north.


    While Jareth was sipping tea, waiting patiently, a knight wearing silver armor walked over to his side.


    She was holding her helmet in one hand and some papers in another.


    With a frown on her face, she handed over the papers to Jareth.


    "These are the documents the staff asked me to hand over to you¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and took the papers and skimmed through all the information recorded in them.


    ''Ah, no wonder they haven''t been able to deal with this incident until now; I remember this thing from the game¡­''


    ''It''s one of the most notorious sidequests, which takes a lot of time to complete¡­''


    There are several floating islands near the northern cities of the empire. These floating islands are mostly empty, and only a few of them have anything on them beside random trees and plants.


    But the biggest island of them all has a massive dungeon on it, filled with extremely deadly traps and metal golems. For the average golem, there is a peak grade-2 enemy.


    There are many grade-1 mini-bosses inside, and the final boss is a peak grade-1 too.


    ''The quest to clear this dungeon was extremely long, and I remember that most players wrote hate comments about this quest¡­''


    The main reason for the hate was that despite having float magic, the players couldn''t fly high enough to reach that island in the game.


    Thus they had to go through a very long and difficult quest to unlock teleportation altars.


    First, you will get teleported to the smallest island.


    Then you would need to make your way up to the highest island, which is the final and biggest island, all while avoiding massive laser beams fired by the defense mechanisms of the central island.


    If you get hit even once, you will directly fall down and die in an instant. And as this place was very buggy in the game.


    If you fell, all your items that should have been in your inventory will get stuck in the sky due to the bug when the character falls.


    And even if you make it to the final island, there''s no save point there; if you die in the dungeon, you will have to repeat the whole process all over again.


    To clear the dungeon, you need to carry many buff items and equipment''s in the inventory; thus, if you fall from being hit by the laser, you will lose all items, and as there''s no save point on the island, you will have to take this risk over and over.


    ''I remember that barely any of the players had completed this quest, as it was just too difficult, and only those who had no life and no jobs had the time and energy to invest so much effort in it.''


    Jareth himself never completed this quest and gave up on it after losing nearly all his precious equipment once.


    The quest itself is not that difficult; if the developers had placed a save point on the island and had fixed the bug in the sky, then this quest would have become a thousand times easier.


    But the developers never fixed these issues.


    In fact, they said only two words to the players who were complaining, ''Git Gud!''.


    Those two words were enough to make the whole fanbase shut up their mouths and accept their own defeat.


    In fact, instead of fixing the bugs, the developers enhanced the laser''s firing speed to torture the players even more.


    It was so outrageous that unless you put some hacks or cheating methods in place, you will not be able to complete this quest without losing your sanity.


    Thinking about that time, Jareth couldn''t help but feel nostalgic.


    ''Ah, those days of being turned into a sieve by the lasers and cursing at the developers for their crimes¡­''


    Jareth nodded his head and placed the papers in his space ring, then he glanced at the lady knight and was a bit surprised.


    ''Hmm, wait, I remember seeing this character somewhere in the game¡­''


    ''Oh yes! Isn''t she Jui Qeiy!?''


    Jui is a mid-game villain-type character.


    According to the lore she''s a former subordinate of Mark''s mother. She can basically be considered Mark''s aunt, as his mother thinks of her as a sister instead of a subordinate.


    She''s that overly doting aunt-type character who dotes on Mark like crazy, and she was one of the few people who directly dared to try to assassinate Allen, the protagonist.


    Mark didn''t like Allen, and the two were eternal rivals. Jui took it in her own hands to assassinate Allen and get rid of him for Mark.


    And as everyone might already have expected, she met her end due to the protagonist.


    Any beautiful women that Allen likes only have two endings: either they enter his harem or they die tragically and get considered a villain.


    This is basically the heavenly luck saying, ''If you don''t want to help the protagonist then f*ck off and die!''


    ¡­


    "I am Jui Qeiy, a knight; I have been assigned to accompany you on this mission¡­"


    She didn''t even bother saying any greetings like ''Nice to meet you'' or anything; she just stated her name and purpose and then went silent again while trying her best to not show an irritated look on her face.


    Jareth knew the reason behind her annoyance.


    She hates Grade-1 mages as a whole.


    First of all, her master, whom she swore her loyalty to, ended up marrying Reynald and retiring, leaving her behind to fend for herself.


    Reynald himself is a selfish person and doesn''t bother respecting anyone at all; his rude behaviors and carelessness in raising Mark made Jui resentful of him.


    Then Jui also served as an escort for Nathan once and got to see his dark side with her own eyes, so now she has a very bad opinion of grade 1 mages.


    In her opinion, all grade 1 mages are corrupt and bad people. Hanging around with them is not a good idea.


    And Jui is not wrong in this matter either; all grade-1 mages are more or less mentally different from others. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They have seen the reality of the world, and thus their thought process is different. In their eyes, life is insignificant and worthless, as the world is already doomed from the beginning.


    No one can understand the mentality of the grade-1 mages unless they become grade-1 themselves; only by knowing the reality of this world will you know why all grade-1 mages are so selfish and weird people.


    Reynald finds entertainment in growing his wealth and family power; Nathan finds entertainment in doing random weird research.


    They both don''t have bigger goals, as they both know that there''s no point in helping the nation or anyone else, as everything is meant for doom anyway.


    It''s better to just cater to yourself and enjoy the little time you have left to live.


    Jareth finished the tea and got up from his seat.


    "Good, then I will be relying on you for a few things, Ms. Jui¡­"


    Jareth doesn''t care what Jui thinks or what resentments she has; he has nothing to do with them.


    All he needs to do is complete his own motives; there''s no point in worrying about what others think of him.


    Ignoring the piercing gaze of Jui, Jareth stepped on the altar and got ready to head towards the north.


    ¡­


    Meeting Room.


    Standing on the balcony, the president sighed as he saw Jareth and Jui leave via the teleportation altar.


    "Er, president, was it really a good idea to send Ms. Jui with him¡­ You also know that she hates working with Grade 1 mages¡­"


    Hearing the secretary''s words, the president sighed again and replied in a helpless tone,


    "We only have her at our disposal who has experience working with Grade-1 mages; if we send anyone else, they won''t even be able to keep up with the pressure of a Grade-1 mage¡­"


    "Although she has resentment for them, she also knows her own boundaries. She made it back alive after arguing with the king and the former principal despite being so much weaker than them¡­"


    "That proves she has her own ways¡­ I believe she''s the best candidate for this task¡­ Others will faint on the spot if Jareth just glared at them once¡­"


    The secretary sighed at those words and spoke in a concerned voice.


    "I just hope she doesn''t end up pissing him off; otherwise, he might even attack the parliament¡­"


    The president shook his head at those words and replied in a rather vague tone,


    "No¡­ If he wanted, he could have just forcefully taken the token; he agreed to the request we made; that just shows he isn''t someone with no moral sense¡­"


    "Unlike the former principal Nathan, he has a bottom line at least¡­"


    It turns out that the president has mistaken Jareth for a decent person.


    Jareth''s actions of saving Bastille and helping the nation have caused many people to misunderstand that he''s a good person.


    If they had seen Jareth use his torture methods, they wouldn''t have dared to think of Jareth as a benevolent good person.


    By now there''s so many misunderstandings revolving around Jareth that he himself has given up on clearing them up.


    They just keep getting more and more outrageous, and Jareth feels completely dumbfounded whenever he opens the social media apps and sees weird reels circulating everywhere.


    Some people don''t even know his real surname but know him as ''Jareth the goat''. That has literally become his surname in their opinion.

 Chapter 179 - 179: To The Snowy North... Part-3.

    Looking at the snow-covered streets of the city and the children playing in the snow, Jareth couldn''t help but nod his head.


    ''It''s been a while since I last went to a place where it snows this much¡­''


    The last time he went to such a place was years ago in his previous life. The location where he used to live and work was closer to the equator, so it never snowed there.


    To see the snow, he would have needed to go to the northern areas of the country, but that wasn''t possible in the recent years as he was too busy with work.


    ''Who could have thought I would end up seeing snow in a different world altogether¡­''


    Jareth has more or less already considered the possibility that he can never go back to his original world.


    And even if he went back, there''s no guarantee he would be able to return to the same timeline.


    Maybe time moves faster in his previous world compared to here, and by the time he returns, hundreds of years might have passed away.


    There will be nothing left for him to call home by that time.


    ''Forget it, it''s better this way; at least Shiina will be able to find someone better for herself and live a happy life now¡­ I should also move on¡­''


    Walking on the streets, Jareth left footprints on the snow and kept enjoying the beauty of this amazing scenery.


    After all, it''s not every day that you get to enjoy such amazing sights.


    ''Maybe I should click a photo or two; I will show them to Mark and Risa later¡­ Ah, there''s Azul too now; I nearly forgot about him¡­''


    Without knowing himself, Jareth has already started to care for Mark and Risa.


    Azul, on the other hand is even more special.


    He has dual affinities; he can use space magic and fire magic, which means he''s a perfect candidate to inherit Jareth''s legacy.


    Jareth can teach him all his fire spell knowledge.


    Mark and Risa are children from powerful families; after all, Jareth can''t really turn them into his faithful pawns as they will always be more inclined to their own families.


    But Azul has no one else to rely on, and he can definitely become a qualified pawn that can be very helpful in the future.


    ''Although I assume that there''s not really enough time left for these pawns to grow up and be useful to me¡­ It''s always better to make preparation for all circumstances¡­''


    While Jareth was busy thinking about various things, Jui glanced at him before saying,


    "This is Keim, the city of everlasting snow¡­ It is said that it snows for six months continuously in this place, and thousands of tourists come here every year¡­"


    "This place is referred to as ''Heaven on Earth'' as the scenery here is indeed very beautiful¡­"


    "The snow crystals that Frost type mages use mostly come from the mines located in the mountain range nearby¡­"


    "This place is extremely important to the nation, not only because it produces a lot of money; it also has a lot of resources hidden beneath the snow¡­" S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth was quite surprised that the description that Jui gave of Keim was exactly the same as the guide who led him here in the game had provided him.


    ''Hmm, it''s as if I am being considered a player even now¡­ What an odd feeling¡­''


    Jareth didn''t dwell on that matter much, and he nodded his head at Jui.


    "Well, I can see why they would dare to give this place an arrogant title like ''Heaven on Earth.'' This place is one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen before¡­"


    Not only are they putting a lot of efforts into maintaining the natural look of this place by controlling human intervention, they are also putting a lot of money into cleaning.


    Whenever tourists come to a place, they spread tons of garbage, and the tourist spot gets ruined completely by the overflowing flow of people.


    The reason why this place is still so good-looking despite the massive tourist flow all year long is because the government has not only made strict rules to restrict people from throwing garbage at random places.


    They also have hired a lot of cleaning workers who work tirelessly to keep this place clean and beautiful all year long.


    "By the way, the islands we are looking for are located on the other side of the mountain range¡­"


    "That''s actually a no man''s land; it''s extremely close to the border of the country, and no one lives there¡­ The military likely wants to establish an air base in those floating islands¡­"


    "Otherwise they wouldn''t have wanted to deal with those islands¡­"


    Jareth was surprised at Jui bluntness; she spilled all the beans without even asking.


    "Are you sure you should be saying these controversial things out loud?"


    Jui crossed her hands and said in a proud tone,


    "I am a proud knight; I don''t lie or work in shady business; thus, I am telling you the whole truth as it is, and I don''t fear the government either¡­"


    "When I became a knight, I took the oath that I would never betray myself and those whom I cared for¡­ So, I am telling you about the truth because I don''t want to be a part of this lie¡­"


    "The government doesn''t give a single Sh*t about the citizens; they want to turn those islands into military bases¡­"


    "Thus they said that the dungeon in the central island can cause problems for people, despite knowing that this dungeon has never caused harm to the people of Keim in the past hundreds of years¡­"


    "If it was really harmful, the people here wouldn''t have been living in peace and happiness for so long¡­ I hate to work with them despite how much of a hypocrite those politicians are¡­"


    Jui gritted her teeth''s and kept cursing on the politicians endlessly.


    "You seem to have some really deep resentment with the politicians?"


    At Jareth''s questioning tone, Jui directly admitted her reason without even hesitating.


    "It''s because they were the reason why my master had to go and marry that rude guy¡­ tch!"


    Mark''s mother was an excellent sword user, but she was also the adopted child of a politician.


    They made her marry Reynald so as to include a grade 1 mage in their own plans and get his favor.


    Too bad for them that Reynald and Mark''s mother both fell for each other quite soon and ended up separating themselves from the government''s clutches altogether.


    But Jui doesn''t like Reynald, as she thinks of him as a rude guy, and thus she doesn''t like the politicians who threw her friend into that rude guy''s arms.


    In her opinion, her friend and master were treated as a sacrifice and suffered a lot of injustice.


    ...


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about it.


    ''It has nothing to do with me, lady. Why are you telling me about your boring ideas and everything... sigh, If only Shiina was here... She would have glared at her and made her shut up...''


    ''Dealing with women is not really something I am good at...''


    Ignoring Jui speech on righteousness, Jareth glanced towards the north, where the mountain range was located, and asked in a calm voice.


    "By the way, do you have any skills that can help you fly?"


    Jui shook her head and replied in a stern voice.


    "No, as a knight, I prefer traveling on foot; I don''t trust the shady techniques of the mages-"


    Jareth didn''t even bother listening anymore; he just cast his telekinesis and grabbed her with it, then he used float magic to fly in the direction of the islands.


    Jui was shocked when she found herself floating all of a sudden.


    "C-chantless magic!?"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words,


    "Yeah... is this your first time seeing it?"


    Jui''s face turned pale when she saw herself floating so high above in the sky.


    It turns out she has a fear of heights; she clenched her sword tightly and kept trying her best to not look down.


    ''How did she become a grade-2 knight if she has fear for height? Don''t they say that a knight fears nothing?''


    In Jareth''s opinion, a grade-2 knight won''t die even if you throw them down from several kilometers up in the sky.


    They can use their mana to disperse the impact of the landing. Moreover, all knights have quite high physical damage resistance, so she would likely be fine even if she fell down from here.


    ''I guess it must have something to do with her backstory, then...''


    Each character who shows a unique trait in the game definitely has some kind of intriguing backstory behind it.


    If Jareth was still a player, he would have liked to ask her more details about how she ended up having the fear of heights.


    That might have triggered some unexpected hidden quests, but right now, he''s not interested at all.

 Chapter 180 - 180: Impossible? Theres no such thing...

    "Hmm, it looks kind of different than I expected¡­"


    ''These floating islands are much bigger than I remember¡­''


    That is to be expected, though.


    The game map was much smaller, as the developers couldn''t have added too many empty places.


    Even the cities were much smaller, as there was no need to add random houses, and only a few were enough to showcase that it''s a city.


    But now that things have turned into reality, the capital city alone is hundreds of times bigger than how big it was shown in the game map.


    It has millions of people living in it, and the population is massive; there are so many new places that Jareth has never seen before in the game.


    Every person has a unique backstory, and things are in insanely high detail.


    The floating islands are obviously much bigger than Jareth remembers them to be.


    ''Sigh, if there were such detailed graphics like this in the game, it would have been a masterpiece of the highest quality with no equals¡­''


    ''It would have been a world-famous game at that point¡­''


    While Jareth was contemplating in his mind, Jui also regained her wits and spoke in her usual stern voice.


    "These islands are collectively named as ''Floating Gems'' as there are tons of mana crystals stored in them¡­"


    "The government has already emptied all of the islands of their gems and has set up temporary military facilities on all of them except for the central island..."


    In the game, there was no sign of human activity on the floating islands, but now that things have turned into reality, it''s obvious that the military won''t let go of such amazing resources.


    In the first place, this area is quite close to the border, and no one can stop the military from seizing all resources here.


    Eventually all the money earned from selling these seized crystals ends up filling the pockets of the politicians in the end.


    "The only reason why the central island still hasn''t been seized is because the central island has insanely strong defenses, and even if you get inside somehow, the crystals are hidden in a treasury¡­"


    "That Treasury is located right beneath the deepest part of a then floor-deep dungeon¡­ Even the most ordinary enemies in this dungeon are peak grade-2 golems¡­"


    "Legend has it that not a single person has come back alive from this dungeon¡­ There was once a party of four grade 1 mages who went inside to explore this dungeon, but they never came back.


    "If you believe me, it''s pointless to try to conquer this dungeon yourself, even though you are strong¡­ I advise you to be more careful¡­"


    "They likely gave you this task to complete it because they don''t want you to go to the abyss alter and think that you will be stuck in conquering this dungeon and will waste a lot of time and then go home¡­"


    It''s not that Jui is particularly concerned about Jareth''s wellbeing; she simply doesn''t want to see the politicians'' plans succeed and instead wants Jareth to make a better decision that foils all of their schemes.


    "Hmm, so you are saying that it''s quite a tedious task to get inside and conquer this dungeon, right?"


    Jui nodded her head at Jareth''s question and tilted her head in confusion.


    "Yeah, that''s what I am trying to say... do you have any other ideas?"


    A smirk appeared over Jareth''s face after hearing those words.


    "Well, if it''s really that tedious to go inside¡­ how about we lure out the ones who are already inside¡­"


    Jareth raised his finger towards the sky, and his grimoire appeared beside him, amplifying his magic.


    [Mana Command: Absolute Mana Output!]


    [Blessing of the True Flames: Condensed Core!]


    [Mana Singularity: Spell overlap: Fifty-one steps!]


    With mana command, Jareth commanded the mana in the area to increase his mana output to the maximum levels possible according to his mortal body.


    Then he used the blessing of the true flames to condense the power of the flames into the core of the magic circle.


    Lastly, he used mana singularity to create fifty-one layers to that spell and overlapped them over each other to further amplify the damage.


    Then the grimoire amplified the effects of all this with its own passive magic amplification ability.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Transcendent Flames of Absolute Destruction!]


    Finally, a grade-2 spell with the power even stronger than a grade-1 spell was created in the sky.


    The magic circle was so huge that it covered the whole sky in three kilometers of radius.


    Even the snow melted away and the clouds in the sky disappeared, revealing a bright blue sky.


    With the rays of sun shining on his face, Jareth smirked a bit and fired the spell at the central island without hesitation.


    *Boom!**Crack!**BOOM!!*


    A massive pillar made up of the flames of destruction descended upon the central island and directly destroyed the protective barrier instantly, as if it were made up of paper.


    Then the beam hit the island and blasted its way right through the island, coming out from below directly, puncturing a hole in the island.


    And this was just the start.


    A massive shockwave swept through the space-time fabric itself and directly shattered the whole island into pieces from inside-out.


    All peak grade-2 guardian golems broke apart and turned into debris on the spot without even getting the chance to even respond to that attack.


    The attack was so fast that even the grade 1 golems got heavily injured, and most of them became unable to even move properly anymore.


    Along with the whole island, the treasury also broke apart, and the debris rained down on the snowy mountain range from the sky like it was raining, except this rain was of mana crystals and broken debris.


    The shockwave was so strong that even the nearby islands got swept away and got dislocated from their original position.


    Thankfully Jareth had condensed the magic to the extreme, thus it didn''t affect any other islands, or all the other islands would have also suffered massive damage too.


    Looking at that masterpiece that he had created with his own hands, Jareth smirked a bit and nodded his head in appreciation.


    ''As expected, after getting the true flames, I have become much stronger than before¡­ Although I am still nothing but a mere ant in front of the sea of miasma, now I have some basic offensive capabilities, I guess¡­''


    ''At least I will be able to deal with all the challenges that might come my way soon¡­ Also, there''s still two more endgame boss-type beings left after defeating Konda¡­''


    Jareth has a lot of strong enemies; compared to the demon god whose mere incarnation was already at semi-grade 0, Jareth thinks that he''s still too weak.


    ''If I find out where the false dome cult''s headquarters are located, I will use this exact attack as a sign of greeting¡­''


    ''That way I will at least be able to land some minor injuries on the other party when they are still off-guard¡­''


    ¡­


    While Jareth was busy thinking about his powers, Jui was trembling all over, and she even forgot that she had already put the camera on her helmet''s head on live stream.


    Yeah! Jui was worried that Jareth would cause trouble for her, and as she''s weaker, she might not be able to defend herself, so it''s a better idea to hide a small hidden camera on the helmet of her armor and turn everything into a live stream.


    The camera didn''t have a mic, so she didn''t have to worry about the things she talked to Jareth leaking; thus, she didn''t hesitate to criticize the government and their policies.


    She was already ready to record the scene where Jareth will return in haggard clothes from the dungeon and will give up on this mission.


    This would have surely caused massive trouble for him, as his fans would have finally gotten to see his weak side.


    But who could have thought that Jareth would not only not lose, he would end up showing such power that was so overwhelming that it was unfathomable.


    Jui was in the close vicinity and saw it all happen with her own eyes, thus she was the most shocked.


    But the people on the internet were going even crazier.


    "No one has ever conquered this dungeon before? Everyone who went there died? Those are mere newbies! Watch this young master do it!"


    "The Flame god glanced at the floating gems and found them lacking, so he said, ''Get going, buddy, it''s time to leave¡­'' The mortals were stunned by this insane arrogance¡­"


    "Oh my god! We got the goat smashing islands to bits before G*A 6!"


    "Flame god: Floating islands? Ah, that random piece of stone I flicked off to the ground randomly¡­"


    "An impossible task? Only children say that¡­"


    "I showed this video to my dead uncle; he''s kneeling in front of the flame god''s statue with me now¡­"


    "I grew a beard from seeing the massive amount of testosterone in this video¡­"


    ¡­


    Back at the president''s residence.


    A wry smile appeared on the president''s and minister''s faces while looking at that video.


    "Er¡­ do we still need to hire construction workers to build an air base or not?"


    Hearing the words of that dumb minister, the rest of them glared at him fiercely, and he shut up on the spot and didn''t even dare to speak anymore.


    The whole island has been smashed to bits; there''s no way they can make anything on that now.


    All they can do is send people to the snowy mountains to collect all the mana crystals that fell down along with the debris.


    S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 181 - 181: There is no escape in an unfair game...

    A few centuries ago.


    Floating Pearls, Central Island.


    A young boy found himself in an unknown lab.


    Before he could even figure out who and what had brought him here from his poor village, an intimidating-looking person appeared and forcefully did many questionable tests on him.


    Time went by, and the kid found out that he had been kidnapped as a test subject by the members of the cult of Therath.


    His body was slowly getting altered to and turned into an unrecognizable blob of muscle.


    The experiments they ran on him had massive side effects.


    But those people didn''t seem to know the word called ''Mercy''. They put him in a golem''s body and connected his body to the mechanical piece of junk.


    The magic of a demon god was no joke; it influenced the power of the laws of the world, and the young boy''s soul and body were fused with golem.


    That was how this world''s first semi-biological android was created.


    There was no one to stop the atrocities of the cult, and they did human experimentation without any problems. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was the time when the cult of Therath was in its prime; the young kid had no hope of escape from the very start.


    Decades passed and seasons changed; the young kid experienced a lot of turmoil in that undying body over the years, and he grew up mentally, if not physically.


    There was an extremely strong spell placed on his body; he couldn''t betray the orders of the cult even if he wanted to.


    His body, his soul, everything was already a slave to the cult, and he had no free will of his own.


    He suffered so much pain in his years of being experimented on that the pain receptors of his body stopped working and he couldn''t even feel pain anymore.


    At that point, he had already accepted his fate of being an eternal puppet of the demon cult.


    But as they say, nothing is eternal.


    The cult declined and eventually ended up fading into the long annals of history as their demon god had abandoned them.


    The floating islands stopped receiving funding from the outside, and the followers either died of starvation or left this place altogether.


    Without any masters left to control him, the semi-biological golem, the first to be created, took command over the others who were created later and tried to escape.


    But the spell of ''slavery'' cast with the dark magic of the demon god was still just as strong as ever.


    It never let them go.


    The final orders that the golems had to follow were to protect the facilities of the demon cult; that''s the reason why the golems were never able to leave this place.


    All of them had to follow this order till their master asked them to stop.


    It was a lonely and dark time.


    All the other people who were fused with golems had already lost their minds by this time; only the young kid was still sane.


    Without anyone to talk to, the sane golem went and started studying the research papers left by the members of the cult.


    It turns out that miasma had taken hold of their biological parts from the beginning, explaining why they are still alive despite centuries having passed.


    It was miasma that was making them suffer continuously.


    Miasma is a dark and very sinister power; it can even be considered to be partially conscious; once it gets a hold of someone, it tries it''s best to never let them go out of its control.


    It tries to torture the affected person for extended periods of time on purpose.


    It likely sensed that the golems were waiting to be liberated via death, but the miasma that was affecting them didn''t let this happen.


    It was forcefully making them live in the most horrible and twisted manner.


    The golems were forced to see their bodies in a constant state of rotting and decaying but never dying.


    It was a torturous process that just kept going and going for centuries, and there was no end to it in sight.


    But, as the saying goes,


    {Nothing is eternal in this world; if there is light, there will be dark, and if there is evil, there will be kindness too¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    When the golem was already on the verge of losing his sanity like the others, a ray of hope finally appeared.


    A massive pillar of fire descended from the sky and obliterated the whole research facility that they were ordered to protect.


    The facility that was suffocating him and choking him to death was destroyed completely, and after hundreds of years, the golem got to see the clear blue sky.


    Lying down on the snow on the ground with a broken and half-destroyed body, the golem could see a man standing in the sky.


    The rays of sun were shining from behind him, and the bright blue sky made him look like an incarnation of a god in the eyes of the dying golem.


    He raised his hand toward the sky, and a long-lost ray of light appeared in his eyes as he looked at that person in the sky.


    "Tha¡­nk¡­ y¡­ou¡­."


    The golem bid farewell to the world and died under the bright and warm sunlight, as if Mother Nature was bidding him farewell while lending him its warm embrace.


    This world is covered with the sea of miasma; this means his soul will never escape, but at least he got to see a sight of mercy at least once in his life.


    Such was the tragic tale of a victim who never escaped the grasp of miasma.


    ¡­


    Standing in the sky, Jareth felt someone''s eyes on him, so he glanced down and noticed the dying golem.


    ''Ah, yes¡­ There was this guy too¡­''


    Jareth had nearly forgotten that the main boss of this dungeon was actually a more sentient enemy.


    He was also the main reason why even the hardcore speed runner type gamers weren''t able to clear this dungeon fast enough.


    This golem is one of the most tanky bosses present in this game.


    Although not as tanky as Konda, it was definitely a menace. Moreover, the absence of a save point increased the difficulty even further.


    At least the save point was located directly outside the boss area in the abyss altar, and thus you can fight Konda without much trouble.


    But in this case, reaching the boss itself is a big problem, let alone fighting him.


    Barely one or two percent ever made it to the last floor of this dungeon, as the path to it was just too difficult, and after doing all that, you had to fight the boss, which was a very difficult thing.


    To reach the end floor, players used many ''HP'' increasing artifacts and other items that would boost movement speed.


    But after reaching the boss, this equipment becomes useless, as you need a completely different type of artifacts and items if you want to deal tons of damage at once.


    And this boss was so tanky that you can''t defeat him without dealing a ridiculous amount of damage at once.


    If the abyss altar is a creepy and dangerous area, then this dungeon is basically a total unfair battleground where only insane people dare to wander.


    No sane person would farm all over the game map to finally put up two completely different types of equipment sets and artifacts to complete this dungeon.


    [Ding! You have influenced a minor plotline!]


    [Ding! Congratulations! You have received 1000 Credit points!]


    Looking at that small amount of credit points, dark lines appeared all over Jareth''s face.


    ''What the!? I only got 1000 for all this!?''


    ''Sigh, I guess this dungeon wasn''t really much relevant to the main story in the end...''


    The backstories and lore of this dungeon are all related mostly to the side quests that are completely optional and won''t affect the main story much.


    Perhaps this is the reason why Jareth got so few credit points, even though he had literally just smashed an entire peak grade-1 dungeon to the bits along with all the enemies inside it.


    What Jareth didn''t know was that if not for the camera recording taken by Jui, he would have gotten even fewer credit points than this.


    Jareth shook his head and flew towards the direction of the city and stopped thinking about it further.


    His main motive right now is the Abyss Altar; this dungeon was just a random mission that he had to complete before going towards his goal.


    ''Also, I am not interested in cleaning up the ground and getting rid of the debris; I will leave the cleaning work to the others¡­''


    Jareth was already planning on making the president cough up at least half the money earned from selling the crystals.


    And he won''t even bother collecting them and cleaning up the ground of the few remaining golems that survived the fall.


    Now he just has to wait, and the money will come to his door on its own without even doing anything more than this.


    This is the benefit brought by power; if it were someone weaker, the government wouldn''t even agree to give a small portion of the money earned, and everything would go in the pockets of the politicians.


    As for the common people¡­ Who even cares about them, Not a single person in power gives a d*mn about them.


    The government will just come up with an excuse that, due to Jareth''s attack, most of the assets got destroyed and whatever they earned will be used to provide subsidies for the poor.


    But these are just empty promises; everyone knows that not a single poor person will receive these subsidies.


    This is just how things happen in this world.


    As they say,


    {Life is always unfair; those who claim that everyone is equal are just fools who have never seen the cruel reality of the world¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)

 Chapter 182 - 182: The Gap in Ambitions...

    President''s Residence, Garden.


    The teleportation circle on the altar lit up, and Jareth and Jui appeared on it together.


    The president and the rest of the group were already standing there in wait.


    He stretched out his hand for a handshake, and Jareth also didn''t deny it. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Good work, Mr. Jareth; it seems I underestimated your capabilities vastly. If I had known that you were this strong, I wouldn''t have needed to worry about your well-being¡­"


    "Haha, here, have this token; it''s yours to use now¡­"


    The president didn''t delay at all; he directly handed over the token to Jareth the very moment Jareth came back from the north.


    He needs to go and assign a lot of people to collect those mana stones that fell from the island; there''s not much time, or they will be buried beneath snow if too much time passes.


    The president is also in a hurry due to this exact reason.


    "By the way, Mr. Jareth, can you tell us more if you know anything about that bone dragon? Is it perhaps related to your trip to the abyss altar?"


    By asking those questions, the president wanted to find out the reason why Jareth was so adamant on going to such a dangerous area.


    Unless there''s a solid reason for it, no sane person would like to go to that horrible place.


    The central island of the floating pearls was definitely a difficult to conquer dungeon, but that dungeon never harmed anyone outside, and it never created any dungeon waves either.


    Thus, it won''t harm you unless you manage to get too close to it.


    But the Abyss Altar Area is completely different. It''s a literal hell-hole with weird and twisted creatures inhabiting the land.


    Just looking at it once is enough to make ordinary people lose their sanity.


    "Well, my trip there is indeed related to the bone dragon and the ''False Dome'' cult too¡­ I will reveal more about it at a press conference after I come back¡­"


    After hearing that reply, the president bid farewell to Jareth and went back to his meeting room to work with the ministers to sort out who will get how much share of the money earned from the mana crystals.


    Of course Jareth will get the most of it.


    Seeing that the president had left, Jareth nodded his head towards Jui as a farewell greeting and then flew away into the sky and headed towards the university without even waiting for her response.


    After everyone left, only Jui was left alone, and seeing that no one seemed to have cared about her presence, she gritted her teeth and went back home with a sore look on her face.


    It turns out she didn''t do any work, so she will barely earn anything from this trip, which made her feel annoyed.


    She glared at the sky and shouted in her mind,


    ''Curse you, world!! I hereby vow, you will suffer one day!!''


    ¡­


    Evening, Ivan''s higher arcane university.


    Principal''s office.


    Thomas sighed, and a solemn look appeared on his face.


    "So, you are heading to the abyss altar to figure out what the False Dome cult is conspiring?"


    "But isn''t this too risky?"


    In the first place, Jareth and the others had gone to the desert of chaotic thunder just to figure out what the False Dome Cult was planning in that place.


    Although all that was Jareth''s lie, the appearance of Konda turned it into a truth automatically.


    "It''s not that difficult as you think¡­"


    Now the False Dome cult is definitely responsible for all the mess that Konda created in the desert of chaotic thunder.


    Thankfully, Jareth defeated it; otherwise, the cult would have succeeded in destroying the nodes of the false dome seal much faster.


    In the book, there was a mention of a key that could be used to open the seal from inside.


    But no one knows where that so-called key is or what it looks like; it could even be a random piece of stone; finding it is near impossible.


    ''The False Dome Cult likely couldn''t find that key either; that''s why they are likely using the power of that demon god and trying to slowly break nodes that are already very weak¡­''


    ''Once they break four of them, the whole seal will fall apart on its own without even needing to deal with the rest three of them¡­''


    In truth, there are eight nodes to this seal, but that eighth one was broken long ago by the cult of Therath members.


    And now that one has been broken by the false dome cult in the Abyss Altar Area, that means there''s only six more left.


    If any three of the six are broken successfully, then the sea of miasma will get inside and destroy the rest on its own.


    Aside from going to the Abyss Altar for finding rare materials, Jareth also has another goal in his mind.


    He has to try and find out if he can recreate that broken node of the seal himself; if it''s possible to repair it, then it would be even better.


    ''I need to at least give it a try; I will think about the results later¡­''


    "I am planning on making it a quick trip; not only do I have amazing resistance to miasma, I can definitely keep myself safe in any situations¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Thomas had no other words left to say.


    He wanted to stop Jareth from going to such a different place not only as the principal of the university but also as a friend.


    Thomas has already considered Jareth as a close friend who is reliable in times of need.


    Now that Jareth has saved Bastille, Thomas thinks that Jareth is a genuinely decent person with a kind heart.


    But this is just a misunderstanding on Thomas''s part.


    He doesn''t know that not only Jareth doesn''t consider any of them as his friends, he didn''t even do anything for the sake of being a hero.


    People are misunderstanding him as a kind person, but the truth is far from that.


    "By the way, I leave training Mark and Risa in your hands in the meantime¡­ Also, there''s an extra student now, but he will need a lot of work¡­"


    Thomas nodded his head and replied,


    "No worries, I will personally ask the professors to give him some extra classes to make up for his lack of knowledge¡­"


    "If it''s someone you have chosen, I am sure that kid will definitely have a bright future and amazing talent¡­"


    Thomas has a lot of trust in Jareth''s abilities; he has never seen Jareth fail in any task ever before.


    Even when the odds are against him, you can always bet that Jareth would come out as a winner in the end.


    After Jareth was done telling Thomas his general plans, he got up from the seat and decided to leave.


    The reason he came over to tell Thomas about this is because he wants Thomas to take on the responsibility of teaching and protecting his three talented assets when he''s gone.


    If not for them, Jareth would have already left for the Abyss Altar without even telling anyone about it.


    Thomas suddenly handed over a talisman-like thing to Jareth and said with a smile,


    "It''s a family heirloom of mine¡­ Although it''s just an ordinary thing, it can function as a lucky charm; you can have it¡­ Make sure you come back safe; you have to come back and hand it back to me with your own hands, okay?"


    Jareth nodded his head and left after putting the lucky charm in his space ring.


    Although he doesn''t care much about these small details, it''s always good to know that someone is waiting for you to return safely.


    Although Shiina is not present in this life to accompany him, he has at least found a few people who can be considered somewhat trustworthy, even as mere acquaintances.


    Jareth maybe doesn''t consider them friends, but they sure do consider him a friend after going through so many battles with him.


    ''Sigh, he''s become stronger again¡­''


    Staring at the ceiling of the office, Thomas sighed to himself after Jareth left.


    Originally, he used to think that he was the strongest among the thirteen grade-2 professors in the whole university.


    Jareth dispelled his misunderstanding when he demonstrated his power and killed a wyvern in a single attack.


    Less than a year has passed since then, and Jareth has become even stronger than that time, and he himself is still stuck in the same place.


    Just yesterday he saw Jareth smash that floating island to bits easily with one attack, and Thomas also noticed that video online.


    At that moment, he realized that the gap between them has become much bigger than ever before.


    Jareth has become someone who belongs to a completely different world compared to him and the rest of the professors.


    ''Ugh, if only I was a bit more talented, I could have ascended to grade 1 fast too¡­ Sigh, maybe this is the difference between an average person like me and a genius like him¡­''


    Jareth''s amazing feats can only be considered something that only a genius could achieve; ordinary talents like Thomas and Shin can''t compare to him in this matter.


    ''Well, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of becoming the principal of the university¡­ I am already very satisfied with it¡­ Maybe that''s the reason why I have lost that ''Spark'' of genius¡­''


    Shin is also the same; his lifelong goal was to have a happy and peaceful life with his family, and he has already achieved it; that''s why he''s also not making any progress.


    They are not putting in much effort for improvement as they have already achieved what they want to.


    As they say,


    {Only those with great ambitions can progress farther than others¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)

 Chapter 183 - 183: The Abyss Altar... Part-1.

    Capital City, National Hero Memorial.


    Jareth got out of the car and walked inside without hesitation. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Looking at the familiar place Jareth felt a bit of nostalgia.


    ''It''s been less than a year and I am already back here again...''


    Last time Jareth came here to steal the chance of the protagonist it hasn''t even been a full year since then.


    ''So much has changed in such a small time...''


    Last time he came here, he was barely a grade 5 mage and had no power to properly defend himself in situation of immediate danger.


    But now he has the confidence to fight even grade-1 opponents head on, the progress was just too fast.


    ''If not for mana singularity and the help of the lottery from time to time, i couldn''t have achieved all this...''


    Learning mana singularity alone was already a great thing and it alone gave him confidence to deal with most difficulties.


    And his constant thirst for power has brought him to this level today.


    ''Now that I think about it... If there was no mana singularity i couldn''t have controlled my mana of it was too pure..''


    ''And i couldn''t have controlled the flames of destruction either without it...''


    ''Instead of using them on others they would have gone out of control and would injured myself instead...''


    Although Jareth is quite suspicious about why this system is giving him the exact things that he needs the most at the moment, he has no time to worry about that right now.


    Granting mana singularity to others is a near impossible task as you would need to force the law of mana to acknowledge a person.


    ''I don''t think even that demon god can pull off such a feature...''


    If the demon god was capable of such a feature, then the other party would have used it to cleanse himself of miasma and give itself a pure and un-corrupted body.


    Moreover he wouldn''t have needed the help of any minions, he could have just manipulated the mana to kill someone for him.


    The demon god hasn''t done something like this and is stuck outside the false some barrier, that means he isn''t omnipotent.


    And as the gamer''s from his past life said, ''if it has a health bar, you can kill it...''


    ...


    Looking at the scenery around him, Jareth could notice the changes that have had been made since he last came.


    When the False Done Cult revealed Nathan''s dark history, the angry mob surrounded this place and destroyed Nathan''s statue from here.


    The angry mob not only destroyed that one statue but also damaged a lot of property in the place and the government had to spend money to repair all this.


    ''Well the government gets its money from the tax payers anyway...''


    ''It just means that the people who damaged this place ended up paying for it''s repairs indirectly...''


    This is the reason why getting swept by anger is often very harmful to yourself, in the end it causes troubles for yourself not for others.


    The memorial damaging incident caused loss for the common people as they had to pay for it indirectly...


    But the politicians and officers who were in charge of repairing the memorial profited from it.


    They get money for expensive repair materials and then use cheaper material instead then they use the rest of the money for themselves.


    In the end, due to corruption, it was the people who suffered the most not anymore else.


    ''hmm, they are making a new platform for a statue there?''


    Just when Jareth was passing by, he noticed a new platform likely built not too long ago.


    ''ugh... Don''t tell me...''


    With a complex look on his face Jareth made his way today the newly built platform.


    And the moment he saw the words written on it, he knew that his ominous feeling was true.


    [A statue in the memory of the legendary battle between ''The Divine Flame'' Jareth Ayad and the Abysmal bone dragon from the depths of hell...]


    Seeing those words Jareth rubbed his temples and sighed.


    ''Just a few months ago I was feeling amused while looking at Nathan''s statue thinking that he must have felt weird while seeing his own statue...''


    ''And now it is happening to me too...''


    Although they haven''t put the statue here yet, they have already built the platform for it so it won''t be long before they inauguratea it.


    In this world, statues are usually made in remembrance of people who are already dead, but Jareth is very much alive.


    So, if Jareth went to the inauguration of this statue, it will be like attending your own funeral while also smiling at all the guests.


    ''Forget it, I will think about that matter later...''


    Jareth shook his head and decided to focus on what he came here for.


    He headed towards the ''Help Centre'' office that was located just few hundred metres away.


    There was a young woman sitting on the chair behind the large table, she immediately recognised Jareth after seeing his face just once.


    "Uh... He-hello.. Sir... M-mr... What can I help you with?.."


    Jareth completely ignored the woman''s nervous stuttering voice and spoke in his usual cold tone.


    "Call the person in charge of the memorial, tell them that Jareth Ayad wants to talk to them for a bit..."


    The woman was completely frightened by those words, she misunderstood that something might have offended Jareth and he wants to scold the person in charge for it.


    She didn''t dare to delay and tried to stop her legs from trembling.


    The pressure created by Jareth''s cold stare is indeed a bit too strong for a frail woman like her.


    She hurriedly grabbed the telephone on the table and dialed a landline number on it.


    When she stated that Jareth wants to meet him, the person in charge hurriedly threw away the phone and dashed down from his office to personally attend to Jareth.


    After a few minutes a bald middle aged man came running down from the stairs nearby and wiped the sweat on his face with a handkerchief.


    "N-nice to meet you Sir, I welcome you to this humble place... Uh, please come this way, I will prepare some tea for you-"


    Jareth shook his head and denied the offer.


    "Forget about tea and stuff, I will come over to have that some other day, but there''s something more important things to do right now..."


    Jareth put a silencing spell in the area so that no one else other than the two could hear their words.


    "I am here for the Abyss Alter... Here I have brought the token with me... Lead the way."


    Hearing the name of the Abyss Alter, the flattering smile on the bald man''s face immediately solidified.


    "T-this!?"


    The bald man hurriedly took the token and examined it properly, only after he was sure that it was the real thing did he return it back to Jareth.


    Although Bald man likes to flatter strong people, he isn''t the type of person who will neglect his job.


    He made it sure that Jareth wasn''t lying to him, afterall Abyss Alter is not something to joke about.


    Barely anyone has ever made it back alive from that place, and due to this reason no one has entered that place for past hundreds of years.


    Even the bald man was taken a black for a moment when Jareth suddenly mentioned the Abyss Alter out of nowhere.


    A solemn look appeared on his face and he glanced at Jareth before saying in a calm voice.


    "Please follow me..."


    With that waved his hand to say bye to the woman and then led Jareth towards the basement.


    Only a few people in the whole world knows that the entrance to the Abyss Alter, the most vile place on this planet is actually located right in the capital city.


    The national hero memorial has always declared to the word that the statues here protect the nation.


    This sentence has a hidden meaning behind it.


    The statues in this memorial are a part of a sealing barrier created by the first kind himself.


    They are used to seal the entrance to the Abyss Alter Area.


    In the game, the main protagonist has to smash all these statues if he wants to break the protective seal to enter the Abyss Alter.


    But most players end up missing this area as this place is completely optional and there''s no quests inside the Abyss Alter either.


    The only thing you gain from going there is that you can farm tons of ''exp'' by hunting the monsters in that place.


    And you can fight Konda near the deepest area.


    That''s all there is to this place, but of course there are rarely materials there that you can use to craft powerful weapons and artifacts.


    So, most players only go to the Abyss Alter solely for the purpose of gathering rare material.


    Jareth''s aim is the same, he wants those rare materials for his plans and he can''t miss them just because they are located in a dangerous place.


    ''Abyss Alter... Here I come...''

 Chapter 184 - 184: The Abyss Altar... Part-2

    The protagonist needed to break the statues of the memorial to enter the Abyss Alter Area illegally in the game.


    But Jareth doesn''t need to do that.


    In the first place, the only reason why the protagonist didn''t trigger the self destruction ability of the entrance was because of his plot Armor in the game.


    There were no explanation given why it didn''t trigger when the protagonist tried it, but Jareth is sure that if he tried it then he will definitely trigger it.


    Jareth could have still entered illegally but he already knew that he could just take the token from the president so there was no need to be illegal about it.


    He can just access the entrance in a proper legal way so there was no need to destroy the protective barrier that might help in blocking demons in the future.


    The bald man lead Jareth towards the basement and then placed his hand on a certain part of the wall causing a hidden staircase to appear.


    The two of them then went downstairs and arrived at a hidden control room where many computers were placed and many cctv camera recordings were playing on the monitors.


    Nearly a dozen officers were keeping constant eyes on everything that was happening in the hero memorial via the cctv cameras.


    Even Jareth was surprised to see this as there was no such hidden monitoring room in the memorial of the game.


    This one was likely made after the angry mob did massive damage to the place.


    In other words, things have changed in the memorial due to Jareth''s butterfly effect.


    When the officers saw Jareth they nooded their head to give a polite salute and then kept doing their own work diligently.


    ''hoh... The officers here seem more skilled then any random one''s out there...''


    Each officer here is atleast a grade 3 warrior and the bald man himself is a grade 2 warrior.


    Although they were all trying their best to hide this but nothing can hide from Jareth''s mana singularity so there was no point in hiding from him.


    He easily saw through them but didn''t reveal it.


    "Everyone! Today, we have a very difficult job... We have been guarding the entrance to the Abyss Alter for so long..."


    "But today, we have to open it with our own hands... Mr. Jareth here has obtained the token from the president himself..."


    "He will be entering the Abyss Alter today and we have to co-operate fully with him in this mission!"


    All the officers in the room were taken aback for a moment after hearing those words.


    Most of them always used to think that the Abyss Alter entrance that they were supposed to guard was merely just a myth made up by the higher ups.


    As the entrance has not opened for centuries, most people has never seen it with their own eyes.


    They just know that the entrance is located right below the hero memorial but has never actually been there themselves.


    "I know your concerns, but! Mr. Jareth here is someone acknowledged by the president so we don''t need to worry about anything..."


    "Also he''s the current strongest human on Earth so we have nothing to fear about!..."


    Jareth has already been considered stronger than Nathan and Reynald as he has destroyed the high grade dungeon easily.


    So, now he''s being considered the strongest human on Earth.


    ''How do i tell them that I am not even a peak grade 2 mage yet...sigh~''


    Without waiting for Jareth to even say anything, the officers gave Jareth. Salute and then all of them used their computers to get to work.


    Each of thir computer is connected to the hidden mechanisms of the statues in the memorial.


    They pressed a few commands in the computer and the eyes of the statues moved from left to right once.


    *Clank*


    The sound of an ancient mechanism moving sounded in the monitoring room.


    And one of the walls in the monitoring room moved revealing a dark Cave behind it.


    The bald man glanced at Jareth and spoke in a solemn tone.


    "This dark cave will lead us to the final lock... Please follow me..."


    Only after the wall moved did Jareth noticed that it was enhanced with semi-grade-0 magic seal and even with his mana singularity it would have taken quite a bit of effortz to break the wall forcefully.


    ''I see, so the protagonist broke the statues, which caused this wall to move and reveal the cave behind it...''


    ''And as there was no monitoring room here in the game, he entered without getting noticed...''


    But what Jareth couldn''t understand was hey the alarm wasn''t triggered when someone was breaking the precious statues in the memorial.


    If it was done by someone in this real world, several alarms would go off and dozens of powerful officerz will come rushing at you from all directions.


    Even the mage guild will get alerted and several mages will be dispatched immediately.


    ''Or perhaps these precautions must have been adopted after the angry mob caused trouble...''


    Jareth earns his credit points by changing the plot, so he can''t complain now that he has caused such massive changes in the plot.


    Jareth shook his head and followed the bald man to enter the dark cave.


    ''No wonder even grade 1 mages haven''t noticed the presence of this place in the past... The walls of this cave are enchanted with mana suppression magic...''


    Even the mana suppression magic casted here is of semi-grade-0 rank, which means that all this was made by the first King himself.


    As no one else is capable of such feats.


    For so many years, no one noticed this hidden cave underground the memorial even when the grade 1 individuals personally came to this place several times.


    Just from this, you can already consider how amazing the magical capabilities of the First King were.


    His magic has lasted for several millennia without weakning too much.


    ''The more I get to know about this first King, the more impressed i become...''


    Even Jareth has to acknowledge the other party''s capabilities, the first King was indeed a genius mage.


    ''I wonder how long it will take for Mark and Azul to reach that level...''


    If the two of his best assets can reach this level they will prove to be very useful in many circumstances.


    While walking through the cave, Jareth properly observed the mana suppression magic along the way and committed it to his own memory.


    ''I will need a few days to copy this... Then I can use it more myself later...'' Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With his mana singularity, Jareth can copy various types of magic, he just needs enough time for it.


    After walking through the dark cave for half an hour the two of them arrived at a wall with strange markings on it.


    Several words in ancient language were written on it.


    Even Jareth was quite surprised to see this wall.


    ''This is the strongest protective barrier I have ever seen in my life...''


    ''Ah, i remember this wall was already open for the protagonist when he got here... But right now it''s shut tight...''


    The barrier on this wall is hundreds of times stronger than the barrier that took several days for Jareth to break in the principal''s office.


    The bald man glanced at Jareth and spoke,


    "You need to put the token in the central part... There''s an indentation there for it to fit properly..."


    Jareth did exactly as he was told, he put the token given to him by the president into the indentation and the wall slowly moved and dust fell from around it.


    A massive hall appeared in Jareth''s view and a familiar sense of miasma and corruption assaulted his senses just like the time when he was fighting Kinda.


    The bald man hurriedly used a powerful artifact to block the corruption from causing harm to him.


    Jareth on the other hand casted his mana shield to block the miasma from affecting him.


    The two of them walked inside and Jareth noticed a massive teleportation Alter inside that was so huge that it was covering the whole floor of the hall.


    The bald man stood at the edge of the altar whole Jareth walked to its centre.


    "Seems like the miasma has taken hold of the other end of this altar and is teleporting itself here using it..."


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the bald man was extremely shocked.


    "T-this!? Is this even possible!?"


    Jareth nodded his head at that question and replied in his usual cold tone,


    "Yes, miasma is a semi-conscious entity, it can purposely teleport itself too... Once it completely takes hold of this part of the teleportation Alter then..."


    The bald man gulped his saliva in nervousness and asked,


    "And then?"


    Jareth sighed and spoke in a solemn tone,


    "Then the monsters and demons on the other side of this teleportation Alter will be able to use it to teleport here..."


    "The best solution would be to either cleanse the miasma here or directly destroy this teleportation Alter..."


    "Cleansing the miasma is just a temporary solution and you will need to keep doing it again and again from time to time..."


    "But if you destroyed the Alter then our only known and safe entrance path into the Abyss Alter Area will be lost..."


    "It''s a hard choice... Tell the president and the others about this when you go back..."


    "Maybe they will be able to come up with a better solution..."


    Even if the government doesn''t take action, Jareth will take action himself.


    Right now he doesn''t want any chaos in the nation as that will cause problem for his plans.


    ''Let''s focus on our current goal though... I will think about the rest later...''

 Chapter 185 - 185: The Abyss Altar... Part-3.

    Jareth told the bald man to go and report the matter of the teleporting miasmic corruption because he already knew what the ministers would choose.


    They will follow Jareth''s words and won''t agree to destroying the only entrance they have for the Abyss Altar.


    Instead they will choose to hire mages and warriors that will be responsible for purifying the teleportation Altar from time to time.


    This is one of the missions you can get in the game too.


    If you don''t go to the Abyss Altar Area illegally and choose to stay away from this completely optional area.


    Then you can do this mission of helping the government cleanse and purify the miasmic corruption in the teleportation Altar from time to time.


    This is a repeatedly occurring quick event type mission and you can do it every once in a while to earn generous awards.


    Also Jareth gave this advice so that the ministers choose to hold on to their plans on the teleportation Altar till he comes back.


    Humans are selfish people after all, the ministers might end up making the decision of destroying the altar and end up doing it before Jareth even returns back to the surface.


    That way Jareth will lose his only reliable exit from the Abyss Altar Area and he would then need to find another one that might not be as reliable as this.


    ''The members of the False Dome Cult likely used some other unreliable entrance to the Abyss Altar too, they likely didn''t go from this entrance for sure¡­''


    If the False Dome Cult members had come to the capital city, Jareth would have noticed them easily as his mana detection usually scans the city for them from time to time. S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth is always ready for them to come nowadays and he will not hesitate to counterattack in times of need.


    ''If the False Dome Cult members had come here then they would have needed the token to open the final protective wall¡­''


    That protective wall is enhanced with a magic barrier casted by the First King himself. And the protection warrior extends in all directions and protects the hall from all directions so that none can enter it without the token


    Even Jareth would have needed several days to crack this barrier even with his mana singularity let alone those people from the False Dome Cult.


    If they had come here there would have traces of modification on the barrier but it''s still okay that means they never came here.


    "Here, this is the contact information¡­ just give me a message when you return and I will come back to escort you¡­"


    The Bald man gave Jareth his contact information and Jareth added it to his own smartphone, then he handed over the token to the bald man and the man left the hall and closed the door from outside.


    Seeing that the other party was gone, Jareth shook his head.


    ''Good thing I didn''t bring anyone else with me¡­ they would have just held me back¡­''


    Miasmic corruption is a very powerful thing and it can turn even the most strong willed person into its own slave.


    Even the bald man who''s a strong warrior can''t withstand its side effects for long and had to use strong artifacts to keep himself safe.


    Jareth glanced at the corrupted Altar and thought to himself.


    ''My this life would be so much better if not for miasma¡­ it''s really a hateful thing¡­sigh~''


    [Mana command: Mana Purification!]


    Jareth forced the mana in the surroundings to directly cleanse the miasma in the teleportation Altar so that he can use it without it malfunctioning.


    Then he embedded his mana in the teleportation Altar and the magic circle lit up brightly, teleporting him away to his destination.


    ¡­


    Forgotten City, Upper Grounds.


    The Vast Barren Lands.


    ''Its been a while¡­ ''The land of Banes and terror''...''


    When Jareth opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside the broken ruins of a building and even the teleportation Altar he was standing on was charred black in color.


    The familiar dark fog was lingering around everywhere in the distance and the environment was dark, dim and depressive.


    Jareth was using his mana shield to block the miasmic fog from harming him so he couldn''t feel it, but the air was completely dry and had no moisture in it.


    It was completely devoid of oxygen and everywhere you looked there was no source of brightness.


    Jareth glanced at the sky and found that there was no sky above, only a massive rocky ceiling held in place by semi-grade-0 magic.


    ''No wonder stones and debris fall from the sky when you travel in this area in the game.''


    ''The semi-grade-0 magic holding the ceiling of this place is getting corrupted by miasma and its grasp over the ceiling is loosening¡­''


    ''Eventually the whole Abyss Altar Area will collapse onto itself once the spell completely loses its effect and then this area will be forever buried underground¡­''


    Although it''s never explained properly in the game, Jareth can already assume that this Abyss Altar Area is located deep underground right below the capital city Delta.


    In other words, once this place collapses, the city above ground will also collapse and get destroyed along with it.


    In the game, the player couldn''t notice all this but right now Jareth can see the existence of the semi-grade-0 magic on the ceiling and that''s why he''s speculating all this.


    ''Still, with the way things are¡­ the spell can still hold on for another few decades¡­ the sea of miasma is still the most pressing cause of concern¡­''


    Even Jareth can''t repair this magic on the ceiling right now as it will take a lot of time and he doesn''t have the time to be playing hero right now.


    Jareth is not a selfless protagonist, he isn''t going to waste his precious time trying to save people from this eventual doom, as a selfish person, he''s going to focus on his own plans first.


    Even the First King must have needed several decades to create the whole Abyss Altar Area.


    So, it will take Jareth several months or even years to repair all the magic circles on the ceiling.


    Thinking about this one might question why the First King even created a dangerous place like this in the first place.


    ''No¡­ what he created wasn''t the Abyss Altar we see today¡­ what he had created was a magnificent underground city filled with dreams and hope¡­''


    ''Miasma has turned it into what it is today causing people to change its name to Abyss Altar Area and add it in the lists of Forbidden Areas¡­''


    There aren''t many forbidden areas on this planet but each one is as unique as it is deadly.


    Even this barren land corrupted and charred black with miasma once used to be a vast grassland filled with hope and expectation for the future.


    When you defeat Konda in the game, what you get as a reward is a broken memory of the long gone time when this Forgotten City was a prosperous place.


    The fall of the First King destroyed all hopes of this city and it turned into what we know today as the corrupted land.


    Only a few thousand people managed to escape to the surface, most died and got turned hideous monsters that roam this barren land endlessly.


    Miasma has a force evolution effect on living creatures and it molds them into twisted mindless beats according to its own liking.


    Not only is the process immensely painful, but the result is also horrible.


    Once turned into that kind of monster, you are destined to roam around endlessly with no one to share your suffering and no way to elevate yourself from it.


    ''Their situation is similar to the people from that book back in my previous life on incomprehensible horrors¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and sighed to himself.


    He didn''t dwell on this matter for too long and cast float magic to head in the east direction first.


    Although he has no maps to guide him right now, he roughly remembers the directions he needs to head towards to find his way.


    After all even in the game he had to try dozens of times to finally find the next save point and that caused him to remember the general direction properly.


    He flew into the sky and noticed that the dark fog on the ground immediately obstructed his view.


    ''Ugh¡­ I forgot you can''t find your way here by flying high above¡­ the dark fog will block your vision¡­''


    Also Jareth has to save his mana, the whole Abyss Altar is completely void of mana.


    Only miasma exists in the surroundings here, there''s no way to replenish mana from the air.


    This is one of the main reasons why people have declared this place as a forbidden area.


