Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 168: Sacrifice 2

The poisoned magician's face turned pale, his once healthy complexion now coated in a dreadful shade of dark gray. His body trembled slightly, as if in immense pain. After only a few minutes, the magician could no longer sustain himself, his eyes closed, and he passed out.

Seeing this, Caesars began to whisper a mysterious, ancient incantation. As the incantation rang out, an invisible force quietly permeated the air. Then, a misty substance like light smoke slowly rose from the unconscious magician's head.

Caesars cast his soul-absorbing spell with all his might, but he was only able to capture a few wisps of "smoke." As if drawn by some force, the rest of the smoke-like substance gradually dissipated into thin air, leaving no trace. Seeing this, Caesars didn't dare to delay. He quickly reached into his arms, pulled out a grayish-white magic gem, and carefully placed it above the magician's head.

When the magic gem came into contact with the wisps of soul energy, it emitted a faint glow. Then, like a moth to a flame, the soul energy poured into the gem continuously. Caesars observed intently, while Liv watched curiously beside him.

Not long after absorbing a few strands of soul energy, Caesars suddenly felt his head grow dizzy. This feeling was quite strange, a combination of a heavy, oppressive feeling and an indescribable comfort. He knew that this was exactly as described in the magic notes—he could only absorb soul energy once a month, otherwise he would suffer serious damage.

At the same time, the off-white magic gem displayed an astonishing absorption capacity. In less than half a minute, it had absorbed all the soul energy it could absorb. Meanwhile, the magician, who had once still had a faint breath, completely lost his life, becoming a cold corpse.

Liv, who had been standing nearby and observing the entire process, finally couldn't contain her curiosity. She pointed at the magic gem with a unique color and a strange aura and asked Caesar, "Caesar, where did you get this magic gem?"

"I picked it up from the tomb of Duchess Vivian Barton. It fell off the tombstone by itself!" Caesars replied.

"I know that cemetery. I heard that the entire cemetery was made of Abyssal Alchemy, and some materials also came from the Abyssal Plane." Liv asked, and she revealed some things that Caesars didn't know.

"Liv, you know a lot!"

"of course!"

"Liv, I'm going to clean up all the bad guys first. You sit down and rest for a while!"

Although these mercenaries from the Saint Laurent Empire were helpless, they had other options and didn't need to kill or rob. Kaisas put all the mercenaries together, placed the Soul Gem between them, and cast a Dark Mist spell.

This spell was very strange. There was no sound at all in the thick black fog, and the mercenaries seemed not to have been attacked by the spell.

Just as Caesar was puzzled, the black fog gradually dissipated, and the scene on the ground was terrifying. The corpses had turned into bones, and the bones were full of holes.

"This spell is quite powerful!" Liv didn't find the bones scary, but was amazed at the spell's lethality.

"This is my first time using it, and it's incredibly corrosive, almost as powerful as strong acid!"

The spell had become more powerful, and Caesars was eager to try it out. He wanted to find some opponents of similar strength to test it out. The mercenary who had just been killed was relatively weak and had low magic resistance. He couldn't see the true power of the spell, nor could he feel the increase in strength brought by his promotion to Grand Mage.

At this time, the little black snake came back. It swam to the side of Caesar and spit out a storage ring from its mouth.

"Liv, the stalker who escaped is definitely dead. The storage ring has been brought back by the black snake. This guy has grown up a little and is getting smarter!!"

"Kaesus, the 'Black Pearl' is truly clever. It's Lord Raven's magical mount. It's in the Spider Jungle next to our tribe. The elders of the Elven Council wanted to attack our tribe, but the Black Pearl emerged from the dense forest and took a turn. The elders were so frightened that they all fled!"

"When it grows up, the Dark Spider becomes a super monster. Of course, it is smarter than the Golden-Eyed Black Snake!"

"No, Black Pearl is a legendary monster. Its legs alone are over six meters long. It is the strongest in the Endless Forest, bar none!"

"Liv, how did the Dark Spider become a super monster?"

"Because it ate the magic core of the abyss monster, it became very intelligent and can communicate with us through its soul!"

The Abyss, a mysterious and dangerous plane. Almost every major event on Roland Continent is inextricably linked to it. The demonic invasion of Roland Continent directly led to the destruction of the Elven Kingdom. The demonic invasion also directly caused a massive earthquake on Roland Continent, altering the landscape of half the continent.

"Liv, let's go through Felwood and head to the Redstone Kingdom to buy some rations. We need to buy more this time. I went to the ogre tribe in the highlands and they ate a large cheese pie weighing about 30 kilograms in one meal. My food reserves are almost gone!"

"Kassus, the Highland Ogres have a small appetite; they're only half-ogres. The White Ogres have a large appetite. They were bred by the Archmage, and they can eat from morning till night if they let their appetites run wild. The Archmage was troubled by the White Ogres' excessive appetite, and ultimately had no choice but to banish them to the Highlands!"

The books in the Magic Tower contained detailed records of the Ogres and the Northmen. Caesars didn't care about these trivial matters; he needed to gather a large amount of training resources.

In the early morning, the Felwood Forest was filled with thick morning fog, and visibility was very low. Ten meters away, it was all white and nothing could be seen clearly.

Caesars set off with Liv. They headed due east and first went to the road at the edge of the forest where carriages could pass.

"Kaesas, put on your cloak quickly, otherwise you will get wet soon!" Liv, wearing a fur cloak, reminded from the side.

"It's only a few miles from here to the edge of the forest. I can use my magic shield. This animal hide cloak is too stuffy!"

Caesars activated his magic shield and slowly walked forward. The fallen leaves on the ground were damp, giving people an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

"I can also use magic shield, but I'm not very proficient in it yet!"

"Liv, don't use your magic shield, or your stalker disguise will be invalidated!"

