Teljose City
“This looks like it was caused by some sort of body possession spell!”
The knowledgeable Leylin was quick in assessing the situation.
“Old geezer, you only have the strength of a semi-converted elemental Magus, and you want to take me down?” Although Leylin looked like he could not have cared less, his right hand had already reached into his belt pouch.
*Boom!*
With a flip of his hands, a couple of potions exploded on the giant’s body. Following the explosion, a cloud of purple flame engulfed the giant’s body and continued to erode it.
“Negative energy flames? Child’s play!” The giant shook his head and widened his mouth to let out what seemed like a vacuum force, sucking all of the flames into his abdomen.
“Now, it’s my turn!” The giant let out a satisfying belch and grinned at Leylin.
In an instant, the giant turned into a silver flash and appeared right in front of Leylin.
The giant’s huge body structure and protruding muscles were faintly oppressing Leylin.
*Whoosh!* The giant’s skin was suffused with a metallic silver tone. It swung its mace-like arms towards Leylin, and Leylin could only raise both his arms up to protect his chest.
*Peng!*
Like an artillery shell, Leylin’s body was rammed viciously into a wall, causing a large building to collapse in half.
*Bang!* The rubble rolled apart and revealed Leylin’s figure.
[Host’s ribs fractured, multiple muscle injuries, immediate medical attention recommended!] The A.I. Chip alerted.
“Such great strength, it must be at least 15 or greater! On top of the amplification caused by its metallic element”
Leylin’s eyes flashed blue, “A.I. Chip, input the site information, activate the prediction system!”
[Site data transmitted, simulating opponent’s information!] The A.I. Chip’s voice intoned. Moreover it projected a 3D image for Leylin to look at.
[According to the opponent’s movement, the next attack will appear at an angle of 38 degrees on the right side. Probability: 98.7%!]
*Shua!* Just then, the giant charged over again.
[Most optimal action: Duck to the left at 63 degrees, jump backwards!]
Leylin’s body twisted and barely avoided the attack of the giant, before hurriedly jumping back.
*Pu*
At this moment, many half-metre-long metal spikes were piercing the ground where Leylin had stood before. If Leylin were still standing there, he would have died.
To outsiders, Leylin was extremely nimble, making inconceivable dodging movements and evasions as he avoided a barrage of attacks.
“He could actually stall a Magus who has converted half of his elemental essence and also has a reinforced body!”
The old geezer was drenched in cold sweat. “I still thought…”
“You thought that he was just a budding Magus that can be bullied easily, right?” The huge bloke said. “Count yourself lucky, old man! Managing to survive to this point hasn’t been an easy task!”
On the other side of the battlefield, the giant was visibly agitated because of Leylin’s successful evasive maneuvers. The human face on top of the left side of its chest blustered, ”Damnit! Goddamn pest!”
After which, the giant executed a maneuver.
Using its large hands, it broke apart its own stomach and pulled out what looked like a golden hoop.
“Hoop of Imprisonment!”
A bright white light emitted from within the golden hoop and immediately struck Leylin.
As the white luminescence fell upon him, Leylin was shocked to realize that his body had been weighted down by what seemed like an entire mountain. He could not move a single inch.
“Although this type of magical artifact is only of middle grade, It has been said that even a semi-converted elemental Magus would be shackled for at least a minute by its imprisonment powers!”
Blood continued to flow from the silver giant’s abdomen, and its guts were visibly hanging out. Unperturbed, the giant advanced towards Leylin and started choking his neck. Its eyes danced with gleeful ridicule, “Now, run for me, little thing!”
“It’s over!”
The crowd in the vicinity sighed.
“Being in a deadlock with a semi-converted elemental Magus for such a long time did not change the fact that he is just a budding Magus. On top of that, the opponent had a middle-grade magical artifact!”
The bespectacled, white-bearded, old geezer from the pub lost his earlier look of pity, and with a tinge of regret, he said, “What a shame! He was a gifted Magus”
“Young man, say your last words!”
A cold smile spread across the silver giant’s face.
“The person who should be saying his last words is you!” A wide smile spread across Leylin’s face.
“Fallen Star Pendant, activate!”
A dark red ray projected from Leylin’s chest and spread to his four limbs at a rapid rate. Immediately, Leylin held down the giant’s two hands. His pupils became vertical slits and carried an amber luster as they radiated a mysterious light.
Innate Spell—Eyes of Petrification!
*Kacha! Kacha!”
The silver giant’s expression became blank, after which an ash-grey color started to grow from the giant’s eyes. The ash-grey color covered the giant’s face in no time and spread quickly towards its chest and limbs.
“Petrifying magic? Goddamn!” The old geezers head on the giant’s chest cried out in an alarmed tone.
Following which, the old geezer ground his teeth, and spat a mouthful of blood on the giant’s body. With a metallic flash, the rate at which the petrifying spell was spreading on the giant’s body slowed down.
“To hell with you!”