    A normal mage would need to keep his mana shield up constantly when they are here, which means they will keep using their own mana bit by bit and will eventually run out of it with no way to recover it.


    That''s why you can''t travel in this place for longer time periods and staying for a small time is already a big challenge for weak people.


    If you don''t defend yourself with mana then the miasma will corrupt you and turn you into a horribly twisted beast too.

 Chapter 186 - 186: The Nest... Part-1.

    As flying in the sky was completely useless and was even wasting mana, Jareth decided to walk towards the East direction with his own two feet.


    ''As expected, this place is more dangerous in reality than it was in the game¡­''


    Even the ground is corrupted with miasma, whenever his feet touch the ground, black mud tainted with miasma tries to corrupt him.


    Not only the visibility is bad due to the brownish and dark fog lingering in the air, just walking normally is quite the ordeal.


    If not for the fact that Jareth''s mana shield is quite strong and efficient, the miasma in the ground and in the dark fog would have already started to destroy and corrupt his mana shield.


    Shin and the other grade-2 mages won''t even be able to make it past this vast barren land as they will run out of mana trying to constantly repair their mana shield again and again.


    As for Mark and the others who aren''t even at grade-3 yet, it''s impossible to survive here for more than ten minutes.


    *Krukrukrarar*


    While Jareth was walking towards his goal, a familiar yet creepy voice rang out in his ears.


    ''This voice¡­''


    Jareth glanced towards his left and a hideous and creepy monster crawled out of the fog.


    The monster had a rotting and decaying body like a fish, its innards and organs were hanging out of its horribly mutilated body and it had a humanoid face with an eerily wide grin on its face.


    Its eyes seemed to show that the creature was in immense pain but the wide grin on its face showed that it was laughing and mocking everything around it.


    Actually this is a sick joke of miasma that is toying with innocent lives.


    Jareth knew exactly what this thing was, that''s why he didn''t hesitate for even a second and his grimoire shone with mana as a magic circle appeared in the air.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Flame Jet!]


    An intense flame was fired by the magic circle which turned the monster into ashes instantly and didn''t give it time to even react.


    But this wasn''t the end of it.


    *Krkrrrarrarara*


    Same creepy voices started to sound from all directions and most of them were hidden in the dark fog.


    But Jareth has exceptionally strong hearing capabilities so he easily pinpointed the location and numbers of the enemies.


    He immediately summoned multiple magic circles to fire more spells at once, but as he was delayed for a second in reacting, the huge group of monsters also got their chance to attack.


    Two demon-like hands ripped apart the stomach of a crawling monster and a lesser demon made its way out of it''s body.


    As its body was literally ripped apart from inside out while still alive, tears of blood flowed from the eyes of the monster as it had to endure immense pain.


    Yet the grin on its face refused to fade away as if it was permanently fixed on its face.


    Even in immense pain, the monster couldn''t even let out a shriek of pain and could only laugh eerily like a maniac while being ripped apart from inside out.


    Jareth didn''t hesitate and immediately burned the lesser demon and the mutilated monster both to ashes with his true flames.


    He didn''t even allow the lesser demon to open its wings and fly into the sky as he knew that if he let the demon fly then it would cause a massive headache.


    Even lesser demons are capable of using miasma and are able to use miasma related demon magic since birth, if Jareth let them fly in the sky they will rain down miasmic spells on him like crazy.


    Moreover lesser demons are very nimble and fast creatures, dealing with them will waste a lot of his mana, thus it''s better to burn them all when they are still inside the body of the mutilated monster.


    These mutilated monsters are ''humans'' turned into walking birth eggs for lesser demons.


    There''s only one monster in the Abyss Altar Area who can turn humans into walking incubators for Demons.


    ''It seems I am on the right path, ''Its'' nest must be in this direction if these monsters are present here¡­''


    These walking incubators have their limbs shortened to the point that they can''t even commit suicide and their faces have that permanent grin because their jaw bone structure has been forcefully mutated by miasmic corruption.


    No matter if they are sad or are crying, all they can do is just grin and laugh and can''t even show sadness or pain.


    This is the cruel reality of those afflicted by the curse of corruption, you suffer endlessly till you die and then the sea of miasma swallows your soul to further torture you endlessly.


    This is an endless cycle of pain and suffering, it never ends.


    The name ''Abyss Altar'' is no joke, it literally is an Abyss like place where pain and suffering are the only things you will find.


    *KHeheheheheh* sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Some of the monsters even started to laugh and grin more humanely at Jareth when they saw him slaughter their kin.


    They were actually feeling fear of death and a long lost hope for salvation, but all they could do at the moment was laugh like creeps and try to endure the pain of being ripped apart from inside.


    These monsters are not harmful by themselves and are just creepy and tragic, but the lesser demons that breaks out of their body are definitely not weak.


    Even the lesser demons, that are just newborns, are already equal to grade 4 mages, with a body as strong as a grade 3 warrior.


    Demon race is literally overpowered and is very cruel at the same time.


    There''s no need to talk about negotiating, they are like literal cancer of this world whose only purpose in life is to destroy anything and everything in sight.


    They don''t even tolerate their own kin let alone other living creatures.


    Moreover they are basically the blessed children of miasma, they can use miasma even more efficiently then mages use mana.


    Just to take down one high rank demon, you will need one grade-1 mage along with atleast a full squadron of grade-2 warriors.


    Grade-1 warriors are nearly non-existent in this world so you can''t have them even if you want to, otherwise just one of them is enough and there will be no need for a whole squadron.


    In other words, being at grade 1 is the minimum condition to even have a chance to fight a high rank demon.


    As for the demon gods that are directly above the high rank demons, it''s pointless to even try to fight if you are not someone as powerful as the First King or the Golden King.


    ''Let''s not drag this farce any longer¡­''


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Flaming Meteor!]


    Jareth raised his finger towards the sky and a massive magic circle appeared in the sky.


    A gigantic meteor covered in molten lava fell towards the ground with an immense momentum.


    *BOOM!*


    A massive shockwave spread in all directions as the ground was hit my that gigantic meteor.


    A massive crater was formed on the ground as the land cracked and debris flew into the air.


    Most of the monsters were killed on the spot by the meteor and the molten lava, the rest were blasted to bits by the shockwave that followed right after.


    The air pressure momentarily blowed away all the dark fog and the molten lava made the environment brighter then before.


    *Step* *Step*


    Ignoring the massive destruction he caused, Jareth started to walk towards his destination without changing his expression in the slightest.


    He has known about the tragic lore of the monsters here and he was sad for their fate before too, but right now he doesn''t have the time to mourn their life.


    All he can do is go and deal with the monster who did all this to them, afterall his destination is also on the same path.


    ''Walking the path of darkness, I have become used to the ways of Abyss¡­ if the Abyss wants to block my path¡­ then there''s no need for it to exist anymore¡­''


    Jareth knew the reality of this world so he didn''t think that he had become a hero just because he liberated these people from their pain.


    Their souls will still suffer regardless, so he knew very well that he''s not pretending to be a hero.


    ''Pretending to be a hero will get you nowhere in this world, use all assets you can¡­ and survive till the end¡­''


    As they say,


    {History is written by victors¡­ no one will question the authenticity of your past of no one has any evidence left to deny your words¡­}


    Falsifying the truth and depicting heroes as villains, all this is extremely easy if you have the initiative in your hands.


    While Jareth was walking, another group of similar monsters appeared to block his path again, but this time Jareth didn''t hesitate, he dealt with them all at once with a wide area magic.


    For the next few hours, Jareth slaughtered thousands of monsters along the way in the same manner.


    It wasn''t even a battle, it was just a one sided massacre.

 Chapter 187 - 187: The Nest... Part-2.

    Forgotten City, Upper Grounds.


    The Vast Barren Lands, Eastern Area.


    Wind doesn''t blow in the Abyss Altar, the place seems devoid of air at all times and the atmosphere is heavy and intimidating.


    The ''Law'' of ''Gravity'' in this place has also been corrupted by the Miasma and thus Gravity itself becomes stronger in the Abyss Altar Area.


    You will need to expend extra energy to just walk in this place normally as you are constantly under the burden of increased gravity.


    But for Jareth, it wasn''t much of a problem.


    With his strong physique, he didn''t need to even pruposely spend mana on reinforcing himself to withstand the burden of increased gravity.


    Although he''s a mage, he has a body as strong as a peak grade-2 warrior.


    *Step**Step*


    After walking for quite some time Jareth arrived at a massive lake.


    No, it won''t be fair to call it just an ordinary lake, it was a polluted lake filled with miasma so dense that you might mistake it for an illusion.


    ''Hmm, it seems my memmory is still indeed quite good, I am still on the right path¡­''


    Although there''s no map to guide him and there''s dense dark fog blocking his path, Jareth was still able to find where he needed to go easily.


    The reason for this is that the teleportation Altar that you get teleported to when you first come here is right in the centre of this vast Barren land.


    There''s literally an in-built compass on the teleportation altar and you just need to go straight in the East Direction to reach the broken ''Cloud Step Lift''.


    Cloud Step Lift used to be one of the main paths that used to connect the upper lands to the lower parts of the Forgotten City.


    This Vast Barren Land actually used to the be a Farming Area that was once being used to feed the population of the underground city.


    The actual city was located below this farmland.


    As for how they grew crops without sunlight in this underground place?


    They obviously had an artificial sun of their own that would give sunlight to the crops for half a day and then will move to the lower city to give sunlight to the city.


    This way, both the crops and the city folk with get a proper day cycle with both morning and night.


    Although, Jareht isn''t not sure how this worked out, If it''s someone as intelligent as the first king, it''s entirely possible that the other party must have found some unique method for it.


    The First King managed to create this underground city all by himself and make it livable for millions of people, so it won''t be wrong to call him a genius who was in his own league.


    His reign was the time when human race was in it''s prime, that time period is referred to as the Golden Era when even the sun and moon followed the commands of humanity.


    ''It would have been amazing if i could have met the First King myself in person¡­ he must have been an amazing person¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about the lore of the Abyss Altar.


    The Abyss Altar is a place that is filled with immense lore and has many stories hidden inside.


    Back then, this place was a goldmine for the lore enthusiasts and those people who liked to make game lore analysis videos to earn money.


    This place has so much hidden lore and content that you won''t run out of topic to make videos on, for several years!


    Jareth himself never really researched lore too deeply, he just liked to watch those videos from time to time to get a better idea of what was going on in the cannonic story.


    This is also the reason why he knows about so many things in this world.


    Although he was a casual gamer, he had a lot of time in those days, and to pass time he watched a lot of videos that explained a lot of hidden details about the game.


    For example, this lake of miasma, it''s not actually even a lake.


    It''s actually a monster lying in wait for it''s prey to come before it will reveal it''s fangs.


    Jareth raised his hand towards the lake and activated his magic.


    ''I already know about you¡­ don''t try to play hide-an-seek with me, I am bored of seeing these trick too many times¡­''


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Concentrated Liquid Flame!]


    Unlike other grade-2 spells, the magic circle for this grade-2 spell was weirdly, much smaller.


    Most grade-2 magic have magic circles that are equal to the size of two to five story buildings.


    But the magic circle for ''Concentrated Liquid Flame'' was not even the size of a basketball.


    Yet, this magic circle was in no way lacking in complexity.


    Despite being so small in size this magic circle has very complex magic patterns and learning it is no child''s play.


    Even genius minded people need atleast a few weeks to barely learn it.


    But that''s not the case for Jareth.


    He has ''Mana Singularity'' that can speed up his understanding of various magics.


    Mana circle are basically just condensed mana materialized in the air in various patterns and forms to enhance and change the specifications of any particular type of elemental power.


    You can literally use the same magic circle for two completely different elements and the effects will be different with each one.


    Learning spells and advancing further on the path of a stronger mage is no mere child''s play, it takes time and a lot of proficiency to master a single spell.


    Afterall, not everyone is like Jareth who not only has the benefits of mana singularity but also have a super intelligent mind. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    When Jareth used the liquid flame spell, the lake trembled for a second as if it could sense that something was wrong.


    The whole lake started to move and the miasma inside it started to condense.


    All the water and miasma in the lake shrinked and started to take the shape of a massive slime type monster.


    But Jareth didn''t give the other party enough time to complete it''s defensive preparations.


    His grimoire shined brightly and amplified the power of the spell, finally a small drop of a blue liquid came out of the magic circle and dropped on the body of the giant pitch black slime.


    The drop seemed harmless and very calm at the first glance but the very moment it touched the shrinking body of the slime.


    It burst apart, and a massive explosion occured that blasted out an insane amount of lava in the surrounding.


    The slime''s body was completely evaporated in a matter of seconds and even it''s solid core was turned into powder before being submerged under the lava.


    ''As I said, don''t try to play tricks in front of me, I am bored of them¡­''


    This type of slimes are made out of corpses that fell into water and then got corrupted by miasma for a very long time.


    Eventually, they fused together and created this slime type monster.


    Usually this slime lies in wait for unsuspecting prey to come and then it chokes them to death by surrounding them with miasma inside it''s body.


    Although it looks weak, once it swallows you, getting out of it is very difficult and your body gets affected by severe debuffs and even moving becomes a problem.


    Jareth has died to this cheap tactic in the game quite a few times as there are a bit too many of these slimes in the Abyss Altar Area.


    Moreover, killing these slimes is really a very difficult task, physcial attacks are nearly useless on them and magic attacks don''t do much damage to them as they are enhanced by miasma.


    It''s just that Jareth has Fire magic that is a direct counter of these liquid type monsters, that''s why it was so easy to beat it.


    ''The most annoying thing about these are that they can mimic human behaviours¡­''


    When the slime senses that it''s in some kind of mortal danger, it takes on the form of a human and tries to decieve others by trying to gain sympathy.


    Even now, the slime was trying to turn into a human child to gain sympathy from Jareth, but Jareth is just too acquanited to these cheap tricks of theirs.


    That''s why he didn''t even let the slime transform as he was too bored of these tricks.


    Moreover, even if it does transforms, Jareth is not a saint, it''s not like he hasn''t done illegal things before.


    Getting his sympathy is not so easy.


    Jareth shook his head and jumped forward to directly bypass the whole lava filled area that was created as a result of his own magic.


    Then he kept moving forward in the eastern direction in a straight line.


    Most players get lost in the abyss altar area because they don''t stick to one path.


    You only need to go towards the east from the teleportation altar in a complete straight line and you will find yourself standing near the area that has the cloud step lift.


    If you get distracted along the way and don''t follow the straight line, then you will obviously get lost in this dark fog and then it would become hundred times more difficult to find the correct.


    At that point, not only will you not know where the telportation altar is, you won''t even be able to find where you are on the map exactly.


    Forget about smartphones and compasses, not even high grade path determining artifacts work properly in this place.


    Losing your path is one of most fatal mistakes you can make in this place.

 Chapter 188 - 188: The Nest... Part-3.

    ''There it is¡­ took a while to find it, afterall the map is bigger now¡­''


    A massive, dark and seemingly bottomless pit was right in front of Jareth at this moment.


    If it was still in the game, it would have barely taken about ten minutes to reach this place but now it took Jareth several hours to get here despite having enhanced speed along with his strong body.


    He could have reached here faster, but there were several hordes of those lesser demon creating mutants blocking his path.


    He had no choice but to deal with them as he couldn''t take a detour to avoid them.


    If he lost his path just to avoid those weak enemies, then all his efforts would have been in vain.


    ''Ah, there''s the ''fake'' lift calling pillar¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the giant stone pillar located nearby which had a round indentation in it and several mysterious carvings were visible on it.


    It was shining with a greenish glow brightly from time to time as it was made from a very rare type of glowing stone that shines in darker areas.


    Looking at the pillar, Jareth couldn''t help but remember the prank that the develpers played on all the players who came to this place.


    In the game, when you first arrive at this place you are bound to notice this pillar.


    It gives you hint that you would need to find a circular medallion to make it functional and then summon the Cloud Step Lift using it.


    Your player character will not jump in the pit and an invisible barrier will keep you at a hair''s distance from jumping down.


    (It''s that barrier that blocks your path when you reach the edge of the game map or try to access places that are still locked¡­)


    Once you get the clues, you will have to search through the entire vast barren land to find that medallion.


    And as it turns out, the medallion is divided into three different pieces and each piece is located behind a mini-boss fight.


    You need to go and conquer the three mini-bosses located in the west, south and north edge of the vast barren lands. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Then after collecting all three pieces of the medallion you will need to make your way back to the eastern edge where this massive pit is located.


    Not only finding the locations of these three bosses is a very tedious task, it''s very difficult to beat them too.


    The whole barren land is shrouded in dark fog and it''s difficult to determine the directions which makes it very difficult to navigate and makes it easier to lose your way for a long time.


    There''s no minimap function in this game to guide your path so don''t even bother thinking about relying on it.


    And even if you make it to the boss monsters, each of them is strong and has unique abilities.


    It will take several deaths and retries to even get used to their various movement patterns.


    After you collect all the parts of the medallions and put them in the pillar, you would expect your efforts to have paid off right?


    But that''s where the prank of the game developers comes into play.


    The medallion turns out to be completely useless as the lift never comes up because it''s already been broken since long ago!


    There was chance of you boarding the lift from the very begining! So there was literally no point in collecting those medallions!


    They are literal useless garbage taken extra space in your inventory!


    And the most infuriating part is that the ''Barrier'' that was blocking your character to jump inside the pit before collecting the medallions, now gets deactivated.


    You can now just jump inside without any problems and your character will sustain literally ''Zero'' damage as the place underneath is flooded with water!


    In other words, you could have entirely skipped those infuriatingly hard boss fights and that time that was wasted on finding the location of the bosses could have been saved too.


    But no! The developers had to make it this way so that the player''s efforts would go to complete waste just because of that impenetrable barrier!


    If there was no boundary barrier locking the pit before collecting the medallions, the player could have just directly jumped in the pit and all those grueling hours of wandering in hell could have been skipped directly.


    This prank from the developers was so brutal that the players were raging all over the internet and countless abusive words were thrown at the Developers.


    And the developers never fixed this prank at all even after all this.


    Even after getting so much hate they never fixed this so as to make more players suffer from this.


    ''Sometimes I wonder if the people who made this game were hardcore ''Sadists'' or something like that¡­''


    This event made the game popular over the internet as the ''Game of Masoch*sts''.


    Only those who had no jobs, no life and liked to torture themselves with completely unfair game conditions liked to fully complete this game.


    This bad reputation of the game was one of the reasons why Jareth also quit this game later on as he didn''t want to be caught playing it by his friends from school.


    Afterall, he didn''t want to get called a ''Masoch*st'' by his own friends.


    ''Thankfully I know about this place beforehand, otherwise even I would have been deceived by this fake pillar¡­''


    Jareth directly punched the pillar and broke it into pieces.


    That did relieve a lot of frustrations from the past.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth cast his float magic and flew down into the pit, there was no barriers stopping him as this is reality and not a game so he could go ''out of bounds'' easily without any problems.


    Jareth was pressed on time, so he didn''t bother going to collect those medallion fragments as they were completely useless.


    And as for those three mini-bosses... they are completely irrelevant to the main plot, Jareth didn''t even bother fighting them as they won''t give him any good loot or even Credit points.


    [Basic Magic: Gloating Mana Orb!]


    Although it couldn''t provide much brightness in this place where dark fog shrouds everything, it surely could help Jareth reflect the water below once he reaches it.


    After flying down for a few minutes in the pit, Jareth finally reached the bottom where the water had floodded everything.


    As the water was quite clear, Jareth could even see the massive broken lift at the bottom submerged by the water.


    ''To think developers tricked people into thinking that collecting those medallions will help bring this broken lift back to work again¡­ truly laughable¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and glanced around to look and sure enough, there was a small crack in one of the walls.


    *Boom!*


    Jareth floated towards the crack and punched it lightly, directly breaking a hole in the wall which revealed a hidden corridor behind.


    He floated inside and landed on the floor made out of the same rare glowing stone that was used to make that lift calling pillar above.


    Even though the place was located so deep underground, it was still dimly lit due to the brightness of the glowing stone floor.


    And it was just enough that Jareth could see the amazing ancient desings and inscription on the walls and the floor.


    He poured more mana in the glowing orb and used it to illuminate the area even more, which helped him see the inspcriptions more easily.


    There were pictures of the once glorious underground city inscribed on the walls of the corridor.


    Jareth walked further and saw even more inscription on the walls.


    ''These must have been one of the greatest arts of their time¡­''


    Even Jareth was a bit mesmerized by the beauty of those masterpieces.


    The only thing that quelled the angers of the players from this huge prank was these amazing peices of pure art.


    Now that Jareth could see them in reality, these colourful inscriptions looked even more beautiful and detailed.


    Jareth was quite sure that these must have been created by someone who was extremely skilled in his craft.


    ''The Abyss Altar Area is filled with hidden treasures¡­ for an artist these inscriptions would have been nothing less than priceless treasures as they have literally involved the ''Law'' of ''Art'' into them.


    Whoever created these, poured so much effort in them that it impressed even the ''Laws'' of the ''World'' itself.


    This is likely the reason why these peices of art are still intact even after so many centuries, they are protected by the ''Laws'' of the ''World''.


    Jareth didn''t look for too long and decided to leave.


    He doesn''t have much knowledge in this aspect so he can''t actually figure out the finer details in the picture, all he can do is look at them once and appreciate their beauty.


    As Jareth reached the end of the corridor the last inscription on the wall showed a massive meteor falling on the ground.


    The impact of the falling meteor was so strong that it directly shattered the crust of the Earth and got buried deep into the ground after causing a massive shift in the tectonic plates of the planet.


    Then a giant pitch black dragon burst out of the meteor and reigned terror on the world.


    The final artwork seemed more ordinary and it seemed like the creator was suffering from some physical problems as there were many mistakes in the inscriptions.


    ''This inscirption is what helped the lore enthusiasts find the hidden lore behind Konda ''The Empty Shell''...''


    By the time the creator made this inscription, he was likely also affected by miasma and was losing his sanity along with the skills that he had mastered over the years.


    Likely the creator of all these masterpieces met a sad end too.


    Miasma doesn''t spare anyone, it''s a horrible and twisted power that likes to torment the weak.

 Chapter 189 - 189: The Nest... Part-4.

    This inscription on the wall is the first clue and one of the biggest foreshadowing done by the Developers of the game.


    This inscription literally screams, ''Leave'' if you put your ear on it and try to listen to it carefully.


    The reason being that the creator of the inscription wanted whoever came later to not go deeper into the forgotten city as it has that monstrosity sealed inside it.


    If not for the fact that Jareth took the help of the ''Laws'' of the world and killed Konda in one-shot, that beast would have proved to be a very troublesome foe.


    Its rampage would have never ended and it would have become the cause of death for millions of people.


    ''And after this corridor is the path...''


    Jareth stepped forward and arrived on an open balcony like place located two stories high in a massive empty hall.


    The hall was made up of the same glowing stones and there was miasmic mud filled in the hall.


    ''Here comes the most annoying part of this journey¡­''


    In the game, entering the hidden inscription corridor adds a new save point where you will respawn if you die afterwards.


    Right outside the corridor is the ''Pathway of Fools''.


    Although this is not an official name given to this area by the game developers, it was very popular in the player''s community.


    The reason was simple, although this path that leads to the inner areas of the ''Nest'' has no enemies guarding it, it''s filled with traps and platforming challenges.


    You need insane platforming skills to be able to complete this place.


    Only simple minded ''Fools'' who have dedicated their weeks and weeks of time on learning and adaptating to this path can finally complete it.


    But that would mean you have completely given up on your ''life''.


    Thay where the name ''The Path of Fools'' comes from.


    There aren''t any casual gamers who have crossed this path, including Jareth, the only reason he has seen it all is because he watched the gameplay videos online that were made by speedrunners.


    Even speedrunners needed days of hardwork to master it all though.


    ''Here goes nothing¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Maximum output: Mana Shield!]


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Float!]


    Jareth put a lot of mana to boost his flying speed, he bent his knees and used his physical strength to give himself an extra explosive boost.


    *BOOM*


    As if a bullet had launched, a massive sonic boom was created and a strong shockwave spread everywhere which created cracks in the ground and the walls of the hall.


    Jareth jumped in the air and flew forward like a bullet with an insane speed.


    The miasmic mud also reacted at the very moment when Jareth entered the space above it.


    *Boom*


    Massive spears made up of condensed miamsa flew into the air to attack Jareth.


    The whole miasmic mud in the giant hall became restless and thousands of spears flew in the air much faster than sound to attack Jareth.


    But Jareth knew this was going to happen, that''s the reason why he had deployed his mana shield with maximum output and was using a lot of mana to boost his flying speed.


    The speed of these spears is as fast an attack from a peak grade-1 mage and as there''s thousands of them, jumping above this miasmic mud would mean instant death unless you are in peak grade-1 realm or above.


    Even Jareth was barely avoiding getting hit by those spears and a few dozens of them still hit his mana shield regardless of his insane speed.


    Thankfully his mana shield is too strong and it wasn''t even scratched by those few attacks.


    After a few milliseconds of flying at insanely fast speed, Jareth dived down towards the exit door below.


    Although half of it was already submerged in the miasmic mud, Jareth didn''t care, that upper half of it was enough for him to pass through.


    He flew towards it and the thousands of spears turned in the air and chased him as if they could see him try to dodge.


    Jareth passed through the upper half of the broken exit door and then flew upwards, making a perfect ''U'' motion to avoid the spears.


    But he didn''t stop there, outside the hall were several pathways that were leading to the outside.


    But Jareth didn''t take them, instead he kept flying toward the ceiling and entered a giant crack in the ceiling without hesitation.


    The few miasmic spears that followed him till now finally stopped as Jareth had gone out of their tracking range.


    If he had gone for those more obvious looking exits he would have actually found out that the exits were all blocked and this crack in the ceiling was the only way out. Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Then those miasmic spears would have kept hitting him.


    These exits are deliberately placed here to confuse the player and bait them into rushing inside.


    Jareth knew about this and thus he didn''t even bother exploring, he directly went for the only safe exit, which was the crack in the ceiling.


    He could have smashed his way out of those blocked exits but that would have wasted too much time and time is something that he is short of right now, so he can''t waste it here.


    After flying up for a while Jareth got out of the massive crack in the ceiling and then found himself standing in another hidden corridor filled with ancient inscriptions.


    Jareth walked forward without hesitation and the inscriptions blew up on him along with the walls of the corridor.


    *Crack!* *Boom!*


    The broken debris flew at high speeds and hit Jareth''s mana shield before bouncing off of it.


    The expression over Jareth''s face remained cold as usual as he kept walking forward without caring about the explosion at all.


    The same phenomena kept repeating itself, the inscriptions kept exploding at his face as he walked past them without caring about the world.


    The ground cracked and the walls fell apart, miasmic mud started to leak from the cracks and thus, Jareth hastened his steps to avoid it.


    The reason why Jareth didn''t bother wasting mana or using enhanced float ability to avoid the explosions is because you can''t avoid them.


    They are all unavoidable attacks enhanced with the residual powers of peak grade-1 mages.


    In this small corridor it''s completely impossible to avoid them.


    Unless you can pass right through the walls, it''s pointless to even waste mana to boost speed and dodge them.


    That''s why Jareth focused more mana on his shield to tank the attacks instead of dodging.


    This is also one of the many infuriating traps made by the game developers.


    Avoiding those miasmic spears and making a perfect ''U'' then flying towards the only safe exit are just the starting.


    When you enter this hall, you must have enough mana left after flying at fast speed all the previous difficulties, so that you can withstand these explosions.


    If you don''t have that much mana left, then you are basically as good as dead.


    This is one of the reasons why most players who try to clear this ''Path of Fools'' do so after they max the character level and add a lot of ''HP'' increasing artifacts to the build.


    The more health and mana you have the better.


    Of course you can also use artifacts that increase your resistance to fire and thus you can minimize the damage even further.


    ''Finding those damage minimizing artifacts is a pain in the A*s in of itself, my own mana shield is a hundred times more reliable and cost effective than them¡­''


    Talismans, enchantments, artifacts, armor sets, etc. all are support items that can improve your survival chances by a lot.


    But finding things of grade-1 level is not an easy task.


    Each grade-1 level item or equipment has its own unique questline and you have to complete it to get your hands on it.


    It''s just that Jareth is in the real world now and he don''t need to complete the quests to access the hidden areas as he can go and find them himself.


    ''The Grimoire of Amplification I got from the National memorial also had a questline of its own¡­ but I totally ignored it¡­''


    Jareth doesn''t care about those questline anymore, all he needs are the rewards that they give, he has no need to make friends with various NPC''s as most of them are just useless people who always shout for the help of the Protagonist.


    Thinking about the quests, Jareth also remembered that there was a quest where one NPC who was a soldier guarding the city walls requested Allen to give the flower bouquet to his wife on his stead as he wasn''t able to get off duty.


    And the obvious happened after that, the wife''s favorability for Allen increased instead as she misunderstood that he was the one who was giving her flowers.


    ''Although nothing happened between Allen and that lady in the game¡­ I am not sure if things will still be the same now that things have turned into reality¡­''


    The current Allen is not controlled by the restrictions of the questlines.


    He can proceed further and cross boundaries if he wants to, after receiving these weird quests.


    ''I firmly believe that the developers of this game definitely weren''t good people¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about Allen and as that would just pollute his head with pointless thoughts.


    He kept walking through the corridor and finally reached the exit, where a similar miasmic mud filled hall was located.


    ''Yeah, I have to repeat the whole process three times before I can get to the next part¡­''

 Chapter 190 - 190: The Nest... Part-5.

    After going through those similar looking traps for three whole times Jareth finally arrived at a more deeper area.


    He brought out a mana potion from his space ring and drank it to replenish his mana to full capacity again.


    It''s already been nearly a day since Jareth entered the Abyss Altar Area, and he''s been using mana constantly ever since.


    Not only defeating thousands of monsters but avoiding the traps also cost him a lot of mana as he had to use it at maximum output.


    ''To think even someone with ''Mana Singularity'' will need mana potions¡­ it''s quite hilarious¡­''


    Using mana singularity, you can literally command the mana in the atmosphere to enter your body and replenish your mana supply endlessly.


    But right now, Jareth is in a place that is filled with miasma and corruption.


    Miasma and Mana are both completely opposite forces, they repel each other like crazy and can''t stand each other''s existence in the slightest.


    Thus, all the mana in this place was likely repelled away by miasma and now there''s only miasma and corruption in the atmosphere.


    Thus, Jareth can''t replenish his mana from the air as it''s all polluted with miasma, he has to use mana potions that he brought with himself to replenish his own mana.


    Moreover, Jareth''s mana is insandely dense and pure, it takes quite a few high grade potoins for him to fully replenish his mana, while ordinary grade-2 mages only need to drink half the bottle of a high grade mana replenishment potion to replenish all of their mana.


    ''I guess everything has it''s advantages and disadvantages, there''s nothing in the world that is completely perfect¡­'' S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth shook his head and stopped worrying about this matter.


    He already knew that he would be needing a lot of mana potions in the Abyss Alter Area, so he brought a lot of them with him.


    Aside from a few important things, his whole space ring is nearly filled with mana replenishment potions to the brim.


    ''Here it is¡­''


    After crossing those three similar trap filled pathways, Jareth reached a corridor whose floor was slightely tilted downwards and it''s end was completely dark.


    There was no glowing stones here, this corridor seemed completely dark and everything was pitch black because even the walls here were tainted with miasma.


    Instead of increasng the intensity of his Glowing mana orb, Jareth stopped using it entirely and made the area even darker.


    Then he took his step and tried his best to be as quiet as possible.


    He even used his mana singularity to completely suppress the mana fluctuations produced by himself.


    As Jareth has a strong physquie, his eyesight is also very good, he can still vaguely see the path ahead even when everything was pitch black.


    By putting himself in complete stealth mode and suppressing his presence to near the level of completely erasing it, Jareth entered the dark corridor.


    If it was bright enough, it would have been much easier to tell that the walls here in this dark corridor are not similar to the other corridors that Jareth has been to before.


    The walls here have snake like scales all over them and the walls are constantly trembling from time to time as if they are alive and can move on their own.


    ''Created from the corpses of thousands of humans who were turned into serpent like mutants, these walls are partially allive¡­''


    There are many souls trapped in these walls which are being constantly tormented and used as fuelt to power up the trembling sensation that the wall gives when you try to touch he wall and sense the vibration.


    ''This is where the real inner area of the nest starts¡­''


    The first King obviously didn''t make this hedious place that has used corpses as construction material, he was not that kind of person.


    It''s not that Jareth doesn''t want to help these stuck souls, it''s just that he doesn''t have any time or motivation to do so.


    Moving in a stealth way is the only fastest way out of this corridor.


    If he stopped using stealth and made any unneccasrry noise here, then the ceiling above him will start to leak miasmic mud in large quantities.


    Before long, the whole corridor will be submerged in miasmic mud and Jareth will have to literally swim inside that miasmic mud to cross this place.


    That will cause him to use his mana shield at ''Overload'' state where he will lose a lot of mana just to defend against such dense amount of miasma.


    The biggest problem with the ''Pathway of Fools'' is that there''s no ''save point'' in between.


    In the game, whenever your character dies, you will have to start the whole ''Path of Fools'' from the very start.


    In other words, unless you make it past all traps and problems in one go, all your efforts will go down the drain in an instant and you will lose your progress.


    Still, in the game the character can revive and give it a second try, but Jareth has only one life afterall, he can''t risk it.


    He needs to do everything perfectly in the very first try, otherwise his mission will fail.


    In the game, you could just do everything all over again and the traps and areas will be reset again.


    But''s that''s not possible in reality, It will take several hours for the miasmic mud to clear away from this dark corridor naturally if Jareth made a mistake here even once.


    He will need to wait for several hours before he can go for the second try after the miasmic mud in the corridor settles down.


    Jareth doesn''t have that much time to waste, so he was being as cautions as possible.


    He completely ignored everything else and made his way down.


    The dark corridor alone was about two kilometers long and it took Jareth about ten minutes to pass through it as he was being extremely cautious and steady all along.


    After bypassing the dark corridor, Jareth finally heaved a sigh of relief and calmed down his tensed nerves.


    Walking out of the dark corridor, Jareth arrived at a wide room where seven stairscases were located.


    Three of them were going upwards, while the rest of the four were going downwards.


    ''This one is unavoidable¡­''


    All seven of these staircases are random, any of them could be the right one or any of them could be the wrong one.


    If it''s a wrong one, it will lead to a dead end and will waste your efforts, worst case scenario it will directly teleport you to the starting place of the ''Path of Fools''.


    Which means if you didn''t enter the right one and got teleported wrongly, you will have to start all over again from the begining.


    The name ''Pathway of Fools'' is no mere joke, it''s an actual fact, unless you have brain damage and have nothing better to do in life, you won''t try to complete this unfair and highly punishing quest.


    [Mana Command: Mana flow visibility enhancement!]


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Mana Detection!]


    [Active Healing!]


    Jareth commanded the mana to make the flow of mana of various things in a radius of five kilometers more easily visible to him.


    Then he used his mana detection at maximum output to read that easier mana flow and finally he used Active Healing to provide healing support to his brain.


    Processing so much knowledge and so may flow patterns of mana is no simple task.


    It puts a massive burden on your brain, if Jareth didn''t have ''Active Heal'' he would have needed a few days to recover from the brain damage sustained from analysing so much information in such insane details.


    At this moment, Jareth was literally spreading his own mana in the area and then seeing how the mana will react with the miasma inside different things and places.


    This way he can create a rough mental map of the area.


    Although this will cost a lot of mana, atleast it can eliminite the un-predictibility of the staircases.


    With this method, Jareth can figure out which staircase is the right one.


    Although this method wouldn''t have been feasible in the game, it is very much feasible in the real world as the ''Laws'' and mechanisms in this world are very complete and thorough.


    Jareth opened his mana detection for only a few minutes and then stopped using it.


    He calmed down his brain and let it heal for a few seconds before finally smiling a bit.


    He glanced at the leftmost staircase that was heading deeper and walked towards it without hesitation.


    Only this staircase doesn''t lead to a dead end.


    Rest of the staircase all lead to dead ends located three to five kilometers from here.


    ''Good thing I preapared for everything beforehand¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and headed downstairs with the same usual cold look on his face.


    He needed to descend about three thousand stairs before he could finally cross it.


    After half an hour, Jareth found himself standing in a massive hall.


    A gigantic flower plant was growing inside that massive hall.


    The flower on the stem of the plant alone was so big that it was five times the size of Jareth''s whole body.


    ''And here''s the mini-boss of the area¡­''


    As stated before, everytime you die, you have to start all over from the begining, in other words, if you died to this boss, all your efforts to reach this place will be lost.


    Although the whole ''Pathway of Fools'' has no enemies in it, there''s still a final mini-boss that you must defeat if you want to access the next area.


    ''The Developers of this game can never beat the allegations that they are all sadistic piece of sh*ts who take enjoyment in other''s suffering¡­''


    Putting a boss mosnter right after a horrendous path and no save points in between, if this isn''t something meant for Fools with no life then who else is it for?

 Chapter 191 - 191: You werent made in the image of God!!

    *Mukakakakrrraaararara!*


    *It''s been so long since I last saw a real human, ahahahahaha it''s a good day today!!*


    A massive human like face appeared on the flower and started to laugh like a maniac, it''s voice was hoarse and rough, almost like that of a beast.


    Jareth wasn''t much surprised when that giant flower suddenly started to talk in human language, he saw that coming from kilometres away.


    The giant flower trembled and a few of it''s roots dug themselves out from the ground, several of those mutated walking demon incubators were stuck to those roots.


    *BOOM*


    The roots slammed those mutated beasts on the ground and killed them to get it''s roots rid of their excessive weight.


    Blood and innards splattered everywhere and painted the ground dark red.


    The roots were surprisingly very fast and nimble, if not for mana singularity, even Jareth would have had hard time detecting their fast movements.


    Even the most weakest mini-bosses in the Abyss Altar Area are all peak grade-1 monsters that are strong enough to go toe to toe with the strongest mages and warriors easily.


    It was no surprise that this boss monster is also strong.


    ''The Flower of Pain and Mutation¡­ this thing is the one who caused the forced mutation and turned innocent human into walking demon incubators that nurture demon children with their own flesh and blood. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''It''s a messed up creature indeed¡­''


    This gaint flower is said to have blossomed from the body of a person who was consumed by so much pain while in his mutation due to miasma, that it influced the ''Law'' of ''Pain'' and ''Suffering'' into it''s body and became what it is today.


    If you can study this flower in detail, you can get a lot of knowledge about the ''Laws'' of the world just like how Jareth analyzed the ''Law'' of ''Thunder'' in the Desert of Chaotic Thunder.


    *Shhhiiiiirrrrr*


    A massive amount of miasma started to gather in front of the humanoid face of the flower and a wide grin appeared on it''s hideous face as it stared at Jareth.


    *PLAYING WITH HUMANS IS MY FAVORITE! KAKAHAHAHAH!*


    The miasma that condensed into a form of a ball in front of the flower, fired a massive beam of miasma towards Jareth.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Flame Sword of Counter Force!]


    But Jareth was not going to step back either, he directly used his fire magic to counter the beam of condensed miasma.


    A massive sword made up of condensed true flame elementals manifested in front of him and swung in a downward motion directly severing the beam of miasma into two.


    The beam of miasma split into two and was deflected into two diferent direction, the floor was shattered and the walls of the hall collapsed after getting hit by those two beams of miasma, debris flew everywhere and even the miasma in the air became chaotic.


    Only the spot where Jareth was standing remained unscathed together with the floor below his feet.


    He had perfectly blocked the attack without sustaining any injuries.


    Moreover, the fire sword launched an arc made of condesed flames towards the flower and completely destroyed the round orb made up of condensed miasma located right in front of the flower.


    *Ho! You are stronger than those pathetic weak humans¡­ ekekhekehe toying with you will be MORE FUN!!*


    Jareth shook his head and at those words and didn''t even bother refuting the words of that mutated plant.


    ''As they say, when death is close, people lose their wits and turn into mindless idiots¡­''


    The mutated flower that had never faced a true strong human was in an impression that all humans are weak creatures who can be killed and toyed with according to it''s own will.


    ''Let me remind you that you were not the one who was made in god''s image, you overgrown plant!''


    [Mana Command: Mana condension enhancement!]


    Using ''Mana Singularity'' to command mana, Jareth could ask his own mana to enhance it''s condension limit when he uses his attack magic.


    This is something only those blessed with a legendary skill could accoplish.


    [Basic Magic: Smoothen Mana Flow!]


    Although Basic Magic doesn''t have many combat type spells, it does have many spells that boost a mages basic capabilities.


    As ordinary mages have very weak ''Basic Magic'' they don''t really bother using these basic spell as they waste more mana and don''t provide much usable of a boost.


    But that''s not the case with Jareth, his basic magic''s capabilities are off the charts and even the most useless boost spell can give him a massive boost.


    It''s just that he only recently learned them otherwise he would have used them in earlier fights too.


    [Basic Magic: Enhance Maximum Spell overlap restriction!]


    Every spell has an overlapp restriction on it, you can''t overlap too many magic nodes and magic circle layers one after another or the spell will collapse and won''t work as expected.


    But this Basic magic can increase that restriction by a ''slight'' amount if used, and for Jareth whose basic magic is boosted by Mana Singularity, that ''Slight'' amount becomes a very big boost, and provides him with very big room for enhancement.


    As Jareth has learned grade-2 spells only recently, his proficiency over them isn''t high, but with the various boosts and supports provided thanks to ''Mana Singularity'', ''Purest Mana'', ''True Flames'' and the ''Grimoire of Amplification'', his combat spell''s output is nowadays always 100 times more than an ordinary grade-2 mage.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Fifty overlaps: Ten circles: Flowing Lava Tsunami!]


    A massive magic circle, the size of a three story building appeared in front of Jareth, it was so big that it was touching the cieling of this massive hall.


    Next, ten magic circle layers appeared behind the giant magic circle and an insanely condensed flood of fire elementals burst out of the magic circle like beam of fire.


    The lava directly overwhelmed the flower and it''s body started to burn like crazy as it got submerged in extremely condensed lava!


    Although this move used up a lot of mana, Jareth didn''t hesitate, he directly burned the whole flower and submerged it''s ashes under the molten lava.


    *AAAHHHHHHHHHGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!*


    While it was burning, the hedious humanoid face on the flower started to shed tears of blood and let out a horrible cry.


    It''s wails were so loud that Jareth had to use his mana shield to block the shouts of the other party from destroying his ear drums.


    *AHHHH IT BURRRRNNNSSSS!!!!*


    The plant decided to choose deception, it took the voice of child to scream and make Jareth stop, but that didn''t work on Jareth at all, in the end, it was burned to ashes without any mercy.


    ''Quite a good tactic though, it would have worked on the hero''s party if they were here¡­''


    Allen''s childhood friend Airin, that is the sister of Aria, has nature and wood affinity just like her sister.


    She would have been the most affected by this wailing plant if she was here with the hero''s party.


    ''Actually¡­ I don''t think that those dumb kids can even make it here¡­''


    The journey to reach this place alone was already quite a tough one, even if Allen could make it here with his plot armor, the other party members couldn''t.


    Jareth has no idea how the hero party would have made it here in the lore¡­ or perhaps they entirely skipped this area as it was completely optional.


    Jareth waved his hand the magic circle disappeared and the fire elementals also evaporated away, thus the lava on the ground also disappeared.


    The floor was charred black and molten into lava, but Jareth bothern with it, he just casted his ''Float'' magic and flew towards the ashes of the mini-boss.


    He squatted down and searched through them and found a small gem.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: A Fragment of a Suffering Heart]


    [Item Grade: Grade-1+]


    [Item Description: A residual fragment of the heart of a flower that bloomed on pain and suffering and got blessed by the very ''Laws'' of the world.


    The Flower wanted to inflict intense pain and misery on others for its whole life.


    Perhaps the residual will of the person whom the flower bloomed from slipped into this flower and all that it had for everything was immense hatred.


    If you observe it closely, you can see the howling and wailing face of a broken soul that has suffered immense pain.]


    [Item Uses:


    - Can be used to create high grade artifacts, weapons etc¡­


    - Grants Debuff causing abilities if used to create weapons or artifacts¡­


    - Can be used to create high grade poisons¡­


    - Can be used to cast powerful curses or use forbidden magic¡­]


    ¡­


    Looking at the fragment, Jareth just kept it in his inventory and shook his head.


    ''Well if I can''t find the item which I came for, then I guess I can use this thing in its place¡­ that would cause the wormhole to get a bit unstable though¡­''


    This heart fragment is a rare loot, you won''t get it anywhere else in the whole game except for this one boss monster in the Abyss Altar Area.


    It is a one time use item and must be used carefully.


    ''If I didn''t need to create a wormhole, I would have liked to use it to create a powerful poison and then I would have used that poison on the other two endgame bosses that are still alive¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about this matter and decided to keep moving forward.


    ''Finally I am about to reach the real Forgotten City after all this time¡­sigh¡­''


    Traveling in the Abyss Altar Area is no easy task after all, If Jareth hadn''t stolen various cheat items from the main character, his journey wouldn''t have been so easy.

 Chapter 192 - 192: Inside the City of Horrors... Part-1.

    Forgotten City, Burning Garden of Death.


    Walking out of the giant hall, Jareth found a huge corridor leading to the surface, and after walking through it for a while, he finally arrived at the real forgotten city''s outskirts.


    The Forgotten City used to have a massive garden surrounding it in its haydey.


    There were various fruit trees in the garden; any random citizen was allowed to just come out of the city and grab fruits for themselves.


    They were free for everyone as the common people were the ones who were growing them in the first place; the First King ruled with benevolence; there were rarely any people who ever got serious punishments, and only the most heinous type of people got the death penalty.


    Records describe him as a ruler with great insight into human nature; he could see through the thoughts of people just by seeing their expression, and he could solve great catastrophes with just a mere flick of his finger.


    He was such a person, powerful enough to dominate the world alone yet benevolent enough to treat everyone with respect and kindness.


    ''Kind of sounds more like an actual protagonist than that pathetic sh*t of a protagonist, Allen, who is just a big shame on the existence of all heroes¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the trees in the vast garden and noticed that a pitch-black flame was burning on all of the trees.


    Although the flame was burning with great intensity, the trees themselves weren''t getting burned at all and were still intact, only that they had no leaves and were more like dead tree trunks by now.


    The whole massive garden was filled with similar dead trees that had a pitch black fire burning on them.


    ''The Black Flames of Miasmic Curse¡­''


    In the game, touching these flames will lead to instant death as they can directly affect your soul and can kill you easily.


    ''Well, unless someone has ''True Immunity'' or some other kind of related resitance ability, of course¡­''


    True Immunity is a passive resistance-type skill; it grants the person the ability to completely nullify all abnormal conditions and status effects.


    Curse attacks, charm attacks, mental attacks, illusions, soul attacks, and so on. In fact, it can even do counterattacks sometimes if the conditions are fulfilled properly.


    ''The problem is that there are only mentions of this skill in the lore of the game; there is not a single character in the game who actually has it¡­''


    As a matter of fact, not even Allen received that skill ever before in his life, so it''s really impossible to find it with no solid information to work on.


    ''I guess the developers only added it into the lore and forgot about ever actually adding it into the game¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about the matter. The lore of this game is just too vast, and if he kept thinking about it, he would never be able to get his work done.


    [Mana Command: Outward Mana Flow!]


    Jareth used his ''Mana Singularity'' to tilt the mana flow from his body to the outside.


    Although this will increase the mana he will use every second, this will give Jareth two main benefits.


    First of all, increasing the flow of the mana towards outside will enhance the capability of his ''Mana Detection'' skill tremendously.


    And the other benefit is that he can use the mana that is flowing outside to repel the flames of the miasmic curse; although this won''t give me immunity to it, at least I won''t have to worry about the flames touching me accidentally.


    Jareth always likes to take precautions first, whenever the situation is at a disadvantage. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Right now, although Jareth is quite sure of his physical prowess and can make sure that he won''t touch the flames, it is always good to be cautious about such things before hand.


    ''Just in case I accidentally touch the flames, the mana flow will repel the flames away for a few moments, and that much time is enough for me to recollect myself¡­''


    If something happened to him here, then no one will come to even rescue his dead body, and he won''t even get a proper burial after death.


    His corpse will likely then be used by some hideous monster as a puppet or something like that.


    Jareth doesn''t want to end up in such a pathetic state, so he''s trying his best to be as cautious as possible.


    ''The biggest mystery is¡­ how the f*ck did those people from the False Dome Cult make it here when even I am having so much difficulty¡­''


    ''Don''t tell me they directly teleported to the palace grounds of the forgotten city and didn''t even need to go through the troubles like me¡­''


    Jareth was quite sure that no one has entered from the same path that he used to come here.


    After all, if someone had arrived here just recently from the same path, then they would have had to deal with the ''Flower of Pain'' and that flower should have been dead if they passed through that path.


    But the ''Flower of Pain'' was alive and kicking when Jareth found it, which means the members of the false dome likely used some other path. A path that was much easier than this one.


    ''It would feel so awkward if there was a path that could help skip the entire abyss altar area and directly teleport you to the palace grounds¡­''


    If there was such an easy path in the game, the players would have cried tears of happiness and would have thanked the game developers from the very bottom of their hearts.


    But the players looked through every nook and cranny of the game map and never found an alternate entrance to the Abyss Altar Area.


    This means that the other path exists in reality, but the game developers just didn''t show it in the game as the map was much smaller.


    Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head while thinking about this matter.


    ''I guess this is the restriction of a game¡­ Only reality can depict the world more perfectly¡­''


    Jareth moved forward without hesitation, and the dry leaves on the ground made ''Crunching'' noises as he walked through the Burning Garden.


    The Black Flames of Miasmic Curse don''t produce any smoke or residuals as they literally burn on the power of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma''. Unless you extinguish miasma itself from this whole ''Forgotten City'', these flames will keep burning.


    ''The developers really did a lot of lore-related foreshadowing through the miasmic flames¡­''


    These flames were left behind by none other than Konda, ''The Abysmal Dragon.


    Konda was an Abyss-type dragon; it had control over darkness and curses; it had shiny black scales and a very powerful physical body.


    Abysmal dragons are said to have the strongest physique among all types of dragons.


    Even the Golden Dragons, who are considered the royal dragons, don''t have such strong physiques.


    And the most terrifying thing about Abysmal Dragons is that they are born with the curse of Miasma. As they grow up, Miasma takes away their life force and slowly takes over their body until the dragon goes insane.


    By that point, the dragon can spew breath attacks that spew out these ''Flames of Miasmic Curse''.


    In mana-rich areas, these flames will not last long and stop burning on their own, but if the area has a lot of miasma, then these flames will keep burning till the whole area runs out of miasma.


    ''In a sense, these flames can also be considered a remedy for miasma if used properly¡­''


    If some creature that has the power to manipulate miasma uses these flames for the good of the people, they can use these flames to completely purify the miasma from the surroundings.


    You just need to cast the fire, and the fire will use the miasma as fuel, and eventually the fuel will run out and the miasma will be purified from that area; moreover, the fire will also stop burning on its own, thus it''s even more effective.


    ''Still¡­ I have never heard of anyone in the game''s lore who can control miasma¡­ Miasma is always described as an uncontrollable power that no one can meddle with¡­''


    If Jareth stays here for a long time, he can definitely figure out some basic abilities and qualities of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' from analyzing these Miasmic Flames.


    But right now he doesn''t have that much of a free time; the ''False Dome Cult'' is fast on the move; if he doesn''t hurry up, maybe they will break another node of the seal soon and his problems will increase further.


    ''I will definitely come back to this place one day¡­ By using these flames as my practice target, I can prepare myself for the calamity that might come one day¡­''


    These flames are the closest things to the ''perfect'' manifestation of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma''; they can give Jareth a lot of insights.


    *Step* *Step*


    ''Here it is¡­''


    After walking through the Burning Garden for nearly half an hour, Jareth finally arrived at the massive city gate.


    The insanely huge city wall was still standing tall even after such a long time; although the city gate was already destroyed, just looking at its size would be enough to amaze anyone.


    The Burning Garden was completely devoid of enemies, as most beings fear those flames and don''t go close to them at all costs.


    Not even undead-type creatures want to go in the close vicinity of those trees, as those flames can target even them.


    Abysmal Dragons are just that kind of existence; they are accepted by none in the world; not even their own kind likes to go anywhere near them, as just standing near them can harm you a lot.

 Chapter 193 - 193: Inside the City of Horrors... Part-2.

    The moment Jareth took his first step inside the city, the atmosphere became ominous all of a sudden.


    The surroundings became darker, and it seemed as if several ''things'' were staring at him from the dark the moment he came inside.


    ''Grade-1 illusion magic¡­ Moreover, it''s corrupted with miasma, so its effects will be more lethal if you don''t have proper defensive measures¡­''


    Illusion-type magic usually has a lot of restrictions.


    First of all, if you have a legendary skill, then the illusion magic will not work on you at all.


    On the other hand, the higher your grade, the fewer chances there are of the illusion magic working on you, as your soul, will, and consciousness will all be more and more strong the stronger you are.


    Only those with weak hearts, like Professor Aria, are most susceptible to the effects of illusion magic.


    If she were here, she would have fallen for the illusion magic almost instantly, not only because it is of a higher grade than hers, but also because she is less resistant to illusion magic.


    If it were normal, then Jareth would have been completely immune to this illusion magic, but not only is the magic of peak grade-1, it also has miasma boosting it.


    Right now, Jareth is in a place where mana is nonexistent, thus his mana singularity is more or less in a suppressed state.


    It can''t show its full power here as there''s nearly no mana in the surroundings; if it were above-ground, where mana is abundant, Jareth wouldn''t have been affected by the illusion in the slightest.


    ''Anyway, the illusion is only working partially on me; it can''t keep me restrained at all. I just need to keep my calm, and I can easily walk through this¡­''


    Among all the areas of the Abyss Altar, this place is much easier as the path is more or less linear; all you need to do to pass this area is to not fall for the tricks of the illusion and reach the ''Golden Path of Hope'' in three hours of time.


    The city''s main road is massively wide, and there are five lanes on both sides of the road.


    You just need to keep walking on this road till the end; this road will directly lead you to the ''Golden Path of Hope,'' and there''s no need to take any detours along the way.


    In this whole journey, the main thing that you must make sure of is that you mustn''t fall for the illusion; otherwise, you are dead.


    ''Originally, you would need to find the ''Talisman of Intersecting Paths'' for this area first, but I don''t need it¡­''


    There are many types of illusion magic in this world, but one of the most common and lethal types is the illusion magic where you get trapped in an unending path.


    No matter which direction you walk into and how long you walk, you end up reaching the same spot from where you started.


    These types of illusion magic focus on slowly building up mental stress on the victim, and eventually the victim collapses from a mental breakdown.


    Although these illusions are strong, there''s no such thing in this world that is completely without any weaknesses.


    Everything has its own advantages and disadvantages. The ''Talisman of Intersecting Paths'' is a loot dropped by one of the three mini-boss monsters in the upper grounds of the forgotten city.


    Jareth didn''t go to defeat those three bosses, as he had no need for their loot and those three medallion fragments.


    The main function of this talisman is that it can help a person ''partially'' awaken from these ''unending path'' types of illusions.


    In the game, if you don''t equip this talisman, you can''t pass through the ''City of Horrors'' area, as the character will instantly fall for the illusion and then get corrupted by Miasma until it dies.


    Equipping the talisman will help the player character to gain partial consciousness from the illusion, and the unending path will become finite.


    This way, all you need to do is cross the city and pass that infinite path while ignoring all the tricks that the partially working illusion may throw at you.


    The reason why that ''Talisman'' was completely useless for Jareth was because he has ''Mana Singularity'', which is already helping him to be partially conscious of the illusion anyway.


    Even if he equips that talisman now, it won''t increase the effects; the effects will just overlap and won''t work together to enhance the illusion resistance power.


    Jareth will still be only partially immune to the illusion, even if he had it equipped.


    Thus, he didn''t bother to go and get his hands on it; it would have only been a waste of his time.


    ''I kind of miss the background music of the game¡­''


    When you walk into the City of Horrors, the background music that plays has a creepy and horror-related theme.


    The music makes the area creepier and scarier and adds a taste of horror to the city.


    Without that music, Jareth kind of feels that the area is ''Lacking'' in some aspects now. (Imagine standing several kilometers deep underground in a hellhole with no one to rescue you and saying that the place seems ''Lacking''¡­)


    While shaking his head, Jareth walked forward without hesitation.


    *HEHEHE* *WAAAAAhhhh!!* *KEKEKEKEKE*


    The moment Jareth started walking, various creepy sounds started ringing out in his ears from all directions.


    Jareth glanced at the top of a nearby broken wall and noticed a strange flock of birds that had humanoid faces, and they were laughing creepily while staring at Jareth.


    Maggots and worms were crawling on their bodies, and their eyes were bloodshot as if they had gone insane.


    Even when Jareth''s overbearing presence pressured them, they still didn''t flinch and kept laughing at Jareth mockingly.


    Then, on the other hand, there was a wormlike creature peeking its humanoid face out from under the rubble of the broken houses and was making weirdly creepy sounds while staring at Jareth.


    Jareth could feel several dozens of different creepy mutated beings staring at him from various places.


    Some were laughing like maniacs, some were crying and wailing in sheer pain, and some didn''t even have mouths to make any noises.


    Although Jareth had seen this scene in the game, he was still a bit taken aback after seeing it in reality, as the atmosphere seemed very ominous and creepy.