"I didn't use the magic shield, and I suddenly couldn't remember the spell!"

Hearing Liv's answer, Caesars almost laughed out loud.

Less than half an hour into the forest, Caesars heard the sound of horse hooves and the friction of axles. But the front was still a vast expanse of white, and there was no sign of the carriage.

Fortunately, the carriage was also in thick fog and was moving very slowly. As it approached the edge of the Felwood Forest, Caesar vaguely saw a convoy.

"It's a caravan transporting food!" Liv said next to Caesar.

"Liv, your eagle eyes are too powerful. I can only see the blurry shadow of the carriage!" Caesars said with some emotion.

The two quickened their pace, quickly walked to a carriage, and sat on the animal-skin covered carriage without the driver's permission. The driver turned around and saw a wizard holding a staff, and immediately closed his mouth.

"Liv, the caravan is covered with animal skins. How do you know it's a caravan transporting food?"

The carriage was covered tightly with waterproof animal skins, and Caesars was also wondering.

"There's a carriage up ahead with a flag on it saying Sidney's Grocer!"

Sidney Grain Company was a trading company in the Gravel Kingdom, primarily dealing in grain. The Gravel Kingdom had a sparse population but abundant land, and their grain was even cheaper than in the southern Roland Empire.

"These seem to be dry food, the kind that can be eaten directly!" Liv said suddenly.

Caesars was even more confused. Liv's eagle eyes were already very powerful, but her nose could be so sensitive?

"Coachman, are you carrying dry food on your cart?" Caesars asked the coachman.

"Yes, Master Mage. This is the carefully prepared dry food transported on thirty-two carriages. It uses roasted flour and bean powder, as well as ground dried meat, and a small amount of refined salt. It is then pressed into small pieces in steel molds. It does not require cooking and can be eaten directly!"

"Is this military rations?"

"It's definitely not military rations. Military rations are not purchased from outside. It was ordered by a merchant company in Abel City. Sidney Grain Company is only responsible for the production and delivery!"

Hearing the driver's answer, Caesars nodded slightly. Considering the rainy season in the south of the Roland Empire, dry food seemed to be commonplace.

"We are also going to Abel City, so it's on our way!" said Caesars.

The convoy moved forward slowly in the fog. At noon, the wind finally picked up, and the thick fog was gradually blown away, and the speed of the carriage gradually increased.

By sunset, the caravan hadn't left Felwood. The carriages from Sidney's grain shop had gathered together and stopped in the woods beside the road.

The forest was very sparse, with many tree stumps over a foot high and ashes surrounded by rocks. People must have camped here frequently, and the stumps were used as chairs.

At this time, the manager of Sidney Grain Store discovered Caesars and Liv. He behaved very respectfully and invited them to dinner.

In a small meeting hall atop a tower in the distant North, three aged magicians sat restlessly, worrying about a life-extending potion. The golden ginseng from the Thorn Flower Merchants was still years away. Joanna, sitting off to one side, appeared relaxed, intently watching a magic photo.

"Joanna, stop looking at the photos and let's think of a solution together!" said the great alchemist Kandel.

"Damn you, Kandel! This is a photo of Caesars from seven years ago, and you're just giving it to me today!" Joanna, fuming with anger, glared at the great alchemist and continued, "Besides deep meditation, what other solutions are there? Do you dare to go to Thorn Flower and steal the golden ginseng?"

Joanna had a golden ginseng, which was given to her by Caesars. She was unwilling to share it with the three old men, nor was she willing to reveal this secret.

"I'll go out less and wander around in the future. It was a wasted trip to the highlands. I've been busy doing nothing these past few years!" Kandel was also very helpless. He had been busy for more than ten years with almost no results.

"Kandel, seven years have passed. Do you still have the confidence to defeat Caesar?" Joanna put away the photo stone and suddenly asked Kandel.

When Kandel took out the photo stone, he said that he could defeat Caesar, so Joanna asked him this.

"It should be okay now. After all, I'm at a higher level than him, so I can probably weaken and resist his spells. But his spells are very strange. They're instantaneous, dealing no damage, but leaving the target weak and powerless. The most astonishing thing is that they can make the magician unable to sense magical elements, not even the elements within his own body!"

"When fighting with Caesar, the magician became a useless person!" Joanna exclaimed.

Kandel nodded slightly. At this moment, the elderly Roman coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "Spells that don't cause damage are easy to resist. It mainly depends on whether there is level suppression. For example, if the target is low-level, the success rate of the stun spell is very high. If the target is high-level, casting the stun spell is very likely to backfire!"

"Old Roman, Caesar's three spells were extraordinary. His opponent at the time was a high-level magician. Another thing to note is that Caesar's strength is immense. He even broke open a magic steel cage with his bare hands. Only great warriors and above possess such immense strength. This guy is a monster now. A high-level magician, yet he's holding a metal staff weighing over a hundred pounds!"

When talking about Caesar's strength, old Roman was speechless. He knew that the other party had many secrets.

Tower Master Ethan remained silent throughout the discussion, sitting to the side and listening silently. Kandel was worried about the golden-eyed black demon snake. Ever since it returned to the tower's feeding room, the Grand Alchemist had difficulty collecting snake venom. Whenever the magic steel door to the feeding room was opened, the three golden-eyed black demon snakes would spray venom toward the entrance.

Joanna held up the image stone again, observing the metal staff held by Caesars in the photo. She and the three old wizards were not from the same generation; the age difference between them was enormous. She was less than a hundred years old. Kandel, the youngest of the three, was nearly eight hundred, while the other two were over a thousand years old.

Without a powerful life potion, it would be difficult for a great magician to live beyond a thousand years old. This is the means by which the Thorn Flower Trading Company controls several major magical forces.