Chapter 156: The Willing and the Spell

When Luge saw those people walking ahead again, they had already hidden behind a large rock; whether it was the two lone travelers or that duo, all were lying obediently behind the stone, bodies in a tense state.

This couldn't help but arouse the curiosity of the two of them; moreover, for greater safety, the two of them had lagged a step behind all along the way, and this group didn't show any dissatisfaction, but rather an attitude of complete indifference.

Whoosh! The sound of tearing air rang out! Then came a series of light sounds.

The spot where those few people were hiding, due to angle and position, was the place where the light sounds were densest.

Luge couldn't help but widen his eyes; after that dense series of light sounds, a small thing would occasionally be left behind — precisely the blood-red small stones that the old Blood Race member and the scaly old man had bet and fought over before. Most of the splashing small stones shattered completely into nothing upon impact; the few that remained were picked up by those hiding behind the rock.

The extended hand of one of the duo was a step slow, and his palm was pierced by a newly arriving blood-colored pebble.

The few behind the stone also started disputing; two relatively large blood-red pebbles had fallen in a dangerous position, everyone hesitated, yet feared being beaten to them by others, and they seemed to begin negotiating.

"Do we still have to go past?"

Luge watched from afar, turned his head, and said to Green.

Green looked thoughtful: "Let's wait a bit first."

Luge nodded; he asked only to see if Green had any special preparation. Only after each heavy impact and roar would those splashing pebbles appear; when they were at the intersection before, it was completely calm here — meaning they could completely wait, wait for everything to end; after all, they didn't have to be like those people, those people couldn't afford to wait, because they were afraid the blood-red pebbles would be snatched up first by others.

The two of them retreated back to the corner and sat down to wait silently.

At this moment the five who had been fighting halfway also came running over in a fluster; one with a bruised and swollen face even gave the two sitting on the ground a surprised look.

The advantageous positions behind that large rock were also what they were fighting over.

Luge poked his head out from the distant corner and smiled watching their every move, finding it quite interesting; but as he watched, he also felt their figures hiding behind the giant rock while scrambling and shoving were rather bleak — they had already been disciplined by this strange environment into a peculiar kind of predator.

Suddenly, the Apprentice Seeker sitting nearby with eyes closed in meditation opened his eyes.

Luge also stood up.

The heavy impact sounds had not appeared for a good while.

The two strode forward; those nine people had also already come out from behind the hiding rock and were now fighting to search for any blood-red pebbles scattered nearby — this also proved the two's judgment.

Luge's foot paused; he happened to step on a blood-colored pebble, so he picked it up and held it in his hand.

Under the surprised gazes of the crowd, the two passed the large stone blocks and walked toward the depths of the passage.

"Hey, it's dangerous over there." That bruised-faced man from before suddenly spoke up to warn them.

Luge smiled at him, and casually tossed the blood-red pebble in his hand in an arc over to him.

The two didn't stop; the further back they went, the more cave walls emitting a blood-red faint light appeared — the two seemed to be walking toward brightness.

Gradually a rough, heavy breathing sound reached Luge's ears.

Simultaneously, at their feet as they kept walking, those blood-red pebbles were already visible everywhere.

Luge saw a spacious, bright large cave.

A tall, thin old man was sitting on a stone inside the cave, both hands holding a very large and thick blood-red book, reading it seriously, occasionally turning a page and mumbling to himself for a long while.

Luge glanced at Green beside him; this guy was also hesitating at this moment.

"Hmph, finally two decent little guys have come over..." The tall, thin old man raised a bald head, on which there were still some impact marks.

Luge just silently looked at Green.

Green took a deep breath, lightly raised his elbow and extended his finger; the pattern belonging to the Knowledge Sanctuary slowly manifested.

"Knowledge Sanctuary, Apprentice Seeker Green, greets you, sir." Green bowed in salute.

Luge also followed along and saluted, playing a polite junior.

That tall yet frail old man gave a cold laugh.

"Seekers, huh?" the old man said. "That's fine; no wonder you have such guts. I thought you'd run away. If you kept sitting outside and didn't come in, I'd have been unable to resist going out to catch you..."

"If we can serve the Adult and help with a small matter, that is our honor." Green said.

The tall old man's frame was very broad; he should have been a very tall and sturdy person before, yet now he was skin-and-bones, but looked inexplicably fierce and powerful.

The tall, thin old man laughed.

"I know what you want — unrecorded Spells, right? I'll give you one right now," the old man looked at them and said, "And you must learn it; if you can't learn it, you're of no value to me, just like them..."

The tall, thin old man pointed to a corner of the mountain cave; there were dozens of skeletons sitting or kneeling there.

Most of those skeletons sat in neat postures, as if in the last moment of life they were still meditating, meditating until death.

Luge blinked, looking at the old man before him and recalling his earlier sigh; he suddenly felt maybe it wasn't the environment that disciplined those people, but this old man — this old fellow continuously lured people over with blood-red pebbles, and once new entrants to the Black Prison arrived here to pick up pebbles and caught his eye, he would detain them.

Looks like they have to help him do something, and the prerequisite for doing the task must be to first master a unique Spell.

Luge's little heart beat a bit faster; but alongside fear there was inexplicably a bit of excitement — he felt he clearly wasn't this kind of thrill-seeking person before, but now looking at that row of white bones he felt a bit eager to try; maybe it was from confidence in his own talent, or maybe precisely wanting to verify that confidence.

"My friend hasn't reached the Rank 5 limit of Spiritual Power yet; if I alone learn it, I can help the Adult — hope you won't make things difficult for him." Green said.

"His Spiritual Power is even more condensed and stable than yours, hammered to the Rank 5 limit for many years; you'd better mind yourself, Apprentice Seeker," the old man sneered. "If you don't master the Spell within my allotted time, you'll never have a chance to become a true Seeker."

Green looked at Luge in surprise, especially at Luge's big mouth, ears, etc. — the most eye-catching parts of the Bloodline features on his body.

That gaze, combined with this guy's previous rigid remarks when talking about Burning Blood City and Bloodline Modifiers, seemed to be saying that the sacrifices of these Bloodline Wizards were all worth it — trading life danger and inhuman appearance for such excellent aptitude.

Luge even saw a trace of being moved in his eyes.

(Chapter End)