    Just standing there, Jareth was having a feeling that those beasts were laughing at his courage and his thoughts of coming to this place.


    ''Imagine if you came to the city looking for refuge from these burning trees and saw this scene instead¡­ and then you ended up getting trapped in this illusion forever with no way out¡­''


    ''That would be such a miserable end¡­''


    Most of the mutated creatures in the city met this very exact fate; those who came from the upper grounds and the garden to take refuge here ended up encountering this scene and were driven insane by the illusion and tension.


    Eventually they mutated, became monsters themselves, and joined the various monsters to laugh and welcome the newer victims into the city.


    These beasts are laughing at Jareth''s decision to come to the city, as they think that Jareth has also fallen into the trap and will also end up like them sooner or later.


    The voices and mocking laughs of these monsters are so overbearing and hard to ignore that even Jareth felt a bit irritated by them.


    But he didn''t kill the beasts, even when he was irritated by them.


    The reason is that all these beasts are just pawns of the illusion magic; even if you kill them, nothing will change; there will be more beasts to replace their place.


    Killing them will just waste your magic and waste your time; the most optimal thing is to just ignore them and keep moving forward towards your destination. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *You are pathetic! Hekehekehe!*


    *You will never make it out of here!*


    *You are unworthy!*


    The mutated beast started to twist their bodies like maniacs and then started to hurl insults at Jareth to annoy him further and make him use his magic to get rid of them.


    ''Good thing that I came to this place only after taking full control of this body¡­''


    If Jareth hadn''t eliminated the assassination organization''s remnants and still didn''t have full control over the body, the original Jareth''s remnant will inside him would have definitely reacted at this moment.


    The original Jareth was an arrogant person; he would have definitely gotten angry once these beasts insulted him like this.


    But now that he has full control over his body, he can easily ignore these insults, as they are completely ineffective on him.


    His body will only move if he wants to; no one else can convince him otherwise. This is the benefit of getting full control over the body.


    *You are a failure of a human being!*


    *You were not able to live with her because you are undecisive!*


    *You are unworthy!!*


    ''Tch, whatever you may say, I won''t react to it. I left behind my regrets of my past life behind already; there''s no point in trying to use that against me now¡­''


    This illusion has miasma backing it, so it can use the memories of a person against them.


    Every person will perceive the illusion differently because it affects their own brain.


    The illusion doesn''t know Jareth''s memories itself; it''s just using his own brain against him.


    Jareth didn''t care much about it, though; he just kept moving forward, and the more insults thrown his way, the faster his movement speed became.

 Chapter 194 - 194: Inside the City of Horrors... Part-3.

    *Don''t leave, help me!*


    While Jareth was trying his best to ignore those mocking voices and insults, a very familiar voice rang out in his ears that almost made him stunned.


    It was the voice of none other than Shiina herself!


    Jareth glanced to his right and noticed a woman whose whole lower half was buried under rubble, and her head was bleeding heavily.


    Her beautiful face bore a look of pleading that seemed out of place in this horrible place.


    Jareth was momentarily stunned to see that familiar face appear out of nowhere, but he quickly composed himself.


    ''Now you are resorting to using her face against me?... It''s pointless; you can''t imitate her no matter how hard you try¡­''


    In Jareth''s opinion, Shiina was someone unique to herself; she was someone no one else can imitate or become; she had immense courage, and she was like a shining torch in endless darkness.


    This pathetic illusion can''t imitate her existence at all, no matter how hard it tries; her uniqueness can''t be imitated at all.


    ''Forget it; wasting my magic here will not yield anything.''


    Jareth shook his head and kept moving forward while ignoring those pitiful cries of help.


    Although it was hard, he had to do it.


    And sure enough, once Jareth left the vicinity, the illusion stopped working, and Shiina''s face disappeared, revealing a massive worm-like creature in its place.


    The creature had hundreds of sharp teeth in its mouth, and it looked very hideous and ugly. Although it''s not a strong creature, it could have definitely been enough to surprise anyone who had fallen for this illusion trap.


    The further Jareth walked, the more similar scenes he started to see.


    He saw Mark and other people that he knows from this life appear in the illusions and try to make him stop or try to ask for help.


    But Jareth didn''t flinch even a little bit.


    *How dare you lay your filthy eyes on my daughter!*


    Jareth even saw his boss from the previous life who was angry at him for messing around with his daughter.


    ''I don''t fear him anymore¡­''


    *You ungrateful, son! How dare you keep living after seeing me die! Why didn''t you save me!*


    The original Jareth''s mother also appeared in the illusion to curse at him for not saving her that day.


    She was cursing her luck for having given birth to someone as unworthy as him, who was completely unappreciative of her.


    ''I have already avenged the past hatred; those words hold no meaning anymore¡­''


    Suddenly a familiar hand was placed on his shoulder, and the sweet voice rang out in his ears again.


    *Come back to me; let''s live a happy life now that we are both here!*


    Once again, a monster impersonated Shiina and attempted to thwart his progress by luring him with a false promise of a joyful life.


    But Jareth easily saw through that fa?ade.


    ''I have left that happy life behind; there''s nothing left of that forgotten love¡­ You don''t affect me anymore¡­''


    Jareth shrugged the hand off his shoulder and kept moving while ignoring everything that came to stop him in his tracks.


    Behind every illusion there''s a hideous mutated monster hidden; the very moment you fall for their trap, you will get attacked by them when your guard is down.


    This whole city is filled with these horrors that torture you mentally and even physically. If you don''t want to be stuck in this illusion forever, then it''s better to not waste time and get out of this place in three hours'' time.


    The longer you stay, the more powerful the influence of miasma gets in this place, and even ''Talisman'' starts to get weaker and weaker until it breaks apart.


    Although Jareth''s mana singularity will not stop working like that ''talisman'', staying here will keep increasing his mana consumption.


    With every minute, the mana consumption increases by a set amount to resist the influence of the miasma.


    Eventually the consumption will become so huge that he will run out of mana and won''t even have any mana potions left to replenish his mana on time.


    *Where are you going? You have a family!*


    Jareth then saw Shiina with a child in her arms. The newborn child had a cute face, and it looked like an exact miniature copy of Shiina, except that it had similar eyes as his own.


    Seeing the cute smile over that child''s face, Jareth was really shaken from the core for a moment, but then he sighed and kept moving.


    ''Don''t try to lure me with a future that never came true¡­ That was but a mere dream that I saw; I have already acknowledged my past¡­''


    He always dreamt of marrying Shiina and having a happy life with her; he even had already decided the name of his kids by that time.


    It was his greatest wish to make Shiina his wife; he devoted his life to that cause, but dreams are only dreams after all; reality is not always what you hope for.


    His dream was shattered by those metal bats that rained down on his chest heavily and brutally beat him to death by shattering his ribs and organs one by one.


    Having a happy married life and having kids of his own¡ªthat was just a forgotten dream that never came true; there''s no need to dwell on it any longer.


    ''I have moved on to another path; I will keep respect for you always¡­ But leave me be now, Shiina¡­''


    A whole year''s worth of time has passed; he has gone through countless moments and emotions by now, and he has more or less accepted his reality by now.


    Thus, these illusions can''t affect him anymore.


    As if sensing that the illusion was useless on Jareth, the image of Shiina and the child was distorted to that of a zombie-like creature that was carrying the rotten body of a child in its arms.


    Perhaps that was a helpless mother who ended up in this state with her child due to the influence of miasma.


    ''As they say, not all stories have a happy ending; sometimes you have to accept the cruel reality and move on in life¡­''


    Jareth cleared his mind and stopped thinking about his past and his future; what mattered now was his present.


    He needs to keep working hard in the present so that the future him can be proud of the current him; this way, he will be able to live this life without regrets, unlike the previous one.


    {Weaknesses, emotions, ambitions, and hate.


    Beyond the grasp of reality,


    And away from the strings of destiny,


    Only I shall decide my own fate.}


    The very moment when Jareth''s thoughts became clear, he felt like he had passed a wall that was previously unsurpassable for him.


    He felt as if he had seen through the world and his existence for a brief moment in that small instant.


    [Ding! Congratulations! You saw through the ''Law'' of ''Existence'' and ''Null'' for a brief instant!]


    [Ding! The ''Law'' of ''Existence'' and ''Null'' will moderately help you from now on!]


    [Ding! You have gained great insights! Your progress will be much smoother from now on!]


    As if he had gained mental clarity for a brief instant, the illusion around him instantly broke apart.


    That strong illusion now seemed as weak as a thin piece of paper; Jareth''s consciousness itself became so strong that it directly broke the illusion with the help of ''Mana Singularity''.


    The illusion simply couldn''t restrain his overbearing consciousness in its grasp anymore and was shattered into pieces; all the mutated creatures also broke out of its control in that moment and started to flee in various directions instantly.


    As if all of them were afraid of Jareth''s immense strength, they refused to even stay near him for a single second.


    All the mocking voices and creepy laughs disappeared, and the City of Horrors finally revealed its true colors to him.


    Once the illusion was shattered, Jareth was able to see the true situation of the city.


    All that was left of the city was a broken ruin; there were no buildings that were still intact; even those gigantic city walls were broken from various places, and the ground was completely pitch black due to corruption.


    The density of miasma in this area is so high that it can cause uncontrollable mutations if someone gets stuck in this place.


    But instead of getting concerned, a faint smile appeared over Jareth''s face.


    ''That was a bit unexpected¡­ In the end, I completed the mission of making it through the city of horrors much easier than I was expecting¡­''


    Jareth was ready for another hour or two of being overwhelmed by those illusions, but the sudden interference of a very powerful ''Law'' of the world directly helped him get rid of the illusion from inside out.


    Such a thing never happened in the game, and maybe it was only unique to Jareth as he was able to resolve all the knots in his hearts.


    But it was a good thing regardless.


    [Mana Command: Outward Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Mana Detection!]


    Jareth spread out his mana detection to the whole city to see if there''s any useful hidden artifacts or items in the area that can come in handy later.


    But just like he had expected, there was nothing of much value left in the whole city.


    After centuries of corruption, not a single precious weapon or artifact survived the erosion of time.


    Jareth was a bit disappointed by that, but he didn''t dwell on it for too long and decided to move on to the next trail immediately. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 195 - 195: Crossing the Golden Path...

    The ''Golden Path of Hope'' is a massive road that leads to the palace grounds located high above the half-mountain, right after the city''s broken ruins.


    Why ''Half'' you ask?


    This mountain used to be the tallest one in the whole abyss altar area, but the first king sliced it in half and leveled the ground so that he could create his palace in a very high place.


    He wanted to glance at his magnificent empire every day from his room''s balcony.


    The path that leads to the main gate of the palace walls is called the ''Golden Path of Hope'' as this path was the sole path that the people of the empire could use to meet their benevolent king.


    It was once created using real gold floor tiles, and it shined brightly all day long.


    Those who went to the palace for the king''s audience returned smiling, their despair and regrets swept away.


    That''s why they called it the path of hope; the King was a symbol of hope for them, and those who saw him could feel his benevolent aura caring for them.


    Jareth stepped on the broken path, which was littered with rotting bodies of monsters and several small potholes filled with miasmic mud, ready to shoot spears made of condensed miasma at you, and a look of nostalgia appeared on his face.


    When he watched the videos of the people who made it to this place, he laughed at them whenever they tried to cross this path and died.


    The main reason is that in the game, the whole path of hope is filled with these rotten corpses that explode at your face when you get close to them, and the explosion will directly make your player character lose their balance.


    The player character will fly into the sky, and a glitch will happen that will directly make the player character fall towards the side, and as this path is located quite high above the ground, falling down means instant ''Death'' for the player.


    If you carelessly allow those miasmic spears to strike you, they will propel you skyward, causing the glitch to recur.


    In other words, any trap you encounter in this location will result in instant death for your player character, as the glitch will cause you to fall down.


    This was so funny that many streamers made videos and reels about this glitch to show how miserable it was.


    ''The fact that this game is riddled with glitches everywhere is not a joke; there''s so many glitches that you can''t even count them¡­''


    ''Every time you think that you have seen them all, another new one gets discovered by some random player¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and decided to try it for himself.


    ''I wonder if something like this will happen here or not¡­''


    Jareth walked over to the side of a rotting corpse to satisfy his curiosity.


    *BOOOM!!*


    And sure enough, the corpse exploded, and a massive shockwave spread out in all directions; even the ''Path of Hope'' trembled crazily from that massive explosion, and a loud voice rang out in Jareth''s ears.


    ''Quite the big explosion that is¡­ I wonder if Miasma has turned these rotting corpses into exploding traps on purpose?...''


    As Jareth''s Mana Shield is a bit too strong, it''s literally impossible for such a weak explosion to forcefully make him fly in the sky.


    Even though he was standing right in the center of the explosion, not even a scratch appeared on his mana shield.


    He just shook his head and started to head towards the palace grounds directly.


    ''If not for the dark fog that blocks vision when you fly in the sky, I wouldn''t have even bothered to walk on the ground; it would have been ten times easier to just fly and skip this place altogether¡­''


    Crossing the illusion in the city of horrors was important, as that was a set condition to make the palace grounds and the golden path of hope appear in front of you.


    If you don''t cross the illusion and try to walk around the city to go to the palace grounds directly, you will not be able to find them as they won''t appear at all.


    The situation with the palace grounds and the golden path is something similar to that of the ''Death Cage'' in which Nathan is stuck.


    The space-time fabric itself is being manipulated here; the palace grounds do exist in that location; it''s just that they are hidden behind the folds of the space-time fabric.


    Unless you fulfill the condition set by the miasma in this place, you won''t be able to access them at all. And the condition is to cross the illusion barrier.


    This is basically a trap from the start to finish; crossing the illusion barrier itself is a very difficult task, as only the most strong-willed people can make it out of there.


    Even Jareth had to face his own inner demons to finally get rid of the influence of the illusion on him.


    In other words, the miasma is purposely luring you inside the illusion if you want to meet your first king, and once you enter the illusion, its over for you.


    That''s likely how the last few surviving people ended up dying in the days of calamity.


    ''I guess Konda was the one who brought this calamity upon the city?... But maybe the First King had long died before Konda even came to this world¡­''


    The first king was a strong person who was beyond the realm of grade 1 mages; either he had already died before Konda came, or he was just too old by that time and wasn''t able to defend his empire from Konda''s rampage.


    In the first place, Konda had an insane amount of resistance for both magical and physical attacks, even in its weakened state that Jareth fought.


    ''It is possible that the First King sacrificed himself along with his subordinates to seal the Abysmal Dragon near the node of the seal of the False Dome¡­'' S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Konda spreads miasma just by existing in a place; the law of miasma is firmly embedded in the body of every Abysmal Dragon from birth.


    After getting sealed, Konda likely still kept spreading miasma and polluted the whole forgotten city to the current state.


    It was a slow death that the people of the forgotten city couldn''t contend against.


    ''In the game, you have to undo the seal to fight Konda, and then you have to reinforce the seal after defeating him¡­ Only then will the fight end¡­''


    ''I wonder if this will still work though¡­ In the game, you use Konda''s soul to reinforce the seal, but now I have already erased that guy from his very existence¡­ Not even it''s soul is left behind¡­''


    ''Moreover, I have no idea how long it''s been since the False Dome Cult members have destroyed the seal¡­''


    Walking on the path of hope that was covered in miasma and rotten corpses, Jareth had a lot of questions in his mind, but there was no one to answer them.


    He has to find the answers to these questions on his own, it seems.


    ''If only that guy Konda could have left me with some boss loot or something¡­''


    Despite the fact that Konda is such a difficult endgame boss monster, the only thing you get from defeating is just a lot of ''EXP'' to level up your character and a useless skill that makes you immune to miasma for a few seconds at most.


    The players were so angry at that sh*tty loot that they cried tears of agony after they found out that all their efforts in defeating Konda were in vain.


    Konda played a largely irrelevant role in the game''s main plot; in fact, Jareth questions whether the protagonist ever visited the abyss altar area in the game''s actual story.


    ''Maybe that''s why I only got so few credit points after beating that planet destroying level calamity¡­ that sh*t was irrelevant to the plot of the game¡­''


    Konda has little to do with the False Dome seal, and it was likely added by the game developers just to Sh*t on the players and torture them with it on purpose.


    By now Jareth is absolutely sure that the developers of this game were sadist people who were doing literally any kind of random sh*t to just annoy and torture the players on purpose.


    ''In the first place, even if Konda did give any important loot, I still wouldn''t have been able to get it¡­''


    Jareth literally erased the guy from his very existence by throwing a ''Heavenly Punishment'' on him, and even the space-time fabric was reduced to ''Nothingness'' in that moment, let alone Konda.


    If Konda had any loot, that would have been ''erased'' along with him in that instant.


    ''Imagine killing a boss monster so thoroughly that the guy doesn''t even leave behind it''s loot¡­ sigh¡­''


    Sometimes Jareth wonders if he''s a bit too efficient in his work; maybe having a bit less efficiency will help him solve a few problems too.


    Shaking his head at these thoughts, Jareth finally crossed the whole golden path and arrived at the main entrance gate of the Palace Grounds.


    Looking at that closed palace gate, Jareth had an urge to kick it open, but he stopped and didn''t try to do that.


    After all, this gate is not an ordinary one; it''s made out of Adamantine and Mithril; even if a semi-grade-0 attack was thrown at it, the gate wouldn''t even budge.


    ''Using such rare items to create a door for your house... only someone as wealthy as the First King can do so, I guess...''

 Chapter 196 - 196: The Palace of Twisted Curses... Part-1.

    Adamantine and Mithril are such rare items that there are only three places in the game where you can get them.


    One is the main gate of the First King''s palace, the second is the First King''s throne, and the third is the First King''s very own magic wand.


    Yeah! All three pieces of the adamantine and mithril mixed up together can all be found in this palace alone!


    You literally have to travel all the way from the surface to this palace located deep in the Abyss Altar Area just to get your hands on these legendary rank items.


    In the history of this world, it is said that this world has always lacked in terms of legendary metals, and they are extremely rare.


    Even the First King only found these three pieces from his three-decade-long journey of wandering in the whole solar system.


    There might be more of them, but it would take decades or even centuries just to search through the whole solar system if you want to find more of them.


    It is said that these rare items formed when ''Mana'' first descended in this world and the ''law'' of the world collided violently with the ''law'' of ''Mana''.


    In other words, the amount of these legendary metals is finite in the world as the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' has long been fully integrated in the world, and there will be no more collision between the laws of the world on that scale.


    Even these three pieces here are not pure adamantine and mithril; they are mixed up together heavily and can''t be separated; this metal is more like an alloy made out of adamantine and mithril.


    ''Doesn''t matter if it''s an alloy or a pure metal; these legendary metals are definitely what I need¡­''


    Creating a stable wormhole is not a child''s play; you need powerful and strong metals that can hold its main frame in place without getting torn apart by the power of the wormhole.


    Nothing can do it better than this alloy made out of two legendary metals.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Interruption!]


    First Jareth used mana singularity to boost his magic, then he used mana interruption to break the powerful protective barrier on the walls. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Concentrated Fire Beam!]


    Then he used a fire beam to destroy the ''Joints'' in the wall that were keeping the giant door firm in place.


    The wall is not made out of Adamantine and Mithril after all; it can be destroyed easily.


    The reason why this wall and door stood unharmed up until now was because it was being protected by powerful magic barriers; if not for that, the monsters would have broken the wall and the door would have fallen easily.


    ''Tch, the irony¡­ Even if you cross the illusion barrier successfully, you won''t get entry inside the palace grounds¡­''


    The walls themselves were being protected by the same barriers that are keeping this massive underground cave intact.


    So, obviously, the barrier was so strong that even grade 1 mages will not be able to get inside unless they have a legendary skill''s support like him, and you can''t even put a scratch on this door unless you have the power of a ''Law'' helping you out.


    In other words, even if you make it to the palace grounds after all that effort, unless you are already as strong as the First King himself, you won''t be able to get inside without permission.


    The rotting corpses on the ''Golden Path'' that explode on your face likely belong to the people who died in despair when they didn''t get entry into the palace even after going through all the trouble of coming here.


    Even Jareth, himself would have needed a lot of time to destroy the barrier if he only had the support of ''Mana Singularity''.


    The reason why he was able to burn right through the magic barrier is because his flames are blessed by the ''Law'' of ''True Flames''; in theory, his flames can burn anything and everything if he can master them to the utmost peak level.


    *Bamm!*


    The door fell down with a loud noise as Jareth broke their supporting walls.


    Without wasting any time, Jareth stuffed those two giant doors into his own system space so that he doesn''t have to carry them on his back.


    ''Another goal accomplished¡­''


    Although Jareth was still quite confused about how the people from ''False Dome Cult'' got inside the palace grounds without breaking this door, he was also happy that they didn''t actually do so.


    After all, if they really had the capability to break through by force like him, they would have definitely taken this door with them; no one will let go of such a precious item like this after all.


    ''Alas, the staff of the first kind and that throne might have been taken away by them though¡­''


    Only this main door is protected by such a strong barrier; the throne and the staff are both defenseless; if the False Dome Members did come here, they likely already took them both away.


    Although Jareth hopes they haven''t done so yet, he won''t be too disappointed if he doesn''t find them.


    ''Forget it; at least I have this part with me; they can''t create ''that'' weapon as long as I have the last piece of the adamantine and mithril alloy in my hands¡­''


    Unlike Jareth, who wants to use this alloy to create a stable wormhole, this alloy can be used to create powerful weapons too.


    In the game, if you use all three pieces, you can create the ''Prototype God-Slaying armament'' with them.


    That weapon can be of any shape and size after forging; it could be a sword or even a bow and arrow. This type of weapon was added to the especially so that the player can have at least a little bit of chance to slay ''Konda'' The Terror.


    Although these can''t be called true ''God-Slaying'' weapons, they can indeed hold their own against weaker opponents like Konda, for example, but not against an entity beyond that level.


    Even with these world-class weapons, you can barely do decent damage to endgame bosses like Konda.


    So, it''s no surprise that the few final bosses were a bit too high in difficulty.


    ¡­


    Walking inside the palace grounds, all Jareth saw were corpses littered everywhere, not a single soul alive.


    ''These are likely the corpses of the maids or servants and the people who used to work in the palace¡­''


    People outside hoped that they would find a safe haven if they somehow got inside the palace.


    But the reality was completely different.


    The palace actually has ten times denser miasma inside it, and the environment inside the palace is even more polluted and deadly than its outside.


    The palace ground is only lower than the core area of the forgotten city in terms of miasma density; otherwise, it has such insane miasma density that not even those hideous monsters can survive in here.


    The primary issue with entering the palace grounds is that merely standing here begins to diminish your health.


    Yes! The miasma here is so dense that it can ignore all defenses, including the mana barrier, to directly affect the player character and slowly chip away at the health of the player character.


    Fortunately, Jareth''s mana barrier is enhanced with ''Mana Singularity; otherwise, the miasma would have totally ignored his mana shield and had started to corrupt him too.


    ''Tch, the mana consumption increased by ten times in an instant¡­''


    Although the miasma was not able to affect him, the mana shield''s consumption increased tremendously when Jareth came in contact with such dense miasma.


    ''Sigh, this is going to be a very tedious task¡­''


    Right now Jareth is feeling quite fortunate that he fought Konda above ground where Miasma wasn''t present.


    If Jareth had to fight Konda in such a dense, miasma-filled environment, even he would have run out of mana and would have died a horrible death.


    After all, there''s no mana in the air; he wouldn''t have been able to keep fighting Konda for three days like he did above ground without a constant supply of mana.


    In those three days, Jareth consumed so much mana that if counted in terms of mana potions, he would have emptied out the whole inventory of ten battalions of the army easily.


    *Step* *Step*


    Sensing that the situation was at a disadvantage, Jareth hurried up his pace. He jumped to avoid those rotting corpses and avoided all the miasma-filled puddles along the way.


    Walking on the main path and ignoring the weird-looking mutated flowers and trees that were rampaging in the gardens nearby, Jareth headed straight for the door to the main hallway.


    The main hallway is the one that leads to the ''Grand Hall of Heroes'', where the throne of the First King and the seats of all the heroes and subordinates of the King are located in one place.


    Every extra second spent here inside the palace wastes a lot of mana out of him, so he picked up his pace, ignored all unnecessary details, and headed straight for the throne.


    Along the way, he noticed that the golden walls of the palace have all lost their shine and luster.


    Now pitch-black miasma has taken hold of all the walls and floors in the hall.


    Instead of a palace of hope, this place now looks more like a haunted palace where demons and evil spirits may hide.


    *WWWAAAHHHH* *waaahhhhh*


    As Jareth kept going deeper, the loud wails of the cursed evil spirits started to ring out in the palace loudly.


    Those voices were filled with several mixed emotions, like suffering, pain, hatred, and anger.


    If someone below grade 2 hears these wails, they will immediately go insane and lose their ''will'' to these spirits.

 Chapter 197 - 197: The Palace of Twisted Curses... Part-2.

    ''Tch, evil spirits¡­ one of the most annoying enemies in the game¡­''


    Evil spirits don''t actually attack you physically; in fact, they don''t even appear in front of you and confront you head-on.


    If you try to get close to them, they will run away and avoid you like crazy, so catching them is very difficult.


    Their preferred method of fighting is to hide and use shockwaves to inflict mental and spiritual damage on the target.


    Aside from the mental attacks, they constantly keep wailing and shouting with an extremely loud voice that is very irritating to hear. Long-term exposure to this voice can drive a person insane.


    The best way to get rid of them is to use ''Light Magic'' to shine bright purifying light everywhere and directly purify them altogether without leaving a single place for them to hide.


    The second-best method is to use a legendary skill and pulverize them with the power of a law of the world.


    There are other methods too, but they are less effective than the two mentioned above.


    ''Mana Singularity is not the complete form of the legendary skill; I don''t have Mana Field, so it will be less effective in this miasma-filled place¡­''


    Mana Field, or Mana Singularity, is one of the few legendary skills that gets tremendously suppressed in the presence of extremely dense miasma.


    If Jareth had some other legendary skill, ''Dao Rhythm'' for example, he wouldn''t have been this suppressed by the miasma; the same goes for ''Sword Intent''.


    ''Forget it, let''s use my newly acquired move¡­''


    [Blessing of the True Flames!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Pheonix of the True Flames!]


    Jareth embedded his mana in the ground. A massive magic circle appeared on the ground. A gigantic phoenix made out of true flames burst out of the magic circle and flew forward.


    The phoenix divided into several smaller versions, and all of them went in various different directions.


    Jareth had already tracked down the locations of the various evil spirits that were bombarding him with mental attacks and were shouting loudly to irritate him; thus, it was easy for the phoenixes to track them.


    *Boom!* *Boom!*


    As if a plane were dropping bombs on the ground, the phoenix accelerated their speed and collided with the semi-transparent bodies of the evil spirits as if they were doing a Kamikaze attack.


    Under explosions made by the true flames, those evil spirits got purified and burned on the spot with no chance to counterattack. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Moreover, Jareth was protecting his brain with mana singularity, so he was not affected much by the mental damage waves either.


    With the evil spirits dead, finally the palace became quieter, and Jareth heaved a sigh of relief as he didn''t have to hear those irritating voices again and again.


    He brought out a mana recovery potion from his space ring and gulped it down, then used mana singularity to absorb every last bit of it.


    He repeated the process a few times, replenishing all of his mana, and then got ready to move forward once again.


    Although clocks don''t work in the Abyss Altar Area, Jareth could feel that at least two or three days have passed since he entered the Abyss Altar Area.


    Even with the help of so many tricks at his disposal, it still took him this much time to reach the palace; this just shows how massively vast the Abyss Altar Area actually is.


    Even with knowledge about everything beforehand, Jareth still had to go through a lot of troubles along the way.


    ''Finally reached the Hall of Heroes and Champions¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the giant broken door fallen on the ground and noticed that it still had an inscription depicting the Forgotten City and golden Palace of the First King engraved on it.


    Jareth stepped on the fallen door, jumped over the debris blocking the entrance of the hall, and finally entered the grand hall.


    The grand hall was extremely big, and there were beautiful inscriptions engraved on the walls and the ceiling.


    You can even notice a faint bit of gold still shining in those inscriptions here and there, despite most of them being covered with miasma and corruption now.


    ''So these are the seats for the twenty heroes and champions that worked under the First King¡­''


    In the history books, it''s mentioned that the throne room of the First King was very unique; there were twenty seats for the First King''s subordinates, and the throne was located on the highest platform of them all.


    Each seat has its own ranking and hierarchy, as depicted by how much higher the platform was on which they were placed compared to the others.


    Jareth glanced at the highest platform, and sure enough, the throne was missing from its place.


    Then Jareth glanced at the center of the ceiling of the throne room, and sure enough, the staff of the First King was also missing from there.


    ''As expected, the False Dome''s goons already took them both¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and spread out his mana detection throughout the whole palace to see if there was anything that was different from what he remembers from the game.


    And sure enough, Jareth immediately detected a hidden teleportation altar located right behind the wall where the throne was placed.


    Sensing the presence of that altar, a frown appeared over Jareth''s face.


    ''Was that really there in the game? If it really was, some player should have already discovered it by using a simple glitch that could help you see through the walls¡­''


    Jareth racked his brains, but he didn''t remember any player ever mentioning the existence of a hidden altar behind the throne of the first king.


    ''Maybe they never discovered it¡­''


    The number of people who had reached the golden palace was already very few; most of them were speed runners and hardcore gamers who only cared about completing the game in the shortest time possible.


    They didn''t give a sh*T about exploring the place in such great details; their main goal was to walk through the area as fast as possible and reach Konda''s boss fight area in the shortest time possible.


    ''Sigh¡­ Let''s see what''s so special about this Altar¡­''


    Jareth jumped on the empty platform and punched the wall hard.


    *Boom!* *Crack!*


    He shattered the wall, creating enough space for him to easily walk inside.


    Jareth embedded his mana in the altar and examined its magic circle carefully for a while before finally coming to a conclusion.


    "Tch! They already destroyed the main nodes of the magic circle; this magic circle is completely unusable now¡­ They even purposely spread miasma in it''s magic circle to destroy it thoroughly!"


    A disappointed look appeared over Jareth''s face after seeing that the altar was completely useless.


    He was actually thinking of using this altar to directly teleport into the headquarters of the ''False Dome Cult'' and then lay siege to their home; he would have slaughtered every single member of the cult if he was able to go there.


    But alas, the members of the cult took precautions against this; they likely destroyed the node of the seal, and after completing all their work, they destroyed the altar too.


    ''But wait, someone from their group must have stayed behind to destroy the magic circle on the altar after everyone left the place¡­''


    ''And as this altar is of quite high quality¡­ Only a grade-2 or above-level mage would have been able to destroy it so thoroughly¡­''


    ''And as the members of the cult are likely already infected with miasma, surviving here on their own is not a big deal¡­''


    ''Which means¡­ I might still be able to find that last member of their party¡­''


    Jareth got up and stopped observing the altar; true flames appeared on his hand as he immediately strangled and burned an evil spirit that was peeping on him.


    As he was burning that evil spirit and thinking about finding the last member, a villainous smile appeared on his face.


    ''I see¡­ I can sense you, little guy¡­ You stayed behind, but I can sense your unique miasmic fluctuations that you left behind¡­ You won''t be able to run from my grasp¡­ hehe¡­''


    Ignoring the matter of the altar for the time being, Jareth came back to the throne room and grabbed those twenty chairs to align them all in a straight line.


    Once the chairs were aligned in one straight line, the ground suddenly trembled, and a staircase leading downwards appeared in the grand hall.


    ''I never understand why the developers are so obsessed with making these kinds of lame puzzles¡­''


    Jareth sighed to himself while thinking about the game; he took another glance at the grand hall and then went downstairs without hesitation.


    The deeper he went, the denser the miasma became, and the more ominous the environment became.


    No one above ground knows about it, but the sole entrance to the node of the False Dome seal and the place where Konda was imprisoned is located right below the throne room of the First King.


    It''s such an irony that the place that people thought was heaven was itself built atop hell, where immense evil was hiding in the dark.


    As they say,


    {Sometimes the brightest and purest places in the world are the ones that are hiding the darkest and most evil secrets¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth has long known how much the developers of this game liked to make the story as ironic as possible.


    Almost all beautiful locations and places in this world are hiding sinister and dark secrets beneath them, and if the place looks dark and sinister from outside from the start, then the secret it''s hiding is even more darker.

 Chapter 198 - 198: The Palace of Twisted Curses... Part-3.

    (Unknown memories)


    "Daamir, follow the instructions faithfully, and the demon god will personally rescue you from here later!"


    Daamir, the pseudo grade-2 mage, nodded his head and followed the instructions just like he was ordered.


    Once all of the members of the expedition team retreated via the hidden teleportation altar, he destroyed it and thoroughly corrupted it with miasma.


    This way, he sealed his own fate, and now he himself has no way of going back home.


    However, his superiors had promised him that the demon god would use his powers to personally rescue him, so there was no need to worry. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Yet, time passed, and a week went by; nothing changed.


    Daamir slowly started losing his patience, and his mind started to become blurry.


    The False Dome Cult has the power to use forbidden magic to forcefully ascend a member of the false dome cult to a higher realm.


    The method is simple; they use the power of miasma and darkness bestowed by the demon god and then use the souls of the innocent people as fuel for the forbidden magic.


    This is how Abella was forcefully able to ascend to grade 1 from grade 2 without much effort, and the same was true for Rahnan and the other higher-ups of the False Dome Cult.


    The only difference is that some people are more compatible with this method and some aren''t.


    Those who have high compatibility for this method end up gaining immense improvement and powers like Rahnan, who jumped from Grade 5 to Grade 1 directly on the spot.


    Those who have medium compatibility end up reaching ''Pseudo Realms'', like Daamir.


    Pseudo Realms are basically you being stronger than a certain grade but weaker than the higher one.


    Daamir himself has the capabilities to be considered stronger than a grade-3 mage, but he can''t be considered as strong as a real grade-2 mage.


    Daamir only had medium compatibility for that miasmic ritual, and he didn''t have much talent as a mage either, so he only reached this level.


    The False Dome Cult has hundreds of such disposable subordinates like him who can be discarded whenever the need arises; they exist solely to serve the higher-ups of the cult.


    As for the people who have low compatibility with this ritual, they end up becoming demonized mutants that have no brain at all and have hideously mutated bodies that look extremely ugly.


    Most of them end up as cannon fodder for the cult that can be used to tire out the enemies in case of battle. That''s their ultimate purpose in the end.


    For the False Dome Cult, only those in grade 1 are worthy enough to be favored; the rest are all just disposable cards that can be used at will.


    After spending a whole week in the palace filled with dense miasma, Daamir figured out all this truth for himself.


    He figured out that there would be no one coming to rescue him, and he had been abandoned; his hopes were shattered, and his mind was filled with immense despair.


    As he has already accepted miasma in his body through the ritual, miasma doesn''t affect him much, and he is very resistant to its mind corrosion effects.


    This is the reason why he was able to survive for so long in this palace without getting corrupted to the point of losing his sanity.


    But the main problem is that even if he''s resistant to miasma, there''s a limit to his capabilities.


    He can''t stay in this palace where Miasma is extremely dense, to the point it is too overwhelming.


    Furthermore, his inability to breach the palace''s main door or magic barrier left him trapped inside with no escape route.


    In that time of despair, Daamir decided to use the puzzle and go deeper; after all, that was his only hope; he wanted to find another path that could help him leave this place.


    But Daamir forgot that he''s not completely immune to miasmic corruption; his despair-filled mind was already weak to begin with, thus his mental defense was lower at the moment.


    As he headed deeper, the denser miasma became, and he slowly lost his mind.


    The memories of his wife and his children flashed through his mind; he remembers how he slaughtered his own family just because he wanted to advance and become stronger.


    He joined the False Dome Cult in search of strength and in search of power that could help him get stronger!


    But to do this, he had to leave all mortal relations behind, so he murdered his own wife, killed his own children, and then used their souls as fuel in his ritual of forbidden magic.


    And sure enough, he went from being stuck on grade-4 to directly semi-grade-2 in a matter of minutes.


    The improvement was immense; he had never expected that he would one day be able to get so strong even in his wildest dreams. At that time, Daamir thought that all the sacrifices he made were worth it.


    But now.


    After being betrayed and abandoned to die, and on his last few breaths, Daamir finally came to his senses; he remembered how happy he was when he was living that peaceful life.


    He had money, he had a loving wife, and he had filial children; he had all the things that most people in the world want to achieve.


    But he destroyed it all with his own hands; only now, when he is at his death''s door, does he remember the beautiful smile on his wife''s face.


    His body became thoroughly corrupted and turned into a twisted, mutated beast with rotten skin falling from its body and its eyes hanging out their sockets.


    At that point, Daamir could only say two words, and nothing else came out of his mouth.


    "F-forgive me¡­ for-forgive m-me¡­"


    He asked for forgiveness from his wife and his children, but it was too late by then; the palace, which was once called the palace of hope, has already become the palace of twisted curses, where miasma runs rampant.


    There is no hope here anymore, only twisted curses.


    ¡­


    *Step**Step*


    ''Those chairs above are really fascinating; once the hidden stairs appear, the chairs go back to their original positions on their own, and the hidden path will close once you enter it¡­''


    From the moment he became Jareth, he has had a great thirst for seeing interesting and mysterious phenomena.


    Maybe this is the unique thinking process of a scientist-minded person like him.


    The original Jareth was a genius scientist after all; now that he is in this guy''s body, the urges of this body affect him too.


    Even though he has made this body completely his own, this body won''t just forget its years of muscle memory so suddenly after all.


    ''Well, let''s hope things are more interesting down here¡­''


    Walking down the stairs, Jareth could feel that he was getting closer to his goal.


    After walking downstairs for a few good minutes, Jareth finally arrived at a gigantic hall.


    The hall had a massive pillar standing in its center, and there were thousands of magic circles engraved upon it. The only problem is that pillar was now in a broken state.


    It has lost its magical shine and is now in a completely dilapidated state.


    ''As expected, the node of the false dome seal has been broken¡­''


    Aside from the broken pillar, there was a hideous mutated monster whose body was stuck to the broken pillar like a parasite or some kind of fungi.


    It had a humanoid face that was constantly murmuring the same thing.


    *Forgive me* *Forgive me*


    ''Er, don''t tell me this guy is that false dome cult member who stayed behind?''


    Looking at that disgusting parasite-like body whose innards were literally hanging out of its body while it was desperately trying to cling to the broken pillar, even Jareth felt pity for the other party.


    ''Sigh, from the looks of it, the other party likely got tricked into staying here¡­ Forget it; there''s no point in feeling pity for the members of the false dome cult; none of these guys are innocent...''


    Jareth knew that nearly all members of the False Dome cult who maintain their sanity perfectly after the transformation are not good people.


    If you are a good person, you will have low compatibility with the miasmic ritual and will become a brain-dead cannon fodder.


    Those who can become stronger via that miasmic ritual are evil from the start.


    As the other party was strong enough to break that high-grade teleportation altar, then this guy must have been an evil person too, so Jareth didn''t feel pity for him for too long.


    [Grade-5 Fire Magic: Flames of Purification!]


    Jareth waved his finger and used a low-grade spell to burn the other party to crisp.


    Daamir had already lost his sanity, and thus he had no method of defending himself at all; his control over his powers was already gone; thus, Jareth was able to easily burn him without any resistance whatsoever.


    The only thing Daamir could do was scream the same words ''Forgive Me'' again and again as he was being burned.


    Jareth completely ignored the dying wails of the other party and shook, increasing the mana output to increase the burning speed.


    Once Jareth got rid of Daamir, he was able to get a full view of the pillar.


    Despite getting hit by Jareth''s flames, it was still completely fine, and there wasn''t a single scratch on it.


    ''I guess they freed Konda so that the other party could break the seal as it''s simply too powerful for them?''


    Jareth didn''t know that the demon god is currently in a state of recovering his powers; thus, he can''t use his own powers to help the followers break the seal.


    And even grade-1 mages aren''t strong enough to break these seals; thus, they had to use the roundabout method of using Konda''s help to break the seal completely.

 Chapter 199 - 199: A Very Friendly encounter... Part-1.

    As he recited the secret words, Jareth placed his hand on the broken pillar and embedded his mana into it.


    [Under the Heavens and the above the depths of Hell,


    Only the ''Sword of Promised Destinies'' shall rule the world!]


    In the game, you must decode a very difficult puzzle to find this hidden secret chant.


    The game developers went all out to create this puzzle.


    They literally hired a retired military soldier and asked him to write some kind of encrypted code, then hired a professional sculptor to design a statue of the ''First King Strar U''lbyatre''.


    It was no ordinary statue; the professional sculptor was asked to hide those encrypted codes in it while hand-carved it.


    Then the game designers 3D scanned the statue and finally added it in the game, and then added that statue in the arena of one of the three bosses in the upper grounds that you need to kill to get the medallion fragment.


    In other words, it''s very easy to miss these details, as most players who make it to the Abyss Altar are speed runners anyway.


    They aren''t the type of people who will stare at a random statue from hundred different angles for several hours straight just to find the encrypted code.


    You literally need to find a soldier from the army or someone who has knowledge in decoding military codes just to find the hidden meaning behind these codes.


    And to top it all off, the sculptor hid the encrypted codes on the statues in various small details; thus, you need a knowledgeable person to even find the encrypted codes on the statue.


    And this is not even the end of it.


    The boss monster who you need to defeat might accidently break the statue during the fight as it''s a breakable item and a part of its boss arena, thus rendering it completely impossible for you to even see the encrypted code.


    This increased the difficulty even further.


    In fact, players never even found out about these hidden details till the developers themselves revealed them on their own official websites and channels.


    Actually, the speed runners had found a glitch in the map, which directly teleports you to Konda''s boss area when you touch the pillar, and you won''t even need the secret code for it.


    In other words, the players never actually found the real legitimate way to Konda''s boss arena; they were using glitches and bugs to actually go to his boss arena as there was no proper path.


    Originally, the players thought that the developers had added this boss fight solely as a joke.


    However, seeing that the players had failed to notice the encrypted code, the game developers came forward and told everyone themselves.


    This way the people didn''t need to rely on the glitch anymore, and things became a tiny bit easier for the players.


    This was one of the few rare occasions when the developers actually came forward to help out the players; otherwise, they tortured the players most of the time and enjoyed their whining with delight.


    Later on, many players were fascinated by how much effort the game developers put into making such fine details on the statue of the First King.


    The only problem was that the developers were putting so much effort on completely irrelevant things; they should have placed this much effort on fixing the bugs in the game instead.


    If they had fixed the bugs in the game, then the game wouldn''t have earned its notorious reputation of being called the ''Game of Masoch*sts''.


    These bugs were the ones that led to the game''s downfall eventually, and its popularity faded away eventually.


    Most players quit the game because the developers never bothered to fix those annoying bugs in the game.


    ¡­


    Once Jareth spoke the secret code, the mana circles on the broken pillar lit up a little bit with bright light, and Jareth felt a sensation of weightlessness.


    When he opened his eyes, what came into his view was pitch black darkness everywhere.


    At that moment, floating torches lit up with bluish flames nearby.


    There was one torch on left and one on right, and as Jareth took a step forward, more blue torches lit up to illuminate his path.


    ''This place seems more ominous than it was in the game¡­''


    The place Jareth is in right now exists on the border of reality and null; this place is basically a separate small dimension of its own located inside that pillar.


    That pillar is no ordinary object either; it is called the ''Divine Golden Nail.'' There used to be eight of them, which were used by the Golden King to cast the False Dome Seal.


    One was already broken during the time of the cult of Therath centuries ago; now this one is broken by the False Dome cult members, so only six of these golden nails are left intact.


    This separate dimension can be considered a ''Plane of Consciousness'' of the Golden Nail where the node of the ''False Dome Seal'' is locked inside.


    The First King likely sealed Konda inside it to protect his people from it. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Maybe the First King knew that Konda couldn''t harm the node of the False Dome Seal, so he didn''t really worry about its safety¡­''


    ''Maybe only the False Dome Cult has some way of breaking the node of the seal.''


    ''After all, Konda only broke the golden nail that allowed entry to its hidden dimension; it was likely not the one who broke the node of seal.''


    Jareth had no way to prove his guesses, as there was nothing here that could prove his theories, but he didn''t care much about it either.


    He glanced around and couldn''t discern how far the darkness was spread.


    In the game, the invisible barrier stops you from straying from the path, and you are forced to follow the torches that lead your path.


    But now Jareth is sure he can definitely go in any direction he wants too; the only reason he isn''t going in random directions is because once he lost his path in this place, he will not be able to find it again.


    This place is like an empty void; there is nothing in here at all.


    There is no mana, no miasma, no nothing; it''s completely empty; only these torches that lit up with blue light are bringing some light to this dark place.


    The very reason why the palace pillar was spouting immense miasma outside into the palace and the forbidden city was because Konda existed here in this empty void.


    This empty void doesn''t allow miasma to stay here, and as Konda was confined here, the miasma it was producing by just existing here was immense.


    So the sea of consciousness directly chose to chase away all the miasma outside, and as the golden nail was located right in the palace, the miasma pouring out of it filled the palace with immense miasma.


    Eventually, miasma leaked to the whole forgotten city and spread everywhere; the golden palace is at the core of everything; the whole calamity started from here.


    Even though the First King sealed Konda in the golden nail, the miasma slowly destroyed the whole underground city to the point of complete destruction.


    Only recently has Konda left this place, and thus the constant increase in miasma has finally stopped.


    ''Well, Konda is not the only thing that is sealed inside this place¡­ The thing that I came looking for is also stored here¡­''


    Although the journey to arrive at this location was very long and difficult, Jareth is feeling quite happy and relaxed at the moment as everything is finally coming to an end.


    The item he came looking for is located just right after the boss arena, and then he can finally leave this hellhole behind.


    Moreover, as Jareth has already killed Konda, the boss area will be empty, and Jareth can pass right through it without any trouble.


    ''Although I was feeling quite unfortunate that I had to fight Konda that day completely unprepared, it''s a good thing I dealt with that guy early¡­''


    By now, Jareth has used up nearly eighty percent of his mana recovery potions just to reach this place; if he had to fight Konda in this mana-less place, then he would have definitely lost today.


    Jareth is grateful that he didn''t have to face that monstrosity here at all.


    He walked in the straight line and followed the torches for a good few minutes before he finally reached the boss arena.


    *Swish!*


    Hundreds of torches lit up all around the circular boss arena to illuminate the area. The scene looked something straight out of a fantasy movie or something.


    The boss arena alone was several kilometers wide, and Jareth could even feel the trembling spatial fluctuations from the center of the arena.


    The node of the seal was broken, thus the space-time fabric around the center of the arena was extremely chaotic at the moment, and just with one glance, Jareth could tell that he couldn''t repair this at all.


    It was completely out of his capabilities to restore that node, as it included immense knowledge about the ''Laws'' of Space, Time, Reality, Null, Existence, and Virtuality.


    Unless Jareth can manipulate all these laws, he can''t repair that node of the false dome seal.


    But that was not the thing that was the most eye-catching; there was actually a man standing near the rampaging space-time fabric and observing it with a look of contemplation on his face.


    The man looked extremely handsome; his silver hair and pupils were shining from time to time as mana was flowing through them.


    Seeing that man, the happy expression from Jareth''s face disappeared in an instant, and a cold expression appeared on his face instantly.


    ''WHAT THE F*CK IS THIS GUY DOING HERE!? CAN I HAVE SOME EASY TIME FOR AT LEAST ONCE!!!''

 Chapter 200 - 200: A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-2.

    The moment Jareth noticed that mysterious man, the other party also noticed Jareth''s presence.


    He tilted his head towards him and smiled with a gentle smile on his extremely handsome face.


    "Ah? It''s been a while since I last saw a human¡­ oh! You seem quite strong too; what an amazing day it is today!"


    The silver-haired man waved his hand at Jareth with a sunny smile on his face, as if he had suddenly met a friend trying to get Jareth''s attention.


    The man looked completely detached from the dark world around him.


    His body seemed to be shining with brilliant light and seemed like a very good-natured and gentle person from the outside.


    If Jareth didn''t know the other party''s backstory, even he would have mistaken the other party to be a good person.


    Despite all the frustrations in his head, Jareth walked over to the center of the boss arena without showing his emotions on his face.


    His expression remained as cold as always.


    "You also came here to investigate this place? That means we have the same goal, right, hehe¡­"


    With a bright smile on his face, the man stretched out his hand for a handshake. Jareth didn''t care either and held the other party''s hand without hesitation.


    "I am Zion Reid, a humble archaeologist; it''s my hobby to investigate ancient ruins and find out more about lost histories of the past¡­ Although it''s not a famous profession, that''s what I do¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words,


    "I am Jareth Aadhira Von Ayad, a humble teacher at a slightly famous university in the Human Empire; it''s nice to meet you¡­"


    Both of them stated their names and identities without trying to hide anything.


    Jareth glanced at the white coat the party was wearing and noticed a golden medal attached to his coat around the chest area.


    "That medal, hmm, I seem to have seen it somewhere; wait, is this the medal of honor granted by the royal elves!?"


    Jareth pretended to be surprised when seeing that medal, despite knowing about it all from the start.


    The other party misunderstood Jareth''s true intents and got deceived.


    He scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and said,


    "Ah, this¡­ I got this in my younger days; it''s quite an embarrassing story; I accidently saved their queen when I was passing by; I believe it was perhaps two thousand years ago or something like that¡­"


    Zion gave a dry laugh, as being praised by someone made him feel embarrassed.


    Jareth waved his hand and spoke in a shocked tone.


    "Two thousand years!? Are you not a human?"


    Jareth was playing along with the other party, so he was pretending to show various fake emotions on his face at the moment.


    Anyway, he has already taken full control of this body; he can make any kind of emotion with it now and is not stuck on that default cold face expression all the time.


    And as he has worked for a shady company in the past, he has enough experience in acting, so his expressions seem quite genuine, and it''s nearly impossible to tell that they are fake.


    "Actually, I am a half-elf; my father was a human and my mother was an elf; also, I ended up getting affected by miasma when I was a child¡­"


    "So yeah, I have a very big life span; despite being so old, I am still in my twenties if you consider it from human age perspectives¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head with a look of understanding on his face.


    ''Of course you have a long life span! It would be weirder if you didn''t have a long life span despite being the only son of the First King¡­ You can deceive others, but not me, Zion U''lbyatre¡­''


    Indeed! The man standing in front of Jareth is the only child of the First King, Strar U''lbyatre!


    The first king took an elven princess as his wife, and that''s why Zion is a half-elf; not only has he inherited the long-life span from his mother, he has also inherited his insane magical talents from his father.


    If not for the miasma to destroy everything, Zion would have been the next ruler of the forgotten city, living a life of luxury and peace!


    "I actually came here because I recently sensed that the realm of consciousness inside the golden nail had started to become unstable¡­"


    "And there were powers spatial fluctuations being created here, so I came here to investigate the situation¡­"


    "But it seems I was a bit too late after all; that bone dragon that was sealed here escaped, and the node of the ''False Dome Seal'' has been destroyed¡­"


    "Sigh, if only I had made back a bit early¡­"


    Jareth knew that the other party was wandering on one of the moons of Jupiter and was having the time of his life, so he didn''t ask where this guy was before coming here, as he knew about it already.


    "Well, I also came here just to check on the seal; recently, a cult called ''The False Dome Cult'' has been terrorizing and has been making rapid progress¡­"


    "They have gotten their hands on the location of the golden nails, and they are likely trying to destroy them all to break the ''False Dome'' seal¡­"


    "I am on a mission to stop these guys¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s explanation, Zion nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    "You are a good person, it seems, Jareth. If not for the fact that I am kind of weak, I would have helped you out on your mission too¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and replied,


    "No worries, it''s something I must do on my own anyway¡­"


    ''Weak my foot! You are literally the final boss of this entire game!!! Who the f*ck are you calling weak!?''


    Yes, Zion is one of the three final endgame bosses, and he''s not just any random endgame boss.


    He''s the final boss of this entire game series; he''s the one you need to defeat to finally end this horrible game and achieve your ending.


    You literally need to travel through space and go to the moon of Jupiter to fight this guy, as his boss arena is located on that moon.


    Jareth was immensely shocked when he suddenly saw this guy appear in front of him out of nowhere; after all, seeing the final boss of the game wandering out of its dedicated arena is definitely a nightmare fuel.


    ''Sh*t, the timing is not good; right now I don''t have the artifacts needed to defeat this guy¡­''


    Zion glanced in a certain direction and said in a serious voice,


    "Are you here for the secret chamber too?"


    "You came all the way here in the Abyss Altar Area; of course you must have had some goal, and what else could be more precious than ''that'' thing stored inside the secret chamber, right?"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Indeed, that thing is very crucial for my fight against the demons and demonic cult members; I must take it away with me today¡­"


    Zion sighed after hearing those words and spoke in a serious tone.


    "The thing is, I need that thing too, as I want to recreate this forgotten city again from scratch now that the evil dragon is gone for good¡­"


    Zion wasn''t on earth when Konda was killed by the heavenly punishment, so he only sensed the presence of the divine thunder from afar but didn''t know that Konda had died.


    Right now, he doesn''t know what happened to Konda; all he knows is that Konda is not on this planet anymore and has disappeared somewhere.


    Which means the continuously leaking miasma has finally stopped and Zion finally has the chance to once again create a new underground city from scratch just like his father did.


    Zion glanced at the broken node of the seal and said in a solemn voice,


    "Jareth, the thing is that I want to create a safe place for all creatures; the sea of endless miasma is an unstoppable force, so I have decided to create an underground city!"


    "I will make an underground city that will be much stronger than this forgotten city, and my creation will protect all the creatures of this planet and help them survive once the sea of miasma swallows this planet¡­"


    "We are but powerless against the ''Laws'' of the ''World'', but at least this method can give us a chance to survive¡­"


    "That''s why this thing is very important for the survival of the world, Jareth Ayad; let me have it, and I promise to make a safe haven for all¡­"


    Zion looked into Jareth''s eyes while saying those words with utmost sincerity.


    Even Jareth was a bit moved by those words.


    ''Ugh, this is one of the reasons why beating this guy is very difficult; this guy is not a genuinely bad person¡­''


    Although Zion is not a good person either, he''s at least not a maniac who will slaughter people at will.


    In the game, Zion was a depressed guy who had given up on life; even when he died, his last words were,


    [Even if you kill me¡­ it''s all pointless, hero¡­]


    Although Jareth didn''t know what that meant when he was playing the game, now he understands that Zion was referring to the sea of miasma in those words.


    Even if you kill Zion and end the game, everything is pointless after all; dealing with him won''t do anything to the sea of miasma.


    This is also the reason why, despite having three different harem endings, all three of them were considered bad endings for this world; as nothing would change and the world would still get destroyed no matter what.

 Chapter 201 - 201: A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-3.

    The item that Jareth and Zion both were looking for was something unique.


    It was created by the First King by imitating the remnant power of the Golden Light.


    It was an item that brought hope to the world of this underground city, where darkness had dug its claws deep.


    It was a symbol of the First King''s amazing, immense wisdom; it was something that all humankind felt proud of while looking at it.


    That item was the ''Artificial Sun'' of the Forgotten City.


    Strar U''lbyatre created the ''Sun'' for his underground city; it had the ability to suppress darkness, miasma, and corruption to a very high degree.


    It used light magic at its core to illuminate the entire forgotten city, and it was a miracle in itself.


    When Konda came, the very first sin it committed was to swallow the artificial sun in its mouth, making everything go completely dark in the forgotten city.


    Konda was the bane of the forgotten city that destroyed everything, and the legacy of the First King was lost to time.


    After Konda''s body rotted away from corruption and only his bones were left intact, he put the broken artificial sun''s remnants into the hidden chamber near the place where he was sealed in the golden nail.


    The node of the False Dome seal was literally located right in the middle of Konda''s boss arena, and the artificial sun was located right beside the arena in a hidden chamber.


    Initially, even if Zion had managed to capture this sun, it would have been of no use, as Konda would have continued to release more miasma into the underground city.


    The three endgame bosses are basically around the same level of power; neither of the three can kill each other, and that''s why Zion was unable to deal with Konda.


    Konda''s resistances were simply too high.


    Even Jareth needed the help of the ''Laws'' of the world to finally kill the other party by putting him in a trap; otherwise, it would have been impossible.


    But now that Konda is gone for good, Zion can definitely purify all the miasma in the underground city and then use the broken remnants of the artificial sun to create a new safe haven for humanity.


    Originally, Zion was very depressed and had given up on life as he couldn''t see any hope for humanity or himself, but now that this final hope has appeared, Zion can''t let it disappear. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He believes that if he constructs an underground safe place, even if the sea of miasma swallows the planet, only the surface will be affected.


    Jareth knew about the lore of Zion and his thought process; thus, Jareth easily figured out what Zion was planning.


    "Jareth, my friend, do me a favor; leave these broken pieces of the sun to me; I will create ''hope'' for humanity¡­ No matter how pathetic the people of this world are¡­"


    "No matter how cruel and bad this world is, no one deserves total annihilation; there are innocent children, there are weak people, and there are pure-hearted people in this world¡­"


    "If the sea of miasma swallowed them, everything would be lost and all would suffer horribly for eternity¡­"


    "What I am trying to do is prevent this from happening. I am fighting for the greater cause, and my aim is to resist the sea of miasma¡­"


    "How about it, my friend? Let''s walk on this path together; let''s save the world and all that lives in it together. I can feel it; you definitely have the power to help me¡­"


    Zion stretched out his hand once again, but this time he was extending his friendship to Jareth.