Leylin reached out his right hand, and the glow from the Fallen Star Pendant turned into what looked like a long sword, which was then swung down.
*Pu!* On the first swing, the giant’s skull flew up.
On the second swing, Leylin directly dug out the old midget’s visage from the giant’s chest.
*Pa!* The face fell onto the ground. “I will not forgive you!” it shouted.
“It is I who will not forgive you!” With a cold look, Leylin stepped onto the human face.
“Ah…” A depressed voice sounded out, and a puddle of green blood slowly formed under Leylin’s foot.
……
*Huu Huu*…
A light breeze passed. There was a deathly stillness in the crowd.
“He… he actually managed to slay a semi-converted elemental Magus!”
The old geezer with his hanging mouth opened constantly surveyed the surroundings as if he was looking for something.
Immediately, upon seeing Leylin’s gaze turn towards his direction, the old geezer put on a smile and flattered him by saying, “Master Leylin! Please forgive me for offending you, it was a misunderstanding…”
Looking at the old geezer who had changed his facial complexion, Leylin shook his head and was not prepared to deal with him.
There will be no benefit even if I were to murder him. Leylin concluded that he himself was no homicidal maniac.
He picked up his bundle and the loot from his victory, and hastily left the scene. The surrounding crowd naturally opened up a path for him to exit. Magus or acolyte, nobody dared to make eye contact with Leylin.
“I must leave this place quickly!”
Leylin looked at the rapidly shrinking Andre Town in the distance and muttered to himself.
The midget from earlier was obviously just one of the many clones of the opponent.
This aligned with Leylin’s earlier reports. According to the report, the Lilytell family’s elders’ powers should have reached an elemental essence conversion rate of 80% or more, which was the minimum requirement for initiating one’s advancement to a level 2 Magus.
Based on an estimation, the midget earlier had, at most, a 50% elemental essence conversion rate. It was not very stable, and the difference between his and an elder’s true strength was too huge.
Leylin had been introduced to this type of Magus before. It was not easy for them to create a clone, as a copious amount of time and precious materials were needed. Furthermore, if their clone were destroyed, the Magus would be heavily affected as well.
So far, only the clone had chased him up till this point.
Leylin guessed that either the opponent was not able to be here physically, or the clone was intentionally placed on the other side of the Grand Canyon to facilitate communication and to do his bidding.
Regardless, the next wave of attacks from the Lilytell family would arrive soon.
“Speaking of territory, I am still within the boundaries of the dark Magi. Once I reach the domain of the light Magi, even the Lilytell family will not dare to trespass…”
……
Leylin turned his head to take one last look and vanished into the darkness.
Months flew by unconsciously.
In the span of these months, Leylin hurried along his journey with little rest. He traversed large kingdoms, and finally entered the boundary of the light Magi’s domain.
In the south coast, there were two types of Magi. One type of Magus advocated violence, believed in natural selection, and looked up to the enduring dark Magi, while the other type was fond of peace, and revered the scientific research of the light Magi.
Within these two factions, there lay many different groups and academies. While there was a lack of cohesion and an abundance of friction between these groups and academies, they would always stand together as one whenever it was against an enemy.
The extent of the rule of the light Magi lay in the heart of the south coast, while the dark Magi occupied the more desolate outlying areas.
From Leylin’s observations, this sort of distribution of territory looked like a couple of concentric circles. The light Magi occupied the most fertile land in the middle, while the dark Magi occupied everything else around it.
After a prolonged period of travel, Leylin found it hard not to admit that the light Magi territory was generally more prosperous than that of the dark Magi. The commoners in the light Magi territory also enjoyed more peace and stability.
In regards to government administration, the light Magi had to do much more than the dark Magi in order to keep a firm hold on the vast and rich territory
According to the map on the A.I. Chip, Leylin would reach the market place of the light Magi domain, Teljose City, by today.
Leylin had few opportunities to change out of his black robe. He changed out into a clean set of leather armour.
The exquisite armour comfortably fit Leylin’s well-proportioned body, and brought about an air of heroic spirit, making him look more masculine.
The light Magi instinctively viewed the dark Magi as their adversaries, so Leylin did not wish to incur any trouble by doing something rash.
Although it might only be a trade centre, there would surely be people, like the dark Magi, who were there to sell their contraband items. Leylin took extra caution and kept a low profile.
Following the horses, Leylin forged on ahead. He observed that the pathways became wider and wider, and the people used a larger variety of transportation devices to aid in their travels.
Upon further observation, he came across a variety of new and odd things.
For example, he observed a female Magus on a winged steed, and an old geezer on a hot air balloon. Hanging from the hot air balloon, there was a banner, which read, “Welcome to Hookety’s miscellaneous goods shop, we have a supply of…”
Furthermore, Leylin even saw a few machines that resembled the components of futuristic vehicles. The machines, which carried a bunch of dwarfs, roared and rumbled loudly as it sped along the road.