Chapter 54: Wizard Apprentice!

"My lord, the stranger you asked me to watch for has appeared."

"Just now, a thin young man arrived at the town, bought a loaf of black bread, and stopped in the square!"

At dusk, Centurion Lauren hurriedly arrived.

Hearing the report, Gervas's eyes lit up; he knew his first wizard had finally arrived.

But never underestimate wizards.

Although they follow a different path from mages, their spellcasting also requires borrowing biological bones or hair materials.

They are also fond of traveling alone in the dark, using various kinds of blood, bones, and furs to brew terrifying yet potent potions.

But they are indeed one of the pioneers driving this world's extraordinary civilization.

They study the various potentials of the human body, making all of humanity more aware of the various mechanisms contained within themselves.

The various potions they brew can accelerate the cultivation and growth of Title Knights.

Even the growth potions for mages were invented by them.

So, wizards should be considered the 'biologists, medical scientists, geneticists, and genetic engineers' of this otherworld!

Without delay, for the sake of his wizard, Gervas immediately rushed to the town.

Of course, there is a detail here: Gervas went riding a fierce horse.

From afar, Gervas saw that wizard apprentice.

He wore a linen tunic with a cloak draped over it, the hood pulled up to cover most of his face.

It is worth mentioning that although the clothes were worn out, overall he did not look sloppy or dirty like a serf; instead, the garments were washed until they were white.

Is this the rigor of a wizard?

However, the current state of the wizard apprentice was very dire; the black bread was clutched in his hand, unable to be swallowed for a long time, and his body was tottering...

Isabella was very sad; after suffering so much misfortune, her only wish was to find her hometown and return to her mother's side.

But this wish was as unreachable as the stars in the sky.

She knew very well that having been poisoned by the Blue Scorpion poison made from the blood of a Blue Starfish, there was no possibility of survival.

The black bread rolled to the ground, her body collapsed powerlessly, and her gaze turned to the setting sun as her mother's kind face floated before her eyes.

Isabella slowly revealed a smile, tears tracing her eyes, as if she had returned to six years ago.

That year, Isabella was only eight; although born into a serf family, she had her parents' care, and every day she was happy and joyful.

Until one day, a slave-hunting party attacked the village, killed her father, and kidnapped her and her mother.

In the end, her mother was sold to a wealthy household, but because she was young, the wealthy household was unwilling to buy her, so she was taken to the great city.

In that great city, Isabella and many other boys and girls of her age were spotted by a strange man wearing a black cloak and a hood.

Later they learned that he was a wizard.

They became wizard apprentices, traveling constantly, spending almost all of those years on the road and collecting materials.

Isabella grew farther and farther from her mother, but fortunately, the wizard taught them much knowledge and promised that as long as they became true wizards, they would gain freedom.

However, the growth of wizard apprentices was very dangerous; years passed, and of the five or six partners originally chosen by the mentor alongside her, only she and Lina remained.

Along the way, the mentor replaced apprentice after apprentice; almost the vast majority met various accidents.

Of course, Isabella used to truly believe those were accidents, until a month ago, when Lina came to her crying in the middle of the night, saying she had discovered a secret the night before.

That was that the deaths of all the apprentices were likely caused by their mentor; the mentor was using the wizard apprentices to nourish his own body.

Isabella initially did not believe it, thinking only that Lina had had a nightmare.

After all, for six years, the mentor had been both teacher and friend.

But unexpectedly, three days later, Lina died; it was said she was attacked by a demon beast wolf, leaving only an arm behind.

Isabella finally became alert and began to watch the mentor's movements at night.

But for three consecutive nights, after the sky grew dark, Isabella would fall into a deep sleep.

If it were just one day, Isabella would have thought she was simply sleepy, but for three consecutive days, this was definitely a problem.

Isabella secretly brewed and took an antidote potion.

That night, she indeed did not fall asleep again.

Afterwards, in the middle of the night, she witnessed a scene that terrified her: the mentor had selected a wizard apprentice who had followed him for a year, and connected their two bodies together using special tubes and needles.

Then the wizard apprentice's blood was drained, flowing into the mentor's body.

After finishing everything, the mentor came to her tent and the tents of a few other apprentices, then gazed at her for a long time, whispering, "Soon, soon, I will break through the bottleneck to three stars; at that time, you will be the best supplement; I will definitely break through and reach the rank of High Wizard!"

Isabella fled!

Because besides Lina, she was the only three-star wizard apprentice remaining by the mentor's side.

So, the supplement the mentor spoke of must have been her.

She wanted to live; she wanted to see her mother one more time.

After various dangers, Isabella finally escaped to the border; as long as she fled into the chaotic Chaos Wasteland, the mentor surely would not find her.

But unexpectedly, she was still too naive; it turned out the mentor had already planted poison in the bodies of all the wizard apprentices.

In the past, he gave them a pill every month, saying it helped their cultivation; in fact, that should have been a pill used to suppress the outbreak of the Blue Scorpion poison.

"Mother, I miss you so, so much!"

"My lord, she seems to be poisoned!"

Isabella's consciousness began to blur; just then, a call entered her ears.

"Give her this Tulip Antidote Potion!"

"This... My lord, she is just a serf; this potion is worth one gold coin!"

"Lauren, in my Storm Domain, I permit no one to stand by and watch someone die; because in this dangerous Land of Death, only by uniting can our human race defeat demons and other races!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Immediately after, Isabella felt a potion being poured into her mouth.

With a faint warm current, Isabella's consciousness cleared somewhat, and she saw the face of this lord clearly.

Very young, very handsome, and kind-hearted, but...

"It's... it's no use! I... I've been poisoned by Blue Scorpion venom... Thank you!"

To meet such a kind person, and a noble, at the moment of death, Isabella felt a sliver of comfort.

"Blue Scorpion venom? Is it that strong? My Tulip Antidote can even neutralize the poison of a second-rank snake!"

"Blue Scorpion venom is equivalent to the venom of a sixth-rank poisonous creature, unless... unless it's a unicorn..."

"A unicorn?" Gervas's eyes lit up; he did not need to pretend to be foolish and recount the legend of the unicorns anymore.

"Y-yes, thank you, noble... I..." Before she could finish speaking, Isabella could hold on no longer and fainted directly.