    Zion wanted Jareth to grab his hand and help him save the world together.


    With Zion and Jareth''s strength, the two of them can definitely figure out something for the world.


    Even Jareth was moved by that speech a little, but he still shook his head and replied in a solemn tone,


    "The sea of miasma has the power of the ''Law'' of ''Miasma'' supporting; the moment it comes into contact with this planet, the whole planet will burst apart and shatter instantly like an egg being hit by rock¡­"


    "Saving this world is impossible¡­ It is hopeless; wake up to reality, Zion Reid; accept the truth; and don''t lie to yourself¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the smile on Zion''s face disappeared, and a cold look appeared on his face.


    "So, in the end, you will still oppose me then? I didn''t want to turn someone as strong as you an enemy¡­ But forgive me; I can''t let you take the ''hope'' of the world away from me¡­"


    "I will definitely take these remnants with me today¡­ I will strengthen the magic power of the artificial sun so much that it will be powerful enough to hold the planet intact!"


    "As long as I work hard on it, there will definitely be some way out of this trouble! I will not give up now that I have a mission in my mind!"


    The Zion in the game had nothing left in life to live for.


    He witnessed his lover die in his arms; he witnessed his hometown getting destroyed in front of him; he witnessed the cruelty of this world for several millennia.


    And he witnessed every dangerous moment the world faced.


    Time passed bit by bit, and that deadline of the seal breaking and finally killing him kept coming closer and closer.


    By the time Allen met this guy in the game, Zion was already too deep in his pit of depression and loneliness; he only had rage and hatred left in his mind by that point.


    People are not afraid of their eventual death, as they don''t know when they will die in life, but if you already know your death date from the start, everything will lose meaning in life.


    Your whole attention will be on that single end date, and you will fall deeper and deeper into the pits of darkness as that date gets closer.


    This is the reason why knowing about your own death is one of the cruelest forms of torture; it keeps you on the edge of your mind constantly and torments you for your whole life.


    It prevents you from living properly, making your life a literal hell!


    Zion could see that that seal''s date of breaking was drawing closer and closer, thus he knew his death was not too far away.


    Furthermore, even after centuries of hard work, he still couldn''t repair the seal and never was able to go beyond the pseudo-grade-0 level... He never truly achieved the new realm, the real Grade-0 realm.


    He came to the conclusion that the law of mana in this place is suppressed severely by the law of miasma.


    Thus, as long as the sea of miasma exists, no one in this place can go beyond the pseudo-grade-0 level, and all of them will remain stuck forever.


    But things changed when Konda disappeared; he can now see a last hope of survival, so he''s definitely going to cling to it.


    And unlike Jareth, Zion is not a selfish person; he won''t think about leaving the people of this world behind and escaping alone.


    Jareth and Zion are completely opposite types of people. Zion is basically the embodiment of a hero that has lost all hope of winning; he''s the protagonist of a story with a bad ending.


    And Jareth, on the other hand, is a villain who is ready to abandon the world for his own sake; he''s ready to use the precious items that can save the world to save his own life.


    They both needed the exact same artifact for their own goals and motives.


    Their ideologies are completely different.


    ¡­


    Seeing that Zion wasn''t going to back off, Jareth sighed and spoke in a cold tone.


    "This world is hopeless, so don''t get in my way, Zion Reid. Although the world can''t survive, I can use this item to survive and carry on the memories of this place in my head somewhere else¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Zion shook his head and denied,


    "No, I am not letting you take it no matter what¡­"


    Jareth sighed heavily and felt that it was a pity.


    "Then there''s only one thing that can solve this conflict¡­"


    "Yes indeed¡­"


    Both Jareth and Zion knew what was going to happen next as if they could read each other''s thoughts.


    The two of them jumped back and made a certain distance from each other while staring into each other''s eyes.


    Zion brought out his wand from his space ring and spoke in a cold tone.


    "Zion Reid, ''Conqueror of the Divine Light'', challenges you to a duel!"


    Jareth also drew out his grimoire and replied coldly.


    "Jareth Ayad, ''Inheritor of the True Flame'', accepts your challenge!"


    Both Jareth and Zion followed the proper etiquette and manners of a sacred duel.


    When two mages fight to prove their ideologies, their standing in the world, and their mastery over the path of magic, that event is called a ''Sacred Duel''.


    It is said that the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' itself looks over this sacred duel, and you must not disrespect this sacred ritual.


    Wizards are selfish people, so any types of underhanded tactics or any unfair means are completely legal in this duel; the only rule is that you can''t use others''s help or the ''Law'' of ''Mana'' will not favor you anymore.


    Aside from this sole restriction, you can use anything at your disposal to fight and win.


    The winner will decide which ideology is worth considering true.

 Chapter 202 - 202: A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-4.

    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam!]


    [Basic Magic: Shield of Deflection!]


    As if the two of them could read each other''s minds, they cast their magic at the exact same time, and both used basic magic as the first move!


    Jareth fired a mana beam, and Zion used his basic magic to deflect that beam. The mana beam hit the shield and flew away in a different direction, as if it were a ray of light that got reflected by a mirror easily.


    Jareth wasn''t much surprised by that though; he has fought this guy before, and he knows how much pain in the A*s this guy''s fighting style is.


    Jareth didn''t use the ''chant less'' skill, as the magic becomes weaker if you don''t use chants to strengthen it, and in a fight between peak powerhouses like them, even the slightest weakness is fatal.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana Shield!]


    Jareth cast the float magic and flew into the air, then used a mana shield to protect himself.


    Zion, on the other hand, pointed his hand at himself before casting his magic.


    [Grade-5 Light Magic: Blessing of the Divine Light!]


    Zion''s body started to glow with a silver radiance as he jumped into the sky and started to fly at an extremely high speed.


    He blessed his body with light, and since light can easily travel through the sky, he became capable of doing so. In fact, his speed was so fast that he could reach Mach 10 as easily as breathing!


    Even Jareth was astonished at that speed, as even with mana singularity, his float magic is still not that fast.


    ''This is the most troublesome part of light magic; this type of magic is extremely fast!''


    Not only the speed of the attacks, but the cast speed of light magic is extremely fast; it''s much faster than any other type of magic.


    You can cast grade-1 light type spells in five times less time as other types of magic spells; this is the horror of a light type mage!


    [Grade-3 Light Magic: Heavenly Divine Light Bombardment!]


    *BOOM!* *BOOM!*


    Zion extended his hand upwards, causing a colossal magic circle to materialize. Its chant swiftly concluded, initiating a barrage of immense light beams.


    Moreover, these beams were all targeting Jareth, and as their speed is quite fast, it''s really difficult to compete with them.


    [Grade-4 Fire Magic: Flames of Absorption!]


    Jareth''s grimoire shone, and he covered himself in flames. The beams of light hit him directly but were not able to do any damage; his true flames easily absorbed them all, and then Jareth redirected them toward Zion!


    Zion was taken aback by Jareth''s move for a second, but then he gritted his teeth and a focused look appeared on his face.


    *BOOM!*


    Zion waved his hand and slapped away the beams of light, directly parrying them with his own bare hands!


    Only a small scratch appeared on his arm, and the sleeve of his coat was torn apart by that attack, but it didn''t have much effect on him.


    "You dare use my own spells against me, Jareth? That won''t work on me!"


    [Grade-2 Light Magic: Explosion Type: Shockwave of Destructive Light!]


    Zion aimed his wand towards Jareth, who was flying in the sky, and then cast another magic spell.


    A magic circle the size of a skyscraper appeared, and a gigantic ball made of condensed light elements rushed out of the magic circle.


    Looking at that massive ball of light, Jareth immediately cast his own countermeasure. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Wall of True Flames!]


    Jareth quickly covered his eyes and hid behind the wall of condensed true flames.


    However, a millisecond''s delay caused that massive ball of light to burst, making the entire area incredibly bright.


    It was as if a nuke had burst apart nearby.


    An extremely powerful shockwave spread in all directions, and everything became so bright and hot that if Jareth had not covered his eyes, he would have gone blind in an instant.


    However, due to a millisecond delay, the small-scale nuke struck Jareth, causing him to lose his vision for a split second.


    His body is as strong as a peak grade-2 martial artist, so he recovered fast, and it only took him a single second to make a full recovery.


    But in a fight of peak powerhouses, a single second is already a big gap; a mere single second of delay is extremely fatal.


    Zion moved his wand and carved out a dragon with mana in the air.


    [Chant or Chant less, Decay or Decay-less!]


    [Grade-1 Light Magic: Dragon of Light and Emptiness!]


    Extending your magic spell chant on purpose is a technique that is used to enhance the power and damage of your magic.


    This kind of technique is only usable by grade 1 or higher-level people, and it creates a situation of equivalent exchange in the battle.


    You purposely increase the length of the chant, giving you the opportunity to escape and react to your opponent in exchange for extra damage and power for your spell.


    This is basically an exchange made with mana and your enemy without asking for any permission or consent.


    This kind of technique has a lethal disadvantage; you can''t use it when your opponent is in a perfect state of mind and has their full control over the mana.


    But Jareth right now had lost his perfect state of mind due to the sudden bombardment of bright light for a single second, and Zion used that time to purposely strengthen his spell.


    A magic circle so big that it seemed to have touched the edge of the realm of consciousness appeared in front of Zion.


    It consumed a massive amount of mana, and just the presence of that spell made the realm of consciousness tremble like crazy.


    The golden nail is already broken, so the realm of consciousness is unstable. Using too much magic here will harm the realm of consciousness and may even cause it to shatter completely.


    But Zion didn''t have any other choice; in his whole life, he has never met someone who was giving such an insane sensation of ''death'' to Zion as Jareth was.


    Zion has an insane perception ability, unlike mindless beasts like Konda and less perception-focused entities like the cyclops that Jareth fought before.


    Zion can sense that Jareth definitely has something on him that can pose a fatal threat to his life, and he doesn''t want to give Jareth the chance to use that item so as to win this battle.


    What Zion''s perception was sensing as a threat was Jareth''s ''Attack Enhancement Card''; he could sense its threat with his intuition, and he was trying to end the battle fast so that Jareth wouldn''t have the chance to use it.


    That''s why he used this highest-level magic so early in the fight.


    A gigantic dragon made out of light elementals came out of the magic circle and opened its massive jaw to swallow Jareth and completely destroy him.


    As if sensing the threat of that spell, Jareth didn''t waste any time either.


    [Are you sure you want to use the ''Attack enhancement card''?]


    [Yes or No!]


    ''Yes''


    [Ding! You have used the ''Attack enhancement Card (Advanced)''!]


    [Your next attack will be enhanced by 500 times!]


    Jareth knew that even with mana singularity and pure mana, Jareth''s mana shield definitely can''t defend against that attack from Zion.


    As he himself doesn''t have a grade-1 magic spell in his arsenal, it was futile to use any other spell to counter it.


    Although Zion had only used a grade-1 spell, not only did he use the powerful technique of enlarging the chant, he even used the power of the ''Law'' of ''Light'' with that spell ''partially''.


    Thus, that spell was at the level of ''Semi-grade-0'' while still having the power of a ''law'' along with it!


    Jareth could still have countered that spell if not for the power of the ''law''.


    Although his own spells are blessed with the ''Law'' of ''True Flames'' now, he has only learned this power just recently, and Zion, on the other hand, has been practicing it for centuries!


    Thus, Jareth made a quick decision; he calculated everything in a matter of mere milliseconds and directly figured out the perfect counter.


    [Mana Command: Extreme Mana Flow!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Flight of the Eternal Phoenix!]


    Mana condensed to the point of becoming rock solid, and a gigantic phoenix came out of the magic circle created by Jareth to counter Zion''s attack.


    Now that it was enhanced 500 times, it was so strong that its mere presence was causing cracks in the realm of consciousness.


    The realm of consciousness couldn''t bear the massive presence of two semi-grade-0 level spells at the same time, and it started to crumble instantly.


    But Jareth and Zion didn''t care; they both increased their mana output and nearly poured all of their mana into their respective attacks.


    The spells hit each other, and a massive collision happened.


    As if two planets had collided with each other, the explosion was so powerful that the realm of consciousness couldn''t withstand it anymore, and the half-broken golden nail broke apart on the spot and turned into complete powder.


    Jareth and Zion were both thrown out of the realm of consciousness along with the hidden item located in the hidden chamber.


    Zion''s right half of the body was completely scorched black, and a look of extreme pain was etched on his face.


    In the last moment, he used the ''law'' of ''Light'' to barely protect himself from dying; otherwise, Jareth''s attack would have killed him on the spot.


    Jareth was not faring well either; his mana shield had broken, and the giant dragon of light had burst apart at the final moment, firing out gigantic rays of light.


    Jareth was struck by several blows, resulting in severe injuries throughout his body, including the loss of his left arm, which is currently gushing blood.

 Chapter 203 - 203: A Very Friendly Encounter... Part-5.

    The artificial sun was all but broken and destroyed by Konda; all that was left of it was its broken core, which is only the size of a basketball.


    As the realm of consciousness broke apart after Jareth and Zion''s fight, the broken core also got thrown out; and its two pieces fell on the ground.


    Jareth and Zion were now standing opposite each other in the hidden room of the palace while covered in blood, and the two broken pieces of the core were lying in the middle of the room.


    ''Sh*t that attack didn''t kill him in one go!''


    Jareth can only buy a new attack enhancement card when he doesn''t have one in his inventory, and there''s a three-minute cooldown time before a new attack enhancement card appears in the system shop.


    Thus, right now Jareth can''t buy another one to one-shot this guy, and the situation has turned dire.


    His body is injured, and he''s nearly out of mana now.


    Zion is not doing well; he is barely surviving with half of his body scorched to the bone.


    The two of them stared at each other for a moment and didn''t bother talking at all; they both took steps forward at nearly the same time.


    Although they are out of mana, they are not out of options!


    Now the battle must be settled on who has stronger hands!


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth jumped and used his intact arm to punch; Zion did the same; he used the rest of his leftover mana to enhance his own physique and punched too.


    The two punches collided, creating a massive shockwave that caused the walls and floor of the hidden room to crack from the air pressure generated by their collision.


    Jareth waved his leg and used his toe to kick away one of the two broken core fragments, and as if Zion could read his mind, he did the exact same.


    Then the two of them jumped away and grabbed one piece of the core each.


    "Without the other half, the core is useless¡­"


    While glaring at Zion, Jareth placed the fragment in his space ring.


    "Indeed, I will definitely get it today¡­"


    Zion tossed the fragment in his coat''s inner pocket, which had a similar function to a space ring.


    Now both of them have one fragment each in their possession, and if they want to get the other half, they will have to kill the other party and forcefully get it by them.


    [Basic Magic: Maximum Output: Float!]


    Jareth cast the float magic and launched at Zion at an extremely fast speed. Zion didn''t expect that Jareth still had enough mana to cast magic, so he was not able to react on time.


    That small delay was enough for Jareth to fly towards him and grab his neck with his intact hand.


    Using the immense strength of a grade 2 warrior, Jareth pushed Zion towards the ground and then dragged him all over the ground.


    The ground cracked and broke from the force of Zion''s body being dragged around like that.


    "Urk!"


    Zion coughed up blood and then put a lot of strength in his arm to directly punched Jareth in the chest.


    Zion himself has a body as strong as a semi-grade-1 warrior, as he has trained himself for several centuries!


    Thus, his insanely fast punch hit Jareth instantly, causing him to fly away.


    Jareth''s grip loosened instantly; he hit the wall, and the wall broke apart from the force, making Jareth fly out of the palace wall.


    Zion didn''t wait at all; he kicked the ground and jumped to the other side through the broken wall and was greeted with a punch to his jaw as Jareth had already anticipated he would come.


    The punch was so powerful that it created a sonic boom in the air, and the air pressure caused the debris to fly wildly.


    Zion''s body went through the ceiling, breaking through the upper floor and falling into the throne room located right above.


    *Spit*


    Zion spit out his broken teeth and hurriedly grabbed a nearby stone debris, and just as Jareth tried to come up, he smashed it on Jareth''s head with an extreme force.


    Jareth directly ignored the attack and traded an injury with an injury.


    The stone hit his head and broke apart, leaving a small wound. In exchange, Jareth kicked Zion in the chest, making him fly away toward the wall of the throne room and break out of it.


    Zion''s body flew away like a cannonball and pierced right through the entire palace before falling outside in the back garden.


    The exploding corpses in the back garden were crushed by Zion''s body, which cushioned the impact for him.


    Jareth came flying to hit him with another punch, but Zion had anticipated it. He bent his knees to squat down and dodge the attack, and Jareth kicked Jareth on the side of his waist.


    Jareth collided with the outer wall of the palace, and the wall collapsed instantly!


    Jareth had already deactivated the mana barrier on the wall when he grabbed those main doors for himself, so the walls were now fragile and couldn''t stand being hit by such powerful attacks.


    The golden palace is located on a half-mountain. Jareth''s body flew away like an arrow and started to fall down the mountain, but he used the float magic to fly and stabilize himself in the air.


    Zion stomped on the ground and jumped towards Jareth to kick him, but Jareth caught his leg mid-attack and threw him towards the ground like he was throwing garbage away!


    Zion was already out of mana, so he couldn''t fly; he fell down at an extremely high speed and hit the ground.


    *BOOOM!* *CRACK!*


    A gigantic crater appeared in the ground, and a massive amount of debris flew in all directions, killing all the demonized mutants that were wandering nearby in that area.


    "Cough! Urk!"


    Zion coughed up a lot of blood and knew that a lot of his bones had broken after falling from such height, but he didn''t care about the pain and jumped out of the crater to move away from the spot.


    *BOOM!*


    And sure enough, Jareth came flying down and kicked the spot where Zion was lying down just a few seconds ago; if he hadn''t moved away, Jareth would have smashed his head into bits like a bullet hitting a watermelon.


    Jareth had used gravity to his advantage, thus the power of that kick was immense; thankfully, Zion dodged it on time.


    "Consider me impressed, Jareth Ayad! In my whole life, I have never met someone as strong as you! I really didn''t expect that you would still be so strong even without magic!"


    A crazy smirk appeared on Zion''s face as he stared into Jareth''s dark purple eyes.


    Jareth also smirked back at him and replied accordingly.


    "I am more surprised that you are still alive; no one has survived against my killer moves so easily¡­"


    "You seem like you are barely hanging onto dear life, but you are still good enough to keep your mind calm¡­ You are strong, Zion Reid¡­"


    The reason why Jareth and Zion both aren''t using mana recovery potion and health recovery potion right now is because they can''t afford to use them right now.


    The moment any of them showed even the slightest bit of distraction, it would turn fatal.


    In a battle between peak powerhouses like them, if you get distracted for even a mere millisecond, your chances of losing will go from 0 to 100 percent in a matter of milliseconds.


    This is the reason why they can''t use potions right now; they can''t afford to show distraction at all.


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth and Zion moved at the same time and kicked at each other. Zion bent down to kick Jareth''s leg, and Jareth directly used the float spell that he previously cast to easily dodge that kick.


    He then again used gravity to enhance his attack and punched towards Zion. Zion, on the other hand, twisted his waist to the side to dodge the punch.


    The two of them exchanged nearly a hundred blows with each other in the next one second of time period, but not a single one of them landed.


    The ground in the radius of a kilometer was completely shattered and riddled with craters; debris flew in all directions and killed the mutants that were unlucky enough to be present nearby.


    The two of them even started to use the dark miasmic fog to their advantage, attacking each other with hard-to-predict attacks.


    Yet none of them succeeded.


    Jareth himself is extremely resistant to miasma, so he can afford to expose himself to miasma for a long time without getting affected, and Zion, on the other hand, is more in danger.


    Although he also has high resistance to miasma and corruption as a light-type mage, he can''t keep fighting in this field of miasma for too long in this injured state.


    Not only Zion but Jareth, both are pressuring each other to remain tense at every second, so none of them have the time to even try to grab a single potion or focus their attention on the mutants wandering nearby.


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth''s punch hit the pillar, which was the main support pillar for the golden bridge that was keeping the bridge between the city and the top of the half mountain in place.


    The entire pillar cracked and broke apart; the bridge started to fall at extremely high speed.


    Jareth kicked Zion in the stomach and dodged away to the side. The debris from the bridge fell directly on Zion, burying him below it. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 204 - 204: End of the trip... Part-1.

    ''He''s going to use a potion now¡­''


    Jareth jumped back, retrieved a mana recovery potion from his space ring, and gulped it down in an instant.


    [Active Healing!]


    There wasn''t enough time to use a healing potion, and he needed mana, so Jareth didn''t use the potions; he just used ''Active Healing'' to heal himself quickly.


    His wounds were healed, and his severed arm regenerated back.


    In a matter of seconds, he was back to full HP, and he also recovered nearly half of his mana by gulping down mana recovery potions.


    Jareth halted once his mana had recovered to half because he only had two potions left in his inventory and didn''t want to use them all at once.


    *BOOM!*


    They forcefully flung the broken debris of the bridge away, and Zion emerged from the rubble unharmed.


    While buried, he used health recovery potions to heal himself.


    Unlike Jareth, he doesn''t have ''Active Healing'' but even he has health recovery potions.


    This is the reason why this endgame boss is so difficult; just like the player character, this guy can use all types of potions to recover and even buff himself.


    Beating him is extremely tricky, and you need a one-shot attack to beat him.


    In the game, as Zion was the final boss to be defeated, he was nerfed a lot and he was confined to his boss arena, thus having no advantages a normal mage has.


    Moreover, his attack patterns were fixed; players used various ''cheese builds'' to beat him, but things are completely different in reality.


    Now that Zion is a sentient person with extraordinary intelligence and an insanely high ''battle IQ'', it will be extremely difficult to one-shot him.


    The reason why he survived that attack card was because Zion sensed the ''death'' with his intuition and used lifesaving methods to survive.


    Right now, even if Jareth uses another attack card, Zion can definitely avoid getting hit by it because he''s more prepared for it.


    Zion is no longer just a random boss monster; he can adapt and learn mid-battle, and he can use various different tactics and unpredictable combos to surprise his enemies.


    Fighting Konda was difficult, but the other party was a mindless creature in the end; it can''t strategize, and it fell for Jareth''s trap easily.


    But Zion is different; tricking him is near impossible, as his intuition alone is superior to any being on this planet; he can easily ''predict'' things before they can even happen.


    [Grade-3 Light Magic: Blessing of the Light!]


    Zion didn''t use an attack spell this time; instead, he used the mana that he just recovered to bless his physique and make himself stronger.


    From the earlier fight, he had noticed that Jareth''s physical prowess was slightly weaker than his own, which could undoubtedly work to his advantage given his current lack of mana.


    Zion was worried that Jareth would recover too much mana, so he only used the health recovery potion to heal and then came out to stop Jareth from recovering too much.


    As a result, he was unable to recover a significant amount of mana and only had a small amount left.


    *BOOM!*


    Zion stomped the ground and launched towards Jareth at an incredible speed.


    [King Style Martial Art: Broken Vessel: Shattered Earth!]


    Zion is the son of the First King after all; he has trained in every aspect in the past few millennia; not only does he know extremely strong magic, he''s a proper pseudo-grade-1 level martial artist.


    In other words, he can indeed use powerful martial arts skills too!


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth used ''chant less'' to skip the chant and used the float magic to dodge to the side. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam: Barrage!]


    Then different magic circles appeared in the air around everywhere and fired gigantic mana beams at Zion, who had just kicked the spot where Jareth was standing.


    Zion, on the other hand, waved his hand to smash the magic circle and the mana beams directly with bare hands!


    *CRACK!*


    The magic circles shattered and crumbled away, while Zion only received small scratches on his fists.


    Jareth took this opening; he used float magic to propel himself forward and then kicked Zion on the side of his waist with all his might.


    *BOOM!*


    Zion flew away like a cannonball and directly broke through the hill nearby.


    The giant hill was leveled down from the impact of his body hitting it with such force.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Meteoric Shower!]


    Hundreds of small magic circles appeared beside Jareth, and small stones burning with condensed purple true flames launched out of them.


    Each of those flaming meteors worked in sync with Jareth''s mana detection ability to track down Zion and chase him to attack him with precision.


    [King Style Martial Art: Wind Manipulator: Wind tornado!]


    Zion waved his hand and took his stance, then punched in the air to create a massive tornado out of the dark miasmic fog!


    The burning meteors were instantly caught in it and countered easily.


    "This isn''t enough to deal with me, Jareth Ayad! Hand over the other half of the core! Or I will keep chasing and pestering you forever!"


    *BOOM!*


    Zion stomped the ground and launched at Jareth with a look of frustration on his face.


    Up until now, none of his opponents have survived for so long in front of him; only Jareth has given him this much trouble.


    In fact, Zion can sense that Jareth can definitely use a more powerful attack again now, like he used before, so Zion has to save some mana in case Jareth uses the powerful attack.


    That''s why he''s only using martial arts and not his magic spells.


    Still, the blessing of light he granted himself is strong enough to defend again the miasma in the surroundings for a long time, and it also boosts his basic stats.


    Thus, Zion can still fight for a long time.


    He crossed the dark fog and reached Jareth''s location to unleash another punch attack, but Jareth was already ready for him.


    Jareth had used his ''mana singularity'' to hide the mana fluctuations of his spells; thus, Zion couldn''t sense what spell Jareth was using.


    When Zion rushed in to punch Jareth, a massive fist made up of condensed flames launched from a magic circle above and punched Zion with massive force.


    [King Style Martial Art: Defense Type: Redirect!]


    Zion twisted his body and waved his hand to hit the flame hand on the side and directly deflected that fist attack to the side.


    The flame fist hit the ground, and its intense heat turned the soil into molten lava in an instant.


    The molten lake flew in all directions, striking Zion and causing his skin to burn in various places.


    ''Tch! It was a decoy!''


    At that moment, Zion figured out that the flame fist was but a mere distraction tactic, but it was too late. Jareth appeared from behind, and he punched Zion in the back of his head with all his strength.


    *CRACK!*


    Zion''s skull cracked from the back, and his face hit the ground with extreme momentum.


    *BOOM!*


    A massive crater was formed on the ground, and debris flew away like bullets in all directions; some of it even hit Jareth, causing small cuts on his body.


    But Jareth didn''t care about it; he immediately raised his leg and attacked Zion''s head with another kick.


    The previous attack barely made a small crack in the skull, but if this kick hits the same place, Zion is done for.


    "I won''t lose!! The hope of the world lies on my shoulders! I will not lose! I will save the world!"


    Zion endured the extreme pain of his brain being injured and punched the ground to make his body get away from the range of that kick.


    He barely dodged the kick on time, and Jareth''s foot hit the ground.


    More debris flew, and a giant and sharp piece of stone hit Zion''s left eye directly, destroying his eyeball!


    *Pant* *pant*


    Jareth was also getting tired now, and he was now out of mana too; he used a lot of mana in that flame fist attack to trick Zion.


    Zion himself is not in a good state either; he was hit in the head, so his brain was injured, and now he can''t even stand properly and can only crawl on the ground.


    Seeing that Jareth was walking towards him despite being exhausted, Zion gritted his teeth and hurriedly brought out a white orb from his space ring.


    Jareth noticed that movement and wanted to stop it, but it was too late.


    Zion put all his remaining strength to crush the orb, and a magic circle appeared below him.


    "Don''t be happy for too long, Jareth Ayad! I will definitely come back one day to take that core fragment from you! I will definitely save the world!"


    Before Jareth could react, the magic circle lit up, and Zion was teleported out of the Abyss Altar in an instant.


    "Sh*t!!"


    Jareth stomped the ground as Zion escaped alive, and the other part of the core was also taken away.


    Now Jareth only has half of it, and that will not be enough for his grand plans.


    ''Tch! Nothing is going right today!''


    Not only the False Dome Cult took the other two pieces of the alloy of the adamantium and mithril with them, now he has lost the second fragment of the core too.


    In other words, his trip to the Abyss Altar was basically a complete failure.


    Not only was he not able to do anything about the node of the false dome seal, he didn''t even get the items he wanted.


    This trip only yielded half of the expected results.

 Chapter 205 - 205: End of the trip... Part-2.

    After all those efforts, at the end of it all, Jareth only received half-baked results.


    This was not something he was expecting.


    Although he can still accept that the false dome cult members took away the rest two pieces of the adamantium and mithril alloy as they came earlier than him.


    He can''t accept that the other piece of the core of the artificial sun was stolen right in front of his eyes.


    ''Ugh, all the time it''s me who steals the chances of the protagonist; this time someone else stole it right in front of me¡­ It feels like sh*t¡­''


    Jareth shook his head and drank the last two remaining mana potions with great difficulty.


    Drinking too many mana potions at once is really a difficult task; the body starts to build up temporary resistance, and it starts to reject more overdoses of mana in such a hurried fashion.


    Although this temporary resistance disappears in a day or two, it''s quite an annoying debuff.


    You can use this temporarily enhanced resistance to magic in combat, but that would mean you can''t use potions in battle either.


    It has advantages and disadvantages both; most mages don''t use this trick in normal scenarios.


    Jareth has mana singularity; that''s why his body is able to withstand the load of drinking so many mana recovery potions.


    If it was someone else, they would have exploded like a balloon if they drank so many mana recovery potions at once.


    Jareth can digest and control the mana added by the mana recovery potions easily with his mana singularity, but others can''t do such a reckless thing.


    Even Zion only used a few potions and didn''t dare to exploit them as much as Jareth.


    ''Forget it... There''s no point in staying here any longer; I should leave¡­''


    The only reason Jareth even came here was to get the core of the artificial sun, as he wanted to extract its mana circuits and use them in his wormhole stabilizing device.


    He can''t imitate or recreate those mana circuits because they are unique and one of a kind. Jareth will need to research for several years and make his own core of the sun if he wants to create a similar item like this.


    He wants to skip this long process by using the mana circuits already present in this core; after all, he''s pressed on time.


    ''For now, I will work on this half piece of the core¡­ Later, when Zion comes back looking for it one day, I will kill him and get the other part too¡­''


    Jareth is quite sure that Zion will definitely come back to pester him again. And this time, Jareth will be more prepared for the other party.


    Thinking about all this, Jareth brought out a teleportation magic scroll from his space ring and embedded a lot of mana in it.


    *Whoosh!*


    The magic scroll lit up brightly, and Jareth felt a sense of weightlessness; in a matter of seconds, he found himself standing near the same teleportation altar that he had used to enter the Abyss Altar Area at the beginning.


    ''This is what I like about teleportation magic scrolls¡­''


    The teleportation magic scrolls are extremely rare items, but they are worth the effort and were the biggest lifesaving grace for the entire player base.


    The main function of these teleportation scrolls is to teleport you to the places where you have been before at least once in your life.


    As Jareth had already been to this altar when he came in the Forgotten City, he was easily able to teleport back to it.


    ''Now that I have already visited the golden palace of twisted curses once, I can go back there whenever I wish to do so¡­''


    The only restriction is that to go aboveground or come back underground, you need to use this same teleportation altar.


    After all, a massive spell is placed on the entire Abyss Altar Area to keep it''s ceilings and walls in place.


    The teleportation magic scrolls are not strong enough to bypass the spell cast by the First King with decades of efforts.


    Only the dedicated teleportation altar can bypass it.


    In simple words, you need four teleportation scrolls for a single back and forth trip to the Abyss Altar after you have visited it once.


    One to bypass the security above ground and go to the teleportation altar aboveground, then after using it to enter the Forgotten City, you will need the second scroll to teleport to the palace, skipping all the difficult paths.


    Same is true for the way back.


    ''I will return to this place if I need something else later¡­ For now I should go back; I am out of mana potions, and there''s no way to replenish them¡­''


    Jareth was simply too exhausted from this trip; if he doesn''t go back now, he will never be able to return.


    Resting in the Abyss Altar Area is not an option; the moment you lose consciousness, your mana shield will weaken and the miasma will corrupt you easily.


    *Step*


    Jareth stepped on the abyss altar and activated it with his mana.


    Although the altar looks flawed, corrupted, and unusable, it''s still barely usable as it''s barely holding on.


    ''The next time I come here, I hope I am good enough to repair the teleportation altar too¡­'' S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The teleportation altar is also the handiwork of the First King and involves the ''laws'' so Jareth can''t repair it as of now.


    With a big sigh, Jareth finally teleported away and returned back to the hidden chamber located below the National Hero Memorial.


    He brought out his smartphone, which has finally started to work properly again, and then he sent a message to the bald old man to open the door for him.


    The other party took a few minutes to reply, perhaps because he was too shocked to see Jareth''s message.


    In the meantime, Jareth sat down and used meditation to recover some mana from the surroundings.


    ''Sigh, it feels so nice to be out of that horrible place¡­ Finally, I can feel the embrace of Mana again¡­''


    The Abyss Altar Area was filled with miasma to the brim, so there was no mana in the surrounding area, and Jareth had to constantly keep his mana shield at maximum output.


    But now he can finally relax, as he doesn''t have to do all that.


    ''Although the results of this trip were not really up to my expectations, I still confirmed a few things that I wanted to, and now I have a deeper understanding of this world.''


    ''I guess this trip was still a partial success, maybe?...''


    While Jareth was contemplating in his mind, the giant door opened slowly, and the bald man came in.


    He was quite shocked when he saw Jareth in such bad shape.


    Not only were Jareth''s clothes torn up in many places, he was covered in blood, and he looked extremely exhausted.


    A thought came into his mind,


    ''What could have been so powerful that even a grade-1 mage like him was reduced to such a state!?''


    The bald man hurriedly escorted Jareth out of the area; the officers working in the monitoring room were also shocked to see his haggard state.


    But the most shocking thing was that he made it out of the Abyss Altar alive in one piece!


    In the long annals of history, Jareth is the first one to accomplish such a feat; the bald old man has already sent a message to the president and the ministers.


    They are likely already on their way now and will come over to visit Jareth soon.


    After all, nobody in the current human empire knows what''s inside the Abyss Altar and how dangerous that place is.


    Jareth is the first one to come out alive, so he will have a lot of information about this matter.


    The rest of the people can use this information for themselves, so they will not let this opportunity slip by.


    Jareth himself knew that his coming back alive would cause a sensation, and several guilds like the Mage Guild and others, and even Reynald, would come over to question him.


    Thus, he asked the bald old man to guide him to a VIP private resting room.


    The Bald Old Man dared not to be rude and immediately guided Jareth with a flattering smile on his face.


    Although Jareth looks like he''s in a weakened state right now, a lean camel is still taller than a horse after all, and Jareth can still deal with him with a single hand even in this weakened state.


    Entering the room, Jareth closed the door and took a relaxing shower first and cleansed off all the dirt.


    He changed into another set of clothes and directly laid down on the bed to have a long sleep to get rid of the piled-up stress and exhaustion.


    That day Jareth slept extremely peacefully after a very long time; he even dreamt of living a happy, peaceful life with Shiina in his dreams and enjoyed the rest he earned with a lot of efforts.


    Unknown to him, there''s literal chaos going on outside.


    Hundreds of thousands of powerful mages got news about this matter overnight and hurried over to the capital city just to hear about Jareth''s bizarre adventure into the Abyss.


    Jareth''s trip to the Abyss will soon be recorded in the pages of the history books, and people will make folk songs and folk stories about his brave adventures in the darkness of the Abyss and the things he saw.


    His adventure''s stories will spread so far and wide that even the False Dome Cult members will hear about it and will thank their demon god that they were lucky enough that they didn''t encounter Jareth while they were there.

 Chapter 206 - 206: When an adventure ends, a new one starts! (End of Vol.2)

    After resting for a while, Jareth decided to hold a press conference to tell his findings.


    There were hundreds of mages gathering and trying to contact him constantly, and talking with each of them one by one would have been a great pain in the A*s.


    Although Jareth can sell the information about the Abyss Altar Area for quite some money, he isn''t poor; he has so much money that he can''t spend it in his whole life.


    Moreover, this world''s going to be destroyed anyway, so having more money is pointless as it will lose its value once he leaves this planet.


    Using this information to gather the items he wants to find would be much more effective.


    Jareth held the press conference and put up a list of rare items on display.


    He provided everyone with basic details about his journey through the endless horrors of the Abyss Altar, but he did not divulge too much detail.


    He declared that whoever wants to ask for more information and talk to him personally about it in more detail needs to bring at least one of the items shown in the list by him.


    Jareth is quite sure that others can''t figure out that he''s gathering these items to create a wormhole stabilizing device; after all, it''s very common for a mage to gather rare items.


    All mages do this kind of thing.


    Although Jareth knows the general location of most of the items he wants, it will take a lot of time to gather them, as some of them are also in the personal collections of various powerful and influential people.


    Negotiating with them will waste a lot of time, but now that Jareth has put up the list all over the internet, people will flock over to bring the things he wants to his door by themselves!


    Not only will this save a lot of time for him, it will help Jareth skip those tedious negotiation deals that he originally would have needed to make with various influential people to get his hands on those rare items.


    After Jareth declared all this in his press conference, all the mages and groups who were going to flock over to question Jareth fell silent and started to look for the items that he asked for.


    Now there are thousands of people working for Jareth''s selfish goals without them knowing about it themselves.


    He manipulated the entire country with his words and used everything to his own advantage.


    Abyss Altar is a completely unexplored area for the current empire, so even the government is very interested in it.


    Jareth smiled happily when the government asked for information; he directly stated that they needed to give him a professional research team made up of hundreds of genius scientists in exchange for the information.


    The information on the Abyss Altar was extremely precious; the government had to bide by his demands, and they assembled a massive team of scientists for him from all over the empire.


    Jareth even forced the president to sign a document stating that the government would cover all material costs and salaries!


    The thing is; Jareth isn''t worried that these people will copy his wormhole-making technology and betray him.


    This entire planet only has a limited number of resources that can be used to create a wormhole, and that''s the reason why Jareth is having such difficulty collecting them.


    They can''t leak the information on the research as long as he''s present.


    Even if there are spies in the scientific team who leak the technology later on, it won''t matter; by that time, Jareth would have already left this planet far behind.


    Jareth has planned everything out by now.


    He alone is not enough to carry out this massive experiment; he''s now planning to act as the lead researcher, and the rest of the people will aid him and help him out in doing auxiliary things.


    Moreover, when he''s gone to investigate the remaining nodes of the false dome seals, these researchers will be in charge of keeping the research progressing continuously.


    Although Jareth wasn''t able to achieve great results from his trip to the Abyss Altar, he has turned this matter to his own advantage.


    ¡­


    University, principal''s office.


    One week after coming back from Abyss Altar, Jareth finally came back to the university.


    He took out the family talisman and handed it back to Thomas.


    "Thanks; it worked wonders; I am glad you gave it to me¡­"


    Although Jareth''s mission ended in a partial failure, he''s thankful that he still was able to get partial success at the least.


    So, the lucky charm perhaps still worked in his favor in the end.


    If Jareth was not strong enough and was even a little bit weaker than he is now, Zion would have killed him there, and Jareth wouldn''t have gotten his hands on the other part of the core at all.


    "Well, I am just glad you returned back safely; I was really worried that something bad might happen."


    Thomas smiled at Jareth''s words and took the talisman back.


    Mark and Risa also came over to the principal office at this moment to meet Jareth in person.


    They were worried that something might have happened to him, or he might have been corrupted by the miasma, so they came in a hurry to look for him.


    Jareth was a bit happy to see that there''s at least people who are concerned about him.


    He patted both of their heads and asked in an amused tone,


    "By the way, it took me nearly a week to make it back from the Abyss Altar; has something changed in the time¡­ Don''t tell me you two already got married in my absence¡­"


    Mark blushed at those words and replied in a stuttering voice,


    "N-no that h-how can that be¡­"


    Risa, on the other hand, smirked and said,


    "No! We will only marry after we have passed the university! At that time, we will obviously invite you to our marriage, Vice-principal!"


    "We definitely won''t leave you out of such a big occasion! Hehe¡­"


    Jareth was just messing with them on purpose. Mark is a tsundere type of character, so he gets overwhelmed when asked about such matters.


    Risa, on the other hand, is more straight-forward; she doesn''t hesitate at all in this kind of matter.


    "Hoh¡­ Is that so? Well, I will wait for that day then¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    ''Sigh, if only what you said could be true, Risa¡­ If only this game had such a good hidden ending¡­''


    ''Well, if possible, I will bring these two with me at the least¡­''


    Mark carries the possibility and hope of this world; if Jareth can bring these two with him, it might not be such a bad idea.


    ''But that will depend on circumstances, I guess¡­''


    There are no perfect plans with perfect outcomes in this world; everything has endless possibilities; even the smallest disturbance, even the smallest ''Anomaly'', can change everything in the end.


    Jareth shook his head and stopped thinking about this matter for now.


    "By the way, after hearing your words from the press conference, I have been meaning to ask, is it possible that¡­ that bone dragon in Bastille actually came from that Abyss Altar?"


    Mark, being extremely perceptional as always, immediately figured out some missing details on his own.


    Even Jareth was a bit surprised by that sudden question.


    "Yeah, it was actually a being from outer space; it fell on our planet, then pierced through tectonic plates and directly fell in the Abyss Altar Area located right below¡­"


    "The Abyss Altar was created because of that bone dragon in the first place; in my trip to the abyss, I figured out a lot of information¡­"


    "Apparently, that bone dragon was called Konda, ''The Empty Shell''¡­ It was a being whose power was equal to the First King from the legends and myths when it was in its prime¡­"


    Mark and the other two were quite surprised to hear that.


    Although they knew that Konda was strong, they had no idea it was that strong!


    "W-wait, doesn''t that mean you are also much stronger than a grade-1 mage-"


    Jareth shook his head at Mark''s words.


    "No, no, matter of fact, I am not even a grade 1 mage yet¡­"


    Thomas laughed out loud hearing those words.


    "HAHAHA, that was the most unbelievable joke, Jareth! The man who came back alive from the Abyss Altar Area is completely fine, and you are saying he is not even a Grade 1 mage!? Bahaha¡­"


    Even Risa pouted her cheeks at that,


    "Don''t try to fool us; we already know that you are strong! We won''t misunderstand about your abilities!"


    Seeing that no one believed his words, Jareth couldn''t help but shake his head in defeat.


    ''Sigh, in the end, I can never clear this misunderstanding after all¡­ You guys really trust me a bit too much¡­ ugh¡­''


    Jareth waved his hand and opened the door of the principal office to leave, but before leaving, he said in a calm voice,


    "Mark, Risa¡­ Get ready, the time for a long journey is close... Don''t forget your training; I have great expectations for you two¡­"


    The two kids nodded their heads at Jareth''s words as he left the office.


    ''I have been going on a lot of sidequests these days; it''s time to go for the real main mission now¡­ The time for going to the elven capital is coming closer¡­''


    Although Jareth was not able to save the node of the seal in the Abyss Altar Area, he must try his best this time.


    He needs to protect the seal node located in the elven capital at all costs! If he kept being defeated by the False Dome Cult like this, he would never be able to leave this planet safely.


    ''It''s time I get serious about it all too¡­''


    {Just like every adventure has an end to it, this adventure arc has ended today, but new adventures always wait for those who have the courage to explore!} (Source: Trust me bro)


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Author''s Notes. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And here ends the second volume!


    All throughout this volume, we explored various places and concepts as they were important for what''s to come.


    Next we go for real missions!


    Thank you all for reading this novel and motivating me to keep writing. I appreciate all of your efforts.


    Originally, this story started just as a random idea that I had one day, but it has turned into such a great journey. I enjoyed writing this volume, a lot, and I hope you liked reading it too.


    Thanks for all your support.

 Chapter 207 - 207: A New Journey Begins... Part-1.

    Capital City Delta, A month after Jareth''s return.


    Royal Palace, Dining Hall.


    "I see, so he''s taking you with him to the elven city? Well, if Jareth''s the one protecting you, I don''t really think there''s any need to worry¡­"


    Reynald waved his hand without caring much about the matter.


    He glanced at his wife and said in a nonchalant tone,


    "No need to be worried; he''s all grown up and is strong enough to be on his own now¡­ Moreover, all young birds need to leave the nest of their parents if they want to grow up¡­"


    "I am sure by the time Mark returns home from this trip he will have grown up a lot¡­"


    Mark''s mother Alice had a look of worry on her face upon hearing that her son was embarking on such a long journey.


    She glanced at Risa, who was nibbling on the sweets without a care in the world, and said,


    "Risa, make sure you keep him safe, okay? If you both return alive, I will buy you your favorite tea!"


    Risa''s eyes shined instantly, and she immediately became motivated.


    "Yeah! Leave it to me!"


    Mark sighed upon hearing those words and pondered in his mind.


    ''Perhaps you should be more worried that this happy-go-lucky looking girl will eat me alive instead!''


    Mark has no idea why his mother favors Risa so much or how Risa managed to gain his mother''s trust to such an extent, but his mother has already accepted Risa even though Mark hasn''t yet married her!


    Risa literally is allowed to come and wander in the royal palace at any time, any day!


    The guards don''t even inform the butlers and the maids about it before opening the doors for her; she''s free to enter and leave whenever she feels like it.


    Not even powerful grade-2 mages are allowed such freedom in the palace! She''s the exception!


    ''I sometimes feel that they kind of consider her more like their daughter than me being their son¡­ The favoritism is so blatant!''


    Mark is usually away from home due to university and barely ever comes back, and even when he comes back, he keeps studying magic and stays in his room all day long.


    He''s simply too dedicated to his magic research, and ever since he met Jareth, he''s been working even harder to become stronger!


    It''s only been a while since he broke through grade-4, and now he''s already a peak grade-4 mage after this short period of time.


    On the other hand, Risa has also broken through to the grade-4 early stage recently. It''s not that she''s slow; it''s just that Mark is too fast!


    They are both the same age, yet Mark can easily defeat ten Risa''s with a single hand if he gets serious.


    "Hmm? What? You want some too?"


    As Mark was glaring at Risa, she misunderstood that he was going to snatch her sweets, so she hurriedly stuffed them all in her mouth.


    "Not happening! Hehe¡­"


    Seeing her giggle like that to herself, Mark stopped glaring at her as she looked too d*mn cute, and staring for long was quite bad for his ''heart''s mental health''.


    "By the way, what is he even going there for?"


    Hearing Reynald''s question, Mark shook his head,


    "I have no idea; when I asked, he said he was invited there, and he''s taking us there with him to experience the world and learn more¡­"


    Reynald leaned his back on the chair and spoke with a lot of complicated emotions.


    "Er¡­ If he keeps wandering around all over the world with you in tow¡­ People will really misunderstand that you are indeed his illegitimate child¡­ Sigh, he really likes to create massive chaos wherever he goes¡­"


    Currently, Jareth has become extremely famous on the entire internet.


    Every month he does something new and more ridiculous than before; first he killed a wyvern, then killed a cyclops, then he went ahead and literally killed a world-destroying level calamity beast all alone!


    His reputation has now soared through the skies, and even Reynald has been overshadowed by him.


    Nathan, on the other hand, has been completely forgotten by the people, as if he doesn''t even exist anymore.


    "Times sure do change fast though¡­ Who could have thought that I would get to see such a strong person rise after all this time¡­"


    Reynald sipped the wine from the glass and glanced at Mark before speaking in a solemn tone,


    "His presence may be good for you till you grow up, but after that, he will become an obstacle for your growth, Mark¡­"


    A confused look appeared on Mark''s face after hearing those words, as he couldn''t understand what Reynald was trying to say.


    Seeing that look, Reynald smiled a bit and replied in a calm voice,


    "The thing is, when the teacher is less talented than their student, the teacher is bound to be left behind eventually by the disciples¡­ That''s how the world works¡­"


    "You are the most talented person on this planet, so you will surpass Jareth eventually, but then you won''t be his disciple anymore; you will become his competitor¡­"


    "The world of mages is cruel, and only those who are selfish enough can preserve it till the end; that means you will be pressed on resources and opportunities¡­"


    "You will have to be careful of his stance at every turn and will have to always be on edge in case he suddenly decides to attack¡­ That kind of life is too stressful¡­"


    "In the end, he will become a great obstacle for you, Mark¡­"


    Mark was shocked at those words; he was left completely speechless.


    He''s still young after all; he hasn''t faced the cruelty of the world much, so he couldn''t accept Reynald''s words at all. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Reynald has lived his life governing over hundreds of subordinates; he had to face all kinds of situations along the way as he reached the peak of the world.


    He has enough wisdom to sense that Jareth isn''t a selfless person; he also has his own goals and ambitions, and if Mark stays too close to Jareth, Mark will be the one who will get used up like a pawn.


    That''s something he wouldn''t want to see; in fact, he wants his son to use the entire world as a pawn.


    It''s survival of the fittest type of world after all; those who know how to take advantage of others and manipulate them to work for them are the ones who enjoy everything.


    Right now, Reynald has control over more than half the entire economy of the empire; he has immense power in this matter, and his words rule the fate of millions of people.


    Even though he''s only the king by name, he has enough wealth to keep to subtly manipulate the entire nation without anyone even noticing it.


    This is the reason why the royal family has so many resources for training and improving; this is the reason why they have no shortage of all types of weapons, artifacts, potions, etc.


    If Mark doesn''t learn this method, he will not be able to control others and rule over them in peace.


    "Physical power has its limits, but intellectual strength has none! If you have the ability to control hundreds of allies and subordinates, only then can you consider yourself truly powerful and invincible!"

 Chapter 208 - 208: A New Journey Begins... Part-2.

    Reynald''s words may hold some truth, but Mark couldn''t obediently agree with them.


    "Father, your worldview is completely different than mine, it seems¡­"


    Hearing Mark''s words, Reynald laughed out loudly.


    "Hahaha, well¡­ Time is the best teacher, Mark; you will understand everything as you grow up; you have a long way to go¡­"


    "Well, I am not in a hurry either; I have enough time to wait for you; once you become good enough, I will hand over the throne to you right then and there¡­"


    Saying that, Reynald got up from his seat with a smile over his face and started to leave.


    Before leaving, he turned around and spoke in a vague tone.


    "Oh, I nearly forgot. Tell Jareth to look out for the ''Purple Earth Area'' while on the journey¡­ I once got reports mentioning that there''s a powerful serpent lord or something like that living there¡­"


    "But I guess even if it''s there, it shouldn''t be much of a problem for someone like Jareth; after all, as a grade-1 mage, he will have enough resistance to be completely immune to its poison anyway¡­"


    Reynald had no idea that Jareth, in fact, doesn''t have much poison resistance at all! He uses Mana Singularity for solving these kinds of matters!


    "Oh okay¡­ By the way, father, who''s stronger, you or him?"


    Reynald turned his back and smiled at those words.


    "Well, if he advances any further, he may cause me a little trouble¡­"


    "But would you lose?"


    Reynald sneered at that question.


    "Nah, I''d Win!"


    With that said, Reynald left the dining hall.


    ¡­


    While Mark and Reynald were having their discussion, Alice waved her hand at a maid and asked her to bring a sword from her collection.


    She then personally handed that sword to Risa, who was quite confused at that sudden gift.


    "You are going on a long journey; take this with you. I know that you have learned swordsmanship, and given the fact that you are able to use shadow magic, this sword will fit you the most¡­"


    The handle of the sword and its sheath were both pitch black in color. Risa unsheathed it, and the blade itself was completely pitch black in color, as if it were made out of coal.


    But there were a few words engraved in dark red color on the blade. S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    [Slaughter! Murder! Massacre! Blood Carnage!]


    If Jareth was here, he would have been able to see the sword''s stats.


    [Item Name: Cursed Shadow!]


    [Item Rank: Grade-1+]


    [Item Title: ''Evil Terror'', ''Maniac''s hand'', ''Demon''s Creation''.]


    [Item Description: Forged from the corpses of the members of Demon Cult of Therath, this weapon carries the power of the curse of ten thousand swords!


    The legend says that once the cult of Therath was abandoned by it''s demon god, the followers were slaughtered mercilessly by a blind man who swore revenge for his murdered children and wife.


    That blind man alone killed more than ten thousand members of the cult and was considered the biggest source of fear for the fleeing cult members.


    He fed the blood of those corpses to his sword, which was originally just a rusty and old iron sword.


    But after consuming so much blood, sacrifices and souls, it evolved into a cursed weapon with barely any equals.]


    [Warning: This weapon carries one of the most lethal curses in the entire world upon it. The ''Law'' of ''Hatred'' has taken a liking to it¡­ Using it will cause the holder to lose their mind¡­]


    [Warning: Only those who are blessed with extremely high shadow magic affinity can tame this bizarre weapon¡­]


    [Effects: Inflict the curse of rot, pain, suffering, hallucination, misery, and bad luck on the user; once hit by this weapon, the victim will die a miserable death unless the user of the weapon forgives them¡­]


    [The curse can pass any barriers and will work on anyone, except those with ''Legendary Skill''s or with resistance skills like ''True Immunity'' etc¡­]


    ¡­


    "I found this sword in my younger days when I was wandering around in some ruins filled with undead; I remember taking a casual stroll in that dark and spooky place¡­"


    "That dungeon was quite beautiful actually; it had thousands of skeletons littered around everywhere; wherever you walk, that ''Crunch crunch'' sound of bones cracking below your feet kept ringing¡­"


    "It was like a melody to your ears¡­"


    Risa''s eyes shined as if she were eager to hear the location of that supposed ''wonderful and beautiful'' dungeon.


    "Alas that dungeon collapsed on itself after I took the sword away¡­"


    "By the way, this weapon curses anyone except those who have affinity for ''Darkness-related elements''. For example, your Shadow magic¡­"


    Although if someone had affinity for miasma, they could also use this weapon, but there''s no human in the entire empire who can use miasma.


    Shadow magic itself is extremely rare to begin with; mainly the members of the ''Shadow Fallen'' family are the ones who have affinity for shadow magic.


    Thus, in Alice''s opinion, no one''s more suitable for this cursed weapon than Risa.


    After all, in the entire Shadow Fallen family, only she has the highest affinity for shadow magic.


    If not for Mark, she would have been the most talented person of the entire younger generation.


    "Oh, make sure you never use it on Mark though; that''s a big no!"


    Risa nodded her head at Alice''s warning, but she herself knows that even if she uses it, Mark can easily avoid it anyway.


    He''s not that weak that she would need to hold back.


    Later, Alice dragged Risa away with her to her room and gave her tons of her own artifacts.


    Alice has also trained Risa for some time in swordsmanship, so she''s partially her student too; thus, there''s no need for her to hold back herself when giving gifts to Risa.


    That day, Mark had to face a lot of trouble as Risa kept showing off all the items; she got in front of him and kept asking him which one seemed more cooler on her.


    Mark was not able to get any magic research that day at all and had to entertain that energetic girl all day long.


    Once morning came up, the two of them took the car together and went back to the university to meet up with Jareth.


    They have made enough preparations, and in the past month they have done a lot of training along with their new junior.


    Now the four of them are ready to go on a new adventure.


    The car stopped at the main gate of the university; Jareth''s car was already waiting for them both there.


    Seeing that luxurious car, the two of them boarded it with a look of excitement on their faces.


    Jareth and Azul were already sitting inside.


    Only the atmosphere seemed a bit awkward though, but that''s normal when Jareth is around; he causes anxiety attacks in people''s minds, so it''s no surprise that people get awkward when he''s sitting silently beside them.


    Once Azul saw Mark and Risa, a happy smile appeared on his face as if he had seen his saviors! He was dying from anxiety sitting alone with Jareth.


    Risa and Mark''s presence has finally blown away that anxiety, and he can stay calm.

 Chapter 209 - 209: The Hidden Train Station... Part-1.

    Jareth nodded his head at Mark and Risa, who entered the car to return their greeting, and then spoke in a calm voice.


    "In the past months or two, you three have made a lot of progress, which is indeed quite impressive, but keep in mind that there is no end to the path of strength¡­"


    "Don''t lose sight of your ambitions just because of a momentary gain¡­"


    The three nodded their heads at Jareth''s words.


    After coming back from the Abyss Altar, Jareth has been busy with that research team that the government officials provided him.


    He''s already started his preliminary research, and there are already some positive results this early, as Jareth himself dedicated a lot of his own time to help out in the matter.


    In his free time, he has been instructing the trio and training them every once in a while.


    Jareth has already talked things out with Thomas, and there will be no need to worry even if the four of them don''t stay at the university and are absent.


    ''While I am absent, the progress on the research will slow down, but that''s to be expected¡­''


    Just when Jareth was busy thinking about various matters in his mind, Risa suddenly asked,


    "Vice-principal, can you tell me more about your adventure in the Abyss Altar Area?"


    Although Mark and Azul hesitate to talk much with Jareth and dare not bother him with a lot of questions, Risa has no such thoughts in her mind.


    From her point of view, Jareth is that cool uncle type of person who brings a lot of cool stories and stuff whenever he drops by every once in a while.


    Upon hearing that question, Jareth waved his hand and cast a silencing spell around the four, ensuring the driver couldn''t hear what they were discussing.


    After all, the driver is but an ordinary man; information about the Abyss Altar will do him more harm than good if he knew about it.


    "Your three, refer to me as ''Teacher'' from here on¡­ As for the Abyss Altar, make sure you don''t tell anyone else what I am telling you¡­"


    Three nodded their heads at Jareth''s words, and he continued speaking.


    "I only told vague details on the press conference that day, but there are a lot of things that I omitted¡­"


    "We have enough time right now, so I shall tell you more about it¡­"


    The group is traveling via car today to a particular underground train station; it will take a while to reach that place, so Jareth has enough free time right now anyway.


    So he decided to satisfy their curiosity.


    "The Abyss Altar is an area filled with miasma to the brim; the moment you step there, you will need to deploy your mana shield almost instantly¡­"


    "If you don''t do so, the miasma in the surroundings will corrupt you and turn you into hideous mutated monsters that have no mind and no free will¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the three and said in a solemn tone,


    "Contrary to popular belief, Miasma is actually a semi-conscious existence¡­ It has an ''incomplete'' consciousness of its own¡­" S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "It can change and adapt according to the situations easily, and whoever it affects, it tries its best to torment them in the worst possible ways¡­"


    "In my journey to the core of that Abyss¡­ I saw hundreds of different kinds of mutated creatures¡­"


    "There were those who could only laugh like maniacs even in immense pain, and there were those who could only talk like puppets and had no free will of their own¡­"


    "There were powerful illusions, and there were twisted spirits and curses everywhere¡­"


    "A dark miasmic fog covered everything, and it was impossible to see farther than a few meters with the naked eyes¡­"


    The trio listened to Jareth''s story with a look of great interest and curiosity, so Jareth continued,


    "This story of mine can bring you inspirations too¡­ In case you encounter dense miasma-filled places one day in your journey¡­"


    "You just need to follow along and do exactly the same thing I did: deploy your mana shield at full capacity and constantly keep recreating it all over again so that corruption doesn''t get the hold of it¡­"


    "And you must carry a lot of mana recovery potions with you in case you run out of mana¡­"


    "There was no mana in the Abyss Altar Area, so I had to use nearly a hundred mana recovery potions in my journey¡­ If not for them, even I would have run out of mana long ago¡­"


    Mark and the others misunderstand that Jareth has massive mana capacity, and his maximum mana is extremely high.


    So if even his mana was about to run out and even he had to use nearly a hundred potions to recover, that means that the mana consumption to travel in the abyss altar area must have been extremely high.


    Listening to his words, the three of them were shocked.


    Jareth is the same person who fought Konda for three days and three nights without taking a moment''s rest and then came out victorious without suffering a single injury.


    His mana capacity is said to be so high that it is considered equal to five grade-1 mages altogether.


    What they don''t know is that his mana capacity is actually barely equal to an early-stage grade-2 mage!


    The only reason he''s able to display such great feats of having tons of mana is because he can replenish it extremely fast due to mana singularity.


    If he''s stuck in a miasma-filled place, he can''t replenish his mana, and he won''t have more mana than any other early-stage grade-2 mage either.


    Still, with mana singularity, his control over his mana is extremely high, so he wastes almost no amount of mana when using magic, and he''s extremely efficient.


    Thus, even with low mana, he can contend with others with higher mana capacity much easier.


    Moreover, his mana is extremely pure, so that''s also a plus point for him.


    For the next hour or so, Jareth kept telling the three about the various monsters he saw and what methods he used to beat them all.


    Mark and the three had an awkward look on their faces when they heard his methods of dealing with monsters.


    Jareth literally used basic-grade magic to create massive explosions and fired basic mana beams like they were grade-1 magic, thus wiping out hordes of monsters with minimal amounts of magic.


    This kind of strategy can only be used by someone like him who has a legendary skill in his arsenal. Mark and the others can''t even fathom how his basic magic is so god d*mn overpowered.


    Any casual attack from Jareth is enough to be considered a city-destroying attack, so the three of them can''t fathom his strategies and can''t replicate them.


    All they can do is learn from it and try to adopt these strategies in their own magic capabilities.


    After a while, Jareth finally mentioned the incident with Zion Reid.


    He hasn''t talked about Zion to even those people who bought the information with lots of resources.


    Jareth has kept his presence a secret, but he''s talking about it to these three because he has a premonition that these three will definitely meet Zion one day.


    "At the end of my journey, I reached the core area of the Abyss Altar, where the golden palace was located¡­ There I found a man named Zion Reid¡­"


    "His goal was the same as mine; he likely used a teleportation scroll to reach that place¡­ And he was there for the same item that I wanted for myself¡­"


    "For particular reasons, I can''t tell you about that ''item'' in detail, but in short, it was the core of a certain ancient artifact¡­"


    "I had a massive conflict with that man¡­ And our battle ended in a draw¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the three of them were so shocked that they nearly jumped up from their seats.


    In their opinion, Jareth is an unbeatable person who can go toe to toe with world-destroying threats like Konda easily without getting a single injury.


    And to think that someone was able to keep up with Jareth and force him into a ''draw''-like situation, that''s simply too shocking to hear.


    "That man was very strong; he had the body of a semi-grade-1 warrior and the mind of a peak level wizard¡­ He was the strongest enemy I had faced in my whole life¡­"


    "He was an intelligent and crafty foe; we fought each other for several hours, and our battle laid waste to the area¡­"


    "The realm of consciousness that we were in was shattered to bits, then even the golden palace was half destroyed along with the golden bridge that got decimated entirely¡­"


    "In the end, he succeeded in escaping using a teleportation method that I was completely unaware of, and he took the other piece of the core fragment along with him¡­"


    "Now I only have half of the core fragment, and the other half is in his hands¡­ He also swore that he would come back someday to look for me¡­"


    Talking about that matter, Jareth sighed to himself. If he were a bit stronger and that attack card had landed on Zion, the other fragment of the core of the artificial sun would have been his by now.


    Then his research would have progressed even faster than it is doing now.


    ''I am still too weak after all; relying on attack enhancement cards can only get me so far; I need more trump cards in my arsenal¡­''


    Zion could already sense the presence of those attack enhancement cards in Jareth''s possession with his intuition, so Jareth needs something else now that even Zion can''t perceive.

 Chapter 210 - 210: The Hidden Train Station... Part-2.

    An hour later.


    The car finally stopped, and the four got out of it.


    They had arrived at a small building located on the outskirts of the capital city.


    Jareth walked inside, and it turned out that the building is actually a small public library.


    He walked over to the counter with the trio, pulled out a particular golden card, and showed it to the person sitting behind the counter.


    Upon seeing that card, the individual glanced once at Jareth, then at the remaining three, before nodding his head.


    He got up from his seat and led the way for the group.


    That card was something that Jareth got from the president himself while he was getting that research team; it gives him access to various hidden locations in the capital.


    Normally, only military officials can possess it, but Jareth obtained one for himself in return for the valuable information he traded.


    As they say,


    {Information and experience are more valuable than gold; they can prove their worth in a life-and-death situation¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Jareth himself has such a vast amount of information on this world that it alone is enough to compile an entire book out of it.


    The person who was leading the group is actually an undercover military officer who''s stationed here to guide those with special permissions and help them enter the hidden station.


    Yes! A literal hidden train station is located right below this small library.


    The officer led the group to a secluded hidden area, then took out a book from his space ring and placed it in an empty spot in the book cabinet.


    The floor moved, and a hidden staircase appeared in everyone''s view.


    The officer signaled with his hand and asked the group to enter, clearly showing that this is the way to the underground train station.


    Jareth didn''t hesitate much, as he already knew all about this as he had seen all this in a game cutscene in great detail, so he wasn''t much surprised.


    Mark and the others, on the other hand, were quite shocked, though.


    For them, this whole situation is quite new and mysterious. They have never been on covert missions like this before, so all this is new for them.


    Still, they didn''t shout or make noises that would attract attention and were able to remain calm even in this situation, which shows that they are all well trained.


    The three followed behind Jareth like chicks following the mother hen.


    Once the group entered, the hidden mechanism in the floor activated again, and the entrance closed on its own. The officer took the book back and went back to his seat to pretend to be an ordinary person once again.


    ¡­


    "How did you know that there was such a hidden station here?"


    Once they passed through the stairs, the group arrived at an underground train station, and Risa was the first to raise the question.


    Jareth just shrugged his shoulders at that question and replied in a calm tone,


    "When your mana detection is as powerful as a grade-1 mage, there''s nothing in the entire capital city that''s hidden from you anymore¡­ You can detect everything¡­"


    "My mana detection range alone is as wide as ten kilometers in diameter¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the trio was shocked to the core, and all three of them were left speechless.


    The three of them already possess a few hundred meters of mana detection, yet they pale in comparison to Jareth, like an ant comparing itself to a dragon!


    "This hidden train station is only open to a few people who hold this golden card in their hands¡­ Usually it''s the military that uses for weapon and resource supply¡­"


    "This is just one of the few¡­ There are nearly a dozen such hidden train stations in the capital city, each leading to a different city in a different direction¡­"


    "And then those cities redirect the trains further outwards¡­"


    "In simple words, the entire nation is connected with these spider-web-like train tracks that run deep underground, hidden from everyone''s sight¡­"


    "Also, there are anti-mana detection devices fixed everywhere, so unless you are in grade 2 or above, you can''t notice them at all¡­"


    Jareth found a bench nearby and sat down to wait for the train and continued to explain,


    "These train tracks were laid down a long time ago; their main purpose is to transport troops faster to the frontlines and spread freedom more efficiently¡­"


    "These train tracks are basically the reason why our human armies were able to march in all directions and slaughter hundreds of thousands of enemies without having to worry about running out of ammo¡­"


    "And in case our aircraft run out of ammo, the aircraft itself becomes the ammo!"


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel a bit nostalgic when he remembered how he used to drive fighter planes and do massive-scale attacks on demon cult hideouts in the game.


    "But¡­ is it not a bad thing to kill innocent people and trample over them with armies like that?"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, Azul was momentarily confused.


    "The thing is, in war, no one is good and no one is bad; when two sides are at war, everything becomes a war tactic¡­ Deception, illegal weaponry, and using innocent people as decoys or cannon fodder¡­"


    "These are some morally questionable tactics of war, but they become completely legal once a real war starts¡­"


    "War is cruel, and it spares no one¡­ Children, weak, old, sick, young or adult, all are equal in the face of a nuclear missile¡­"


    Jareth sighed at his own words and spoke in a solemn voice.


    "Ironic isn''t it that only in the face of death are all considered truly equal no matter the race or the culture¡­"


    "The world lies about equality and all; no one''s truly equal; it''s all but a big lie crafted to soothe those who are too na?ve to realize the truth¡­"


    Mark frowned a bit at those words and asked,


    "Is there no way to make everyone equal? Is there no way to make everyone happy and prosperous?"


    Jareth smiled in amusement at those questions.


    "The answer to that is actually quite complicated¡­ The goals and ambitions to achieve greatness, wealth, fame, and other worldly things are what drive humans to work hard and progress¡­"


    "Ambitions and dreams seem to hold no major sway, but in reality, they are the ones who drive everyone to achieve more and more for themselves, are they not?"


    "If you make everyone truly equal, then will people stop wanting to be richer than others? If you make everyone equally powerful, then will people stop aiming to become more powerful than others?"


    "Love that is isolated from the influence of others is considered strong, but will a love confined in a cage still be considered free?"


    Jareth crossed his arms and leaned his back on the bench.


    "Stop thinking too deeply about these matters, you three; these are something you will slowly figure out as you grow up and experience the world¡­ You have all the time in the world¡­ There''s no hurry¡­"


    ''That is if there''s a world for the time to exist¡­ but who knows what will happen tomorrow¡­''


    Jareth is no philosopher; it''s just that he''s lived through two lives of difficulties and thus has a bit more knowledge of reality than these inexperienced children.


    ''In my opinion, I might be just as much of a fool as any other person¡­''


    ''After all, if someone truly ''understood'' everything about the world, wouldn''t they already be considered ''God''?...''


    Even Jareth is bound by his emotions just like any other person; there''s no such existence who isn''t bound by these mortal thoughts.


    And there is such a person who isn''t bound by the constraints of their emotions that existence would have transcended the realm of mortals long ago.


    "The train is here... Let''s go..."


    Jareth glanced towards the right side of the track and sensed that the train was already about to arrive.


    "This train will lead us to the border area of the human empire; we have to travel from there on by ourselves¡­ So make sure you get plenty of rest when on the train¡­"


    "After all, sleeping in the wild will be more troublesome for newbies like you¡­" S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth himself has slept in the wild plenty of times in his previous life as he was working on shady missions all the time.


    And most of them were related to smuggling drugs through forests in the darkness of night while making sure not to get caught by the police.


    Although this body has never slept in the forests, it has slept in worse places like the sewers and the slums before.


    Moreover, now Jareth has a physique that is equal to peak grade-2 warrior, so he will be fine even if he doesn''t sleep for a month or so.


    Only Mark and the other two will have to face difficulty on this journey; that''s why he warned them about it.


    ''Well, I would have brought Aria or Shin with me to become emotional supports, but I can''t bring them to the elven capital with me, so the three of them have to do it without them¡­''


    The train finally arrived at the platform, and the four boarded it without hesitation.


    They all have their necessary items in their space rings, so they have no need to carry bags or suitcases, thus they can move more freely.


    The group sat down on their seats, and as it''s a luxury train, there were staff serving drinks.


    Jareth got himself tea as always; and the rest of them took some juice; thus the journey; through the hidden train station began!

 Chapter 211 - 211: The Military Camp... Part-1.

    The train traveled through the underground tunnels, and after a while it came to surface in a mountainous region.


    Jareth glanced outside the window and noticed that the train passed through the middle of a military base.


    "This is the outermost military base located in the eastern direction, right at the edge¡­ After this mountain range is the great forest of illusionary flowers¡­"


    "Let''s go; this is the last train station¡­ We have to travel by ourselves after this¡­"


    The train passed by several hidden underground stations along the way in the past four hours, and Jareth told the three a few points about each and every one of those locations whenever they passed by.


    Moreover, Jareth answered their questions on magic and various other phenomena along the way from time to time.


    Thus, the group never got bored during the whole journey.


    Although Jareth seems like a cold and strict teacher from the outside, he shows remarkable patience when teaching others.


    His voice is deep and calm, which makes it difficult to ignore his words and adds the charm of being knowledgeable and believable to them.


    The exceptional teaching abilities of the original Jareth allowed him to survive for three years despite his weakness and teach others about magic theories and other topics without anyone noticing.


    He speaks with great confidence, and his voice carries a deep sense of authority in itself, as if he really were a powerful mage who was guiding weak people faithfully.


    Now, Jareth is taking advantage of this deep voice too and is able to keep up with the questioning speed of these curious students without too much delay.


    Although Jareth had never worked as a teacher in his previous life, the memories from the original Jareth alone were enough for him.


    After all, when it comes to adapting to various new situations, he''s quite good at it by now.


    As he had worked in shady situations and had to adapt accordingly, his mentality has been trained by those difficult times.


    "Will they let us enter the military base though?"


    Looking at the military camp through the window and noticing that the train was about to stop, Azul felt a bit intimidated.


    He has lived his whole life hiding in an underground village from the police and the military personnel.


    Seeing that he''s about to enter a camp filled with thousands of military personnel, he was quite intimidated and had serious doubts in his mind.


    Jareth got up from his seat and headed towards the exit along with the three,


    "There''s no need to get intimidated by these small matters¡­ Although those military people have power weapons, guns, artillery, and stuff¡­"


    "Don''t forget, you have a literal walking nuclear missile standing right beside you¡­"


    Jareth placed his hand on the kiddo''s head, and Azul calmed down after hearing those words, which declared he was safe.


    Even Mark and Risa felt a bit envious when they saw Jareth petting Azul''s head like that.


    Jareth shook his head and moved forward while the three followed behind him.


    He seemed like a confident father guiding his children and supporting them, making them learn about the ways of the world and helping them when they are panicked and intimidated.


    (At this rate, he can never beat those allegations of being considered the illegitimate father it seems¡­)


    ¡­


    Seeing Jareth get down from the train, a group of military officers came forward to greet him personally.


    They saluted him respectfully showing their proper military etiquette and welcomed Jareth with smiles.


    An old man standing in the forefront stretched out his arm to greet. Jareth shook the other party''s hand and nodded his head.


    "It''s nice to meet you, Mr. Jareth. I am General Edwin. I am the one in charge of this place. It''s the blessing of the soldiers in our camp that we were fortunate enough to one day meet you in person¡­"


    Jareth smiled at those words,


    "Haha, General Edwin is flattering me; I am but a humble teacher at the academy; there''s no need to be so reserved, haha¡­"


    Although Jareth said that, the general and even the other officers dared not to be rude in front of him.


    They all knew that the person standing in front of them is a Grade 1 mage who''s one of the few people strongest people in the entire world.


    Getting on the bad side of this person is not a good thing at all.


    Moreover, Jareth is the person who went toe to toe against a world-destroying level calamity like Konda and eventually succeeded in defeating it without facing a single injury!


    People literally worship Jareth as the ''God of Divine Flames'' as he commanded the skies and made the dark clouds and thunder surrounding the city of Bastille disappear by just waving his hands.


    Although Jareth is introducing himself as a mere humble professor at the university, he is the farthest person from the word ''humble''.


    Millions of people look up to him in awe nowadays, after all.


    "Please, Mr. Jareth, this way, I have already asked the staff to make arrangements; if you would like to, you can take a rest here in the camp for tonight¡­"


    "I heard that Mr. Jareth likes exotic and unique tea flavors; I have made sure to arrange some unique ones just for you. I am sure you will not be disappointed by our hospitality¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "Hoh, it seems you have made great efforts in preparing for our welcome; I will trouble the general then; after all, while I am here, I will give a few tips to the soldiers if I have time¡­"


    The general personally led Jareth with him towards the central bunker.


    Mark and the three were left completely speechless when they saw that the general and the person in charge of such a massive military camp were being so respectful of Jareth.


    In fact, it seemed like the other party was trying his best to flatter Jareth as much as possible!


    Jareth also followed along the lines and went with the flow so as not to seem rude.


    He wasn''t swayed by those unique tea flavors, for sure; he''s just being mindful¡­ perhaps.


    Mark and the other two were led by the other officer to another bunker for rest, and after seeing so many sweets and unique desserts, they also forgot about their worries.


    ¡­


    Inside the central bunker.


    "You have put a lot of efforts into this map¡­ I feel bad taking your efforts for free¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the general waved his hands immediately,


    "No problem at all! The moment you had informed us that you were planning on going towards the east through our camp, I had prepared a copy of the military grade map of the easter area for you¡­"


    "This map has all the details and important locations we have discovered over the years in a three-hundred-kilometer radius around the camp¡­"


    "Most of the area around here is just mountain ranges and untouched natural forests that are far away from human activities¡­ And after the 290-kilometer mark is the where the forest of illusory flowers start¡­"


    "We don''t venture into that dangerous forest, and we have only mapped out only ten kilometers of area of that forest, but I am sure this map will help you in getting a head start at least¡­"


    Aside from tasting the unique flavors of tea, Jareth''s main purpose to come here was that he wanted a copy of the military grade map in the hands of the general who''s in charge of this place.


    Jareth was ready to give money or something precious in return for this, but he was surprised that the general offered it all by himself, and he didn''t even have to ask for it personally.


    ''I guess this is the benefit of having a great reputation and strength that''s recognized all over the empire¡­''


    The general sighed and continued speaking.


    "Actually, my son is a businessman; when you cleared the dark clouds and thunders above Bastille, he was one of the few businessmen who profited from that a lot¡­"


    "I just want to thank you for all that you have done for the empire and for my children too¡­"


    "I am glad there is such a great and kind person as you in our empire and is protecting us all from great calamities¡­"


    Jareth patted the old general on the shoulder and spoke in a calm tone.


    "General, you are praising me too much. I just did what seemed right to me; saving the people and helping out according to my capabilities is what I think was the right thing to do¡­"


    "Even if someone was in my shoes, they would have done the same thing¡­"


    Jareth is good at acting when it comes to these kinds of situations; he immediately assumed the role and used words as weapons.


    The old general was easily swayed by his devilish acting and didn''t even notice that Jareth was being a fraud the whole time! S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Ah, you are such a humble person, Mr. Jareth; if only that bastard Nathan was as kind and good as you¡­ Our nation would have been blessed with three grade 1 mages¡­"


    The common people don''t know the circumstances of Nathan, but they have heard many bad rumors about him, so all of them hate Nathan nowadays.


    Seeing that Jareth is the complete opposite of Nathan despite being so strong and using his powers in the correct ways, the old general was moved beyond words.


    He kept praising Jareth and his benevolent self for a long time that day and even went as far as to give a lot of secret military details to him for free.

 Chapter 212 - 212: The Military Camp... Part-2.

    "Uh, so you are actually traveling with Mr. Jareth, and he''s teaching you three personally!?"


    A young soldier who had just recently joined the army and had become a warrior after successfully becoming capable of using mana was shocked when he saw Mark nod his head.


    After the trio was led to the bunker, they were free to roam around anywhere.


    Jareth was still in a meeting with the old general, so the three of them can go and explore the area in the meantime.


    Thus, the trio headed out on an adventure to explore the military camp, and they stumbled upon this training area while wandering around at random.


    The young soldiers immediately noticed them and offered them chairs to sit in.


    Then they all placed chairs nearby and started to ask questions of their own; each of their eyes shone with great curiosity.


    Mark and the others are from the most prestigious university of the empire; after all, only the most talented children from the empire are eligible to enter that university.


    The likes of them who aren''t talented enough to even become the lowest-level wizards aren''t qualified enough to even become doorkeepers of that university.


    Most young people who want to become strong and want to pursue the path of strength despite having no talent for wizardry choose to enter the military and become warriors!


    All humans have some amount of innate mana in their body; although you can''t become a mage without a mana circuit, you can at the very least go and try to become a powerful warrior.


    Although warriors are not as well respected and revered as mages in this world, they aren''t weak people either.


    If a warrior possesses exceptional talent, they can compete with young mage geniuses like Risa and Azul.


    It''s just that there''s no particular academies or universities that focus on teaching powerful warriors, unlike Mages, who have proper institutions for guidance.


    Moreover, there''s been a very small amount of research in the aspects of warriors; there''s barely any complete skills that can be perfectly utilized by the warriors to show the power equivalent of wizards.


    Maybe the warriors lost their legacy at some point in the long annals of history, or maybe there was none to begin with.


    But this lack of powerful skills makes them much weaker to Wizards, who have huge amounts of spells and tricks in their arsenal.


    So, as people from poor origins with no family background and barely any talent, these young soldiers are quite excited for Mark and the others, who are revered all over the empire as having the highest level of talent.


    Mark and the others are accompanying a literal grade-1 mage in his journey, which just shows that their talent has been acknowledged by a grade-1 mage himself.


    This in itself is a big feat that the likes of them can''t achieve in their whole lives.


    Let alone becoming a student of grade 1 mage; even meeting a grade 1 mage once in person is already a big deal for them.


    Grade 1 mages are like high-class celebrities from their point of view, and meeting them in person is like winning a lottery!


    The population of the entire human empire is in billions, and the number of grade-1 mages in the human empire is currently just three, including Nathan, who has been sealed in the Death Cage.


    The ratio is simply too small.


    And a single grade-1 mage is strong enough to level down the entire human empire in a matter of a few days!


    Threats like Konda are something that can''t be dealt with even with the help of powerful nuclear attacks, yet Jareth went toe to toe with it and even defeated it in the end.


    All these feats are just too awe inspiring from the point of view of these people.


    "Well, we were fortunate enough to be chosen by him; even I didn''t expect that I would one day end up accompanying a grade 1 mage and journeying in various places with him¡­"


    Seeing those excited eyes shining with curiosity, Mark couldn''t help but feel a bit embarrassed.


    In the end, he decided to speak in a hesitant tone and tried to appear as humble as possible.


    But as they say,


    {The brilliance of world-class talent can''t be overshadowed by the darkness of the world!} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    Mark''s words seemed humble, but in fact they were enough to make everyone envy him to death.


    After all, Mark is living the life that everyone in the world would pay even their ''souls'' for.


    Mark not only has immense wealth, loving parents, a caring family, a loyal lover, and immense talent; he also has a great teacher and the support of the strongest people behind him.


    He literally has everything that a person can dream for.


    (It kind of seems like Mark is the real protagonist instead of Allen¡­ or perhaps Mark is the author''s favorite or something¡­)


    "Were you also there when Mr. Jareth fought that abysmal bone dragon!?"


    Hearing that question, Mark and the other two nodded their heads and described the situation to the young soldiers with great enthusiasm.


    Mark felt that it was his job as a student of Jareth to spread his amazing brilliance to the world with great enthusiasm.


    So, he exaggerated things even further and directly said that Jareth beat that bone dragon so much that Konda was running all over the ground like a bereaved dog. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Risa and Azul helped him exaggerate things even further and said that Jareth caught Konda jaw with one hand and threw it and rubbed it on the ground like he was dragging around random garbage, which he threw away in disgust.


    Then they said that Jareth felt that the scenery was not to his liking, so he raised his finger and said to the heavens,


    "Make the sky blue or I will burn a hole in the heavens!!"


    The heavens trembled in fear of his words and the dark clouds ran away in fright.


    Such immense exaggeration would have never worked on veteran soldiers who have faced danger all their lives and have known the cruelty of the world.


    But these young soldiers are just newbies who have yet to face real dangers and still don''t have the ability to see through lies at one glance.


    Mark and the others'' words easily swayed them, and they instantly believed them.


    What the trio didn''t know was that they unknowingly added several dozens of loyal followers to Jareth''s God of Divine Flame cult in just that one session of bragging and exaggerating!


    Even Jareth was unaware of the fact that behind his back, the cult worshipping him had suddenly grown bigger once again, all because of his own students, who couldn''t help but brag a bit too much about his greatness!


    The trio then showed a few fancy magic tricks to the group of young soldiers and then went on to other areas to take a look.


    Along the way, many soldiers passed by them, but they were all already notified by the general, so they didn''t dare to bother the three and let them pass without checking anything.


    Thankfully, Mark was keeping an eye on the other two along the way, so he made sure that Risa didn''t steal some mana grenades along the way from the bunkers.


    He also had to prevent her from grabbing random potions and herbs from the inventory of the military camp to make poisons and stuff.


    In order to keep her close and stop her from wandering around at random, Mark had to use the old-fashioned method of holding hands and dragging her away from things.


    He saw on TV that many people do something like this when they go shopping with their partners in some expensive places.


    When your budget is tight and you can''t afford to deny the requests of your partner, you have to be tricky; drag them away before they can even make the requests or take a look at the shops nearby.


    This is a very economical and life-friendly method.


    Mark stumbled upon this method while searching the internet for various new memes about Jareth and his cult members.


    Azul, on the other hand, is a more well-behaved person, so Mark doesn''t have to take care of him that much.


    His hands are already full with one troublemaker; it''s a relief that Azul didn''t become an addition to his troubles.


    While wandering around the empty helipads, Mark suddenly asked Risa,


    "By the way, I have been meaning to ask, how come you are able to talk to Professor Jareth so easily without any reserves¡­ Even I feel a bit intimidated when talking to him¡­"


    "How are you so carefree with him?"


    Risa tilted her head in confusion at that question,


    "What? You guys feel intimidated by him? That''s so strange and bizarre¡­"


    Mark and Azul gave Risa a strange look after hearing those words, and they thought the exact same thing in their heads at that moment.


    ''You are the one who''s strange and bizarre!!''


    Risa contemplated for a moment and then spoke in a vague tone.


    "Er¡­ How do I explain it¡­ He seems quite the chill type of person to me¡­ You know, he kind of seems to remind me of a father figure¡­"


    "It''s kind of difficult to explain¡­ Don''t you guys feel the same¡­ Er, that feeling when you accidentally mistake the primary school teacher as your parent¡­ It''s kind of that type of feeling¡­"


    Risa was having difficulty explaining it, so Mark and Azul shook their heads in defeat and stopped asking about it as they knew it was useless.


    Risa has always been like this, carefree and vague.

 Chapter 213 - 213: The Military Camp... Part-3.

    "Would you like to take a helicopter? As the person in charge, it won''t be much of a problem if I report that one helicopter went missing after crashing¡­ You can take one if you feel like it¡­"


    While passing by the helipads, the general offered Jareth a military-grade helicopter for free.


    But Jareth had no use of it as it''s too slow for his speed, and he doesn''t know how to drive one, so there''s no point in having it.


    Instead, his float magic is several times much faster than it, and sitting in a helicopter feels like traveling on a turtle''s back; it''s too slow for his liking.


    Thus, Jareth shook his head,


    "No, I wouldn''t want to trouble the old general with such unreasonable requests¡­ By the way, have you already prepared what I had ordered?"


    Hearing the question, the general nodded his head immediately and led the way.


    "I was surprised when you suddenly had such a request, but I guess for us warriors, the ways of powerful wizards like you are just too out of the world¡­"


    "I can''t fathom your thoughts at all... I am quite sure that if we were on war and you were the general on the opposite side, I would lose extremely fast even with my years of experience!"


    Jareth smirked at those words of flattery.


    "Haha, you flatter me, general; surely I am still young and don''t have as much experience as you in commanding troops¡­"


    Although Jareth knew that the other party was just doing pointless flattery, he didn''t point it out and just went with the flow.


    The other party is going to such lengths to flatter him; there''s no point in breaking this situation; it''s better to take more benefits out of him instead.


    Jareth not only got the map out of the general, he even took a lot of supplies, magic bombs, etc. for his personal use.


    Although he was tempted to take that helicopter too, he doesn''t have the time to play around with it right now.


    "Here, this is what you asked us to forge for you¡­"


    This military camp is massive, and it has all types of facilities; it even has a small forge that can be used to create various different kinds of items.


    Jareth asked the general to forge a strong and gigantic alloy sword for him. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The sword was so big that its size was twice that of a helicopter; looking at it, anyone can tell that it''s not something that humans can use to swing; it''s too big to even be called a sword.


    It''s just a thick sheet of metal that an ordinary person can''t even swing once with all their strength!


    [Basic Magic: Telekinesis!]


    Jareth lifted his finger, and the giant sword flew into the sky instantly, as if it had no weight at all.


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth made it fly towards the sky and made it do tricky stunts in the sky similar to how fighter jets perform various complex maneuvers in the air.


    Its speed was so fast that it immediately broke the sound barrier and caused a massive sonic boom as it took off into the sky.


    Just the air pressure created by it was enough to cause the clouds in the sky to disperse in all directions as it cut through them like butter in an instant!


    The old general and the rest of the high-ranking officers are all grade-2 warriors, yet even they couldn''t follow the sword movements in the sky as it was way too fast to follow with the naked eye.


    "T-this!? D-don''t tell me-"


    Jareth nodded his head and spoke before the general could even finish his sentence.


    "Yes, this is going to be our ride in the journey ahead! Helicopters and planes are a bit too slow for my liking, and they make it difficult to launch magic as they restrict movement¡­"


    "They are more suited for soldiers, not for mages; this giant sword suits me more instead¡­"


    A smirk appeared over Jareth''s face as he controlled that sword and made land on the ground.


    With Jareth''s telekinesis controlling it and the support of mana singularity, the speed at which he can travel with this sword is immense, and he can even carry the trio with him on this sword without any problems.


    Moreover, in case of emergency, he can use the legendary kamikaze technique to make the sword crash on the ground with massive momentum.


    The explosion it will cause will be much stronger than a massive meteor hitting the land and causing a gigantic crater.


    Just by seeing that speed of the sword, the old general could feel one thing in his bones,


    ''That sword alone is enough to wipe out my entire military camp at once¡­''


    The old general gulped his saliva and finally realized the horror of a grade-1 mage, as this is the first time he has seen a grade-1 mage use his magic at such close range.


    Originally, the general used to think that mages are weak of body, so it will be very easy to deal with them if you manage to get close, and this is indeed an effective strategy.


    But after seeing the speed of that sword, he lost all hope of ever beating a grade-1 mage in combat.


    ''Forget about getting close; that sword is so fast that even if I were standing just a few inches away from him, that sword would hit me first before I could even land a direct punch on him¡­''


    At that moment, the old general gave up the idea of even asking Jareth to help out in dealing with a few monsters nearby in return for the map he had offered.


    After all, it''s better if this massive calamity leaves this place faster; there''s no point in making a walking nuclear missile stay at your home for too long, as you will always be living in fear of it going off at any random moment.


    If for some reason Jareth got offended, the entire military camp will be wiped off the face of earth along with the several mountain ranges nearby in just one attack.


    No one will even be able to tell whether this place even had mountains nearby before, as it will become a complete plain land shattered to bits with a gigantic crater in the middle.


    ¡­


    A few hours went by, and Jareth went over to visit various facilities and took a small tour of the military camp before deciding to leave.


    It''s already noon; if they don''t move now, they will need to sleep here in the camp tonight, which will delay their journey.


    Jareth is not ready to waste so much time on pointless things.


    He just gave a few tips to the newbies who were training in the training area as he passed by them, then he grabbed the three kiddos who were wandering around at random and took them with him.


    The group finally boarded the flying sword and waved their hands to say goodbye to the general and the other newbies.


    Jareth used his telekinesis to create a bubble of protection around them so the three didn''t get blown away by the massive air pressure, and then the flying sword took off at an insanely high speed.


    Within a matter of seconds, Jareth and the group disappeared into the horizon.


    Seeing the fading figure in the distance, the old general heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat on his forehead.


    The nearby officers also did the same, and everyone slumped down on nearby chairs, looking extremely exhausted.


    The newbies who had no idea what was going on had a confused look when they saw their superiors behave so weirdly.


    Seeing their confused looks, the general waved his hand and ordered them to leave for their training grounds.


    Once the newbies left, the officers finally relaxed down completely.


    "Phew, I thought I was going to suffocate to death¡­"


    "Standing in his presence, I dared not even breathe too loudly¡­"


    "His aura was really something else¡­ It felt as if a predator was staring at me when our eyes met for a moment¡­"


    Hearing the words of his subordinates, the old general also sighed and thanked his ancestors that his military camp survived another day and the calamity had left.


    If it was a grade-2 mage, they wouldn''t have been so tense, but grade-1 mages are entirely different cases. They are not bound by any laws or rules; they do whatever they like to do and no one can stop them.


    Although Jareth was behaving in a humble manner, they all knew that he was doing it all just for the sake of being polite.


    "Thankfully he had those three children with him¡­ Perhaps that''s why he was so mild and polite today¡­ I guess even as a grade-1 mage, he''s still human after all¡­"


    "That''s a relief¡­"


    The general misunderstood that Jareth was being so polite because Mark and the others were accompanying him, and he didn''t want to set a bad example in front of them by being rude.


    Thus, the general and the others were saved from him.


    Unknowingly, Jareth created another misunderstanding for himself.


    People misunderstand him when he behaves arrogantly, and they still misunderstand him when he behaves more politely. He really can''t catch a break, it seems.


    "Okay, enough dilly-dallying; go back to your positions; there''s been a lot of monster activity lately!"


    "Make sure you keep your eyes open when patrolling; we don''t want the entire camp to get destroyed by monsters overnight due to a lack of discipline!"


    After the general''s statement, everyone regained their composure and resumed their regular work routine.

 Chapter 214 - 214: Uervar Flower Area... Part-1.

    ''Now this is what we call enjoying life to the fullest¡­''


    Jareth brought out a big chair from his space ring and put it on the giant sword laid down on it by tilting the chairs back.


    The luxurious chair even had a leg rest on it so Jareth could lean on it comfortably.


    He gave the work of controlling the giant sword and making it fly to his three disciples and started to enjoy juice as the refreshing wind breeze brushed past his face.


    Although Mark and others telekinesis skills aren''t strong enough to fly as fast as Jareth, they can still make it work somehow.


    Not only will this help the group travel faster than planes, it will also be a training experience for Mark and the other two.


    ''What a genius idea¡­ I might be the best teacher out there, I think¡­''


    Jareth sipped the juice from the glass and enjoyed himself to the fullest while his disciples worked hard for him. (Disclaimer: No child labor was done in the making of this chapter¡­)


    ''In the past month I was so busy with research I had no time to relax at all¡­''


    Jareth came back from the Abyss Altar and got busy with more work right after that.


    He got a massive team of researchers, basically for free, and they started working for him with great enthusiasm.


    The chance to work with a grade 1 mage is not something you get every day after all; it''s like winning a lottery, and the pay is also very good.


    Moreover, what Jareth is trying to research is an Era changing level of technology.


    Although Jareth didn''t tell them everything, they could feel that Jareth is working on a technology that has the potential to change the entire world forever.


    The invention of a working stable wormhole is not something that can be considered a small invention; it has the power to shake the entire world and make everyone acknowledge Jareth''s abilities.


    If it were an ordinary world, Jareth would have opened a company that would specialize in creating wormholes.


    It would have earned him immense wealth, with which he could have spent his whole life spending money like water.


    But now that he knows that this world is already on the verge of destruction, the money doesn''t matter much, thus he doesn''t have the motivation to open a company.


    Instead, he will just create the wormhole and leave this place fast, and the technology will disappear along with this world.


    ''Well, if I survived, I can still carry on this legacy with me¡­''


    Outer space is filled with mystery; the sea of endless miasma is so vast that there''s no end to it in sight, and Jareth can only hope that it doesn''t actually cover the entire universe.


    If there''s someplace out there where he can go and live a normal life, then he will find it extremely lucky.


    ''Or I will just go to some random empty space and will die a slow death while floating in space like an asteroid or something¡­''


    As the game developers never really confirmed it themselves, Jareth has no idea what lies outside the sea of endless miasma.


    It can be an empty void, it can be more miasma, or it can be some bizarre existence like null, nothingness, or chaos.


    ''Well, my main motive is to not let the sea of miasma capture my soul; aside from that, nothing else matters much¡­''


    Just when Jareth was enjoying himself, the mountain range finally ended and a massive grassland appeared.


    Looking at the massive fields of grassland spread over several dozens of kilometers, Jareth spoke in a calm voice.


    "This is the famous ''Purple Earth Area'' known far and wide for the unique purple flowers that bloom here at night every day¡­."


    "These purple flowers here are unique; they are called Uervar Lotus¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the trio and taught them what he knew about the lore of this area.


    "Uervar Seceno was a world-famous hero who hailed from a small village in this area¡­ According to history books, he was born a millennia after the era of the First King ended¡­"


    "And he was one of the most powerful people to ever exist in the long annals of history, but his tale is said to be that of great tragedy¡­"


    "He saved millions of people from disasters and used his magic to help humanity prosper¡­"


    "He''s said to be the one who saved humanity from the attacks of the Orc Necromancer that had slaughtered thousands of people and destroyed massive cities¡­"


    "But even though he saved others, he couldn''t save himself; his friends betrayed him, his lover ran away with someone else, and his own children stabbed him to death in sleep¡­"


    "And then his corpse didn''t even receive a proper funeral; it was hung up by the villagers whom he protected with his life, and they ended up considering him a traitor in the end..."


    "It is said that his corpse rotted away and his bones were later used to create some powerful artifacts..."


    "A tale of tragedy and a tale that had a bad ending¡­ The Uervar flowers represent ''Tragedy'', ''Mourning'', ''Betrayal'' and can also be considered a sign of ''Unwavering Faith''¡­"


    "The hero Uervar''s faith never wavered even till the end, and he thought of saving people till the end¡­"


    "It is said that he had dark purple hair just like these flowers¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the flowers and spoke in a vague tone.


    "You can say that he was a very distant relative of my ancestors, actually¡­"


    As eras pass and centuries go by, family names change, and people forget their ancestry over time.


    But Jareth remembers that the developers once personally confirmed it that Uervar was related to Jareth Blaze, the third-rate villain who appears in the prologue of the game.


    The trio were quite surprised after hearing Jareth''s words.


    They didn''t expect that Jareth was actually related by blood to people from legends and myths.


    "But how do you know all this¡­ I don''t remember the history teacher ever telling us about it in class¡­"


    Jareth just shrugged his shoulders at that question and replied to Mark with a vague tone,


    "I found a dungeon once that was filled with records on history that is lost to time¡­ Unfortunately, that dungeon was burned down when I was fighting¡­"


    Mark rolled his eyes at those words.


    ''He must have used so wide area type magic, and the entire dungeon would have been leveled down along with the records being burned to the crisp¡­''


    Mark knows Jareth quite well; he knows that whenever Jareth uses magic in battle, his magic destroys everything in the vicinity as if nothing existed there in the first place.


    So, in his opinion, Jareth must have forgotten about those records for a second in battle, and he ended up destroying everything only to realize that he had destroyed the records too accidently along with the enemy.


    "Uh, perhaps you should hold back a bit more sometimes¡­"


    Jareth was a bit confused when Mark suddenly gave that weird advice to him out of nowhere, but as he was busy thinking about game lore, he ignored it. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''There should be a powerful grade-1 boss monster a few kilometers deep somewhere¡­ Strange; I can''t detect it''s presence; has it left the area?''


    Before their journey started, Reynald had advised Mark to tell Jareth about a powerful beast in this area, but Jareth already knew about all that from the start.


    He already knew what difficulties he would need to face when going to the Elven Empire, so he was already prepared for it.


    In the original game timeline, Allen traverses this area with the help of Nathan and defeats the giant serpent lord here with the power of love and friendship¡­ cough! I mean, he defeats it with magic.


    Nathan was Allen''s biggest supporter in the original timeline, but now that he''s stuck in the death cage, Allen can''t dream of crossing this area so easily.


    He will need to rely on some extra heavy plot armor if he really wants to go to the elven empire in his current weak state.


    ''Well, I don''t think he will be going to the Elven Empire for quite some time right now, though¡­ After all, he''s busy scoring favorability points with various heroines¡­''


    Jareth shook his head at the thought of that guy. The only reason Jareth hasn''t dealt with Allen as of yet is because he doesn''t have the power to face the heavenly punishment right now.


    If you kill Allen, the heavens will definitely get angry and react; at that point, Jareth will end up exactly like Konda.


    Jareth doesn''t have the power to resist the heavenly punishment if it falls upon him, and just like Konda, he will be completely erased from existence along with his soul and will.


    ''The best way to win a game that puts you at a disadvantage from the start is to never play that game in the first place and make your way around it¡­''


    Jareth directly ignored that trouble magnet, Allen, and focused on his goals.


    This way he didn''t get in trouble with the protagonist and didn''t get targeted by the heavenly luck until now.


    "Okay, it''s daytime right now, so you can land on this grassland¡­ Let''s rest here for now; we will travel at night because we can''t stay on the grassland when the Uervar flowers are in full bloom at night..."


    The Uervar flowers are said to be able to carry the hatred of the dead and the evil wrath of tortured souls; thus, it''s not a good idea to stay beside them or touch those flowers with bare hands.


    These kinds of flowers have the power to poison your mana, and they can even do mental attacks when you touch them.


    At Jareth''s order, Mark and the others made the giant sword land on the ground, and they lit a bonfire to rest for a while.

 Chapter 215 - 215: Uervar Flower Area... Part-2.

    "Why does it seem like all the good people end up meeting bad endings at the end? All the stories and legends show the same thing in our history books¡­"


    Sitting around the bonfire, Risa suddenly asked a random question out of nowhere.


    Upon hearing her question, Jareth smiled slightly and responded in a calm tone.


    "Perhaps because that''s how this world actually is¡­" sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth can''t tell them that it''s basically the influence of the ''Sea of Miasma''.


    The sea of miasma is extremely overpowered in this place, and it corrupts everything, including the very ''Laws'' of this world.


    Miasma hates the honest and kind people the most! Thus, if you try to become a hero and save thousands of lives, the sea of miasma will notice you immediately.


    It will then corrupt the strings of destiny attached to your fate, and after that, it''s all chaos.


    Your life keeps getting worse and worse as time passes and the more your destiny gets corrupted.


    ''Perhaps the reason why wizards are taught to be selfish is because people from the time of the first king realized that being kind would lead to bad luck¡­''


    ''Maybe that''s the reason why everyone subconsciously tries to be selfish in this world; they are subconsciously avoiding the fate of suffering and dying horrible deaths¡­''


    "I guess they added those stories in history books because they want to make you aware that being kind and good doesn''t mean you will always win in life and be able to live happily."


    "Life is strange; sometimes the most vile and evil person ends up living happy and fulfilling lives, and the kindest persons die horrible deaths and never get justice."


    "Life is not a movie or fairy tale from a children''s playbook where the hero always wins in the end and everyone lives happily ever after."


    Jareth shook his head and stopped talking further about the matter.


    What happened with Uervar Seceno is not something new or unique; such things happen in this world on a daily basis.


    In fact, these incidents are so common that the media doesn''t even bother showing them anymore, as people are used to seeing the same thing over and over.


    A world tainted with the touch of miasma can''t tolerate kindness and love; this is a world that survives on selfishness and greed.


    Incidents like children murdering their parents, the parents butchering their children, friends and family members killing each other, and using forbidden magic on their corpses.


    Such things are extremely common in remote areas of the nation.


    In face, the main work of the Mage Guild is to deal with these people who delve into forbidden magic and spread terror.


    If not for these people, the Mage guild will have not much work to do, and the newbie mages will starve to death.


    Most of the commissions and quests there are about dealing with forbidden magic or something related to demon cults.


    The only reason why mages are revered so much in this world despite being known for their selfishness is because they save people by dealing with these harmful people every day.


    Moreover, mages are the ones who protect cities from monster tides and stuff, so they are automatically revered as heroes.


    Then the mages cancel out that grace of kindness by being selfish and treating others like pawns.


    ''These acts balance out things for them, I guess; perhaps that''s why they say that to be a wizard is to be selfish to the core¡­''


    Just when Jareth and the party were having a relaxing time sitting around the comfy and warm bonfire, a certain creature was staring at them from afar.


    ''A grade-1 mage!? Good thing I always hide my presence with this artifact¡­''


    A giant eye that was peeking out of the ground withdrew itself back into the massive hole in the ground before anyone could notice it.


    ''I guess I have to figure out some plan to deal with this; they barged in my territory; I can''t let them leave so easily.''


    ¡­


    "Hmm?"


    Jareth glanced in a certain direction and tilted his head in confusion.


    ''I thought someone was staring at me with killing intent¡­ Was it an illusion?''


    Jareth''s mana singularity makes him extremely sensitive to the mana in the area, and killing intent sometimes creates fluctuations in the mana in the area.


    It would have been impossible for others to sense it, but Jareth can sense them easily.


    ''No, mana singularity can never get stuck in an illusion¡­ There''s definitely something keeping an eye on us¡­''


    ''It must be that serpent lord that''s been missing¡­''


    The serpent lord is a gigantic snake-type monster that is so big you can easily spot it from a kilometer away.


    The moment you enter the Uervar flower area, the serpent lord''s presence becomes clear, and you can go and challenge the boss monster almost instantly.


    In the game, if you want to move the story forward and want to go to the elven capital, defeating this serpent lord is a must. You can invite Nathan to join your party in this battle, so it becomes much easier.


    You just need to dodge a few moves and wander around the arena like you are taking a stroll, while Nathan will beat the boss all by himself and put an end to the boss fight in a few minutes.


    The fight is basically a joke; you rely on an all-powerful mage to ''hard carry'' you through the whole battle.


    ''There are many things that have changed. I wonder what change this boss monster has faced now¡­''


    As a grade-1 monster, the serpent lord obviously would have the intelligence of a normal human, so it won''t sit around in its boss arena all day long.


    And now that it''s real life, the boss is not confined to its arena; it can wander off to other places out of its free will.


    ''Just like how Zion ended up abandoning his own boss area and came to Konda''s boss area instead.''


    Right now, the serpent lord is not present in this gigantic arena where it should have been, which means it has faced some change just like others.


    ''Perhaps the result of the butterfly effect I caused¡­''


    Just like how Jareth made Zion appear in Konda''s boss area by defeating Konda, it is possible his actions might have influenced the serpent lord someway or other.


    ''Thinking about Zion appearing in Konda''s boss area¡­ I wonder if it was possible in the game to create this scenario¡­''


    Jareth never defeated Konda himself in the game, as it was simply too impossible, and only a few speed runners and glitch masters were able to beat him.


    However, the issue lies in the fact that Zion remained in his boss area even after Konda was defeated.


    ''Perhaps in the game they didn''t have this hidden storyline or interaction¡­''


    If the game had this hidden interaction that once you defeat Konda and go back to the arena and find Zion standing there, then maybe there would have been a ''Fourth'' hidden ending to this game.


    ''Then I guess the player character will be given two choices, just like Zion gave me two choices: either join Zion in his quest or fight him to death¡­''


    ''Choosing to join Zion''s faction, the game will end right there, and that can be considered a hidden ''Fourth'' ending¡­''


    In this fourth ending, the player would work together with Zion, and from how this game''s endings work, this one would have been a bad ending too, as likely everything will get destroyed in the end eventually.


    But this time, it would have delayed the death of the planet a bit more due to Zion and the player character''s efforts.


    ''Nonetheless, even this one would have been a tragic ending too; I can expect this much from those sadistic developers¡­''


    ''To think out of all the endings and choices, only this non-existent ending seems barely decent¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the fire in the bonfire and thought of himself.


    ''And if you look at it from my perspective, I am trying to create the ''Fifth'' ending to this game¡­ That is the ending where you choose to fight Zion, take both fragments of the core, and escape the planet all by yourself¡­''


    ''This can be considered the sole ''Good'' ending, I guess¡­''


    In all senses, this game is all about learning to be more and more selfish; the more you focus on saving yourself and abandoning the world, the higher your chances of achieving greatness get.


    Going the hero route leads to momentary peace and happiness; eventually your soul will fall into the sea of miasma and you will suffer eternally.


    Going the delaying path with Zion will not change things much; it will only delay the time for destruction.


    Only the ''Fifth'' ending is somewhat decent; that''s why Jareth is aiming for it.


    ''There might be more endings out there after all; the world is filled with endless possibilities, but I can''t bet my life on those unknown possibilities as I don''t even know about them¡­''


    While Jareth was having internal debates with himself, the rest of the group laid down in their sleeping bags that they brought with them and slept peacefully.


    The refreshing wind breeze brushed past their faces, and it was extremely easy to fall asleep in this comfy environment.


    Looking at those innocent faces, Jareth could only shake his head and sigh to himself.


    These innocent kids shouldn''t have to end up getting tortured by the sea of miasma, but Jareth is powerless; he can''t save everyone, and he isn''t a hero either.


    ''I seriously hate that sea of miasma¡­ This is the second time something has forced me into such a helpless state¡­''


    The first time was his boss from previous life, and now the exact same thing is happening again: he''s being forced into a corner by the sea of miasma with each passing moment.

 Chapter 216 - 216: Uervar Flower Area... Part-3.

    Purple Earth Area, Underground.


    "Hehe, I will make a giant pit underground and bury you all in it, and you will not even be able to react!!"


    A giant serpent used earth elementals to make subtle changes in the ground located right below the boss arena where Jareth and the group were resting.


    Although monsters can''t use magic, some of them are naturally gifted and have a high affinity for certain types of elements.


    The serpent lord has great affinity for the earth element, and as it''s a grade-1 creature, it has enough intelligence to lay out traps and kill his opponents'' using strategies and other abilities.


    "No matter if you are a grade-1 mage or what, all of you are just humans after all!


    "You won''t be able to live once you can''t breathe and are buried under massive amounts of rubble and can''t even cast magic¡­ hehehehe¡­"


    "I will bury you all alive, and then I will eat you as snack-"


    Just when the serpent lord was muttering to himself in happiness, someone cut his off.


    "No, you won''t¡­"


    Grade-1 monsters can in fact use telepathy and can embed mana in the sound waves to talk; that''s what the snake was using to mutter to himself about his plan.


    But it turned out someone heard that plan before it could even be executed.


    The snake tilted its head and glanced around him, but there was no one there. Just when it was getting confused, its body suddenly felt weightless and started to rise up.


    The snake''s body burst out of the ground like a rocket and floated in the air; debris flew everywhere like crazy, and the trio that was sleeping peacefully woke up from the loud noise.


    When they woke up, they saw Jareth standing nearby with his grimoire shining brightly and a gigantic snake floating in the sky covered in telekinesis.


    "Hmm, quite the peculiar monster, aren''t you? You are spilling your plans all over... Were you expecting that I wouldn''t hear them¡­ I can easily interpret those sound waves you were making; you know¡­"


    Even Jareth was surprised after looking at the size of the snake; it was so big that it was twice the size of that bone titan that Abella summoned back then to deal with Nathan.


    ''It wasn''t this big in the game¡­ Perhaps it became this big because it''s real life now; the game version of the boss was a miniature version, I guess¡­''


    Seeing that it was floating in the sky, the snake hissed loudly and emitted even more sound waves.


    "Whhhat!? How did you notice me! I was using earth elementals to cover my mana fluctuations, and I was working in stealth mode!!"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders at those words.


    "Well, if it was someone else, they might not have noticed, but unfortunately it was me whom you were trying to trick... I happen to be quite good at mana detection skill¡­"


    Jareth''s mana singularity is not for show; it boosts his mana detection ability all the time.


    He has honed his mana detection ability even further by traveling in the Abyss Altar Area for quite some time and trying to use mana detection in that miasma filled place.


    Now that his mana detection is several times stronger than it was before, he can easily sense even the slightest disturbance that happens in the mana in the surroundings.


    Mana fluctuations are basically the disturbance an individual causes in the mana present in the air by their body''s movement or by their mana''s movement.


    Although the serpent lord had hidden his mana fluctuations using earth elementals, it didn''t know that Jareth could sense even the slightest movement in even non-living things!


    The moment the serpent moved underground and started to move the ground, Jareth noticed the mana fluctuation caused by the movement of the soil and debris.


    He immediately noticed the serpent lord and locked his target instantly.


    Trying to hide in front of Jareth is the most useless thing someone can do; the serpent lord didn''t know that and got caught instantly.


    "Er¡­ can you let me go? I was just playing a prank, okay¡­ I wasn''t actually trying to harm anyone; moreover, you guys barged in my home first!"


    "Let me go now, or I will report you guys to the people from the animal abuse prevention association!!"


    Hearing those words from that gigantic snake, Mark and the other were really taken aback for a second.


    Even Jareth was a bit surprised for a second.


    "You are quite the peculiar one¡­ You even know that there''s such an association out there?"


    A look of interest appeared on Jareth''s face; he immediately deactivated his telekinesis and let the other party go.


    "This is the first time I have seen a monster behave in such an intelligent manner¡­"


    Mark couldn''t help but be fascinated by the intelligence of that serpent lord.


    Hearing Mark''s words, the snake raised its head in pride, and a humanoid expression of smirk appeared on its face.


    "Hmph! Of course I am intelligent! I am the glorious serpent lord ''Tirargandr''! I have lived in this place for more than a millennium!"


    "You humans are less mature and less intelligent than the might and glorious me!"


    Ignoring the other party''s words, Jareth glanced at Risa and asked,


    "Do you know how to make snake soup or something like that? I think we have found our dinner for today¡­"


    Risa glanced at the giant snake and nodded her head with great confidence.


    "Of course I know! We can skin him alive! Then we can use your flames to cook the meat on medium heat for an hour or so; the more he twists and turns in pain, the better the meat will taste!"


    "They actually often use this method on snake-type monsters... I think a few five-star hotels also do this¡­"


    Just thinking about it all, Risa''s eyes were already shining brightly while looking at that giant snake body.


    "With such a big body, he can stay alive for a long time if we are a bit more careful; it''s going to be one heck of a torturing party!!"


    Azul and Mark cast glances of pity at the giant snake while hearing all this.


    Jareth cracked his knuckles and pretended to be fierce. sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Oho, good, let''s try that method then..."


    The giant serpent backed away in fright after hearing all that.


    "W-what!? No! How can that be!? I, the great serpent lord, will never become human food!! I refuse to believe that!!"


    "Just kill me now!! I will not have my dignity tarnished like that!! I promise you, my soul will definitely curse you to death!!"


    While saying all that, the giant serpent slowly started to retreat and tried to run away in the hole nearby to hide.


    But Jareth used telekinesis to collapse that hole, and the snake''s escape route was closed in an instant!


    "What!? Y-you stay away from me! You fiends! I will report you all to the animal helpline!!"


    In the end, the serpent lord admitted defeat and lay flat on the ground after resisting for a few times.


    Mark and the trio climbed its body and took selfies with it as if they were trying to show off that they had defeated such a giant snake.


    "Such humiliation¡­ I can never show my face in front of my wife and children anymore¡­ Just kill me now¡­"


    Jareth felt quite amused hearing those defeated words from that serpent lord''s mouth.


    This monster is powerful enough to fight people like Reynald and Nathan toe to toe for a long time, but now it''s being taken advantage of by three little children.


    This scene is so funny that even Jareth needed a lot of self-control to stop himself from laughing out loud.


    "Ahem¡­ Let''s stop the pointless talk now. What exactly have you been doing in this place for such a long time? Why stay in a flower field for so long?"


    The giant snake sighed at that question and replied in a calm voice,


    "Sigh¡­ Well, I don''t often tell everyone about it¡­ But now that you have defeated me so thoroughly, I have no other choice¡­"


    "I am not here because of my own free will; I am actually guarding the last heritage that my friend left in this world¡­"


    "Once upon a time, Uervar Seceno planted these purple flowers here with his very own hands¡­ As his friend, I guard this place in his remembrance¡­"


    "Yeah, yeah, go ahead and call me stupid¡­ But no matter what you say, I will not leave this place, and I won''t let you harm these flowers either¡­"


    "You humans always send people to pluck these flowers and try to take them away for the sake of so called ''research'' but you guys are all selfish people¡­"


    "I won''t let you guys destroy this place for your so-called selfish gains¡­ I have long forgotten his face and his voice; these flowers are the only last remaining remembrance of him¡­"


    Even Jareth was shocked after hearing all this from the snake''s mouth.


    ''Ah! No wonder this guy is here! Monsters of his level usually live deep in dungeons to hide from human activities and never show up on surface¡­''


    ''But this guy is here because it has something to protect¡­ I guess the reason why the snake fights the player character in the game is also because they were barging in here without permission¡­''


    Jareth is not a good person himself, but sometimes even he gets moved by individuals with immense dedication.


    "Er¡­ It was our mistake this time; I acknowledge it; we are just a group of travelers, actually; we are just passing by; we will leave soon¡­"


    {True friendship is made through luck, but loyalty is earned through actions.


    In the annals of history, a snake is shown as the symbol of absolute loyalty in this world¡­


    Maybe even an unlucky person like Seceno, also had a loyal friend after all...}

 Chapter 217 - 217: The Elven Capital! Part-1.

    Uervar Flower Area, Night.


    "Whoa! It looks so beautiful!!"


    Standing atop the giant sword in the sky, the group glanced down and saw hundreds of thousands of purple flowers bloom in the darkness of night and glow with a unique purple glow.


    The entire grassland lit up with small purple glows as if someone had placed thousands of small bulbs in the entire area!


    The stars shone brightly, and the moonlight added even more charm to this scenery.


    The place looked so beautiful that even Jareth was fascinated by it, and a rare smile appeared on his face.


    ''Although this game''s story was extremely annoying and the boss fights were overly difficult¡­ The whole game was riddled with game-breaking glitches¡­ The scenery was always the best¡­''


    This game was years ahead of its time in terms of scenery, beauty, art, and details!


    This much is something no one can deny; they literally hired world-class artists to create the scenery and turned it all into a masterpiece.


    "I have been protecting this beautiful place for centuries, and due to my care, these flowers have grown to this amazing quantity¡­"


    Uervar flowers are extremely difficult to grow, so many blooming here in this place together just show how much effort has been put into keeping them in good shape.


    "For other creatures, these flowers are poisonous, but for me and my descendants, they are nutritious food actually¡­"


    "Despite my looks, I am pretty much immune to poisons, actually¡­ Also, my own poison is top quality too¡­"


    Risa glanced at the fangs of the big snake and brought out an empty can from her space ring,


    "Can you put some of your poison in this? I wanna taste the poison too!"


    The snake shook his head at those words.


    "No, my poison is capable of harming even grade 1 mages, let alone a little weak girl like you; maybe come back someday when you are stronger¡­"


    Risa was a bit disappointed, but she nodded her head and didn''t pester the big snake further.


    Jareth glanced at the scenery and asked in a calm tone,


    "Still, are you sure you should stay here for long? Maybe some other powerful mage will come one day, and that will prove quite bad for you¡­"


    If not for Jareth, the ones coming here would have been Nathan and Allen; the two of them would have definitely killed this ignorant guy.


    Even his bones and skin would have been sold in the market for money by the hero for staying in this place.


    It''s actually much better to go and hide in some inaccessible place where the hero doesn''t find you.


    "No, it doesn''t matter if someone comes to trouble me¡­ And even if I die, I will die in this field of flowers! That would be a fitting end to my life; I won''t mind dying that way¡­"


    "If I die, that would be my fate, I guess¡­ I will accept it happily¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words,


    "I see¡­ Your determination is impressive¡­"


    The big snake hissed as if he were laughing in amusement at those words.


    "Seceno used to say that all the time, those words suddenly reminded me of him."


    Jareth glanced at the moon and spoke in an amused tone.


    "Seceno really has a very loyal friend; even I feel a bit envious of him¡­"


    ¡­


    Time passed; the group enjoyed the scenery for a little more time and enjoyed the company of the big snake friend that they made today.


    Eventually, the time to leave had come.


    "Are you sure you should be leaving while it''s still night?"


    Jareth nodded his head at that question,


    "Meeting you was a fortunate event, but we are pressed on time; we have rested plenty in the daytime¡­ Now that everyone is full of energy, it''s time to move forward on the journey¡­"


    "We will be using teleportation scroll when we come back, so we might not be able to meet again soon¡­"


    The big snake sighed at Jareth''s words, waved its tail, and threw a small, weirdly shaped artifact at Jareth.


    "Here, take it; it''s a stealth type artifact; although it''s not useful for you, you can keep it as a memory at least¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the artifact and placed it in his system space for identification.


    ¡­


    [Item Name: Seceno''s Shadow!]


    [Item grade: Grade-1]


    [Item Description: One of the artifacts made out of Uervar Seceno''s bones that were loathed and cursed by thousands of people for several decades before being used to create this artifact!


    This artifact carries the immense power of the dark elementals that corrupted Seceno''s rotting bones from the curses of the people he loved.


    It is said that if you can collect all of the artifacts created from Seceno''s rotten bones, you can gain immense power and can evoke forbidden magic that carries immense powers.


    Using the entire set of these types of artifacts will give enhanced bonus!]


    [Effect: Grants immense stealth capabilities to the user by reducing mana fluctuations and other physical disturbances caused by the user¡­]


    ¡­


    Jareth and the group waved their hands to say goodbye to the giant snake and flew away with the giant sword in an instant.


    Jareth brought out the artifact and handed it over to Risa and asked her to keep it for herself.


    Jareth has ''Mana Singularity'', so he has no need for any other additional artifact to hide himself and go stealth mode; that will just hinder the working of his mana singularity.


    Thus, he gave it to Risa, as this stealthy type item is more suitable for her due to her being an assassin.


    Risa was happy to receive a free gift and immediately attached that artifact to the sheath of her sword.


    "Ohh! It works quite amazingly!!"


    With a grade-1 item in her arsenal, Risa became capable of dodging the detection of anyone whose mana detection is below grade-1 level.


    Even Mark and Azul, who are both exceptionally talented in mana control, couldn''t sense her presence properly and could only vaguely sense it through their intuition.


    But this alone made the two of them feel a bit vigilant.


    Both of them are geniuses and have their own pride in their talents; they can''t let Risa surpass them so fast, so both of them became determined that they would work harder to train later.


    Although Mark and Azul couldn''t sense Risa, Jareth could see and sense her as clearly as day!


    In front of his mana singularity, it''s easy to detect past the restrictions of grade-1 artifacts! These small things can''t stop him!


    "Oh, I can deactivate and activate it at will!"


    Risa deactivated the effects of the artifact and became visible again; the artifact proved to be more useful for her, it seems.


    "Next time you meet, thanks that old snake for this artifact¡­"


    Risa nodded her head at Jareth''s words and agreed immediately.


    Flying through the sky, the group traveled at a speed much faster than a fighter jet; thus, they traveled a vast distance in a matter of seconds!


    In just a few seconds, they crossed the entire Uervar Flower Area; they crossed a small river, and the flying sword finally arrived at the entrance of the ''Forest of Illusory Flowers!'' Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "We are about to enter a place filled with an immense number of illusions and hallucinations inducing plants and organisms¡­"


    "Make sure you all remain vigilant and don''t fall for these petty tricks¡­"


    Seeing that shiny, colorful forest where each tree was shining with various different vibrant colors, Jareth immediately warned the three about the dangers.


    In this world, the more beautiful something looks, the more dangerous it can actually be.


    These shining and colorful trees may look beautiful from above, but this entire forest is one of the most dangerous areas on this planet.


    Although it wasn''t much of a problem in the game, now that it''s reality, things can turn more dangerous.


    Unexpected things can happen at any turn. Jareth has learned his lesson from the fight with Zion and Konda, so he''s always cautious now.


    ''I have already encountered two of the three endgame bosses already¡­ I surely don''t want to encounter the third one at any cost; it''s better to be more careful¡­''


    ''Talking about that third one¡­ that crazy plant-obsessed freak, I seriously don''t want to see her at all¡­''


    ''Just thinking about that freak gives me the chills; she was already quite the weirdo in the game, and nearly all the players hated her¡­''


    ''I don''t know how much more of a weirdo she would be now¡­''


    Unlike Risa, who can be considered a villain and still has some redeemable qualities, that third endgame boss can''t even be considered a villain; she''s a monster.


    A monster in humanoid shape.


    ''I was already unlucky enough to meet two endgame bosses back to back; there''s no way I am so unlucky that I will meet the third one too¡­ right?''


    Jareth sat down on the chair and let the trio control the sword and started to drink juice to calm his mind. There''s no point in worrying over something that''s uncertain, so he stopped thinking about it.


    ''For once, let this trip be more normal. I just want to go to the Elven Empire, check the golden nail, cast a barrier, and come back¡­ That''s all!''


    What Jareth didn''t know was that the moment he had entered the range of the illusory forest,


    A pair of eyes had already noticed the flying sword in the sky and were looking at him with curiosity through the dense camouflage of the trees.


    ''Humans? That direction¡­ They are heading towards the elven capital? Hoho¡­ now that''s interesting¡­''

 Chapter 218 - 218: The Elven Capital! Part-2.

    "Hmm, according to the map, it should be here somewhere¡­ But I can''t see anything here though¡­"


    Mark was having a great headache looking at the map that Jareth handed him over after they entered the forest of illusory flowers.


    The group has traveled for two days and two nights, and they only stopped to take a few breaks in the middle.


    After covering vast distances, they finally reached the location marked on the map.


    The instructions on the back of the map also end here.


    From the start, the instructions were quite simple; they just needed to go to specific locations and embed their mana in four giant glowing pillars made out of some green-colored marble.


    And after completing these four instructions, they had to reach a specific location in the forest in a set amount of time; that''s where the entrance to Elven Capital was supposed to be located.


    But even when we did all this correctly, the entrance didn''t show up, which is quite strange.


    Thus, Mark and the other two were having quite the headache thinking about the reasons behind it.


    Jareth has been personally protecting them all from the mental attack that the forest of illusory flowers launches in all directions all day long.


    There are tons of transparent and shiny flowers in this forest that send powerful mental waves to attack all living creatures nearby.


    If not for the fact that Jareth had used his mana singularity to block those attacks by creating an impenetrable shield around the entire flying sword, the trio would have lost their minds by now.


    "It''s right in front of you guys; it''s just that it''s hidden behind an invisible barrier¡­ Well, it''s not that you can''t see it; it''s just that your mana control is still too low from its level¡­"


    Elves are one of the most ancient races in this world, and although they have not advanced in the field of technology like humans, when it comes to magic barriers and defensive stuff, their capabilities are top notch.


    ''They literally put a semi-grade-0 barrier on their entire capital city¡­ quite the insane work¡­''


    Keep in mind that Nathan, a peak grade-1 mage, needed nearly decades to create a semi-grade-0 barrier for that small hidden library in his office.


    Creating a semi-grade-0 barrier that can cover an entire city is no child''s play; it likely took centuries to create this!


    It would be stranger if newbie wizards like Mark and the other two were able to see through it on their own; this barrier is just too out of their league as of yet.


    ''Hmm, if it was some other place, I would have broke apart the barrier forcefully and entered without hesitation¡­''


    ''But right now I have come here as an ally and a friend¡­ destroying their home''s barrier will make me look bad, so I shouldn''t do it¡­''


    The barrier has many unique capabilities, and it can even sense if someone is standing in its vicinity.


    ''They should have noticed us by now; why aren''t they opening the barrier?...''


    Jareth glanced at the barrier and shook his head.


    "Forget it; if they don''t want to open it, we don''t need to bother them with it¡­ Let''s go inside on our own!"


    [Mana Command: Mana pattern tracing!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana interruption!]


    Destroying the entire semi-grade-0 barrier is extremely difficult even for Jareth, and it would take him quite a few months if he really decides to do it, but he doesn''t have that much time to waste.


    So, he chose a simpler option: create just enough of a hole in the barrier that his team and the giant big sword can enter. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    His grimoire shined brightly and amplified his magic, then he used mana pattern tracing to see through the mana flow of the barrier.


    No matter how strong or how weak a mana barrier might be, each one of them has a mana flow pattern.


    It''s just that the mana flow pattern of a stronger and more advanced barrier is much more complicated than the others.


    Normally it would be near impossible for anyone at grade 2 or below to even see the mana flow pattern of a semi-grade-0 magic barrier.


    But Jareth has mana singularity, so he can not only see it but also can observe the momentarily loopholes and flaws that appear in the barrier from time to time.


    ''Good thing I practiced with that barrier from Nathan; now I can deal with this one more easily¡­''


    Jareth forcefully created a massive hole in the barrier and made his flying sword enter inside along with the whole group.


    He only needed to open that hole for a mere millisecond, and that was enough time for him to sneak inside; he accomplished it in such an effective way that the barriers intruder warning alarms didn''t go off either!


    *Clap!* *Clap!*


    "Impressive! No wonder they invited you to help out; this is the first time I have seen someone bypass the barrier with such ease¡­"


    Just as Jareth and the crew entered inside, a childish voice sounded in their ears.


    Hearing that voice, Jareth''s facial expressions solidified in an instant.


    ''Such pure mana fluctuation¡­ such condensed vitality! T-this is!?''


    A small girl appeared in the group''s view; she seemed as if she were floating in the air, and her entire body was partially transparent, as if she''s some kind of spirit.


    The royal elven robe on her body and the unique green crown on her made up of colorful flowers stood out the most.


    Looking at that creature, looking at that existence, a villainous grin appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''So there actually was one alive after all!!''


    The little fairy got intimidated by Jareth''s villainous grin and hurriedly flew away to hide behind a certain knight. Still, she kept glancing and peeking at the humans out of sheer curiosity.


    Sylvia, who saw this scene, could only give a dry laugh.


    She knows what humans did to the fairies, and that''s why she didn''t want this little fairy to show up in front of Jareth and the others, but fairies are a mischievous type.


    The little fairy came over with Sylvia to see humans, as she had never seen humans in her entire life.


    Sylvia only noticed her presence when Jareth and the group were already at the door. She started to argue with the fairy and asked her to leave, but she refused. That''s the reason why Sylvia got late in opening the barrier for Jareth.


    If not for the delay caused by the little fairy, Sylvia would have opened the barrier for Jareth, and they wouldn''t have needed to bypass it like they did.


    Jareth landed the giant sword on the ground, and he then greeted Sylvia with a handshake.


    Looking at that little fairy, Jareth asked in curiosity,


    "How come there''s a fairy here? Haven''t they all gone extinct?"


    Sylvia wanted to hide the truth from Jareth, but now that the beans have already been spilled, there''s no hiding it.


    Moreover, she already took a big risk by inviting a human into the elf capital; she has no other choice right now.


    "Actually, those fairies from stories indeed went extinct¡­ It''s just that fairies are a kind of race that can kind of re-flourish on their own¡­"


    "Fairies are basically an amalgamation of dense pure mana and immense vitality, in other words, as long as there''s a place in nature that has high density of mana and vitality nearby¡­"


    "It can give birth to a fairy¡­ The exact process I don''t know, but fairies are like the essence of heaven and earth; they can reappear as long as the conditions are right.


    "Unlike humans, we elves don''t destroy nature, so the conditions inside the elf capital are quite suitable for them to be born naturally¡­"


    "This one was born just a few months ago¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "I see¡­ So that''s the reason¡­ No wonder they can''t reappear in the outside world; humans have nearly polluted and destroyed the entire planet by now¡­"


    Sylvia felt quite awkward at those words.


    She knows what Jareth is saying is the truth, but she dares not acknowledge it as that might anger him.


    Jareth, on the other hand, glanced at Sylvia''s stern expression and misunderstood that she was truly fearless.


    ''This woman¡­ She''s really as amazing as in the lore; she knows what horrible things humans have done to fairies, and she still dares to show her in front of me¡­''


    ''Moreover, she likely kept the barrier close on purpose; she knew that I could enter the barrier, so she used it to her advantage!''


    ''She must have planned that if I had brought an army, only I would have been able to enter, as only I can deal with such a strong barrier, and the rest of the army wouldn''t have been able to enter¡­.''


    ''Quite the clever one you are, Sylvia¡­''


    ''With just subtle actions, you have tested my ability two times in just one go! As expected of the character I acknowledge from this game the most!!''


    Sylvia had no idea that Jareth misunderstood her intentions.


    In fact, she, on the other hand, has misunderstood Jareth''s intentions!


    ''Why is he asking so many details about the fairy¡­ ugh, don''t tell me he''s going to kidnap her!? T-this!? What do I do now!?''


    Just when the atmosphere was getting awkward.


    The little fairy suddenly flew towards Mark and sat on his shoulder.


    "Wow! The Earth elementals are so closely intertwined with you! You have immense affinity with earth elementals!! It''s quite comfortable to sit on your shoulder!"


    Seeing that little fairy act so friendly towards Mark, Sylvia was extremely shocked.


    ''You crazy girl! Get away from him! He will turn you into power and spray you on his food!! Comfortable my foot!! You idiot!''


    At the same time, Risa also pouted that the little fairy got so close to Mark so suddenly.


    ''She sat on his shoulder! That should have been me! Not her!''

 Chapter 219 - 219: The Elven Capital! Part-3.

    "Hoh, now this is quite surprising¡­ Be proud, Mark; only one in a million people is worthy enough to be chosen and trusted by fairies so easily like you¡­"


    "She didn''t even hesitate to come close to you; this just shows how immense your affinity is with the pure elements of this world¡­"


    Hearing that high praise from Jareth, Mark felt quite happy.


    Jareth is the type of person who rarely praises anyone, and Mark was extremely happy that his idol gave him such high praise.


    Seeing that Mark was acknowledged by a fairy, Risa and Azul also wanted one for themselves.


    Looking at the eager looks on their faces, Jareth could only shrug his shoulders.


    ''They are such a spoiled bunch¡­''


    "Actually, fairies also have elemental types; this little one is an earth type fairy. Mark has a high affinity for earth elementals; that''s why she got attracted to him¡­"


    "You will need to find a Shadow type fairy if you want one Risa, and for Azul, you can find either a Fire type one or a Space type one¡­ But in these times when fairies are nearly extinct, finding them is impossible¡­"


    Sylvia also nodded her head at Jareth.


    "Yeah, in the past hundred years, this one is the only fairy we have encountered up until now¡­ Sigh, perhaps the miasma has made the environment in our elven capital unsuitable too¡­"


    Ignoring the concerned look of Sylvia, the little fairy flew higher and sat on Mark''s head as if it were her new home now.


    She even brought out her lounge to tease Risa on purpose when she glared at her.


    "I am Lily, a great fairy!"


    The little fairy giggled with a childish voice, even the voice seemed so gentle and cute that it could melt the heart of anyone.


    Seeing her giggle so happily, Sylvia couldn''t help but shook her head helplessly.


    ''Big sis was right; fairies have no sense of danger at all; they are all too innocent for this cruel world¡­'' S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''Jareth has already seen her; what do I do now¡­ Should I increase his payment so he forgets about the fairy? Ugh, this is a great tragedy¡­''


    Despite Sylvia''s worries, Jareth wasn''t thinking too much about this matter. He just wanted a small favor from the fairy.


    ''If I can get a few of her hairs and a broken piece of her wing, I can research it to create a better, improved version of that ''Fairy Powder.'' That way, there would be no need for tormenting fairies for that in the future.''


    ''Just use some other chemical formulas and you can get the same results¡­''


    Don''t forget that Jareth is literally the once-in-a millennium research genius. He can create inventions that can change the course of an entire civilization.


    If Jareth was born a hundred years ago and had appropriate tools, he could have researched and created an alternate process to create the fairy powder, and the ''Fairy'' race would have never gone extinct.


    People would have stopped hunting fairies and torturing them for small gains.


    Jareth''s method would have been a hundred times more effective and easier for mass production as it would have involved science, not some unreliable blood ritual!


    Fairies are living creatures too; they shed hair and wings from time to time, and they regrow on their own, so those are things that Jareth can get without causing much harm to the other party.


    And he just needs to study the chemical compositions and how mana affects them with his mana singularity.


    He can make a new method in just a week!


    (This situation is so ironic; so many thousands of innocent lives could have been saved if only grade 1 mages in the past had put even a little bit of effort into researching some other alternate method to produce the powder¡­)


    ¡­


    Seeing that Lily refused to let go of Mark''s hair, Sylvia gave up and led the group herself.


    Unlike how an elven capital is usually described in those fantasy novels and games, the elven capital of this world is completely different.


    The sand, stones, and even the trees¡ªeverything looks depressed and dying in this place.


    The ground is pitch black in color, and instead of lush greenery, there''s rotting trees everywhere that seem to be in a dying state.


    There are small huts made out of wood and big dried leaves of some kind of tree.


    They look unreliable to live, but Jareth can sense that all of these weak-looking huts are actually blessed with grade-3 magic barriers.


    ''The situation here is more serious than it was in the game¡­''


    In the game, the elves were still living on trees, and their houses looked quite cozy and beautiful, but now everyone''s house is on the ground, perhaps because there are not enough trees to make houses now.


    ''This feeling of ominousness and decay¡­ It''s Miasma, tch¡­''


    Unlike in the game, where Miasma was confined to only the areas that were related to the quest, things are different now.


    This world is real now, so the miasma keeps on spreading, and it has already started to corrupt the ground, the trees, and everything.


    The situation is so bad now that the elves don''t even have trees to make their homes anymore, and they are starving for food.


    "Uh, I am ashamed to show you this situation, but¡­ I still welcome you to the Elven Capital, ''Junay U''Islasera''¡­ We usually call it ''Islasera'' for short most of the time¡­"


    Although Sylvia did say that it''s the elven capital, it didn''t look like that at all; there was just depression and decay everywhere.


    There was no towering world tree in the middle¡ªjust a broken and decaying peace of dead wood standing in the middle of the city.


    ''City? This place looks more like a slum, actually¡­ The living conditions are too bad; they don''t even have food!''


    Although Jareth knew all this, he didn''t say it out loud, as insulting someone''s home in their face is not a good thing; that''s very rude.


    Mark and the other two, who were eager to see the elven capital for the first time in their lives, were, in fact, the most disappointed.


    All along the way, they were fantasizing in their heads that the elven capital would be beautiful, and there would be lush trees there; there would be beautiful and happy elves everywhere.


    But the reality slapped them in the face.


    Islasera is a decaying and dying place, corrupted with miasma, and it''s becoming increasingly unfit for anyone to live.


    Some weak elves have even started to lose their sanity nowadays to miasma.


    Following Sylvia, the group passed by the non-existent entrance gate of the city and met an even more depressing environment.


    There were elves sitting outside their houses with looks of despair on their faces.


    Some were staring at their empty baskets that once used to be full of fruits with empty eyes.


    Some were clutching their children tightly in their arms with looks of helplessness; they were trying to hold back their tears and not show weakness to the children.


    While walking on that main path to the palace, Sylvia lowered her head and hid her eyes under the shade of that large hat of hers.


    She gritted her teeth, and it took her entire might to ignore the state of her fellow comrades.


    Elves are inherently kind; Sylvia had a hard time passing through the place as she wanted to help but she was also helpless.


    This is the reason why she doesn''t come out of the palace nowadays; she''s afraid that she will not be able to see the dying state of her kin and will end up losing her sanity.


    She only came out now to bring Jareth over.


    Mark tightly held Risa''s hand and kept her from straying away.


    He has seen a similar sad scene in Bastille; now he isn''t as immature as before, and right now they can''t help these people by giving them empty words of consoling.


    The state of Islasera was so shocking that the group remained silent for the entire journey till they reached the palace.


    No one talked anything, and they just watched the depressed atmosphere silently.


    If it were normal, the elves would have come forward to greet these new visitors and would have given gifts and stuff to show kindness, but right now they themselves have nothing to eat, let alone give gifts.


    "300¡­ T-this year alone¡­ 300 children died from starvation¡­ and I couldn''t do anything¡­"


    Walking at the forefront, Sylvia murmured to herself and sighed at her own uselessness.


    All this power, all this strength, everything was for naught against the horror of Miasma.


    Elves have a long lifespan, so very few children are born every year, and nearly 98% of them all died this year due to starvation.


    And this is just the casualties of the newborns; the casualties are just increasing over time.


    The biggest problem is that elves live in this capital that is located in the middle of the forest of illusory flowers; there''s no edible plant or fruit in the entire illusory forest.


    Everything is either an illusion or has a dangerous poison in it thus making it inedible.


    Miasma has caused all of their fruit trees and crops to die; they have no food to eat now, and they are only surviving on the emergency rations that the palace had saved up as supplies for troops in case of war.


    Looking at the situation, Jareth concluded in his mind,


    ''No wonder their entire nation got destroyed by a single demon and monster tide in the game lore¡­ They are already on the end of their wits; a small push and they are as good as dead¡­''

 Chapter 220 - 220: The Forbidden Magic called Mutation... Part-1.

    The group reached the palace in no time, even though they had no carriages or horses.


    The more time they spent on the road, the more they would have had to see the people literally dying and struggling at the end of their wits; thus, they all moved fast.


    For someone like Sylvia, who''s a knight who takes pride in protecting her people, seeing the very same people suffer like this is the greatest form of torture she can suffer.


    She would rather prefer dying in a completely outnumbered battle than keep living and see her people get tormented by miasma like this.


    This is the reason why she dared to take such a big risk of inviting humans to the empire.


    If she doesn''t take this risk, the nation will get destroyed anyway. After taking the risk, if things go wrong, she can at least be sure that she tried her best.


    "Uh, the Elf Queen is missing, so we can''t organize a proper royal welcome, but we have prepared rooms for you¡­"


    "You have traveled a vast distance to come here, so please rest here for today; there''s still a week left before the mission can begin¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    Just when the group was about to head inside, Risa noticed a little elf girl peeking out from behind a pillar of the Gazebo in the garden nearby.


    The young girl noticed Risa''s gaze and panicked a bit, but then she waved her hand innocently at Risa and smiled with a child''s innocent gaze.


    The garden had no grass or flowers left, and it was just pitch-black earth everywhere, yet that smile on that little girl''s face seemed so cute and innocent that it could melt even the coldest hearts.


    While Jareth and Sylvia were talking about the plans and stuff, Risa and the other two had nothing to do, so Risa also waved her hand back at the girl and smiled in return.


    The little girl smiled happily after seeing new people.


    Although the adults know the troubles and are depressed, a young innocent child like her has nothing to do with the cruelty of the world, and thus she can still remain happy even in dire times.


    The girl glanced around perhaps to see if her parents were looking at her from somewhere, and seeing that the area was clear, she tip-toed towards Risa and the two.


    "You are?"


    Risa and the other two''s attention was drawn by her immediately, so they asked her questions in curiosity.


    "I am Emu; my papa is the one who tends to this garden; I come here to play often!"


    "You give off such a different feeling from all the other grown ups¡­ Who are you? Also, your ears are different and quite beautiful too¡­"


    The little girl surprisingly had a great perception; she noticed that humans give a different kind of aura than elves.


    Risa and the two''s aura attracted her curiosity; she has never seen humans in her life after all. For a child, meeting new people and getting to talk to them is a kind of great adventure in itself.


    Emu seemed quite happy to talk.


    Sylvia also noticed her at this moment and scolded in a calm voice.


    "Emu, didn''t your father say that you were feeling quite sick yesterday? How come you are wandering here and jumping around with such energy now?"


    "Shouldn''t you be resting? Did you run away from home again?"


    The little girl pouted her cheeks after hearing those questions.


    "Hmph, the grumpy knight showed up again to nag me¡­"


    Sylvia couldn''t help but shake her head in helplessness.


    Emu is the daughter of the gardener, but as there''s no garden left to tend to, the other party can''t earn money and has no food to feed his family.


    Emu was always quite sickly from the start to begin with; lack of food and nutrition has caused her health to deteriorate even further.


    If they don''t solve this problem of miasma soon, things will worsen for Emu and her family too.


    This is the norm of today''s elven capital; Emu''s family is just one out of them all; nearly everyone has lost their jobs, and money has lost meaning as people don''t even have any goods to sell or buy.


    There''s no food in the market, and people are starving to death. The economy of the nation is in shambles right now.


    In fact, this place can''t even be called a nation anymore; it''s basically just a ruin of a former nation that is slowly dying and deteriorating even further.


    "Here, take this¡­ hehe¡­"


    Emu smiled happily and brought out a flower from her pocket and offered it to Risa.


    "There used to be a lot of them before, but now there''s only a few left; this one is a rare one; I am giving it to you to become friends!"


    Risa nodded her head at those words and took the flower with a happy smile on her face.


    Just when Risa was about to go ahead and pat the little girl on her head.


    Jareth''s eyes suddenly widened for a moment, and he realized something.


    "Risa, get away from her-"


    *BOOOM!!!*


    A massive explosion occurred; before Jareth could finish his words, the little girl''s body burst apart like a balloon, and an extremely powerful explosion happened.


    The explosion had enough power to wipe out nearly half of the entire Elven capital from the face of Earth in a mere matter of milliseconds.


    But Jareth reacted fast.


    [Mana Command: Restricted Field Cage!]


    He immediately confined that explosion in a cage made out of concentrated mana.


    Still, he was a bit late to react, so the explosion still leaked out some energy before Jareth took care of it.


    Everyone who was standing nearby flew away like a cannonball and hit the walls of the palace; even the ground cracked, and nearly half of the palace collapsed on the spot.


    A literal small-scale earthquake was created by that explosion, and even Sylvia was blown away.


    The voice of that explosion was so loud that it rang out in the entire elven capital and startled all the residents!


    Thankfully Jareth took care of that explosion on time, or nearly half of the elven population would have died right then and there at that moment!


    When the dirt and smoke finally thinned, Jareth saw blood splattered all over the ground.


    The little Elven girl was turned into powder in an instant, and only that blood painted on the ground was the sole thing left of her body.


    Just a few seconds ago, she was smiling happily and innocently, and now she''s gone without any traces.


    Jareth clenched his fist after seeing this scene.


    "False dome cult... They have already infiltrated the place¡­"


    Sylvia, who barely stabilized herself and got up with difficulty, heard those words and grated her teeth.


    Her head was spinning, but thankfully she didn''t suffer any fatal injuries from that explosion.


    Risa and the other fainted on the spot, but they were also fine because Jareth was able to reduce the explosions effect for them to an extremely low level.


    "Mr. Jareth¡­ d-do you know what just happened?"


    Hearing Sylvia''s question and seeing that frustrated look on her face, Jareth sighed and nodded his head.


    "Yeah¡­ I know this all too well¡­ This is the signature move of one of the members of the False Dome Cult; he uses forbidden magic to do experiments on living beings¡­"


    "This little girl likely got hit by his forbidden magic, and he turned her into a living, walking, self-destructive bomb¡­"


    "This kind of bomb activates when the victim is ''feeling'' happy¡­ Emu¡­ that little herself didn''t know about it; she was happy when she gave that flower to Risa¡­"


    "That happiness triggered the bomb¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia gnashed her teeth and punched the wall nearby in anger.


    "Turning a little innocent kid into a living bomb¡­ such inhumanity, such cruelty¡­."


    The memories of her nagging at Emu in the past and playing around with her in the garden flashed past Sylvia''s eyes, and her eyes became moist.


    "Emu¡­ w-what¡­ will I say to your parents now¡­ h-how will I look in their eyes¡­"


    Sylvia knew that Jareth did them a great favor by confining that bombs power; otherwise, there would have been more casualties, but this one loss of that innocent kid was already too great.


    Although Emu was a naughty kid and liked to mess around, she didn''t deserve such a cruel fate; she had a better future ahead.


    Several knights and guards came running at that moment and were stunned when they saw such a massive crater in the ground.


    Sylvia, as the person in charge, had to hold back her tears now.


    She forcefully calmed herself down and gave orders to tighten the security in the capital and take care of the mess.


    Sylvia gave Jareth a salute and said, S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The people must be restless from the explosion; I must go and calm the panic from spreading in people and take care of this mess myself¡­ For now, please stay in the palace¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head and went with the healing mages to the infirmary to get his disciples treated.


    "You can take your time¡­ we are not in a hurry right now..."


    While on his way to the infirmary, Jareth also felt a bit frustrated in his mind.


    ''Forbidden magic of this type tempers the vitality of a person¡­ Without prior experience and knowledge, even I can''t detect this kind of thing, even if I have a mana singularity¡­''


    Jareth realized the presence of the forbidden magic when it finally activated when the little elf girl smiled happily. Jareth felt the fluctuation of the magic activating in that moment.


    But by that time, it was too late. It''s already great that he was able to prevent any other casualties; the death of Emu was already set in stone the moment she smiled.


    ''Even after all these powerups... I still couldn''t save a little kid right in front of me, tch¡­''


    ''False dome cult, I have never hated anyone more than you guys, not even the boss from my previous life¡­ You guys really do like to mess up my plans all the time!''


    ''Such a big pain in the a*s!''

 Chapter 221 - 221: The Forbidden Magic called Mutation... Part-2.

    Royal Palace, Infirmary.


    "You feeling okay now?"


    Jareth noticed the three wake up after the healing mages healed them and put down the book he was reading.


    He leaned his back against the chair and spoke in a calm voice.


    "You guys passed out for quite a few hours; your reaction time is still slow; you were able to deploy your mana shields on time¡­"


    "Well, I don''t blame you for that¡­ Even a peak grade-3 mage wouldn''t have been able to react to that sudden explosion¡­"


    Although Jareth said those words of consoling, the trio still felt complicated in their hearts.


    This is the first time they have seen an acquaintance die in front of them like that.


    Although Emu was not a friend or anything and they had just gotten acquainted with her, her death still caused the three of them to feel various complex emotions.


    At that moment, the three of them figured out the truth of this world.


    Life is completely worthless in the eyes of the strong in this world; death can come at any moment, and you might not even notice it.


    There''s no hope for the weak.


    Risa was the closest to Emu; if she was strong enough, she could have sensed the presence of that ''mutation'' in Emu, and she could have helped the little girl as there was still time.


    But she was weak; she was powerless; that''s her biggest mistake. Being weak is the original sin in this world.


    "You don''t need to blame yourself for it, Risa; even I was there and wasn''t able to notice it on time¡­"


    "Forbidden magic is just that kind of existence; no matter how prepared you are, it can hide itself and can cause trouble when you expect the least¡­"


    "This kind of forbidden magic is called ''Mutation''¡­ It uses the victims own body parts to generate the ''mutation'' in the body¡­"


    "The user of this forbidden magic likely turned her innards and organs to function in a way that they would turn her into a ''biological bomb'' that got triggered at a specific moment."


    "There is only one person in the entire world who''s this skilled at body mutation-related forbidden magic¡­"


    "He''s a high-ranking member of the False Dome Cult, the ''Mad Parasite'', Fisur Jolmoh¡­ He used to be a scientist at one of the most prestigious institutes¡­"


    "It is very likely that he has reached grade 1 after joining the False Dome cult¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Mark and thought to himself.


    ''Mark was the one who suffered the most from this guy''s eccentric hobbies of turning humans into weird nightmarish objects¡­''


    Not only Mark''s younger sister was turned into a human chimera by Fisur, even his lackeys were turned into biological computers with their brains working as internet servers.


    It was pure horror¡ªsomething right out of a horror movie.


    One of the main reasons why this game was banned completely in nearly 100 countries of the world was because of how horrific it gets as the end of the game draws near.


    People were retching and puking at the sight of the underground base of Fisur, where hundreds of monstrosities were on display.


    ''Originally I wasn''t planning on going after that guy for a while, but he came over to mess with me on his own; then who''s am I to stop him¡­''


    ''I will greet him with open arms and then crush him to powder.''


    Jareth doesn''t have any personal beef with Fisur Jolmoh; it''s just that guy is too dangerous to be left alive out there.


    He''s the last survivor of the descendants of the member of the cult of Therath. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    If by some chance he ended up inviting that demon god Therath to partner with the demon god of the False Dome cult, then Jareth''s difficulties will increase even more!


    Jareth is not sure whether the other party has any method to contact that long-gone demon god Therath, but it''s better to be cautious.


    Destroying Fisur will eliminate this hidden problem of a second demon god''s threat lurking in the dark.


    Right now, just one demon cult is causing enough trouble; if that demon god Therath also returned and a new power demon cult came into being, Jareth''s entire plan will go haywire.


    The golden nails will definitely be shattered into pieces much sooner, and the false dome seal will not be able to hold on any longer.


    ''Putting that threat of demon god aside, Fisur himself is provoking me on purpose¡­''


    ''It is likely that the False Dome cult has figured out that there''s a golden nail in this place, and they dispatched their strongest people to destroy it and cause chaos¡­''


    Thinking about all this, Jareth suddenly realized something.


    ''Wait¡­ The golden nail in the abyss altar area had its own sea of consciousness that was sealing Konda inside¡­''


    ''Could it be possible that other seals also have the sea of consciousness that''s sealing something inside of them?''


    ''Then what could possibly be sealed inside this seal in the golden nail located below the elven capital¡­''


    Jareth crossed his arms and started to think hard about this matter.


    ''There can''t be another Konda inside or any other powerful monsters; that''s simply not a possibility; there''s likely something that can summon demons and monsters.''


    In the game, the kingdom of elves gets destroyed by an endless siege of monsters and lower-ranking demons, but it was never specified where so many demons and monsters actually came from.


    In the entire game, you only get to go inside one golden nail that is the one where Konda was; you don''t go to deal with the rest.


    You directly fight an all-out war with the False Dome cult after the Elven capital gets destroyed.


    This same monster tide keeps coming back and forth to various places; Mark also dies in the endless siege of monsters, and things get worse.


    Then the hero beats all monsters, wins glory for his nation, goes on to hunt powerful creatures that were raining terror, kills Zion on Mars, and returns home victorious.


    This marks the end of the story.


    ''We never explore the rest of the golden nails¡­ and we are never told where those monsters and demons are coming out from till the end¡­''


    ''Wait¡­ is it possible that the golden nail located in the elven capital is actually sealing a massive ''Rift'' inside¡­''


    A rift in the fabric of space and time can be used by a demon god and the sea of miasma to enter the world.


    ''The presence of the rift will make all the pieces of the puzzle set in place!''


    If there really is a rift inside the golden nail''s sea of consciousness, then if the golden nail''s barrier and magic circle weaken, the rift will start leaking miasma in massive quantities.


    Then the sea of consciousness will pour all the miasma out of the golden nail like it was doing in the abyss altar area.


    All the surrounding areas will start getting corrupted and miasma will become denser, and things will keep going worse with each passing moment.


    The more miasma that leaks out, the more the barrier will weaken, and the cycle will keep on going until the golden nail breaks apart on its own.


    When the golden nail breaks apart.


    The spatial rift will show up in the outside world and become a perfect pathway for low-rank demons and monsters that are roaming in the sea of miasma outside to bypass the seal of False Dome and enter in large quantities!


    ''Yes, now everything kind of makes sense¡­ This is likely the source of all the demons and monsters that appeared in the end game and laid siege everywhere¡­''


    Jareth knows that the golden nail is located right below the capital city of the elves, which means if it breaks, millions of monsters will pour out right in the middle of the city.


    You can never protect a kingdom whose capital itself gets completely wiped off the face of earth!


    With an infinite army against it that has no end to its increasing numbers, it''s impossible to save a nation.


    ''I see, those false dome cult members somehow know that I am here to deal with the golden nail; that''s why they sent their powerful people to hurry up and break the nail and deal with me along with it¡­''


    ''Killing that little girl Emu in front of me was just a sign of declaring war against me¡­ It was a way of telling me that you are already in our trap¡­''


    ''I guess there''s likely more than one Grade-1 member of the False Dome cult lying in wait for me¡­''


    ''They will definitely ambush me when the opportunity comes¡­ quite the cunning plan¡­''


    Thinking everything through, Jareth figured out all the ins and outs of the entire situation.


    His insanely intelligent brain is not for show; it gives him the ability to figure out plans and remain calm in extreme situations.


    ''Hmm¡­ this trip will be a bit more eventful than I had originally thought it seems¡­''


    ''I can safely assume that those members of the False Dome Cult have already sneaked into the so-called ''Forbidden Area located below the capital'' with some other means¡­''


    ''They likely have some other method to travel, just like they had done in the Abyss Altar area¡­ I am the one who''s behind this time again¡­''


    While Jareth was busy thinking, the door of the infirmary opened, and Sylvia returned.


    Seeing that exhausted look on her face, Jareth knew that the other party had a hard time dealing with the parents of the little elf girl.


    "Ms. Sylvia, you came just on time¡­ I have something to talk about with you¡­"

 Chapter 222 - 222: The Forbidden Magic called Mutation... Part-3.

    Although Sylvia seemed quite exhausted from all the work, Jareth needed to discuss these matters early.


    The faster they can go inside the forbidden area, the better, or the False Dome Cult will win once again, and by that time, it would be too late.


    "Okay, I will set up a meeting with the princess early¡­ We can discuss the situation¡­"


    Sylvia barely made it back after seeing the parents of that little girl cry till they fainted; she isn''t in the right mind right now, so she decided to delay it.


    "I will ask the princess, and we will organize a meeting in the evening; your disciples shall also attend the meeting¡­"


    Jareth agreed to those words.


    "Good¡­"


    Risa and the other two still need some time to adjust; after all, it''s good to have some rest first.


    Sylvia nodded her head as a greeting to the three and then left.


    The knights behind her came forward and led the group to their own respective rooms.


    All four of them got a room for them each in the palace to rest and calm down.


    Risa sneaked into Mark''s room once again, but this time she was not smiling but feeling sad, so Mark didn''t scold her.


    Although she''s an assassin, she hasn''t ever killed innocent people, and she hasn''t seen anyone die because of her mistakes; this is the first time.


    Emu''s death wasn''t her mistake, but it left a very big impression on her mind.


    The trio learned a valuable lesson that day: Death can strike at any time, and it''s always when your guard is down that you suffer the most.


    ¡­


    Standing near the window in his room, Jareth glanced at the clear blue sky and the strangely depressed city below it with a calm look on his face.


    ''As I thought¡­ I have expanded my mana detection in all directions, and I can sense the entire capital city and the area inside, but I can''t bypass the barrier of the forbidden area located below¡­''


    Jareth''s mana detection is an extremely powerful ability; if something can block it, then it must be in part with the barriers created by the First King in the Abyss Altar Area.


    ''The barrier place is likely the work of the First King too¡­''


    From the game lore, Jareth knows that the First King had close relationships with the elven royal family; his wife was a member of the royal elves.


    It won''t be strange if he knew about the existence of the nail placed here underground, so he must have created a powerful barrier to protect the golden seal.


    But as they say, nothing is eternal.


    Even such a powerful barrier couldn''t withstand the erosion of time, slowly lost power, and started to show defects.


    Unlike the barrier on the city that gets repaired and maintained every few years by the royal family, the barrier located underground is too strong and complicated and thus can''t be repaired.


    ''In it''s weakened state, there must have opened a hole in the barrier somewhere; that''s the place the False Dome cult members used to get inside¡­''


    The problem originates from the fact that he himself is one step behind despite having the accurate coordinates of the golden nails.


    ''How in the hell are these people from the False Dome able to figure out shortcuts to places that are supposed to have no shortcuts at all!''


    Jareth has information from the game, so he should be the fastest one to reach the goals, yet the members of the False Dome Cult are always one step ahead of him for some reason.


    ''Hmm, it all went haywire from that moment when that incarnation of the demon god was summoned for a brief moment¡­''


    Reflecting deeply on that moment, Jareth began to pace back and forth in his room.


    ''Something definitely happened at that time that I completely overlooked, and it worked in the favor of the False Dome cult.''


    At that time, Jareth had nearly exhausted his mana, and he had even deactivated his mana detection to conserve mana.


    It was a time when his mana quality was still very low and he only had ''Basic Magic'' in his arsenal.


    ''Wait! At that time I deactivated my mana detection¡­ so I didn''t sense any minute-level mana fluctuations... But is it possible that in its final moments, that incarnation figured out the locations of the golden nails?''


    Jareth doesn''t know about the full abilities of a demon god; in the game, the demon gods were just meant to be some high-level beings who didn''t interfere with the world of the mortals much.


    In the game, the endgame boss was Zion, and even though he was only semi-grade-0, he hadn''t reached the true new realm.


    Thus, till the end of the game, the player never actually fights the demon god''s incarnation or the demon god.


    Due to this, Jareth has no idea what kind of weird power the Demon god can bring out.


    ''I think he likely expanded his mana detection to ''Scan'' the entire planet in that brief moment¡­''


    Even Grade-1 mages or semi-grade-0 mages like Zion aren''t capable of expanding and scanning a whole continent, let alone the entire planet.


    ''If I assume that the other party scanned the entire planet, then everything will start making sense¡­''


    The powers of a demon god are still a mystery, so Jareth is overestimating it as much as he can.


    If the other party really has the power to scan the entire planet in a brief moment, then it can explain why the false dome members are able to come and go in dangerous places as they please.


    With such a thorough map and guidance, even Jareth''s knowledge about this game can be beaten.


    If you scan the entire planet, you will instantly figure out where all the golden nails are and what the shortest methods are to reach those places with the least number of efforts.


    ''I guess that''s how they found that hidden teleportation altar that wasn''t mentioned in the game, and that''s also how they found the gap in the forbidden area''s barrier...''


    ''This is simply a difference between raw power¡­''


    Just scanning the entire capital city of the human empire took Jareth nearly weeks'' worth of effort. Only then was he able to find the members of the organization that had long disbanded.


    Even with mana singularity and the pure mana to help him out, it was still a big task.


    ''To scan the entire planet in just a matter of seconds¡­''


    Although Jareth doesn''t want to believe it, this seems the most plausible explanation of why the False Dome Cult is in an advantageous position despite having so much information on his side.


    ''I guess this is the reason why they call them ''Demon Gods.'' They are indeed very powerful¡­''


    The capabilities of that so-called demon god are really too strong; even Zion seems like a weak ant in front of that mysterious existence.


    ''It''s already a big miracle that this world is still even intact after facing all this¡­''


    Sea of Endless Miasma, millions and millions of monsters and demons, an immense amount of corruption, tons of corrupt and powerful evil souls, and Demon Gods on top of it all.


    All of these things are constantly being held at bay by the Seal of the False Dome alone.


    ''Thinking about it¡­ that Golden King was really something else; he created a masterpiece; it''s still capable of protecting an entire solar system even after several millennia¡­''


    ''The more I think about it, the more exaggerated and insane these feats seem like¡­''


    ''Compared to the real powerhouses, I am still too weak¡­''


    While Jareth was busy thinking about things in his mind, the sun started to set, and evening came as the sky became red.


    Jareth sighed and stopped thinking too far; he came back to reality and drank a few glasses of water to cool his head. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Then he headed towards the dinner hall with a knight guiding his path forward.


    The earlier explosion destroyed a good part of the palace too and affected a lot of people.


    It took a lot of effort to calm down the agitated population, and as most of the knights were now on patrol duty to calm the populace, there were only a few knights stationed in the palace.


    Aside from Sylvia, they don''t even have any other peak grade-2 knight here right now.


    If instead of Jareth, it was some other grade-1 mage like Nathan, they would have taken advantage of this momentary weakness and definitely would have done questionable things.


    Like stealing the treasures from the treasury or kidnapping a few elves to experiment on later someday.


    Power corrupts you when there''s nobody to stop you from doing things that can harm others.


    Being above the law can lead to corruption, often without your awareness.


    Jareth didn''t have to face such difficulties, though, to him, his own goals are the only things that matter the most. He doesn''t care about stealing money and doing experiments on random people.


    His goal is to create a possibility of survival for himself; having a clear goal and path to follow is also one of the best methods to keep your own power in check so as it doesn''t end up turning into corruption.


    "You are here. Welcome, Mr. Jareth; it''s nice to meet you again¡­"


    Reaching the dinner hall, Jareth sat down on his designated chair and was greeted by princess Ava, who was sitting on the chair with a smile on her face.


    Sylvia was sitting directly opposite Jareth, along with the other knights on her side.


    Mark, along with the other two, took a seat by Jareth''s side.

 Chapter 223 - 223: Plans for the upcoming challenge... Part-1.

    Seeing that everyone was already present, Ava declared that the meeting had officially begun at that moment.


    In the past months she has been working as the acting ruler of her nation, so she has also learned a thing or two by now.


    "Originally I was thinking of helping you out in getting the world tree sapling back and then minding my own business¡­"


    "But with the little elf girl Emu''s death, the possibility of the False Dome Cult being involved here has become a fact!"


    "So I have decided, I will personally deal with the False Dome Cult and help you in resolving anything they might be planning¡­"


    Sylvia and the other elves don''t know about the False dome cult, so Sylvia hesitated a bit and asked,


    "Uh, are you and the members of this demon cult on very bad terms perhaps?"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    "Not just me; the entire human empire is on bad terms with this demon cult; they have slaughtered and killed thousands upon thousands of innocent people."


    "Just a few months ago, they nearly succeeded in summoning an ''Incarnation of a demon god''!..." S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You know what an ''Incarnation of Demon god'' means? It''s a harbinger of total destruction; it could have been a massive catastrophe for the entire world¡­"


    A demon god''s incarnation can deal with dozens of grade 1 mages at once! Such an existence is too dangerous to be allowed to roam freely in the world.


    In that brief moment of life and death, the incarnation scanned the entire planet and accomplished its goal of locating all the golden nails!


    If such a being was left free to roam, it could destroy civilizations without a moment''s hesitation!


    "I see, if they are capable of doing such a thing, they are indeed a powerful group¡­"


    Sylvia couldn''t help but feel even more worried about her older sister now.


    If such powerful people have made it inside the forbidden area, they can definitely harm her too, or maybe they are the reason why she''s gone missing.


    "That person who''s capable of using extremely dangerous forbidden magic to turn living beings into walking bombs is called Fisur Jolmoh; he''s a grade 1 mage¡­"


    "I have heard a lot of rumors about his evil feats¡­ If we want our plan of saving the world tree sapling, then we might have to be ready to clash not only with him but more members of the False Dome cult¡­"


    "Also, we need to hurry up; they are already inside; we don''t have much time; we shouldn''t dilly-dally¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia sighed.


    "It''s not that we don''t want to enter fast; it''s that the entrance can only be opened once every six months; there''s still a week''s worth of time left for that¡­"


    "By the way, is there any way to defend against this forbidden magic? How does it actually work? Can it turn anyone the other party touches into a bomb?"


    Jareth shook his head at those questions.


    "No, no matter how skilled he might be, there''s no way he can turn living creatures into bombs just by a simple touch; he likely has to prepare complex magic circles¡­"


    "There must be rare materials used."


    At Jareth''s words, one of the knights sitting beside Sylvia asked in a confused tone,


    "But Emu''s father said that the little girl hadn''t gone missing more than 1 hour in the last week or so¡­ Could it have caused the mutation in just one hour!?"


    "And when did this Fisur guy even come inside the capital city? We never noticed it! There were no fluctuations of a person entering the outer barrier of the city!"


    Keep in mind that even Jareth created a gap and created a few small mana fluctuations when he forcefully entered the barrier even with his mana singularity.


    Which means if Fisur had entered the barrier, the knights in charge of guarding the barrier and keeping an eye on the mana fluctuations shown by the barrier would have definitely noticed him.


    There''s no way he could be better than Jareth at mana control, despite the fact he doesn''t even have mana singularity.


    "I think the answer to it is actually quite simple¡­ Ms. Sylvia, has there been any Elf or any knight that has just recently died from some sudden organ failure or something like that?"


    At Jareth''s question, Sylvia contemplated for a bit and then spoke in a calm tone.


    "Ah, come to think of it, old man Boyan recently died of heart failure¡­ ah! Could it be!?"


    Jareth nodded his head at Sylvia''s shocked look.


    "Yes, that old man likely opened a small gap in the barrier for him to enter¡­"


    Another knight immediately refused to believe it.


    "No way! That''s impossible! Old man Boyan will never betray us! He''s the one who trained most of the current strongest knights for the palace!"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words and explained properly.


    "Well, I never said he betrayed you¡­ I only said that he opened the entrance for a small time for Fisur¡­"


    "The answer is simple¡­ Old Man Boyan must have gone outside the capital, and the barriers ranged on one of your so-called training missions for the newbies recently¡­"


    "That''s where he ended up getting caught by Fisur; if it''s a grade-3 or higher level, it will usually take an entire day for the mutation magic to take effect on the person¡­"


    "And it takes even as much as a week for grade 2 mages¡­ Grade-1 mages are partially immune to this kind of mutation¡­"


    "But children, weak-minded people, and old people are the most vulnerable to this¡­ Fisur barely would have needed half an hour to turn the old man into his puppet¡­"


    Jareth sipped the tea served to him by the maid and continued in a calm voice.


    "Don''t assume that Fisur is only capable of using one type of forbidden magic; he likely has a ''lot'' of forbidden magic in his arsenal; it won''t be wrong to assume that¡­"


    "Either he tempered with the mind of the old man in a physical way or he perhaps straight up hypnotized the poor old man into doing his bidding¡­"


    Then Sylvia interjected and asked a question that was bugging her for a while,


    "But how does that relate to his death?"


    Jareth glanced into her eyes and spoke in a calm voice.


    "What will happen to you if someone forcefully messes up with your brain and internal organs using forbidden magic when you are already old and weak?"


    "The answer is obvious¡­ The old man Boyan died not because he was old but because Fisur used him and then got rid of him; this way, people thought that the old man died of old age..."


    "Then he went ahead and used the mutation magic on the little girl¡­ One hour is plenty of time for the mutation magic to take effect on a weak little girl who couldn''t even use mana yet¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the frustrated looks on the faces of the knights and shook his head.


    "No need to blame yourself; the other party is grade 1 mage; he hid his mana fluctuation; that''s why you couldn''t detect him¡­"


    "In fact, it''s actually a good thing that he ignored you guys and you didn''t find him¡­ A maniac like him could have already destroyed your entire capital city by now if he wanted¡­"


    "By the time I would have come here, there would have only been a destroyed ruin left filled with rotten corpses, nothing else¡­"


    Jareth was just saying the truth; Fisur likely was pressed on time and didn''t want to waste too much time staying in the city; that''s why he left after only messing with Emu.


    If he had time, he wouldn''t have just killed one little girl and left; he would have slaughtered the entire population of the elven capital.


    ''Or perhaps he lost interest in killing these guys because they are already on their death''s door, and it won''t be much interesting to torment already depressed people who are losing hope in life¡­''


    The elven population is slowly dying out anyway; people who are already on death''s door and are depressed to the point of falling apart won''t likely interest maniacs like Fisur, who wants happy people to die.


    ''Yeah, come to think of it, most maniacs usually only target people who are minding their own business and living a happy life¡­''


    ''I guess living like a crazy maniac will increase your chances of survival in this world as the villains will mistook you to be their own type of person¡­''


    (Imagine being so chaotic and messy in life that the miasma just ignores you and goes away, saying, ''Nah, no way, bruh, I ain''t made out for this sh*t¡­'')


    "But how do we make sure he didn''t do the same thing to other residents of the capital¡­"


    Hearing that question from the knight, Jareth shook his head and spoke in a calm voice.


    "You don''t need to worry about that; I have already scanned the entire capital city of yours; there''s no one else who has the matching mana fluctuations inside them like Emu had¡­"


    "That guy Fisur was able to deceive me once, but the same trick won''t work on me again¡­ I have already figured out the mana fluctuation patterns from that one encounter¡­"


    "If another similar person walks up to me, I can in fact already undo the forbidden magic used on them¡­"


    Jareth wasn''t bluffing; his mana singularity isn''t just for show; you show him a mana pattern once, and he distinguishes it again easily from tens of thousands of mana patterns without any problem!

 Chapter 224 - 224: Plans for the upcoming challenge... Part-2.

    "The main thing that we need to worry about right now is that how to enter the forbidden area faster¡­"


    After hearing Jareth''s words, the group finally started to talk about the forbidden area.


    "If even Fisur Jolmoh was able to enter, there must really be a big gap in the barrier, if we can track it somehow-"


    Just when Sylvia and the other knights were thinking hard, Mark interjected and proposed and idea.


    "The reason why your crops and people are dying is because of miasma right? What if we track where this miasma is leaking from?"


    "The place that''s leaking miasma is likely where the barrier is broken, if we go from there, we can just directly skip the one week wait¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at those words, he patted Mark''s shoulder in acknowledgement.


    "That''s a good idea¡­ it seems you are also getting the gist of making good plans now, good work¡­"


    The group of knights and even Sylvia, all were quite surprised when they saw Jareth being so supportive of Mark, to them he seemed like a proud father who was happy that his son had made some progress!


    "B-but, tracking miasma is nothing to joke about¡­ those people from the demon cult might be doing it because they are already corrupted with miasma, but for others that kind of thing isn''t possible¡­"


    One of the knight''s had a worried look thinking about this matter,


    Sylvia also nodded her head at that,


    "Yes, mana detection is basically a person embedding their own ''will'' in the mana and spreading it out everywhere, then comprehending the mana fluctuations in the mana of the surroundings¡­"


    "If the person''s ''will'' be not strong enough and their mana detection ends up coming in close contact with dense miasma, they will get corrupted and die of mental breakdown!"


    "Some people even go insane from that!"


    Jareth waved his hand at those words,


    "No worries, leave that task to me and my three little disciples¡­ hmm, Mark and you two, this can be considered a training for you to temper your ''mind'' and ''will''¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, the trio nodded their heads immediately without doubting a single thing.


    For them, Jareth''s words are absolute, whatever he says must be true.


    They have never seen or met a person who''s more knowledgeable than Jareth, not even Reynald knows so much about various things, Jareth was theory genius, he has a lot of knowledge stored up in his head.


    From the trio''s point of view, Jareth is basically a walking library, ask him about anything and he can answer it easy and even if he doesn''t know about it, he can easily solve and find the answer to it.


    "Well, let''s not waste much time on chit-chat now that we have figured out most of the things¡­"


    "I will leave preparing rations and other stuff to you Ms. Sylvia¡­"


    With that said, the meeting ended, all the knight hurriedly left and Ava took the trio with her to the garden to have a walk so that they can relax and cool their mind from what happened with Emu.


    Jareth walked over to the window and glanced at the group of four having a talk and enjoying themselves with crossed arms.


    "They are finally smiling again¡­"


    Hearing Sylvia''s words, Jareth sighed, S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yeah¡­ seeing an innocent person die right in front of you is not something everyone can bear to watch¡­ these three have excellent mental adaptation capabilities¡­"


    "Well, I guess that''s to be expected from the most talented people of the entire human empire¡­ their talent is nothing to joke about¡­"


    Sylvia glanced at Ava who was finally smiling while talking about various things with Mark and the two after so many months.


    "Princess Ava has been buried under work as her mother''s been missing¡­ she had it rough at such a young age, I would much prefer her to smile more like this¡­"


    "I guess, fate really likes to laugh at people with kind hearts¡­"


    Jareth himself had a rough childhood and he basically never laughs in happiness, in fact, this body might have already forgotten what it means to laugh out loud to heart''s content.


    Even in previous life, ever since he joined the shady company, he couldn''t feel proud of himself because of all the shady stuff he did, thus the smile from his face faded away.


    His and Jareth''s story is all about tragedy.


    "Well, they can be quite the troublesome bunch, but I am quite sure they will become responsible and strong pillars of support for the next generation¡­"


    "If things remain normal, there''s not much to worry about the future of the Nation¡­"


    Hearing Sylvia''s words, Jareth only sighed.


    She doesn''t know the future of this world, but Jareth knows it all too well, this world basically doesn''t really have a future, it''s just darkness and more darkness.


    "By the way, you seem to favour these kids a lot, are they related to you in some way?"


    Jareth shook his head at that question,


    "I am not related to them by blood or anything, but we are bound with the bond of Student and teacher, I am just doing my job as a professor to teach my students that''s all¡­"


    ''My story might have been but a tragedy from start to finish, at the least, these three kids should live a happy youth, no one knows what will happen in the future after all¡­''


    Although Jareth knows about the haunting presence of the sea of miasma, there''s several possibilities to it.


    Even he himself is not sure what might happen and which possibility will turn out to be true in the end.


    That''s why, the more assets you have on your side the better it is.


    Jareth''s training these three assets to become strong, live a live that they won''t regret, that way they will be more willing to help him out in the end.


    He''s read enough novels to know that the villain who uses force and fear as a method to make do his bidding, always ends up getting beaten at the end.


    He''s not that kind of a fool, he''s a villain that knows how to use his head in a much smarter way.


    ''To win as a villain is actually extremely simple¡­ raise ridiculously strong enemies for the hero and let them take care of the hero¡­''


    ''While you yourself use the time to achieve your own goals by completely cutting off contact with the hero¡­''


    ''The key to winning as a villain is avoiding the ''plot armour'' as much as possible so that you don''t become a victim of the so called ''power of friendship and love''¡­''


    ''Er¡­ just talking about that makes me feel cringe¡­''


    Jareth glanced at Sylvia and spoke in a calm tone,


    "Tomorrow morning, lead me to the entrance of that barrier of the forbidden area, I will scan the entire barrier and the miasma flow patter around it¡­"


    "If I am working on this task, it''s already as good as done¡­"


    Sylvia nodded her head and gave a knightly salute to thank him for his efforts.


    "Uh, originally I though you were a dangerous and a very difficult to talk to type of person, but it seems you aren''t that bad after all, Mr. Jareth¡­"


    Jareth just shrugged his shoulders at those words,


    "You flatter me¡­ I am just a humble professor, no need to think too much of it¡­"


    ''I am not a bad person!? Woman, It seems your eyes are for decoration only perhaps! I am literally a heartless guy, if not for those sh*tty false dome cult members! I wouldn''t have come here!''


    The elven country is suffering from starvation and is on death''s door, thousands of people are dying but that has nothing to do with him at all, elves are not the only people who are on the verge of death!


    This entire planet is on the verge of death!


    If those golden nails are not protected on time and the False dome cult isn''t taken care of, it will destroy the entire planet along with the billions of organisms that live on it.


    ''Still, I don''t really care about the people from this planet, all I want is that my soul escapes the sea of miasma, everything else can go to sh*t!''


    Wealth? Fame? Possessions? Relations?


    All these are just mere decorations when you can''t even save your own life! What matters here is saving yourself from an eternal torture!


    These things can be earned back again if your life is still there!


    Jareth waved his hand and decided to go back to his room.


    "I shall go back to my room now, you should get some rest too Ms. Sylvia, we have a long battle ahead, when we encounter the False Dome Cult it won''t be just a one-on-one battle¡­"


    "There might be thousands of them waiting in ambush¡­ that Fisur guy, he can create teleportation alters using forbidden magic¡­"


    Sylvia nodded her head at Jareth words and gave a salute in return for the advice.


    ''He''s quite a kind person it seems¡­''


    Jareth''s actions are all in line with a benevolent person, so it wasn''t strange that Sylvia misunderstood him for a good person.


    ''Well, he shows himself as a cold-hearted person from the outside, but he does have a warm heart, he''s quite like you big sis¡­ I wonder what face you will make when you meet him?''


    Sylvia glanced at the horizon and thought to herself.


    ''Well¡­ if he was an elf¡­ I wouldn''t have minded it if I had to marry him¡­ any girl will be happy to marry such a strong and kind hearted person¡­''


    Sylvia sighed to herself and went back to her work thinking about her life if she was married to Jareth.


    (It''s impossible for you Sylvia, he''s married to Shiina...)

 Chapter 225 - 225: Troubles of being a Princess...

    "I see¡­ That means you are actually a descendant of powerful elven heroes who fought in the war of abysmal purification!?"


    Ava nodded her head at Risa''s question.


    "Yup, the first elven royals were the leaders of the elven population that won in the war of Abysmal Purification and were able to establish this country!"


    Sitting in a gazebo in the half-destroyed garden of the palace, the group enjoyed tea to cool off their nervousness and stress while talking about various random things.


    The war of Abysmal Purification happened in a time even before the birth of the First King, Strar U''lbyatre.


    During those times, quite a few races came together in an alliance with the elves to fight against powerful Beast Overlords who were mutated by miasma and were strong enough to destroy civilizations!


    "There were many heroes in our lineage; it is said that there was a hero named Zion Reid who once saved the entire country by himself!"


    "A gigantic moon-turtle-type monster attacked the country; it was so big that mountains seemed short in front of it!"


    "It is said that it''s shell was so strong that its toughness could compete with power metals from myths and legends like Mithril and Adamantine!"


    Ava glanced at the three curious new friends of her and spoke in a serious tone for a more dramatic effect.


    "And such a powerful monster was split in two by Hero Zion Reid in one sword attack!"


    "Zion Reid was not only a powerful grade-1 mage! He was also an extremely strong swordsman! Armed combat, unarmed combat, military tactics, and troop management¡ªhe was a master of them all!"


    "It is said that despite having a small frame, he had enough strength in his hand that he was capable of defeating an ogre in arm wrestling!!"


    Ogre are believed to have nearly the strength of five elephants! They are ridiculously strong.


    To be able to defeat an ogre in arm wrestling is an insane feat that can put even the strongest warriors to shame!


    "I wonder how he had so much strength despite having the build of a normal elf, or perhaps the history is a bit exaggerated; he must have been extremely tall and muscular!"


    "Even bigger than an Ogre!"


    An ogre is about five meters tall, and they are naturally very muscular; their bodies are built in such a way that they grow up with well-built muscles without even doing any training at all!


    They are naturally gifted from the very start.


    To be able to compete with them in physical capabilities is something only an abnormally talented person can do.


    "Er¡­ you mean to say that he was good in martial arts too!?"


    A look of pure shock appeared on the trio''s face when Ava started to mention Zion Reid''s ridiculous feats of strength.


    Just when they had started this journey, Jareth had told them that he met a man named Zion Reid in the depths of the Abyss Altar Area and fought with him on equal terms!


    The two of them fought till the point they had a draw! They even ran out of mana and fought with fist afterwards!


    Originally, the three of them didn''t know that Zion was ridiculously strong even without mana and was even stronger than the most powerful warriors!


    Jareth was able to fight him in hand-to-hand combat and push the battle to a draw; he even forced Zion to retreat and was only an inch away from victory!


    This just proves how ridiculously strong Jareth is in terms of physical capabilities!


    ''T-this is insanity!''


    Up until now, Mark used to think that he could catch up to Jareth by just working hard as a mage and improving his magic capabilities, but who could have thought that aside from being a mage, Jareth was a powerful warrior too!


    ''A-at this rate, I will never be able to catch up to him!''


    The trio has never seen Jareth use physical strength to deal with enemies; that''s why they weren''t sure about it before.


    But now that they have found out about this, they can be sure that Jareth is at least a peak grade-2 warrior in disguise!!


    ''Ah, I see now! He never uses his physical strength because he simply doesn''t need to!!''


    ''He kills his enemies before they can even make him run out of mana, and thus he doesn''t really need to resort to using¡­''


    Mark and the other two had the exact same idea in their minds at that moment; they all thought the same thing at that moment.


    ''His mana capacity is extremely high!''


    The three of them saw Jareth fight Konda with their own eyes. Jareth launched extremely powerful attacks as if they were just random spells, which he was tossing around casually.


    Yet, even after using so many powerful spells and fighting for three days and three nights straight with such a powerful foe, Jareth still didn''t run out of mana at all!!


    This just proves that Jareth''s mana capacity is extremely high!


    The three of them don''t have ''mana singularity,'' so they misunderstood that Jareth had an insanely high mana capacity that was as vast as an ocean.


    What they didn''t know was that the mana capacity is the sole reason why he''s still only a grade-2 mage; he doesn''t have high mana capacity!


    The only reason he never runs out of mana is because he can replenish it extremely fast, to the point that his mana usage speed is lower than his mana replenishment speed!


    In the Abyss Altar Area, there was no mana in the surroundings, thus Jareth ran out of mana quickly during the fight with Zion, but if they were fighting above ground and not in that place, Jareth would have had a complete upper hand.


    Not only does he have an attack enhancement card that can settle the match in critical moments, he even would have an infinite mana supply, so he would never run out of it.


    Zion, on the other hand, will get tired and will run out of mana easily!


    But of course, Zion is not an idiot; he would have noticed all this from the last battle; he won''t come to deal with Jareth until he has found a clue to beating Jareth despite all these advantages!


    ¡­


    "Er¡­ By the way, what about your father, princess Ava? What happened to the Elf King? It seems no one talks about him much¡­ They only refer to the queen, not the king¡­"


    Hearing Azul''s random question, Ava sighed a bit before replying.


    "My father was a very sickly person from the start; he had a fragile and weak body¡­ Despite his physical weakness and lack of magical abilities, he was an exceptionally intelligent individual." Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "He was one of the greatest minds of the empire; his strategies and plans were flawless and extremely effective!"


    "Even my mother, who''s a powerful grade 1 mage, couldn''t hold a candle in front of his amazing capabilities of dealing with various problems¡­"


    Ava clenched her fists at thinking about the matter.


    "If he was still alive, I am sure he could have easily dealt with the problems of this country; he could have easily made plans that would have saved the entire country with minimum casualties!"


    "And look at me on the other hand¡­ Both of my parents are great people; one was a great ruler with an extremely smart mind, and the other is a powerful mage of no equals in the entire Elven empire¡­"


    "Yet¡­ I am nothing in front of them¡­ Despite being their daughter, neither am I smart as my father, nor am I as strong as my mother¡­ I loathe myself for being so pathetic and so weak¡­"


    Everyone has their own circumstances in life; Mark and the other two have never lived a life similar to Ava, so they can''t understand her problems.


    Thus, they didn''t know what to say to her at that moment.


    Ava was supposed to be a heroine after all; her backstory was supposed to make the players sympathize with her. Here, Mark and the other two are villains; they aren''t supposed to play the role of consoling her.


    Seeing the sad look on her face, Mark sighed and spoke in a calm tone.


    "Well, at the least, you know that you are weak; knowing yourself is the first step to becoming strong¡­ That''s what my mother always says¡­"


    "She''s a powerful knight; she once told me that if you want to become strong, there''s no shortcut to it; you have to work hard every day and reach the top in a slow and steady method¡­"


    "She said that you mustn''t compare yourself to others; you are you, and others are others¡­ The only person you should compare yourself to is a better version of yourself¡­"


    Mark shrugged his shoulders at that moment, sipped the tea, and spoke in a vague tone.


    "Well, even I don''t get the whole of it¡­ But yeah, that''s how it is for us who are born in influential families; we are born with a golden spoon in our mouth, but that has a cost of its own too¡­"


    "The more power, money, fame, etc. you have, the more sacrifices and responsibilities you have on your shoulders¡­ If you don''t fulfill the responsibilities even after all that, then you are never going to progress¡­"


    Risa smiled at that moment and spoke in a carefree tone.


    "I am the youngest in my family, so I don''t usually care about all that; maybe you should also try to be carefree? Being carefree of the problems can solve most troubles in the world¡­"


    Ava felt a bit awkward about Risa''s advice, but she didn''t deny.


    ''Wait¡­ isn''t that just being ignorant!? Why are you telling me to become ignorant!? What!?''

 Chapter 226 - 226: Entering the Forbidden Area... Part-1.

    Next morning, Palace, hidden basement.


    "Hmm, so the actual path to the forbidden area is from directly under the throne room¡­ A clever tactic indeed; intruders will have a hard time finding it, and if there''s people to guard, then it will be even more difficult¡­"


    "Moreover, the person sitting on the throne would be the grade-1 mage, the elven queen; thus, even if a powerful person sneaks inside, they will be spotted easily¡­"


    "The elves who made this structure put a lot of thought into this matter¡­"


    Sylvia, who was walking beside Jareth downstairs into the hidden basement, nodded her head at those words.


    "Well¡­ even with all these, we can''t stop the intruders if the main barrier itself has flaws and new openings have been created somewhere¡­"


    "In case the barrier has become flawed, this path is one of the most useless ones if we look at it this way¡­"


    Jareth felt quite amused after hearing those words.


    "Quite the daring one aren''t you, Ms. Sylvia, to think you will belittle the work of your own ancestors¡­ I didn''t expect that from an elf¡­"


    Sylvia shrugged her shoulders at those words.


    "Times change¡­ Although I am an elf, I am more on the less kinder side¡­ I am not like the other elf''s who only know kindness¡­ I have killed enough people in my work of line to say that I am not kind at all¡­"


    "I have started to stop thinking of myself as an elf nowadays; we need to adapt if we need to deal with humans; being kind and benevolent will make us end in the same way the fairy race ended¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at those words.


    "Well, I can''t deny that¡­ You guys really need to adapt to the cruel world if you want to survive while maintaining trade with humans¡­"


    "You are planning to become trade partners with humans, but right now you have nothing of value; moreover, your military might is not that impressive either¡­"


    "Even if you don''t count me and Reynald from the human empire, the military of our empire alone is enough to wipe your entire nation off the surface of earth a thousand times over and over¡­"


    "I don''t mean to insult you, but Elves are weak right now, so weak that you guys aren''t even as strong as the least armed town of the human empire¡­"


    "Even ordinary humans can use guns and defend themselves against stray animals and low-level monsters¡­ but look at elves¡­ sigh¡­"


    Elves are all born gifted with immense mana affinity.


    If they work hard to become strong, they can all become strong mages and warriors in just a few years!


    If all elves train and work hard to learn combat skills, they can overpower the humans without even the need of technology and weapons!


    That just shows how talented the elf race is!


    Even the least talented elf has many times more talent than people like original Jareth, who had very little talent for magic.


    But the biggest problem is that elves don''t like violence; they don''t train combat skills, and no matter how talented one is, if they don''t use that talent, it all goes to waste!


    No matter how talented you are, if you don''t work hard to improve, all that talent is nothing but decoration!


    Most elves don''t even learn a single spell or martial skill their entire life; all that combat talent goes to waste most of the time.


    "Talking about the army, the number of knights stationed in this capital city is extremely low¡­ I couldn''t find more than five hundred of them with my mana detection¡­"


    "Don''t tell me that this entire capital where tens of thousands of elves are living is being protected by just a mere handful of knights and mages¡­"


    Sylvia gritted her teeth, clenched her fist at those words, and nodded her head, her head lowered in shame at that moment.


    "Yes¡­ It''s just as you have sensed there''s barely five hundred people who even know basic combat skills¡­"


    "Out of them all, only a few are even grade-3; only I am the only peak grade-2 warrior here¡­."


    "We don''t even have enough soldiers to organize a proper army¡­ It''s all just as bad as you are thinking¡­"


    Sylvia clenched her fists tightly while walking and spoke in a quiet voice.


    "In fact, being a warrior or a mage is seen as bad thing in our race¡­ Violence, war, bloodshed¡ªall these things are like taboo among the elven race; just talking about them will get you strange stares, and everyone will start avoiding you¡­"


    "If you choose to become a soldier, if you choose to learn combat skills and magic, you become a total outcast from society; not a single elf will talk to you; no one will care about you¡­"


    "Everyone will avoid you like a plauge¡­"


    Jareth got a bit curious about this matter, so he asked,


    "What if they are in danger and you save them with your strength? They will still not appreciate your kindness?"


    Sylvia sighed and nodded her head without hesitation.


    "Yes, they still won''t appreciate it¡­ Elves believe that ''Nature is the supreme existence'', Animals, plants, monsters, and everything is a part of this supreme existence¡­"


    "If you pray firmly in your mind and keep your faith alive, monsters will not attack you and everything will be kind to you; no harm will come your way if you have enough faith in ''Nature'' in your heart¡­"


    Jareth could help but shake his head in disappointment after hearing those words.


    Even he didn''t know about this part of the lore as this likely wasn''t added in the game, but finding it out from Sylvia has made him even more disappointed in the elves now.


    Jareth is the type of person who only believes in himself; he doesn''t keep empty faith in things that seem completely nonexistent; that seems more like random bullsh*t to him.


    "I guess you can say that everything is indeed part of ''Nature''; that bit is true¡­ But monsters and animals attacking others for food is also ''Nature''¡­"


    "What makes you guys think that they will go against ''nature'' and won''t attack you if you pray in your heart?"


    "You guys are just contradicting yourself at this point; this is the highest level of bullsh*t I have ever seen in my life¡­"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders and spoke in a calm tone.


    "The fairy race was at least genuinely kind and benevolent; you guys, on the other hand, are straight up weirdos¡­"


    "You aren''t genuinely kind; you are trying to act kind because of a false sense of non-existent faith that everything will be kind to you if you are kind¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia didn''t get angry at all; instead, she sighed in helplessness.


    "You saw through all this and figured out the truth so easily¡­ I wonder why the other elves can''t see this truth like you¡­"


    "Perhaps, they all want to run away from the truth that what they are doing is just delusional thinking; it won''t do them any good¡­"


    "This is the reason why I am so worried about them coming into contact with humans; they will definitely mess up¡­"


    Unlike Elves, most humans live without delusions of being overly kind to others.


    Although humans have a moral sense too, it isn''t as flawed as the elves; they will definitely take advantage of the na?ve nature of the elves, and the trade will become completely pointless at that point. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Yeah, if human merchants came here, the elves would end up losing all their money, and most of them would go into serious debt and fall victim to scams and various bad people¡­"


    "Their life will turn into hell..."


    Jareth also nodded his head and gave an honest answer.


    But he also gave advice at that moment:


    "Well, you still have hope at the least; you have your princess Ava, unlike you older elves; she''s young; her beliefs and goals haven''t solidified yet like you guys¡­"


    "She still has room to adapt to the new way of life; maybe if the conditions are right, she can learn to get rid of this delusional and empty faith of yours and will teach how to achieve this to the entire younger generation¡­"


    "Change will slowly come that way; it will be slow and might take a long time, but¡­ elves are not short on time anyway, so it doesn''t matter¡­"


    Elves have long lifespans; if they try to bring about change, they will definitely succeed in a few decades or centuries; they have enough time to work hard.


    ''Well, that is if this world can allow it¡­''


    Although Jareth knew about the hopelessness of this world, he didn''t say it out loud as it didn''t matter much in this circumstance.


    "We are here¡­"


    Just when Jareth was busy thinking various things in his mind, the two of them finally reached the hidden basement, and a gigantic door appeared in Jareth''s view.


    "So this is the entrance to the forbidden area? It''s quite magnificent¡­ Moreover, it''s made up of material that is a mana detection repellent¡­"


    "No wonder even my mana detection was feeling such powerful suppression while scanning this area¡­"


    Jareth couldn''t help but smirk a bit while looking at that gigantic door and that massive magic barrier protecting the entirety of it.


    ''It''s very impressive; even in it''s worn-out state, I can still sense the ''laws'' of the ''world'' blessing the barrier¡­''


    ''The person who made this put some serious effort into it, I guess¡­''


    Jareth placed his hand, at the door and used his mana singularity to sense the mana and miasma flow inside and near the entire barrier.

 Chapter 227 - 227: Entering the Forbidden Area... Part-2.

    Jareth took a deep breath and put his hand at the entrance door of the forbidden area.


    [Mana Command: Scattered Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana Detection!]


    Jareth spread out his mana detection to the entire barrier.


    ''D*mn this sh*t is gigantic!''


    Measuring the barrier can also show how big the forbidden area is. Jareth spread out his mana detection far and wide into the barrier''s mana circle, but even he was surprised at its size.


    ''It''s like an entire underground city spread across dozens of kilometers of area!''


    The forgotten city in the Abyss Altar Area stretched over hundreds of kilometers of subterranean space.


    Although this forbidden area below the elven capital is also big, it isn''t as vast as the Abyss Altar Area, so Jareth can still deal with it.


    ''The structure and defense mechanism of this magic barrier are extremely complex¡­ If it were any other grade-1 mage, it would have been impossible to detect the holes and flaws of this barrier in this way¡­''


    Jareth has mana singularity, and thus he can use the mana in the surroundings as backup; that''s why he can afford to expend so much mana.


    Others couldn''t do it, so they can''t completely measure the barrier as its defense mechanism interrupts your mana detection and increases the mana consumption by several times!


    Time passed, and about half an hour flew by.


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed, and he finally found the broken area of the magic barrier.


    "How many times do you open the national weapon armory in a year?..."


    Hearing that sudden question from Jareth, Sylvia was taken aback for a second but then contemplated in her mind and replied in an awkward tone.


    "Er¡­ w-we don''t open it at all¡­ It''s been nearly a hundred years since we last opened it, I think¡­ Last time they opened it was when a giant monster attacked the nation¡­"


    "It was opened by the knight captain of that time, who then used a powerful weapon to slay the monster¡­ Later, the knight captain was exiled from the nation for using such violent means¡­"


    As Sylvia stated beforehand, learning combat skills and becoming a knight or a mage is basically asking to be outcast from society in the elven empire.


    If you go ahead and use destructive weapons to kill monsters and taint yourself with blood and killing intent, then you are not accepted by the elves at all.


    At that point, people will forcefully exile you from the nation.


    That''s also the reason why no one goes to the national armory, and the powerful weapons inside it have been collecting dust for centuries!


    "Why do you guys even have national armor when you don''t even use it in the first place? That''s such a waste of precious metals¡­ They are just going to rust away and decay¡­"


    Sylvia sighed at Jareth''s words and replied in a calm tone,


    "The weapons stored inside it were created several millennia ago in the time of the first elf king, when the royal family first established the empire by defeating monsters and powerful enemies¡­"


    "They stored the weapons they used in those times into the armory so that the next generations can use them later on¡­ Most of the weapons have already decayed to the point that they are barely even usable¡­"


    "Only a few grade-1 weapons are still in usable condition¡­"


    Sylvia tilted her head in confusion and asked,


    "But what does the magic barrier of the forbidden area have to do with the national armory?"


    Jareth sighed at Sylvia''s question and replied in a calm tone,


    "You guys haven''t been going to the armory, which is why you haven''t noticed anything amiss up until now¡­"


    "In the first place, your armory is located in the uninhabited outskirts of the capital city; no one even goes there¡­ That''s the reason no one noticed it earlier¡­"


    "That armory is the place where the ''flaw'' is located; Fisur Jolmoh likely entered the forbidden area from that place!"


    "And worst-case scenario, he might have already stolen all of your powerful ancient weapons too!"


    Sylvia was shocked after hearing those words.


    "T-this is bad¡­ There are several powerful artifacts stored there¡­ If they are also stolen, then things will turn for the worse!"


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel even more disappointed at the elves.


    Powerful artifacts and weapons are something that you should guard and keep safe at all times, as they are like a double-edged sword.


    If you don''t guard them properly, they will fall in someone else''s hand and will be used against you instead!


    A weapon doesn''t care about friend and foe; it can be equally harmful to its owner if it falls into the hands of an enemy.


    To think that the elves will neglect the safety of a place that is literally a storehouse for dozens of powerful weapons and artifacts is unbelievable.


    "Sigh¡­ Well, even if you had placed guards there, it wouldn''t have mattered much; Fisur is a grade-1 mage after all; random weak guards won''t even be enough to serve as cannon fodder¡­"


    Jareth has noticed how weak those knights of the elven race actually are.


    Although they do train, they likely only do it once in a very long time, and they don''t train properly.


    The combat skills of the warriors and mages of the elven race seem very lacking in Jareth''s eyes.


    ''I am more surprised at the fact that there is someone as strong as Sylvia in this weak a*s country¡­ She''s clearly in a league of her own¡­''


    Sylvia is an extremely talented knight; she can very likely go toe to toe with Mark''s mother when she was in her prime.


    In the game, Sylvia alone was able to keep an entire siege of the monster army at bay for a good while.


    This demonstrates that her combat capabilities are truly impressive.


    As long as it''s someone at grade 2 or below level, they can never win against her unless they have several powerful abilities like Jareth.


    But compared to Sylvia, every other wizard and knight is pathetically weak.


    ''Sylvia is the odd one out of them, I guess; elves generally are peace-loving creatures; for her to be strong just shows she isn''t elf like¡­''


    Becoming strong as an elf is like giving up your identity as an elf. Sylvia has sacrificed her peaceful life to become strong; not a single elf in the entire nation wants to talk to her except for the innocent kids.


    She''s basically an outcast because she''s so strong and regularly goes out of the barrier to hunt monsters and beat human poachers who make it to the depths of the forest.


    ¡­ S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Sigh, forget it¡­ I guess that''s just how careless elves are¡­ No wonder you guys are in such a dire state and your nation is dying¡­ Even without the influence of Miasma, you guys are too weak for this cruel world¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and started to head outside.


    "Only take the most elite people with you and complete the preparation; we are heading to the armory; we will enter the forbidden area from there¡­"


    "The place inside is likely affected by immense amounts of miasma, so if you bring weak people with you, they will just get in the way¡­"


    "Make sure you bring enough mana and health recovery potions, by the way; they are crucial when traveling in miasma affected areas¡­"


    Hearing Jareth''s words, Sylvia nodded her head, and the two of them rushed back to the surface together.


    "By the way, what about princess Ava? Do we need to bring her with us?"


    Jareth shook his head immediately at Sylvia''s question.


    "No, we aren''t going there to have a picnic; there''s no point in bringing her there; in fact, it would be better if she stays here¡­ At least she will be able to keep your empire barely alive in your absence¡­"


    The queen who used to rule over the empire is missing, and now Sylvia is also going to head inside the forbidden area with Jareth; in her absence, only Ava will be the only person left with power to rule the empire.


    If even she leaves, who will deal with all the official work and trouble in the empire?


    "Okay, I will prepare the things; let''s meet up at the palace entrance in half an hour¡­"


    With that said, Sylvia rushed away in a hurry; Jareth, on the other hand, headed outside the palace and informed Mark and the other two about the situation.


    "You three should accompany me to the forbidden area¡­ The effects of miasma are definitely very dangerous, but they aren''t as fatal as the Abyss Altar Area¡­"


    "There''s likely still mana inside the forbidden area, so you don''t need to constantly put up the mana shield¡­"


    "This will be a great training experience; just make sure you don''t take on enemies that are too out of your league."


    The trio nodded their heads at Jareth''s words and agreed immediately.


    Jareth is training these three to combat the sea of miasma in the future; if they can''t even handle this level of miasmic corruption, then they aren''t worth the effort of raising them.


    Not only is this training, but it''s a test for them three; if they can make it out of this place alive, only then can they be considered worthy assets that will help him deal with the miasma in the future.


    Running away and always staying away from trouble won''t solve anything; sometimes you need to take things head on and deal with them before they can become more troublesome!

 Chapter 228 - 228: Entering the Forbidden Area... Part-3.

    Elven Capital, Outskirts.


    On a barren hill.


    "Oh! So, this is the national armory of the Elven Empire! It looks quite magnificent!"


    Looking at the giant fortress standing on the hill, giving off a sense of power and mystery, the group was quite surprised.


    Ignoring the surprised shouts of the group, Jareth glanced at the main door of the fortress, and sure enough, the protective barrier was broken and the door was completely wide open.


    "To think someone walked into your national armory from the front door and you guys didn''t even notice it up until now¡­ This is the most ridiculous situation I have ever seen before¡­"


    Jareth couldn''t help but feel that elves are real weirdos; they know that extremely powerful weapons of mass destruction are stored in this place, yet there''s no one standing here to even keep watch or guard this place.


    This is like they are literally asking others to come and steal the weapons and use them in their own capital city to destroy their homes.


    "They say that the mana barrier here is extremely strong, so we don''t need to guard the place, but it seems at some point a flaw appeared in the barriers here and the place became defenceless¡­"


    Jareth just shook his head and walked inside without hesitation; there was no point in arguing with the elves; they wouldn''t change their thought process from his words anyway.


    Mark and the other two followed right behind Jareth and Sylvia along with the three-peak grade-3 mages that Sylvia brought with herself.


    These are the only strongest people she has under her command right now; she could have brought others too, but they were all too weak, and Jareth had specifically asked her to only bring strong people.


    There''s no point in having weak people in the team, as they will only become a burden on them and will drag the team altogether.


    "As I thought¡­ everything''s stolen¡­"


    Jareth walked inside and found that everything was broken inside the fortress; there was a gigantic hall inside the enhanced door protecting the giant armory, and everything inside was completely in a mess.


    Broken and decayed old weapons were scattered all over the ground like garbage; thousands of broken artifacts and hundreds of former high-grade weapons lay broke and in disrepair.


    "The metal has rusted to the point that all these weapons are nothing but garbage at this point; even Fisur didn''t bother stealing them¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the several broken and rotten cabinets around and used mana detection to sense the mana traces, and sure enough, there was not a single usable weapon left.


    "The grade-1 weapons and artifacts have all been stolen; there''s not a single thing of value in this place anymore¡­"


    "Well, I guess you guys didn''t use them before anyway, so it might not affect you much anyway¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and stopped worrying about the weapons and artifacts.


    Elves are a peace-loving race; they avoid battles and violence like a plague. For them, these weapons and artifacts hold no meaning at all.


    ''If it were in the human empire¡­ people would cherish even these broken weapons as family heirlooms¡­''


    The human race has many flaws, and there are indeed many bad people there, but there are also good people mixed up in the crowd.


    Even if these weapons have all but rusted away and are now unusable, they hold several thousand years'' worth of history!


    These were the very same weapons the heroes of the past used to carve out this nation from nothing.


    These weapons were once held by proud warriors and were the symbol of great pride; if they were in the human empire, people would have cherished them as heirlooms and told folk tales about them.


    ''I guess treasure only holds meaning if there''s someone to appreciate it¡­ Otherwise, it''s just some random glowing metal that''s of no use by itself¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    Jareth cast the basic magic float to float a bit higher and avoid stepping on the broken weapons fallen on the ground. He spread out his mana detection to detect the path underground and moved deeper into the armory.


    Sylvia and the others also followed behind him.


    "I-is that the famous sword ''Jamaina''!? It''s been reduced to such state¡­"


    Sylvia''s surprised voice attracted everyone''s attention; everyone glanced at a broken and rusted sword plunged in the wall at her words of exclamation.


    Seeing the confused look on everyone''s face, Sylvia explained,


    "Jamaina of the molten depths¡ªthat is the full name of this sword! There''s no doubt about it! This is the sword of great hero Zion Reid!"


    "It is said that this sword was capable of slicing even the toughest things in the world like a knife slicing through butter!"


    "But to think that it''s fallen into such a state¡­"


    Sylvia is a sword user herself; she grew up admiring Zion Reid''s stories since childhood, and she knew that Zion''s famous sword was stored inside the national armory.


    From the very first day she officially became a knight, Sylvia always wanted to have ''Jamaina'' in her possession.


    She wanted that sword for herself, but going into the national armory for no apparent reason was equal to committing a great sin!


    Thus she never came here and never knew that the famous peak grade-1 sword Jamaina was reduced to such a state by now.


    "Hmm, this one''s not the work of erosion¡­ I can sense a faint amount of miasma from it''s blade even now¡­ This sword was only recently damaged¡­"


    Just when Sylvia was feeling depressed, Jareth''s voice rang out in her ears.


    At some point he came over to have a look at the sword.


    "Hoh, such fine usage of miasma¡­ I guess this must have been Fisur''s handiwork¡­ No wonder this place is so messed up right now¡­ It''s almost as if someone fought here and messed up the place in battle¡­"


    Jareth glanced at the cracks on the sword and spoke in an amused tone,


    "This sword¡­ It awakened a sense of ''Self''¡­ how interesting¡­"


    Weapons of peak grade-1 and above level have a chance of awakening a sense of ''Self'' under rare circumstances.


    "Well, the user of the sword wasn''t an ordinary person after all; it''s only fitting for the weapon to be unique too¡­"


    Jamaina awakened as a conscious weapon; it was a weapon that was only a step away from going beyond the shackles of grade 1 at that point.


    But for some reason this weapon likely got separated from Zion and thus lost its power source; the consciousness faded, and the sword slept in this armory for several centuries!


    "When Fisur infiltrated this place by pure chance, he caused the consciousness of the sword to awaken¡­"


    "It is said that the weapons with a sense of self chose their masters according to their own will; if others try to take them, they fight back fiercely¡­"


    "Fisur likely tried to steal the sword and ended up fighting it¡­ still a weapon without a master is nothing after all; it got destroyed by Fisur in the end¡­"


    Sylvia glanced at all the weapons scattered everywhere on the ground and spoke in an angry tone.


    "I see¡­ So by destroying the sword of our hero and throwing all these weapons on the ground, that man is basically insulting our ancestors and their sacrifices¡­ This is unforgivable¡­"


    Jareth shrugged his shoulders at those words of determination.


    "Hoh¡­ finally feeling motivated to fight? That''s a good thing, I guess¡­ It will be less troublesome if you put your emotions aside when in battle. When fighting against miasma, your emotions are your greatest vulnerabilities¡­"


    Sylvia nodded her head at Jareth''s words, and the rest of the group also got motivated.


    "Let''s go; even a sword fought for its dignity¡­ Don''t let a mere weapon outdone you; it''s a matter of dignity and pride now for you too¡­"


    Jareth gave the elves another push with his words; now they will be able to fight properly and won''t get in his way.


    As they say,


    {Words spoken by mouth are sometimes one of the strongest weapons; they can be used to manipulate entire nations and civilizations alike!} (Source: Trust me bro¡­) S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Jareth led the group deeper through the corridors, and the group went downstairs into the basement, where they finally saw a massive, gigantic hole in the ground.


    "The ground below here must have collapsed, thus creating a hidden path directly to the forbidden area below the capital¡­"


    "This is the flaw in the barrier we were looking for; Fisur and all the other members of the False Dome Cult also likely used this hole too¡­"


    Jareth glanced at Mark and the other two and asked in a calm voice,


    "This is the only moment to turn back; if you want to, you can turn back now¡­ There''s no telling what will happen once we go to the forbidden area¡­"


    "Places that are affected with miasma are bizarre, and anything can happen at any moment¡­ If you are not careless, you will lose your life in an instant¡­"


    The trio immediately shook their heads and refused to turn back.


    "We have made it so far; we can''t just turn back now; only by going through hardships can you improve faster and become stronger!"


    Mark and Azul both have the same goal of surpassing Jareth one day; if they don''t work hard and go through hardships, they will never be able to reach Jareth''s level.


    As for Risa, she''s just tagging along because Mark is doing it.


    For her, only Mark''s choice matters; she will follow him even if it is to the depths of hell or the pits of darkness.

 Chapter 229 - 229: Miasmic Instability... Part-1.

    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Basic Magic: Telekinesis!]


    First Jareth cast the float spell on himself and then used telekinesis to cover everyone else in a bubble so that they could follow behind him closely.


    "Let''s go¡­"


    Jareth flew into the giant hole in the ground, and the rest of the group followed right behind him inside the bubble made of telekinesis.


    *Boom!*


    The flying speed of them all was so fast that they caused a sonic boom in the air and flew straight down at an insanely high speed!


    ''3 kilometers¡­ The forbidden area is located three kilometers deep¡­ There''s no way this deep hole isn''t man-made, but who could have created such a deep hole here despite this place having the mana barrier¡­''


    The biggest question right now is how this hole in the ground came to be, and there are only two possibilities.


    ''Either a huge amount of miasma was fired from below to blast a hole in the ground or someone from the false dome cult dug it after the barrier lost its power in this particular place¡­''


    ''Both scenarios are equally dangerous¡­''


    If the hole has been created by a beam of miasma fired from below, that means there was something powerful in the forbidden area that was capable of firing such a power beam of miasma.


    And it likely used this hole to escape outside.


    ''But considering that even after spreading out my mana detection, I didn''t sense anyone in the capital city tainted with miasma, this possibility is likely not true¡­''


    ''That means there is someone else with Fisur Jolmoh¡­ That means aside from the weaker member and Fisur, there is likely another grade-1 mage who has earth magic-related powers¡­''


    ''But I can''t remember anyone from the False Dome cult having earth-related powers, though¡­''


    Jareth has fought the false dome cult in the game, but there wasn''t any boss enemy from False Dome Cult with Earth Magic-related powers; the only prominent user of Earth Magic was Allen''s rival, Mark.


    ''I guess there are more members in the False Dome cult than it meets the eyes¡­''


    In the game, you never get to go to the main headquarters of the False Dome cult; that''s why Jareth doesn''t know where their headquarters are actually located.


    If he knew about it, he would have already stormed in to destroy them all.


    ''It would be safe to assume they have quite a few grade-1 mages in their ranks¡­''


    The game was all about the protagonist showing off his powers and beating up bosses here and there.


    The protagonist alone beat up everyone in his journey to become the strongest, and finally the game ended with Zion''s death.


    Most of the bosses of the False Dome cult are just optional bosses, as they don''t hold much relevance to the main plot; only the leader of the cult, Rahnan, is of most importance.


    ''Hmm¡­ if not for the fact that there was no route of collaborating with the enemies, I am quite sure that this game would have had more bad endings¡­''


    Allen''s whole journey is all about beating up the only guy who''s still working hard to save the world at the end.


    Indirectly, he''s helping the False Dome Cult by dealing with Zion.


    After all, Zion is trying to save the world, and the False Dome Cult is trying to destroy it.


    From this point of view, Zion is the biggest obstacle in the path of the False Dome Cult; if he''s dealt with, the world is basically done, as the last hope of the world will go out.


    ''Well, I am not surprised by this twisted storyline at all¡­ That''s the type of game it is¡­ and this much is expected from a world completely surrounded by miasma¡­''


    ''Heroes fight and kill each other for no apparent reason, while villains keep laughing at their pathetic selves from far away and enjoy the show happily¡­ a truly hopeless world¡­''


    By now Jareth has heard so many stories and has met so many victims of miasma that he''s not even surprised anymore that the entire main storyline of this game is also corrupted.


    ''Well, whatever doesn''t matter to me anyway; I have nothing to do with Zion and Allen in the first place¡­''


    *Boom!*


    Jareth increased the speed of flight, and another sonic boom resounded in the area.


    ''There it is¡­''


    After flying down for a few seconds at such high speed, the ground became visible, and Jareth took a sharp turn in the air just as he was about to collide with the ground.


    He used telekinesis to dissipate the impact of the sudden deacceleration.


    "This is?"


    Looking around, the group was now standing in a dark corridor; there was a red carpet laid out on the ground.


    ''It''s torn apart and tainted with miasma, but this is definitely something that you would find in a royal palace or something¡­ This carpet looks quite expensive just from a single glance¡­''


    ''It was likely blessed with a powerful mana circle¡­''


    Seeing the confused look on everyone''s face, Sylvia explained in a calm voice,


    "This place is called a forbidden area, but it''s not actually a barren land with no structures and man-made objects¡­"


    "This place is actually a ruin of an underground military hideout¡­"


    The forbidden area is basically a ruin left behind of what used to be a massive military hideout in long-gone times.


    The elves of those times hadn''t yet established a proper empire; people lived in fear of wild beasts and monsters.


    Thus they created an underground military hideout to hide and protect themselves from the monsters above.


    Clearing out monsters and establishing a nation was a very difficult task, and it needed weaponry and a giant army.


    Elves were peaceloving creatures from the very start.


    Thus this hideout was created, hidden from the sight of the general populace.


    A city came to exist aboveground in this same place, and it later became the capital city of the Elven Empire.


    This place was originally supposed to be a place where the Elven royal family would train their soldiers and forge their weapons and artifacts.


    The military hideout was created hidden from people''s sight because the military itself isn''t acceptable by the elven people.


    Every year, only a few elven people will agree to join the secret army to help out and keep the forest safe for the rest of the population.


    "Er¡­ So you are telling me that instead of making your people understand the importance of military and weaponry, you guys did the exact opposite¡­"


    "You made the lives of your soldiers completely pointless¡­ Not only did they become complete outcasts from society and were tasked with sacrificing their lives for the same people who hated them¡­"


    "They even had to live in a place like this where even sunlight doesn''t come?"


    Hearing Jareth''s question, Sylvia''s head lowered.


    She knew from the start that the philosophies of the elven people are flawed; that''s why she''s so worried about this nation.


    "Actually, I am more surprised that your nation has survived up until now¡­ With the way things have been, the elves would have gone extinct thousands of years ago¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and stopped talking about this matter.


    He''s become too disappointed in the Elven people by now; there''s no point in repeating the same thing over and over.


    It is common sense that food, land, armies, weaponry, and technology are some of the few key things for a nation to flourish.


    No matter if you are a peace-loving nation or not, you still need armies and weapons for various purposes.


    An army''s work is not only about wars and border safety. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In most cases, it''s the army that is responsible for taking care of powerful disasters.


    Monster attacks, demon cults, internal strife, terrorist attacks, and maintaining the peace are just the few basic things that the soldiers do every single day.


    Aside from that, in cases of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunami, the army is the one who goes to risk their own lives to rescue people and give disaster relief.


    They are the ones who supply food and resources in case of disasters.


    Insulting them and treating them in such a bad way is basically making fun of heroes and their good deeds.


    ''Peace loving? gentle natured? Bullsh*t! By tarnishing the honor of your own soldiers, you guys have already proved that you aren''t benevolent and gentle natured¡­''


    ''Sigh¡­ Just thinking about all this causes a headache¡­ I seriously hate such two-faced nonsense the most¡­''


    [Basic Magic: Glowing mana orb!]


    Using a glowing mana orb, Jareth lit up the surroundings and started to head deeper into the ruins through the corridor.


    ''The inscriptions on the walls here are also quite good; they aren''t at the level of those from the Abyss Altar Area, but they are great nonetheless¡­''


    Jareth glanced at the massive inscription on the wall and asked Sylvia in a curious tone,


    "What is this inscription depicting? It has that sword ''Jamaina'' engraved here, which we saw back there in the armory¡­"


    Sylvia glanced at the inscription and contemplated for a while before saying,


    "Ah! This one''s depicting the hero Zion Reid fighting a three-headed serpent with his sword Jamina in his right hand and ''Light Magic'' in his left¡­"


    "This inscription is to show that the great hero Zion Reid was a genius who could use swordsmanship and magic both at the same time without any problems¡­"


    Jareth nodded his head at those words.


    ''Swordsmanship and magic both at the same time?... I see, in other words, in my fight with Zion, he was not using his full powers¡­ The next time he comes looking for me, he will definitely prove to be a more difficult foe¡­''

 Chapter 230 - 230: Miasmic Instability... Part-2.

    "This place¡­ it''s affected with ''Miasmic instability''¡­"


    Upon hearing Jareth''s words, a serious look appeared on everyone''s face.


    Miasmic instability is a phenomenon that happens when Mana and Miasma are fighting with each other in some closed area.


    Mana and Miasma are completely incompatible, so placing them in an enclosed space will undoubtedly lead to chaos.


    The flow of mana will start interrupting the flow of Miasma, and the opposite will also happen.


    This strange situation caused immense instability in the void and the space-time fabric of the world in that particular place.


    If the concentration of mana and miasma becomes too high and each of them keeps interrupting each other for a long time, that place is declared to have been affected with ''Miasmic instability''.


    "Hmm, it''s still in it''s early stages though¡­ The density of miasma is still lower than the density of mana; things are still more calm right now¡­ But as time passes, this place will become a dead zone where no living beings could enter¡­"


    Jareth has mana singularity, so he won''t get affected by any chaotic mana and miasma currents in the area, but the rest of the group doesn''t have it.


    "What type of phenomena appear when there''s miasmic instability in the area?"


    Just when Jareth was about to answer Mark''s question.


    A powerful fluctuation in the space-time fabric appeared and teleported Mark away on the spot in an instant.


    No one, including Jareth, was able to react on time.


    "Er¡­ yeah, something like this happens¡­"


    It seems the chaotic mana currents in the area heard Mark''s question and decided to give him a practical instead of a theoretical answer.


    "Uh, what do we do now? Should we go look for him?"


    At Sylvia''s question, Jareth shook his head and spoke in a calm tone.


    "The spatial shockwave only teleported him somewhere nearby in the forbidden area; no need to worry much about it; he can take care of himself¡­"


    "No one becomes powerful and strong without facing hardships; let him be for now; keep moving forward¡­"


    Mark is the rival of the main protagonist; he won''t die so easily; he survived a more dangerous situation in the original timeline; this isn''t much of a problem for him.


    As the group kept moving forward, Jareth suddenly had a thought, and he spoke.


    "By the way, the intensity of these weird magical phenomena isn''t always stable; they can become weak and strong at a moment''s notice¡­"


    Jareth glanced behind him and found that everyone had disappeared.


    ''What the f*ck!?''


    A frown appeared on Jareth''s face as all the members of the group went missing in an instant.


    Jareth has been using his mana detection at full capacity the entire time, and he didn''t even notice them disappear, which is simply too weird!


    His mana detection didn''t even notice when they got teleported away.


    "No need to frown so much, Jareth Ayad¡­ It''s beyond any human''s capabilities to sense something like that¡­"


    *Step**Step*


    Just when Jareth was a bit taken aback at the disappearance of the group, a person wearing a pitch-black robe appeared from the darkness in the corridor.


    The person''s face was hidden behind a strange-looking white-colored mask that didn''t even have a single hole in it for eyes to see.


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the person wearing that pitch black robe.


    His presence was tainted with miasma, and he was giving off a very dangerous aura, which seemed so familiar that Jareth couldn''t make a mistake in any case.


    "Nathan¡­ sigh, In the end, you really end up joining the False Dome Cult after all¡­"


    The moment he had appeared in front of Jareth, his presence became visible, and it was easy to identify him.


    Jareth saw through his identity in an instant and also figured out that the other party has likely joined the False Dome cult and has gotten tainted with miasma.


    "Well, I had no other choice; I wasn''t ready to stay in that sh*tty death cage for my entire life, of course¡­"


    "Anyway, I was already old, and at the end of my lifespan, years of hard work and injuries from past battles had reduced my lifespan a lot, so I didn''t have much time anyway¡­"


    At that moment, Nathan took off his mask, and a face of a young man in his early twenties appeared.


    "Miasma is such a fascinating power¡­ By accepting it, I have regained my youth! I am at my peak once again now! I can research for a much longer time, and I can live for even after Miasma invades this world¡­"


    "Isn''t this fascinating!"


    Although Nathan''s face looked young and handsome, his eyes were clearly showing that this guy has definitely lost a part of his mind, and he''s losing his sanity bit by bit.


    His eyes were filled with madness.


    ''I see¡­ It''s miasmic decay, a horrible way of torture¡­''


    Jareth has seen it in the game lore, so he can easily figure out what has happened to Nathan.


    Miasmic decay is a type of phenomenon that happens to people who get corrupted by miasma to the point that their soul gets tainted while they are still alive.


    The miasma slowly starts to steal away your life, your memories, your will, and your sanity from you.


    As time passes, the person inflicted with this condition starts to feel immense pain that directly comes from their soul being slowly ripped apart while they are still alive.


    This pain is beyond any other level of torture; it''s enough to drive even the strongest-minded person insane in a matter of a few minutes!


    Getting inflicted by this situation is basically a death sentence where you get horribly tortured for decades to come before your soul finally shatters and gets reduced to nothingness.


    ''He must be only in the starting stages right now; that''s why he''s still a bit sane and capable of thought¡­''


    As Jareth had anticipated, the False Dome Cult will undoubtedly use Nathan.


    ''Well, they already know the location of all the golden nails, so it doesn''t matter if they have Nathan with them now or not¡­ They already have all the information he can give¡­''


    ''They are likely planning on using him as a puppet from now on¡­''


    Despite the fact that Nathan has a bad personality and causes trouble, his strength is not to be questioned.


    Even without miasmic corruption, he was already a peak grade-1 mage stronger than even Reynald, and now that he''s affected by miasmic corruption and has gained more powers, he''s definitely gotten much stronger.


    ''Not only has he been strengthened by miasma, we are currently in a place where mana and miasma are causing disturbances in each other''s flow¡­''


    That means this place is disadvantageous for both mana and miasma users, but as Nathan is a space-type magic user, he will be at an advantage.


    He can tell where the miasma flow is stronger in the void and can use it to enhance his own magic''s effectiveness.


    This is also the reason why Jareth wasn''t able to notice the group being teleported away on time, as Nathan was using miasma and the void to cover his tracks.


    "I know everything, Jareth! After I disappeared for a while, you piece of sh*t actually put all the blame on me in the conference and declared Thomas to be the next principal!!"


    "You did all that without my permission!! I am the principal of the university! I created it all with my own efforts!!"


    "You have no rights to change the principal without my permission, you garbage!!"


    "You were only a mere grade-2 mage up until now; you only became a grade-1 mage recently! You are nothing compared to me!!"


    "I can kill the likes of you as easily as swatting a fly!" HAHAHAHAH¡­"


    Hearing all those words from Nathan, Jareth came to a conclusion,


    ''Yeah, he''s definitely losing his sanity¡­ They must have stationed him here to suppress my movements and cause delay¡­'' S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The False Dome cult is filled with people that have several screws loose in their minds, but their leader, Rahnan, is a very cunning man; he knows how to create intricate plans and deal with situations with the least effort.


    ''He''s basically just another ''Jareth Blaze''¡­ a genius who wasn''t blessed with mana and talent despite having amazing mental capabilities¡­.''


    ''Fighting mindless fools with immense power is much easier than fighting a cunning enemy that is weak but can make extremely complicated plans¡­''


    Moreover, Rahnan isn''t even weak anymore; he''s blessed with miasma and has become powerful.


    In other words, he has an extremely intelligent mind and powers beyond ordinary people''s comprehension capabilities.


    ''I wonder if he''s also here though¡­ It''s likely that he only sent this ''puppet'' and Fisur¡­ but there might be others too¡­''


    Jareth has spread out his mana detection, but the place is affected by miasmic instability, so his mana detection isn''t working properly in this place.


    He has to follow the map that Sylvia gave him before coming here to reach the core area where the Golden Nail might be located.


    "You are dead meat, Jareth!! You are dead meat!!! I will kill you and turn you into meat paste!!!"


    "I will feed your corpse to my pet Yoma at dinner!! HAHAHAHA!!"


    Nathan himself doesn''t know what he''s even talking about anymore; he''s in a state of trance where he''s slowly losing his sanity, and right now the only thing on his mind is the order given by Rahnan.


    Which is to eliminate Jareth at any cost.


    As he''s affected by Miasma and is being mind-controlled, he can''t even disobey the orders anymore; he''s basically just a mindless puppet at this point.

 Chapter 231 - 231: The Battle Starts! Part-1.

    [Grade-1 Space Magic: Stable Teleportation Field!]


    Nathan stomped the ground, and a massive amount of miasma spread around to create a gigantic field of free teleportation.


    In this field, Nathan has the ability to teleport freely to any location he can see with his eyes, providing him with immense mobility and making it nearly impossible to land a solid attack on him.


    This is Nathan''s iconic move that he always uses in combat; Jareth''s very familiar with this tactic of his.


    Using this tactic of teleporting from one place to another, Nathan attacks the opponent from blind spots and slowly injures and tires them out before finally dealing a decisive blow.


    Nathan''s fighting style is like that of ''Hyena'', slowly torturing the opponent to death while putting the least amount of effort into it during the entire process.


    The biggest problem is that Jareth can''t outright interrupt this field right now.


    Had it been made of mana, Jareth could have used mana singularity to destroy it using the mana flow around.


    But now that Nathan''s been corrupted with miasma, this strategy won''t work, and Jareth can''t shatter the field with mana singularity.


    ''The biggest problem of them all is that he can cast it extremely quickly¡­''


    Nathan''s been a grade-1 mage for a very long time; he''s trained his grade-1 spells for a very long time, and thus his proficiency over them is extremely high.


    This teleportation field is Nathan''s specialty, and this is the spell that he''s practiced the most.


    Just like Jareth''s mana singularity is his bread and butter, Nathan''s main ability is this spell.


    He''s practiced it to the point that he can cast it without a single-second delay while consuming an extremely small amount of mana.


    "This isn''t the end, Jareth! See this!"


    With a maniac-like smile on his face, Nathan brought out a wand from his space ring and used it to enhance his magic even further.


    Looking at that weapon, even Jareth frowned a bit.


    ''A peak grade-1 ancient elven wand¡­ This is likely one of the weapons they stole from the armory¡­''


    Nathan embedded the wand with his mana and laughed like a maniac.


    "HAHAHA, This is ''Enoron'', an ancient weapon of mass destruction once used by the general of the elven armies from ancient times!"


    "This weapon is a perfect fit for me!! It increases the destructive power of my space magic by several times over!! And reduced the mana cost to the extreme!!"


    "Jareth! You are nothing in front of the power of this ancient weapon!! I will kill you here today!!"


    Jareth raised his fist and punched the ground with immense force at that moment!


    *BOOOM!* *CRACK!*


    The entire floor was cracked and broke apart; cracks appeared in the teleportation field, and it got shattered in an instant as if it were as fragile as paper in front of Jareth''s punch!


    "You talk a lot¡­ in the first place¡­ Who asked?"


    When your magic isn''t working against something, what should you do?


    Jareth''s answer to that question is simple: you might be out of magical abilities, but you are not out of options!


    Make the opponent catch those d*mn hands!


    Although Jareth can''t destroy the teleportation field with mana singularity, he can still use it to figure out the weakness of the ability.


    Jareth had already concentrated his mana detection in the area covered by the teleportation field the very moment it was cast to figure out its weaknesses.


    He used the time that Nathan wasted to spout nonsense and figured out a very fatal weakness of the teleportation field in that small time.


    The teleportation field, when cast, attaches itself to the surface of a fixed area; it can''t be moved anymore.


    Thus, Jareth directly smashed the entire floor, and thus the teleportation field attached to it also broke apart along with the floor.


    If it was some other mage, they couldn''t have noticed this weakness so easily, as the mana control needed to detect this weakness is very high.


    Jareth has mana singularity, so he can do such things more easily.


    "You barbarian¡­ You are a shame in the name of magic! Despite being a wizard, you are using physical power to do your bidding!? You piece of sh*t!!"


    The more Nathan talked, the weirder his talking method became, which made Jareth even more confused.


    ''Hmm? He''s losing his sanity much faster than I anticipated; he''s even started to spout insults for no apparent reason now¡­''


    ''Well, getting corrupted by miasma does put a lot of burden on your mind after all¡­ This guy''s losing his edge¡­''


    For a magician, being in a calm state during combat is extremely important; only when your mind is calm can the magic circles created by you be stable and strong!


    Alternatively, the instability of the magic circle significantly diminishes their destructive power.


    ''Still, he''s an experienced wizard. At the end of the day, I should remain cautious. In a battle between peak powerhouses, even a single mistake can cost you your life¡­''


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Pursuing Flame Tornado!]


    Jareth''s grimoire shined brightly, and a gigantic magic circle appeared on the ground, which unleashed a massive tornado made of true flames!


    Nathan was also not going to sit back and watch it all happen; he also cast his magic to counterattack on the spot.


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Spatial Pitfall!]


    He used miasma once again and opened a giant portal like a pitfall in the space below the fire tornado.


    "AHAHAH, I told you! You can''t defeat me, Jareth! I will now teleport this attack of yours upon you!"


    Just when the portal was about to swallow the tornado, the ''True Flames'' got triggered.


    Jareth is blessed with the ''Law'' of the ''True Flames'', and all of his fire magic is made up of true flames.


    This kind of flame can burn anything and everything that''s under the power of the ''Laws'' of the world.


    Contrary to popular belief, all types of magic are actually ''equal'' from the start.


    People believe that ''Space'' or ''Time'' magic is stronger than other types of magic, but that''s not true at all.


    All types of magic are actually, in fact, ''equal''; it just depends on the user how they use it.


    Jareth''s true flames directly burned the portal itself and shattered the space magic used by Nathan on the spot!


    Nathan''s space-type magic is indeed strong, but it''s not blessed with the power of a ''law'' of the ''world'' after all; it can''t contend with Jareth''s true flames at all.


    This is also the reason Jareth was able to challenge Zion Reid head-to-head.


    Zion''s light magic is in fact blessed with the power of the ''Law'' of the ''Radiant Light''.


    Jareth''s and Zion''s magic cancelled out each other as they were equally powerful and harmed them both in similarly fatal manner.


    [Grade-1 Space Magic: Stable Teleportation Field!]


    Seeing that his portal was shattered and the flame tornado was still moving towards him at an insanely high speed, Nathan immediately cast another teleportation field to escape.


    "Again? Is there nothing else in your arsenal?"


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth stomped the ground with all his strength and shattered, breaking the floor even more to shatter the teleportation field once again!


    Although Jareth was able to break the teleportation field, Nathan was still able to dodge the tornado at least.


    The flame tornado hit the walls behind, and everything got melted to the point that only molten lava was left behind!


    "You b*stard! How dare you shatter my teleportation field again!!"


    *COUGH!* *URK!* *COUGH*


    All of a sudden Nathan started to cough up a mouthful of blood and glared at Jareth with extreme hatred.


    ''It worked?''


    Nathan''s body isn''t that of a warrior after all; he''s a powerful wizard, but his body is weak.


    Jareth hit the floor with such insane strength two times! The shockwaves and vibrations produced by his attack were equivalent to an extremely powerful earthquake.


    And as the teleportation field was in close contact with Nathan via his feet, the vibrations and shockwaves also hit him and injured his body from the inside out.


    Tanking one of those shockwaves was already an amazing feat, but two was a bit too much for even Nathan.


    All of his internal organs were hit and lightly damaged, thus resulting in internal bleeding.


    Jareth doesn''t have that ''99'' Int stat just for show; he planned it all out the very moment he figured out the weakness of the teleportation field.


    A magic spell that Nathan trained in for his whole life was rendered completely useless by Jareth in a matter of seconds.


    Right now, if Nathan uses it again for the third time and Jareth shatters it, the shockwaves that will hit Nathan will destroy all of his internal organs beyond recovery.


    He will die on the spot.


    This is the horror of an intelligent mind paired with a powerful body; defeating powerful opponents becomes as easy as a walk in the park!


    "Already on your knees, Nathan? I guess all those words of insult were nothing but empty talk after all¡­"


    Jareth shook his head while looking at Nathan with a look of disgust.


    ''If it was Zion Reid, he wouldn''t have fallen for such an obvious trick¡­ sigh, I kind of miss fighting him now¡­''


    It''s very rare that you meet someone who has a battle IQ as high as him; thus, it makes Jareth miss the moments when he was fighting Zion with all his might.


    Zion could go toe to toe with him; that just proved how amazing that guy is.


    ''If the circumstances were different¡­ I would have liked to become your friend, Zion U''lbyatre¡­''


    S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 232 - 232: The Battle Starts! Part-2.

    ''Wha-what!? Where am I all of a sudden!?''


    Mark glanced around and found himself standing in some kind of pitch-dark place with no light sources nearby.


    Nathan''s teleportation magic had teleported him away from the group when he used the miasmic instability of the area to his advantage.


    [Basic Magic: Glowing Mana Orb!]


    Using the glowing mana orb, Mark lit up the surroundings, but as his mana orb wasn''t as powerful as Jareth''s, it was only the size of a basketball, and it could only light up a few dozen meters of area.


    Once the area lit up, Mark noticed that the place he was standing was littered with hundreds of gigantic skeletons!


    ''Monster bones? What is this place? Why are there so many gigantic skeletons here!?''


    He glanced down and found that he was standing on a gigantic skull that seemed like an elephant-type monster skull!


    Just when Mark was getting more and more confused, the rest of the group also appeared beside him all of a sudden as they also got teleported.


    "Wh-what the!? What is this place!?"


    "Ahh! There''re so many skeletons!"


    Everyone was taken aback by the sudden teleportation. Risa glanced at Mark and heaved a sigh of relief.


    "I thought I wouldn''t be able to find you; good thing we didn''t get separated by the teleportation¡­ The miasmic instability here is indeed very dangerous¡­"


    Just when the entire group was getting more and more confused, Sylvia glanced at Mark and spoke in an anxious tone.


    "Mark, can you make that light source fly towards the ceiling? I want to conform something¡­"


    "I hope my guess isn''t true¡­"


    At Sylvia''s words, the entire group calmed down, and Mark made his mana orb fly higher while Risa and the other mages also cast their own mana orbs to keep the area bright.


    Mark''s mana orb flew higher for a few seconds at high speed and finally reached the ceiling.


    The ceiling of the place was quite high; it was hundreds of meters high.


    "What I feared has come true¡­ this place is the ''Trophy Hall!''¡­"


    Everyone felt confused at Sylvia''s words and couldn''t understand why she was feeling so anxious.


    "Trophy hall? Does that mean they used to keep treasures and trophies in this place? That would be so amazing!"


    Sylvia shook her head; she brought out the helmet of her armor from her space ring and immediately wore it in an instant.


    "There''s no time to explain! Everyone gets in combat stance! We can get attacked at any moment!"


    "Just keep in mind that this place isn''t just a trophy ground anymore; this is a monster nest for a very terrifying monster!!" Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    *Crunch* *Crunch*


    Just as everyone raised their guard, an eerie sound of bones being crunched started to resound in the entire trophy hall.


    Mark''s mana detection immediately noticed the disturbance in the mana nearby, and his expression became solemn.


    "A gigantic horde of monsters is coming our way¡­"


    Hearing those words, Sylvia immediately took command of battle with a solemn look on her face.


    She unsheathed her sword and spoke in a solemn voice.


    "Make the arrow formation! I will be the spearhead; we will break out right through this encirclement! If we waste too much time here, we will all die!"


    "Don''t look back; just follow me and run like crazy!!


    As Sylvia completed giving her instructions, a gigantic horde of spider-type monsters came rushing from all directions and surrounded the group.


    Sylvia raised her sword above her shoulder and took her stance.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Flaming Arrow!!]


    She swung her sword downwards and fired a gigantic flame arrow from her sword towards the horde of spiders rushing in her direction.


    She completely burned all the spiders in front of her to crisp and opened a small opening through the encirclement for the entire group!


    "Now!! Follow me!!"


    [Elemental Sword Art: Wind Type: Rushing Wind Storm!]


    Using the boost of the wind elementals, Sylvia gave more speed to the entire group, and everyone rushed forward with all their might to get out of the place.


    Mark and all the mages cast ''float'' magic on them all, and Sylvia''s windstorm attack gave them enough push to fly out of the place at an extremely high speed!


    The spiders immediately aimed at the group and tried to fire their spider silk threads at them, but Sylvia noticed it immediately.


    [Elemental Sword Art: Fire Type: Blazing Heat Wall!]


    As a gigantic wall of fire had surrounded the from all sides, Sylvia''s sword attack was impeccable and perfect!


    She easily repelled away all the silk thread attacks and burned them to crisp before they could even reach the group.


    Sylvia might just be a peak-grade 2 swordsman, but she was depicted as a very powerful character even in the game lore.


    She took down an entire army of lesser demons and monsters alone; this much is nothing for her!


    The group immediately broke out of the encirclement and continued to float further towards the walls of the ''Trophy Hall''!


    "Keep going till we reach the walls! I will break those walls for you! Keep going! We can''t stay in this place!"


    "I have read records that a powerful grade-1 spider-type monster made this place its nest during the days when this underground area was finally closed off completely!"


    "Those smaller spiders must be its offspring''s!! We can''t stay in this place! If that grade-1 monstrosity noticed us, we will be nothing but it''s prey!"


    They had been teleported here suddenly, and Jareth isn''t with them right now, so they can''t fight a grade-1 monster head on!


    Fighting a grade-1 monster in their current state will be suicide!


    "Breakthrough!!"


    The group encountered more spiders coming from the front, but Sylvia took care of them in an instant!


    [Elemental Sword Art: Thunder type: Raging thunder dragon!]


    Mark and the entire group were shocked to the core by Sylvia''s techniques.


    There are very few people in the world that have affinity for several elements all at once.


    Sylvia being able to use three elements one after another is really a great feat! Even a genius like Mark can''t help but feel admiration for the other party.


    ''She''s so strong!! If she was a grade 1 being¡­ she would have been unstoppable!!''


    After dealing with several groups of spiders coming at them continuously, the group finally reached the wall of the trophy hall.


    "Get ready to jump out! I am gonna destroy the wall!!"


    [Elemental Sword Art: Moon Type: Heavy Armor Piercer!]


    *BOOOM!!*


    Sylvia took her stance and thrust the swordstip into the wall with all her might; her mana created a massive shockwave, and the wall collapsed in an instant from her attack!


    The group flew out as the wall collapsed and blocked the path for the spiders, making it impossible for them to pursue the group any further!


    Sylvia''s quick decision-making skills and fast reactions saved everyone''s life in that moment.


    If they hadn''t broken out of the encirclement on time, they would have gotten entangled with hundreds of thousands of spiders in this place, and there would have been no end to it.


    Eventually they would have all died under the endless seize of those spider monsters.


    The group panted heavily as they finally made it out of the place safely, but Sylvia immediately pointed her sword toward the corridor and spoke in a serious tone.


    "This is no time to rest; get moving! This place isn''t safe! The grade-1 monster must be out hunting for food or something right now!"


    "We must get out of here before it comes back and finds us!!"


    With Sylvia''s command, the entire group immediately started to move away from the trophy hall in a hurry.


    Just dealing with those little spiders is such a big trouble if a gigantic monstrosity also came with them; they will really die in this place.


    "By the way¡­ what is that sword art of yours? It''s so amazing! It lets you control so many elements! I wanna learn it too!!"


    While walking through the dark corridors, Risa requested Sylvia to teach her the sword art with an excited look on her face, but Sylvia shook her head at those words.


    "I can''t teach you this sword art¡­ In fact, no one can¡­ This sword art is called ''Elemental Sword Art''; it''s been passed down from generation to generation among the royal elven family¡­"


    "Only the elves with royal bloodline can use this sword technique, as only they have such high affinity for all types of elements! Anyone else can''t use it¡­"


    "Well, even in the history books, there''s no clear record of who created this sword art and where it came from¡­"


    Sylvia patted Risa''s head and spoke in a helpless tone.


    "Forgive me¡­ If it were actually possible, I would have really liked to teach it to you¡­"


    Risa shook her head and stopped asking unreasonable demands when Sylvia explained the situation.


    "Can a human never learn this technique?"


    Sylvia nodded her head at Risa''s question.


    "Yeah, unless there''s someone who has such high sword talent that the sword art itself decides to bow down to their feet and acknowledges them as their master¡­"


    "I don''t think anyone would be able to use it otherwise¡­"


    "There''s no way such a person could exist in this world, though¡­ After all, if there really was such a person, he wouldn''t even need this sword art anymore¡­"


    "He would have already awakened the legendary skill ''Sword Intent''!! At that point, sword arts just become auxiliary support skills; ''Sword Intent'' is the true pinnacle of swordsmanship¡­"


    "Every sword user in the world dreams of obtaining it¡­"


    (And then there''s a guy who uses that very sword intent to make tea¡­ I wonder who it is¡­)

 Chapter 233 - 233: The Mad Scientist, Fisur Jolmoh...

    *BOOOM!*


    Just as the group was trying to leave the Trophy Hall as far away as possible, the ceiling above suddenly cracked and broke apart.


    A gigantic spider monster came crashing down.


    Nearly all of its legs were broken, and its body was injured and wounded horribly. The giant spider seemed like it was on its last breath at the moment.


    "Where did this spider come from all of a sudden!? Moreover, it''s so horribly injured! What could have done this!?"


    *BOOM!*


    Just when the group was shocked at the sudden appearance of the injured spider, the ceiling broke apart even further as a person came crashing down right after the spider.


    "Urk¡­cough!... cough¡­"


    Seeing that person, a look of worry appeared on Sylvia''s face, and she ran over to hold the person in her arms.


    "Sister!? Big Sis!? What happened to you!? How are you so injured!? Did you get in a fight with that giant spider?"


    The person who came crashing down after the spider was none other than the elven queen and Sylvia''s older sister herself.


    Seeing Sylvia appear in her blurry eyesight, a look of anxiety and regret appeared on the elven queen''s face.


    "S-Sylvia?... A-am I hallucinating?..."


    The Elven Queen fainted immediately after uttering those words in a shaky voice.


    "Carlos! Heal her! Everyone else, stand on guard! There might be dangerous entities nearby; I will deal with this spider first!"


    As a seasoned knight who has faced numerous challenging circumstances and battles, Sylvia remained composed and gave precise instructions to her subordinates.


    One of the three mages that Sylvia brought with her is of the healing type; therefore, she instructed him to heal her older sister.


    She immediately unsheathed her sword and dashed towards the giant spider with all her might.


    The spider was still holding on to the last few threads of its dear life; it immediately moved its last remaining leg to attack Sylvia, who was dashing towards it with killing intent!


    Just when Sylvia was about to attack the spider, its body started to glow brightly, making Sylvia lose focus for a second.


    [Imperial movement art!]


    Using movement art, she immediately jumped away and made some distance from the glowing spider.


    Her intuition told her one thing at that moment:


    ''It''s going to blast!''


    [Elemental Sword Art: Earth Type: Wall of Stone!]


    Using the sword art to summon a gigantic wall of stone elementals, Sylvia instantly protected everyone behind her.


    If she doesn''t do this, everyone in the vicinity will get caught in the explosion.


    *BOOOOM!!*


    The massive spider body blew apart and exploded like a balloon.


    The same thing that happened to Emu happened to the spider too! It died a horrible death as a living bomb!


    Just by looking at that same kind of death, anyone can tell that this was also the handywork of the forbidden magic user, Fisur Jolmoh!


    The explosion was too strong for Sylvia alone to protect everyone; thus, Mark immediately used his own earth magic to support the Sylvia Stone wall and enhanced its power with his own earth affinity!


    With Mark''s help, the stone wall stopped cracking at high speed and was able to endure the gigantic explosion!


    The explosion was so big that all the nearby walls were completely reduced to powder, and a gigantic crater was left behind where the injured spider once stood.


    Looking at that gigantic crater of immense size, even Sylvia couldn''t help but feel a bit anxious.


    ''Such power¡­ Is this really possible for a human to achieve this much power?''


    It seemed more like a natural disaster of unimaginable scale than something a human could create.


    That''s the difference between a grade-2 and a grade-1; any casual attack from a grade-1 mage is simply too out of the league of grade-2 individuals.


    "Retreat! We can''t stay here for long! We will need to wait for Mr. Jareth; otherwise, going to fight them is just complete stupidity!"


    Sylvia is indeed a brave warrior; she takes great pride in her honor and combat capabilities, but she''s not a fool either.


    Even she knows when to advance and when to retreat.


    When the situation is just too disadvantageous for her and her allies, it''s always better to retreat.


    After all, as the person in command, she can choose to sacrifice her own life, but if those under her command die for her wrong decisions, then that would be more shameful.


    Hearing Sylvia''s words, the group rushed, carrying the elven queen with them and rushing in a completely different direction through the corridors.


    What they didn''t notice was that there was already a person standing in the sky looking at them with an amused look on his face.


    "More pests? Oh, they decided to run away. Ah, forget it, they can wait; I need to deal with that ''Golden Nail'' first; otherwise, my mission will fail¡­"


    "Once I am done with the main mission, I will enjoy myself to the fullest¡­ There''s thousands of lovely elves wandering outside¡­ I can take my time and enjoy each one slowly¡­"


    "kehehehe¡­"


    Standing in the sky, the man grinned happily and licked his lips in anticipation of what''s to come.


    His greenish and messy hair waved with the air, and his red serpentine eyes were filled with ecstasy.


    Wearing a big white lab coat, Fisur Jolmoh looked exactly like what mad scientists look like in cartoon books and shows.


    He was ugly and hideous; dark spots were all over his face and body, and a mad grin seemed to be permanently fixed on his face.


    "Ah¡­ Forbidden magic is so sweet! That little spider was so cute¡­ I just couldn''t stop myself from altering its body¡­"


    Just when the mad scientist was laughing to himself happily and enjoying his time, he noticed a sudden change in the situation.


    ''Hmm? That cold-face guy is beating Nathan completely one-sidedly; this is not good¡­ I don''t have much time to waste here¡­ Let''s hurry and complete the mission¡­''


    Jareth is the biggest obstacle in the plans of the ''False Dome Cult'' right now, as he''s not only a very strong grade-1 mage; he''s been continuously destroying the various plans of the False Dome Cult.


    Fisur has already heard about Jareth''s notorious reputation of wiping his opponents off the face of Earth in a single attack; thus, he isn''t interested in fighting Jareth at all.


    ''I expected him to come here but to think he would come so fast¡­ I must also speed up my plan; there''s no point in fighting that walking nuclear missile head on¡­ I just hope that useless dog can keep him busy for a while¡­"


    Nathan has been completely mind-controlled by the false dome cult using miasma; he is nothing but a loyal dog who is forced to do their bidding now.


    Right now, he''s being used by Fisur to keep Jareth busy for the time being so that his plan can go to the next step and succeed without a hitch.


    Fisur flew away in a certain direction and reached the gigantic training grounds of the Forbidden Fortress.


    *Thump* *Thump*


    A gigantic heart appeared in sight as Fisur landed on the ground.


    The giant heart was thumping; it seemed like it was pumping blood constantly, and hundreds of thousands of blood vessels were scattered all around the training grounds.


    The blood vessels were attached to a giant container that had several living brains floating inside in blood.


    "Hmm, this version of biological computer is indeed quite efficient¡­"


    "I am certainly making a lot of progress these days; it must be because Miasma''s influence over the world is slowly increasing as more golden nails are getting broken."


    Although the scene looked extremely gross and horrific, Fisur didn''t care about it one bit at all.


    He just walked towards the giant gross-looking mutated heart with a grin on his face and embedded it with more miasma.


    Hundreds of big and small creepy-looking eyes suddenly opened on the giant mutated heart, making it look even more horrific and gross.


    Each eye''s pupil was showing a timer as if those eyes were the timer set on a giant biological bomb.


    "There''s still three hours left?... I guess I need to put the brains on overdrive mode to increase the processing rate¡­"


    Fisur walked towards one of the containers and opened its lid and dipped his hand in that blood-filled container to grab one of the floating brains out!


    The brain literally twitched and throbbed in his hand like a squishy small pillow. The scene was so horrible and gross that if a weak-hearted person had seen it, they would immediately throw up on the spot.


    "Hmm? Should I go for triple efficiency or double¡­ Double one will keep the risks low, but triple one will provide more speed¡­"


    Ignoring the twitching brain in his hand, Fisur used forbidden magic to mess up with the brain''s physical functions.


    [Forbidden Magic: Mutation: Brain Alteration!] S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "Hmm, yeah¡­ This will do¡­"


    Once he was done with it, he tossed the modified brain into the container once again and then grabbed the other one.


    As a grade-1 mage, he certainly can use telekinesis for this kind of thing so as not to get himself dirty, but he chooses to do it in such a gross way on purpose as he likes it this way.


    That''s the kind of person Fisur is; he loves his mutated, messed-up experiment subjects to the point that he loves torturing them all the time.


    And he does it all with his own hands without ever feeling a bit of hesitation.

 Chapter 234 - 234: A Chaotic Battle... Part-1.

    *BOOM!*


    Closing the distance at fast speed, Jareth punched towards Nathan and forced the other party to use more space magic to dodge.


    [Grade-1 Fire Magic: Beam of endless pursuit!]


    Jareth pointed his finger towards Nathan as the other party appeared out of another portal and fired a massive beam made of condensed true flames.


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Portal of Redirection!]


    Nathan also immediately cast a spell to counter Jareth''s magic and tried to teleport that beam of fire back to Jareth.


    "Have you not learned your lesson yet? You can''t teleport my magic idiot!"


    Nathan''s magic circuit for space magic was immediately destroyed by the beam of condensed true flames, which burned straight through the portal without teleporting.


    "Tch!"


    [Grade-2 Space Magic: Spatial Shuffle!]


    Nathan stomped the ground, and a massive circuit made of miasma spread out, making it possible, and immediately teleported away Nathan at random.


    Similar to shuffling the position of cards in a deck, the spell shuffled Nathan''s location in a set area continuously, thus making it impossible for the tracking spell to keep pursuing him.


    This kind of teleportation is random, and it''s like a gamble; there are even chances of you getting teleported right in front of the attack, which will make things even worse.


    But Nathan had no other choice but to take the gamble.


    If he uses his teleportation field once again, Jareth will smash it to bits with his physical power once again, and that will waste even more mana.


    Thus, he had to use an alternate method.


    Just when Nathan was slowly exhausting the power of the fire beam, Jareth raised his finger in a certain location and fired his magic.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Fist of the Fire Giant!]


    Seeing Jareth try to fire magic, a mocking smile appeared on Nathan''s face.


    ''Idiot, this shuffle is completely random; not even I can control it; there''s no way your attack will land on me¡­''


    ''Once I get rid of this pursuing attack, I will show you hell and attack you with even more powerful space attacks!''


    But just when Nathan was thinking about attacking Jareth, he got teleported to the exact location where Jareth had fired the flame fist attack.


    A look of horror and shock appeared in Nathan''s eyes.


    "H-how is this possible-"


    *BOOOM!*


    Before he could even complete his words, Nathan was hit by the flame fist directly, and he flew away like a cannonball.


    His body broke right through the walls behind and crashed on the ground right after.


    "Don''t forget my mana detection is exceptionally good¡­ I can''t interfere with your magic right now because it''s made up of miasma, but I can definitely do other things¡­"


    "For example, calculating the pattern of your attacks¡­ In this closed area, you could only teleport to a few limited spots; obviously, I took everything into consideration¡­"


    With Jareth''s insanely highly intelligent brain and powerful mana detection capability, calculating these complex possibilities was as easy as taking a walk in the park.


    It was Nathan who was underestimating his capabilities a bit too much.


    Just as Jareth was about to continue his onslaught of attacks, a gigantic snake came crashing down along with the ceiling.


    ''A grade-1 monster? What is this doing here?''


    And that was just the start; two more grade-1 puppets came flying and crashed down in front of Jareth like falling missiles!


    *BOOOM!*


    "BAHAHAHA, As I said, Jareth! You are dead meat today!!"


    Nathan wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed like a maniac as he teleported once again to confront Jareth.


    This time he has the support of his friends, though.


    ''Puppet squad? Weren''t they only supposed to appear in the end stage of the story line¡­ Well, I guess I messed up the plot so much that many things are coming out early... S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Puppet Squad is basically a group of genetically modified test subjects that Fisur created to be his subordinates.


    In the game, he used several hundreds and thousands of corpses to create the puppet squad that couldn''t use magic but had physical capabilities as strong as an early grade 1 warrior.


    These are basically the direct guards and the most valuable assets under Fisur''s command.


    ''And this snake must be some wild monster that he altered with his mutation magic and made his puppet¡­''


    ''Tch, he''s trying to delay me¡­''


    Jareth isn''t an idiot; he easily saw through what the other party was planning.


    He knows Fisur''s character personality all too well.


    Fisur is a coward type of person, and he never fights head-on; he always tries to use his puppets and others to do his bidding.


    In fact, he doesn''t even have proper combat experience; his expertise lies solely in forbidden magic and illegal research that involves very shady stuff.


    ''He''s likely already found the golden nail and is now trying to destroy it, but as I can cause problems in his plan, he''s going all out to delay me as much as possible.''


    Jareth knows that Fisur is the type of guy who will run away as soon as the mission is completed if there''s any danger to his life in the vicinity.


    ''His original plan must be to torture all the elven people after dealing with the golden nail, but now that I am proving to be much more trouble than he could handle¡­''


    ''He''s going to run away as soon as he''s done completing his mission¡­''


    Thinking about all this, a smirk appeared on Jareth''s face.


    ''Idiot, you really think I am stupid enough to fall for this obvious plan? I am not a warrior or a knight; I am not obliged to stay in one place and deal with your subordinates first before dealing with you¡­''


    Jareth is a wizard after all, who are known for their cunning and scheming nature.


    Fisur''s thinking that Jareth will get swept by emotions and deal Nathan, who''s the enemy of the nation, at all costs first before doing anything else.


    But that thinking is completely wrong.


    Jareth doesn''t give a single sh*t about dealing with the problems of the human empire or taking revenge from Nathan.


    What he''s after is preservation of the golden nail.


    And thus, he has no need to entangle himself with these cannon fodders.


    In fact, Fisur should be more worried about how to tie down Jareth in one place, not him.


    [Basic Magic: Float!]


    [Mana Command: Smoothen Mana flow!]


    *BOOM!*


    Jareth completely ignored the four grade-1 beings that were getting ready to attack him and flew towards Fisur''s direction like a rocket!


    The moment he flew into the sky, he directly broke through the sound barrier and created a powerful sonic boom.


    A powerful shockwave spread in all directions, and the four grade-1 being in the vicinity were forced to take a few steps back from this sudden movement.


    They didn''t even have the time to react, and only when Jareth was gone for several seconds did they realize that Jareth completely ignored them and rushed towards their boss directly!


    "Wait! You f*cking coward!! Where are you running to!!"


    "Pursue him!!"


    [Grade-1 Space Magic: Spatial Walk!]


    Nathan was the first one to react and follow after Jareth. He controlled the space and accelerated himself towards Jareth at an insanely high speed.


    The giant snake also used mana and rushed towards Jareth, although at a slower pace.


    As for the two puppets, they had no mana, so they had to rush towards Jareth''s direction on foot with all their might.


    Aside from Nathan, the other three couldn''t keep up with Jareth''s speed at all and were easily left far behind.


    Jareth directly broke through the ceiling and walls that came in his way and flew towards the central training grounds at an extremely high speed.


    Still, Nathan was faster; he used teleportation to appear in front of Jareth and tried to stop him.


    But Jareth was ready for him; he had already covered his fist in fire elementals long ago.


    He knew that Nathan would definitely teleport in front of him and try to stop him from flying away, like how he was fighting with Abella back then.


    Thus, Jareth easily predicted this move before Nathan could even use any attack magic.


    Jareth''s flame-covered fist hit him in the stomach, and the true flames started to burn his body with extreme heat!


    "AHHHHHH!!! IT''S HOT!! AHHHHHH!!!"


    *BOOOM!*


    Once hit by that powerful punch, Nathan''s body flew away like an arrow, and he fell to the ground, creating a massive crater.


    ''Hmm¡­ he used a space-type shield to decrease the attack''s effectiveness¡­ Still, this one must have definitely done some decent damage¡­''


    Jareth knew that this one attack was not enough to completely kill Nathan, and at most it must have only caused internal organ damage and severe burn damage.


    But Nathan will be able to keep fighting even with this much damage, and Jareth doesn''t have the time to get entangled with him here right now.


    Thus, he completely ignored the other party and flew straight toward the central training ground at the highest speed possible.


    ''You better not have destroyed it yet, Fisur Jolmoh¡­''

 Chapter 235 - 235: A Chaotic Battle... Part-2.

    [Grade-1 Magic: Wide Range Teleportation!]


    Nathan knew that the teleportation magic wouldn''t work on Jareth as his mana control is higher than Nathan''s capability to control Miasma.


    Although Nathan doesn''t know it, Jareth uses his mana singularity to easily avoid getting teleported by Nathan''s spatial magic.


    That''s why he didn''t get teleported along with the rest of the group earlier.


    Taking this matter into consideration, Nathan didn''t aim the teleportation at Jareth; instead, he aimed it at himself and the other three grade-1 beings.


    He directly teleported himself and the other three near Jareth in an attempt to stop him.


    One of the warrior puppets immediately kicked the air with immense force and launched at Jareth with immense force.


    Using air as ground, the warrior flew towards Jareth with immense speed and swung his sword upside down.


    But Jareth already knew the other party was chasing him.


    He easily flew to the side and dodged the sword attack and then kicked the puppet on the side of the waist, casing it to fly away and fall to the ground like a falling meteor.


    The puppet went down, crashing, and collided with walls, causing them to break apart and fall into an empty swimming pool.


    *BOOOM!*


    A gigantic crater was formed where the puppet fell, and the swimming pool was destroyed in an instant.


    The puppet doesn''t feel any pain, but still, Jareth''s kick did have an effect; it definitely broke a few bones in the warrior puppet''s body despite it being a Grade 1 warrior. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ''These puppets can''t use mana, so if I use the flying speed of my floating magic along with fire elemental infusion, the kick from my grade-2 warrior physique will be as powerful as any other grade-1 warrior¡­''


    ''Well, you are to blame for rushing so close to me anyway¡­''


    Jareth can see that the warrior puppet was moving purely on instinct; it doesn''t even have a free mind of its own, thus it can''t formulate plans or fight like a real person in combat.


    All it has is raw power and speed; it would have indeed been too much for an ordinary grade-1 mage to fight two of such puppets at once, but Jareth''s doesn''t lack close-range combat capabilities either.


    Even if there were ten of such mindless puppets, he could have still come out as the victor using his tricks and plans.


    Combat is not all about raw power and speed; a calm and calculative mind is also very crucial.


    [Grade-3 Fire Magic: Explosive Flames!]


    Jareth cast the fire magic around his feet and used the explosion of the flame magic to boost his own flying speed several times again!


    He burst through walls and metals so easily as if he were piercing a thin sheet of paper.


    His explosive power was immense!


    Even Nathan was having difficulty keeping up with Jareth despite having teleportation magic.


    Nathan immediately teleported the two warrior puppets again in front of Jareth and also teleported the giant snake.


    [Mana Command: Enhanced Range!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Explosive of Extreme Shockwave!]


    A magic circle as big as a five-story building appeared on the ground right below where the four obstacles on Jareht''s path were standing and a massive amount of fire elementals condensed in a matter of milliseconds.


    The puppets and the snake didn''t even have the chance to react to that attack before the condensed flame elementals exploded with immense force!


    *BOOOOM!*


    The explosion was so powerful that even the ground started to tremble a bit.


    Nathan teleported away at the last instant and escaped with a few burns, but the other three were hit directly and flew away in different directions after being hit by such a powerful explosion!


    The snake broke through the ceiling and was blasted off in some faraway place, while the two warrior puppets were half burnt to the crisp and were blasted off the side.


    "You sure do love to get in my way¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana Beam Barrage!]


    Hundreds of massive magic circles appeared in the area and began to bombard huge mana beams in all directions with incredible intensity!


    *BOOOM!* *BOOOM!!*


    As the beams were fired like crazy in all directions, Nathan had nowhere to hide, and he had to consume an immense amount of mana to cast a space shield and block Jareht''s beam attacks!


    A few of the beams even hit the two puppets, but they got up on time and started dodging with all their might.


    Their bodies were already at their limits, and even dodging Jareth''s attacks was getting difficult!


    But Jareth didn''t have the time to play around with the three of them; after casting the spells to keep them busy, Jareth flew in Fisur''s direction once again!


    *BOOOM!*


    Just when Jareth was a few hundred meters away from the central training ground, the massive snake came back and crashed down as it broke through the ceiling.


    "Get out of my way¡­"


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Fist of the Flame Giant!]


    A magic circle the size of a four-story building appeared in the air, and a gigantic first appeared out of it that punched the snake in the head with immense power!


    The snake flew away like at insanely high speed, and Jareth completely ignored it before moving forward!


    *CRACK!*


    Jareth punched the wall in his way and smashed a massive hole in it to get into the central training grounds!


    After rushing through the entire forbidden area with immense speed, Jareth finally reached the place that would decide whether this nation would survive or get destroyed!


    *Thump!* *Thump!*


    What appeared in front of Jareth''s eyes was a giant mutated heart attached to the golden nail and hundreds of weird containers filled with living brains connected with blood vessels.


    The scene was extremely gross and disgusting to look at; weird sticky brain liquids were splattered all over the training grounds, and the hundreds of blood vessels were spread over the entire area!


    From time to time, some of the living brains would burst apart, and the contents of the container would spill on the ground, making it even more gross and disgusting.


    Looking at this sight, Jareth''s eyes narrowed in an instant.


    ''Forbidden magic¡­ a biological atomic fusion bomb!?''


    The original Jareth has been researching atoms, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion all his life, and the knowledge of the other party''s achievements is filled in his mind right now.


    Thus, just by looking at the entire forbidden magic''s circuit and layout, Jareth instantly figured out what Fisur was trying to achieve with all this!


    "Hoh¡­ You are here earlier than I expected, Jareth Ayad¡­ It seems even four grade-1 beings were not enough to hold you in one place¡­"


    "You are quite the troublesome fellow, aren''t you¡­"


    Right beside the giant mutated heart was a man wearing the white coat of a researcher and a creepy wide grin on his face.


    "You have quite the guts to be creating a nuclear fusion bomb here¡­ Do you even know what will happen if the power of this nuclear fusion bomb becomes uncontrollable?"


    Seeing that Jareth saw through his plan in just a single glance, even Fisur was shocked for a moment, and then a smile appeared on his face.


    "AHAHAHAHA, MARVELOUS!!! I should have expected that you had amazing insight; I underestimated you, Jareth Ayad¡­ Forgive my rudeness¡­"


    Jareth shook his head and pointed his finger at the timer on the giant heart.


    "I have no need for your praises¡­ The timer on the bomb had already reached ''Zero'' long ago, it seems¡­ Now it only needs your permission, and it will go off¡­"


    "Why stop until now?"


    Although Jareth hates to admit it, the timer has already reached it''s end; Jareth is late.


    ''He likely sensed that I was rushing here directly, so he used some underhanded methods to speed up the process and caused the timer to reach ''Zero''...''


    At that moment, Jareth''s eyes fell on the broken container, and he noticed the brains that had exploded on their own.


    ''I see¡­ He must have put the brains on extreme overload to the point that they burst apart one by one from overwork¡­''


    ''The risk in this process is extremely high, but this is the only way he could have sped up the timer¡­ He really is planning on giving up everything just for this bomb to explode¡­''


    While Jareth was contemplating his mind, Fisur gave a mocking smile and spoke in an arrogant tone.


    "Well, you see¡­ I thought that you were rushing her with such speed; you must really be hoping to stop me on time like a hero and would have been dreaming about being a hero¡­"


    "So, I wanted to break your mind and show you utter despair by making you see a timer that had already reached ''Zero''¡­"


    "Ah, I wanted to see a powerful person like you show despair and worry on his face¡­ But it seems you are not the type to falter over such matters¡­"


    "Quite the shock this is¡­ From the way you were desperately rushing here, I thought you were worried about the safety of the elves above ground¡­"


    "But looking at you now, you seem completely unfazed¡­"

 Chapter 236 - 236: Horror of the Forbidden Magic!

    "If you can see that I am unfazed, then you can also see that I can deal with the explosion even if you do succeed in exploding it¡­"


    "You aren''t going to make it out of her alive either way, Fisur Jolmoh¡­"


    Fisur and Jareth''s eyes collided at that moment, and as if sparks of lightning were flying between them, the two gave each other death stares at the same time.


    "You seem like a reasonable and intelligent person, Jareth Ayad¡­ So we can skip the pointless talk; we both know that we can''t let each other get away from here alive¡­"


    "Even if you don''t want to kill me¡­ I will kill you after all; you are too dangerous for my research¡­"


    Jareth also nodded his head at Fisur''s words.


    "I can say the say to you too¡­ I have my own research to protect too¡­"


    This world is paradise for people who want to go the dark path and commit crimes of small and high degree of severity alike.


    In this world, two research geniuses can''t exist at the same time!


    When an extremely talented and intelligent person makes a plan for his future and conducts research that''s beyond the comprehension of ordinary folk, their biggest fear is the appearance of another genius who can ''steal'' their research.


    If another genius appears, then the chance of the other party seeing through your research and plans increases tremendously.


    Both Jareth and Fisur are making plans for their future, and neither of them can let the other party live.


    Fisur knows that Jareth is intelligent enough to steal all his discoveries and use them against his fellow cult members.


    Even if Jareth saw a single research paper from any branch of the False Dome cult, Fisur''s entire life''s efforts and research will become pointless!


    That''s the horror of a genius mind!


    Jareth, on the other hand, is also a variety of Fisur.


    In this entire world, if there''s anyone who can completely destroy his plan of creating a stable wormhole to escape, then that person is Fisur Jolmoh!


    No one else is intelligent enough to see through his plans.


    If Fisur discovers the list of items Jareth is searching for, or even reaches out to a single scientist from his team, it would be sufficient for him to understand what Jareth is plotting.


    That will completely destroy his entire plan, and he will have no other choice left but to die with this world in the end. Sear?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Neither Jareth nor Fisur can tolerate each other''s existence; if they don''t kill the other party, then the future will be dark, and that''s something both of them can''t afford to have.


    "Hoh¡­ What kind of research someone as powerful as you might be interested in? I am suddenly getting curious... you found out about my forbidden magic research¡­ It''s only fair if I know about your too¡­"


    Jareth sneered at those words and replied in a cold tone,


    "Do you take me for a ''pure-hearted hero'' or something? I am not going to tell you a single thing at all¡­ I don''t care whether it''s fair or not, you are going to die anyway¡­"


    "There''s no point in knowing anything else¡­ Continue your forbidden magic research in the afterlife!"


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth didn''t bother wasting any more time on the other party and jumped toward him at full speed.


    His speed was so fast that Fisur couldn''t keep up with him with his eyes and had to rely on miasma detection to find out Jareth''s location.


    ''Idiot, I just have to say it once in my mind, and the forbidden magic will activate! There''s nothing you can do now!''


    ''Forbidden magic-''


    Just when Fisur was about to activate the explosion, Jareth suddenly appeared behind him and placed his hand on the other party''s back.


    "You like forbidden magic so much, right¡­ I am a bit of a forbidden magic user myself; let''s see who''s one is more horrible¡­"


    [Forbidden Magic: Test*cular Torsion!]


    Fisur''s face became pale in an instant, and cold sweat appeared all over his body in a matter of seconds!


    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"


    "OH!!! NOOOOOO!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!"


    Even in his wildest dreams, Fisur had never thought that someday the horrible forbidden magic would be used on him too!!


    Fisur lost in his own game and experienced the consequences of his actions!


    "Pant!...huff¡­pant¡­ huff¡­ you bast*rd¡­. not even us horrible cult members use that kind of ''forbidden magic'', you are demon¡­ a monster!!...."


    "You have no right to blame me¡­ ahhhhhh! Ahhhh!! Not even the vilest demons use this kind of forbidden magic!!!... you evil monstrosity!!!"


    "AHHHHHHHH!!! MY Cherished family jewels!!! AHHHHH!!!"


    Fisur couldn''t even think clearly at this moment, as blood gushed from his lower body, causing his clothes to be covered in blood.


    He collapsed on the ground while holding his crotch; tears of blood appeared in Fisur''s eyes due to the extreme pain.


    It was a horrible sight; if a faint-hearted person had seen it, they would end up developing PTSD from watching that situation.


    Jareth scratched the back of his neck in awkwardness and thought to himself.


    ''Er¡­ I-I kind of got pissed at him for being arrogant in front of me and mocking me by killing that little girl Emu in front of me¡­ So I went a bit overboard¡­''


    ''M-maybe I shouldn''t have used that spell after all¡­ I can kind of feel several generations of my ancestors looking at me from the afterlife in horror now¡­''


    The two grade 1 warrior puppets, who were hiding behind the broken wall and were peeping at Jareth and Fisur all along, glanced at each other''s faces and nodded their heads at the same time.


    The two immediately got up and ran away in a different direction as fast as possible, as if they were saying,


    ''Nah, I don''t f*ck with this sh*t; imma outta here now¡­''


    *Thump* *Thump!*


    At that moment, Fisur passed out on the spot from all the pain, as he just couldn''t bear it anymore, and the giant heart bomb started to glow bright all of a sudden!


    ''Oh sh*t¡­ He lost consciousness; this one''s likely the type of bomb that gets triggered if the user''s brain signals stop responding to it¡­''


    ''How troublesome¡­''


    As if time itself had slowed down in that instant, Jareth made his move in the matter of milliseconds!


    [Mana Command: Smoothen Mana Flow!]


    [Basic Magic: Mana flow acceleration!]


    [Basic Magic: Support type: Enhanced Barrier elementals!]


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Barrier Creation: Barrier of True Flames!]


    Jareth gave himself immense boosts, used mana commands to smoothen his mana flow, and used basic magic to accelerate the mana flow.


    Then used the support type basic magic to increase the barrier elemental support rate with his mana singularity!


    Finally, he cast a powerful grade-2 flame barrier that covered the entire giant heart along with the golden nail inside it!


    Several magic circles appeared all around and completely surrounded the barrier, making it even stronger.


    Jareth even used the influence of the ''law'' of true flames to enhance the barrier further.


    It seemed like a lot, but Jareth did it all in a matter of milliseconds, and he did it so skillfully that it was insane!


    Despite his fast speed, Jareth didn''t miss a single step in the creation of the powerful barrier; he even used the inspirations he got from Nathan''s barrier in the hidden library.


    *BOOOOOM!!!*


    The moment Jareth finished creating the barrier, the giant heart bomb blew apart.


    It''s power was immense¡ªso immense that the void itself started to tremble, causing powerful spatial fluctuations that broke apart the walls and floors of the area!


    But Jareth remained unaffected by all this; he didn''t feel the least bit intimidated at all.


    Instead, he kept supplying more mana into the barrier to keep the explosion in control!


    *CRACK!*


    Massive cracks appeared in the barrier despite all the efforts, and the wind became chaotic from the leaking hot energy.


    ''Just quiet down already!''


    Jareth increased his mana output to the maximum and enforced the barrier even more, thus causing the cracks in the barrier to heal on their own as the mana got replenished!


    The powerful explosion was finally suppressed inside and Jareth heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''The power of this explosion has likely been enhanced by ''soul energy''¡­ likely with the souls of the people whom these living brains belong to¡­''


    Jareth felt a bit bad about using that horrible forbidden magic on Fisur despite the fact that he had promised himself that he wouldn''t use it, but after seeing the power of the explosion, he stopped caring about it.


    ''If it were possible I would have liked to use the forbidden magic on him a few more times now, actually¡­''


    Jareth gritted his teeth as he noticed that what he had feared the most had indeed become reality.


    The power of the explosion was simply too much, and the golden nail, which was already several millennia old and on the verge of collapsing, directly shattered right in front of Jareth''s eyes.

 Chapter 237 - 237: The Gate of Hell Opens... Part-1.

    ''Ah sh*t, here we go again¡­''


    Jareth felt quite helpless seeing that although he was able to keep the explosion in check, he still ended up failing in saving the Golden Nail.


    ''This is the second time I have failed in a mission because of the False Dome cult¡­ Despite it being right in front of me, I was still not able to prevent it from breaking¡­''


    As the golden nail broke apart and the explosion stopped, an extremely powerful miasmic energy started to appear.


    The golden nail''s sea of consciousness had a ''Miasmic Rift'' locked up inside of it, and once it broke apart, the miasmic rift slowly started to manifest beside the golden nail!


    ''And it happened¡­''


    Jareth sighed while looking at the massive rift of Miasma and couldn''t help but shake his head in regret.


    If he had made it here earlier, he could have stopped Fisur from attaching the giant mutated heart to the golden nail.


    That giant heart had already attached itself to the golden nail that it had nearly penetrated inside its structure and sea of consciousness.


    Even if Fisur wasn''t here, there was no proper method to get rid of the mutated heart once it was attached to the golden nail.


    It can only be stopped when the forbidden magic has still not been used and the heart hasn''t fixed itself into a firm position.


    ''This is the exact reason why I hurried so much and even went as far as to find the ''flaw'' in the forbidden area''s barrier¡­ I didn''t even wait for the main entrance to open¡­''


    ''No¡­ Even if I was a few days early, it still wouldn''t have changed anything¡­ This golden nail was already under their target from the moment that incarnation of the demon god found about it¡­''


    ''I was unaware about it and realized it too late¡­ The false dome cult has been on the move for quite a while now¡­''


    ''At this rate, I can''t save any of the golden nails¡­ I need some other plan¡­''


    Jareth gritted his teeth and backed off into the air to make some distance.


    *BOOOM!*


    Just as Jareth backed off, the barrier cast by him instantly broke apart, and an immense amount of miasma started to leak from the miasmic rift!


    As if the space-time fabric itself was ripped apart in that place, miasma started to pour like crazy.


    ''Such concentrated miasma¡­ it''s also as if it''s turned into liquid, for due to the concentration, it''s not even miasma anymore; it''s ''Corruption''!...''


    As if a dam to a river had been opened, massive amounts of corruption in the form of dark black mud-like form started to emerge from the miasmic rift.


    The moment it touched the ground, the ground turned pitch black, and even the air started to change color.


    ''The air, the ground¡­ everything''s started to turn into something similar to what I saw in the ''Abyss Altar Area''¡­ If this isn''t stopped on time, everything in this forbidden area and even outside will get corrupted!''


    Jareth''s eyes narrowed as he stared at that miasmic rift and clenched his fists.


    ''There''s no doubt about it; this miasmic rift is connected to some place outside the barrier of the ''False Dome''¡­''


    ''So, this is how the sea of miasma is? This is extremely odd¡­ very odd¡­''


    Although Jareth''s facial features were still as cold-looking as ever, a horrific thought came into his mind at this moment.


    ''Don''t tell me¡­ T-this....''


    At that moment, after seeing that mud-like form of corruption, Jareth realized a very serious truth of this world that not even Grade 1 mages know about.


    ''This solar system¡­ isn''t in any galaxy anymore! There are no stars or solar systems nearby!! For hundreds of thousands of light years, there are no galaxies here¡­.''


    Just thinking about it made Jareth feel how insanely powerful the sea of miasma is.


    ''The telescopes of this world show that there are millions of stars, galaxies, and solar systems in outer space¡­''


    ''Through the night sky of this world, we can see a starry sky with countless twinkling stars shining brightly¡­''


    Looking at that mud of corruption, Jareth gritted his teeth.


    ''But if this kind of substance is surrounding our solar system and is spread over thousands of light years¡­ then it''s impossible that there''s any living stars or solar systems to exist out there!''


    ''Such high concentration of corruption is enough to completely dissolve a planet and even a star to the point that each atom of them will be separated far apart!''


    According to this theory, it is impossible for a starry sky to exist! If the sea of miasma is indeed spread over a massive scale, then no galaxies or stars can exist in this place.


    It will create a ''Great Void'' in the space that will have nothing inside it¡ªno stars, no planets, and not even black holes.


    Just a massive sea of corruption that keeps spreading outwards faster and faster!


    ''No wonder this great seal surrounding the solar system is called the ''False Dome Seal''¡­ the inside barrier of the seal is basically a ''False'' image of what the outside world is like¡­''


    ''When they try to look outside with telescopes all they see is the illusion of a starry sky engraved on the inner layer of the ''False Dome Seal''. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Everything about it is completely ''Fake''.


    The cruel reality is that this solar system is floating inside the sea of miasma and is barely surviving because of the ''False Dome Seal'', everything outside has already been destroyed in several thousand light years of area.


    ''No wonder I always felt that something was amiss¡­ I was still lacking crucial information¡­''


    ''The more truth about this world I find out, the more dangerous this place becomes in my eyes¡­''


    The situation of this solar system is similar to that of a sinking submarine that is too deep into the ocean and several holes have opened into it.


    There''s no knowing when the immense pressure of the sea of miasma will crush it or when an extremely powerful celestial entity will end up stumbling on this small, sinking submarine.


    The truth of this world is so cruel that it''s enough to give existential threats to even the strongest minds.


    ''It''s expanding even more!?''


    Just when Jareth was thinking about what to do to patch up this massive miasmic rift, in the spacetime fabric, the rift started to expand even more, and what Jareth feared happened.


    Hundreds of thousands of hideous-looking mutated monsters and demons suddenly started to pour out of the miasmic rift along with the mud-like corruption.


    It was as if a glass of an aquarium had broken and the water and the fish started to fall out of it.


    Moreover, as time passed, the rift even started to expand further!


    ''A world-destroying calamity¡­ This is a world-destroying calamity now; unless this massive spatial rift is either sealed or completely closed off, this can spell the end of this world¡­''


    The ''False Dome Seal'' is already getting weaker, and if the miasmic rift isn''t closed on time and too much miasma enters inside, the global miasma density will increase tremendously!


    Mana will lose dominance over the inner area of this solar system, and the ''Law'' of mana will get even weaker than it already is.


    Then forget about becoming grade-0; even reaching grade-1 will become just a dream, and those who are already at grade-1 will start to lose their power and become weaker!


    As every living creature in this world has some amount of mana in their body except for demons, all creatures will get suppressed if the ''Law'' of Mana gets suppressed.


    Their skills and magic spells will become less effective and weaker, and if the ''Law'' of Miasma becomes too strong, the ''Law'' of Mana will be completely eradicated from this place.


    Just like how there''s no mana in the Abyss Altar Area, mana will cease to exist in the entire solar system.


    At that point, wizards won''t even be able to cast magic anymore and will get reduced to just normal people.


    With no mana, it would become impossible to withstand the corruption of miasma, and people would start mutating into weird monstrosities!


    ''This miasmic rift is enough to end this world alone¡­ I assume that the false dome cult didn''t know what was stored inside the sea of miasma of this golden nail¡­''


    ''If they knew that a world-destroying calamity was stored inside, the entire false dome cult would have been here today, as they would have defended this miasmic rift with all their strength.''


    ''Thankfully they don''t know about it yet, so they only sent Fisur and a few puppets to deal with this golden nail¡­''


    While Jareth was racing his mind and thinking about countermeasures to seal the miasmic rift and was focused on his thoughts and theories.


    The unconscious body of Fisur got swallowed by the mud of Miasma, and the thousands of monsters and demons started to run wild and destroy everything that came into their sight.


    The scene looked as if a gate of hell had opened and the armies of abyss were marching out of it endlessly!

 Chapter 238 - 238: The Gate of Hell Opens... Part-2.

    Fisur, whose body was swallowed by the mud like corruption, instantly got corrupted and started mutating while thousands of monsters trampled over him as they burst out of the rift endlessly.


    The massive snake monster that was pursuing Jareth also arrived at this point along with Nathan.


    "AHAHAHAHAH!!! YOU ARE DEAD MEAT JARETH!!! See!! We have succeeded!! You can never escape anymore!!! AHAHAHA-"


    *BOOOM!*


    Jareth instantly punched Nathan in the face with immense force and caused him to fly away at insanely high speed and collide with the walls nearby.


    "Your voice is very irritating, so quiet down for a second¡­"


    Jareth was already trying to think of a countermeasure to stop the miasmic rift; he didn''t have the time to focus on Nathan''s bullsh*t at all.


    ''I don''t know if this plan will work or not, but I will need to kill Nathan first¡­ If this guy''s here, he will interfere with the plan, and everything will fail¡­'' S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "I know that didn''t knock you out¡­ You can''t hide from me¡­"


    [Basic Magic: Mana beam bombardment!]


    Jareth waved his hand and summoned hundreds of magic circles in the air everywhere and bombarded the entire area with extremely powerful mana beams.


    Most of the mana beams hit the monster and demon army rampaging below and killed hundreds of them with each shot.


    Jareth''s mass destruction abilities are extremely high; he can still deal with this small army of demons and monsters. The main problem is that Miasmic rift.


    If it isn''t closed fast enough, then it can affect the mana and miasma balance of the world itself!


    [Grade-1 Spatial Magic: Portal of Death!]


    Nathan suddenly teleported behind Jareth and tried to create a portal.


    He intended to split Jareth''s body in two by inserting half of his body into the portal and then closing it before his entire body could pass through it.


    This is one of the most sinister and lethal moves a space magic user can pull.


    [Grade-2 Fire Magic: Armor of True Flames!]


    *BOOOOM!*


    Jareth''s entire body got covered in ''True Flames,'' and the very moment Nathan cast the portal magic, his spell broke apart and failed in an instant as the ''True Flames'' burned the portal itself.


    "As I said before, if you don''t have a legendary skill, don''t bother trying to teleport me¡­"


    "Looks like the curse placed on you has already started to reduce your intelligence and you are already neglecting my words¡­"


    Nathan was taken aback for a second when Jareth easily dealt with his lethal move, and this small delay was enough for Jareth.


    Even a millisecond worth of delay is fatal in a battle of peak powerhouses; Jareth instantly grabbed Nathan''s neck in that small time frame.


    With a smirk on his face, Jareth forcefully embedded immense amounts of ''True Flames'' into Nathan''s body!


    *AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! IT BURRRNNNNNSSSS*


    As Jareth forcefully embedded the true flames in his body, it literally started to burn from the inside out, and all his organs started to melt instantly!


    Jareth literally destroyed his magic circuit and made him a cripple on the spot, and then purified the miasma in his body with the ''True Flames''.


    Jareth''s true flames are capable of doing purification too, but it''s a very painful process, and only a few can survive it.


    *AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!*


    Nathan let out such blood-curdling screams that even the monsters and demons on the ground were horrified, and even the giant snake distanced itself from Jareth in fear!


    ''Abella, Rahnan, and countless others... You destroyed their lives as you pleased¡­ It''s finally time for you to go to the afterlife and apologize to them all in person¡­''


    ''Farewell¡­''


    Instead of getting intimidated by those horrifying screams, Jareth increased the output of his true flames and burned Nathan''s body continuously to the point that it was completely reduced to powder.


    The very moment Jareth had grabbed his neck, Nathan had already lost; just a small millisecond of mistake was enough to ensure his defeat.


    The very first thing Jareth did was destroy his magic circuit with his true flames; that''s why Nathan wasn''t even able to use his spells anymore and wasn''t able to teleport.


    Jareth''s cruel way of killing horrified even the monsters and demons alike; thus, none of them came forward to even help Nathan and save his life.


    In the original, Nathan was supposed to be a great mentor for the hero, but today he met his end in such an unsightly manner that there was no honor left in his existence anymore.


    ''Well, at least you lived your life the way you wanted¡­ That much is something you can always be proud of¡­''


    Nathan lived his life like a true wizard; he remained selfish till the very end.


    Even though Jareth has killed him, Nathan was already in old age; he has already achieved whatever he wanted to achieve in life; nowadays he was just passing time anyway.


    His interest in Allen was also just because he was bored with life.


    Judgement came upon Nathan at his moment of death, but it came a bit too late.


    If there was someone to correct his ways much earlier, then perhaps a person like Abella wouldn''t have gone towards a wrong path, and the lives of thousands of people who became victims of Abella would have been spared.


    {''What if I did that?'', ''What if I could have done this?''... All this is but the falsehood of life. All that matters is what you can do ''Now'' to avoid the mistakes of ''Future''¡­} (Source: Trust me bro¡­)


    ¡­


    In a faraway corner of the forbidden area.


    "Wh-what going on!?¡­ The density of miasma is suddenly increasing out of nowhere!!"


    Out of the three mages that Sylvia brought with her, two of them were standing on watch near the door of a giant hall, and the third one was healing Sylvia''s older sister, the elven queen at the moment.


    At that moment, everyone noticed a sudden increase in the amount of miasma around the area.


    Just when the group was confused, the elven queen gained her consciousness back, and her eyes narrowed instantly as she sensed the continuously increasing density of miasma in the air.


    "T-this is¡­ The gates of hell have opened!!... The miasmic rift sealed inside the golden nail has manifested in the world! This is what I had feared the most¡­"


    "Finished¡­ everything is finished¡­"


    Sylvie rushed over to her sister''s side and looked at her with concern.


    "Are you okay, Sis? How did you get so injured¡­ And what is the miasmic rift that you are talking about?"


    The Elven Queen took a while to calm down, but the look of anxiety and worry on her face only deepened even more as time passed.


    She glanced at Mark and the other two and asked in confusion,


    "Humans? What are they doing here in the forbidden area of the Elven Empire? No! Wait¡­ what are you doing here, Sylvie!? I told you that if I don''t come back, you have to take Ava and run away!!"


    "Why are you here!?"


    Sylvie panicked a bit after hearing so many questions all at once and seeing that dangerous look on her sister''s face, but she immediately answered her sister''s question to calm her down.


    "It''s a long story; these three are Mark, Risa, and Azul; they are one of the most talented prodigies from the human race!"


    Sylvie cast a quick glance at the trio and introduced her sister to them.


    "I was worried about her health, so I didn''t get the time, but let me introduce her. This is Rena Xilrel, the queen of the Elven Empire and a powerful grade-1 mage!"


    "She''s the strongest wood type magic user in the world!"


    Rena was confused as to why three human children were in the forbidden area of the Elven Empire, but as an elf, she''s also a polite and peaceloving person, so she didn''t directly attack them but waited for Sylvie to explain the situation!


    For the next few dozen minutes, Sylvie explained the situation to Rena in great detail, and a dejected look appeared on Rena''s face.


    "To think that such a day has appeared that the elves have to ask humans for help¡­ this is a disgrace that I have brought upon my race¡­ If only I was strong enough to deal with the situation¡­"


    Rena gritted her teeth at the thought of the situation. She clenched her fists and got up immediately.


    "This is no time to sit around and rest! I can already sense that a huge horde of monsters and demons has started to spread out from the central area of the forbidden area!!"


    "The miasmic rift has already fully manifested, and now there''s no stopping it! We must evacuate fast!!"


    A look of worry appeared on Sylvie''s face as she questioned,


    "W-what about the empire then?"


    Rena sighed at that question and spoke in a shaking tone.


    "We have to abandon it¡­ We need to gather all the elven people that are still alive and ask them to evacuate fast; the number of monsters and demons that a miasmic rift can bring is endless!!"


    "There''s no point in staying near it anymore¡­"