Chapter 383: Vivian

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Whoosh!

One and a half months later.

The Starfall Reconnaissance Craft sped through the sky, leaving behind what seemed to be a black shadow. The Arcane Sorcerers rushing their way through the Vicious Thorn Forest couldn’t help but spare a glance.

After assuming it was just a high-level sorcerer passing by, these Arcane Sorcerers continued on their way.

As for the sorcerer-apprentices that were in the same forest, they didn’t even have any clue that something had passed by.

Hum…

All of a sudden, the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft went from extremely fast to stopping midair in a second, completely ignoring the laws of inertia and momentum.

Slowly, it descended until it was half a meter above the ground.

From the single layer of transparent metal, Grimm and Myna saw a black sorcerer tower that was a few hundred meters tall. Immeasurable amounts of magic energy condensed into a layer of clouds at the spire of the tower.

“We’ve arrived at Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy,” said Grimm with a faint smile tugging the edges of his mouth.

Several dark sorcerer apprentices were discreetly checking on the situation, and some of them even doing so in secret. At the same time, an owl fluttered its wings as it flew over to the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft.

Click!

The upper hatch of the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft opened, and Grimm who had been lying in the cabin stood up and flew out of the cockpit slowly before stopping midair.

With a swing of his ram-horned magic staff, a black rift in space appeared and promptly swallowed the Starfall Reconnaissance Craft.

The sorcerer-apprentices looked at this mysterious and strong Dark Sorcerer as they speculated, watched and yearned.

A gray-spiraled Mask of Truth, a sorcerer’s robe flowing fluidly like sand, a ram-horned magic staff, and a beautifully-feathered bird looking around its surroundings while curiously standing on his shoulder.

When would they ever become a powerful sorcerer the likes of him…

Of course, Grimm could feel their gazes on him; some curious, some heated and some yearning.

As an official sorcerer who had gone through the stage of a sorcerer-apprentice, he completely understood how they felt right now as they stared at him.

Between these sorcerer-apprentices, most of them had just understood the dark side of being a Dark Sorcerer and wanted to distance themselves from the sorcerers that were mysterious but irresistible. They were not yet completely comfortable becoming that way.

Perhaps some of them hoped he would become their master, and impart them with endless knowledge of the arcane?

Hmm… maybe some of them were like him, hoping to one day become a powerful sorcerer and command the same mysterious powers as he did.

One day, when some of them had become official sorcerers, would they perhaps have the same thoughts as him upon returning to their academy?

Hoot! hoot!

“Welcome to Black Isotta Sorcerer Academy, Honored Sorcerer Grimm,” greeted the owl guardian who seemed to have recognized him.

“You’re dismissed. My young master is here to discuss matters with Master Peranos,” Myna said, acting like a big-shot as he lifted his head and pointed his wing in the direction of the owl, asking it to leave.

The owl’s almond-yellow eyes looked at Myna and blinked before letting out a hoot and flying away.

Grimm was lost in thought.

It seemed that these owl guardians could draw on some of Black Isotta’s power. They weren’t as strong as demon hunters but were probably stronger than the average Level-1 Arcane Sorcerer.

“Whatcha looking at, brat?!” Myna fiercely shouted at an apprentice, making them flinch and back off in fright.

Ignoring all this, Grimm flew directly to Master Peranos’ laboratory on the 79th floor.

Standing before the door, Grimm carefully straightened out his clothes before warning Myna, “Don’t you dare squabble with Garnigel when we go in later or consider our deal off!”

Myna simply huffed impatiently in response.

“Alright, alright. Tsk… I’m a part of the great Steel Emblem Mynas. I won’t quarrel with a lowly black cat.”

Shooting a killer glare in Myna’s direction, Grimm gently knocked on the door.

Creak!

Somewhat surprised to see Master Peranos’ wife Alice behind the door, Grimm bowed his head respectfully.

“Madame.”

“Ah, if it isn’t Grimm. Please come in. Your master is in the laboratory with Valor.”

Alice smiled warmly, her gentle demeanor reminiscent of the tree of life.

“Understood.”

As he was walking into the main hall, he suddenly remembered something. He opened up a dimensional gap and handed a bottle filled with a white fluid to Alice.

“This is some seasoning I found while on a demon-hunting crusade. I tried it and it’s pretty good, so I got one for you and master.”

Wafting with the decaying aroma of butter, the bottle was filled with a seasoning he found by accident in the Pinna Burrow in the Burrow World.

As a food connoisseur, Alice had a great fondness for exotic ingredients and seasonings, so she accepted the gift graciously.

“Alright, you go spend some time with your master while I prepare dinner.”

“Alright.”

Grimm bowed politely and left the main hall, walking towards the laboratory corridor.

After sparing a few glances at the other laboratories, he made his way to the biological specimen laboratory and gently pushed open the laboratory door.

Creak…

Entering the laboratory, he saw Valor whose visage had become old. His outward appearance had drastically changed, but from the way he boisterously laughed, it still seemed like the same person on the inside.

Including Valor, there were four people around the laboratory bench.

The other three were Master Peranos, Garnigel, and a young girl Grimm couldn’t recognize.

The girl was a sorcerer-apprentice that appeared well behaved and proper. She was somewhat thin, almost like she stopped growing. She also didn’t carry the slightest dark and grim presence that dark sorcerers did.

The girl was hiding behind Master Peranos, her lips pursed while she curiously stared at Myna.

“Ah, you’re back? Come and see this new specimen your senior brought from the Nut Fairy World.”

Peranos waved Grimm over, his face that was riddled with scars and stitches as intimidating as ever.

“Master.”

Grimm bowed politely at Master Peranos while Valor laughed heartily.

“If it isn’t Grimm! We haven’t seen each other since you left for the Seven-Rings Holy Tower. You’ve changed so much in the past few centuries!”

Valor looked like he had put on years and his left eye had been switched with a mechanical one. An elemental sphere with life energy laid obediently on his head.

It was an irony that the one who had in fact changed so much after a few hundred years turned out to be the one to say that Grimm had changed a lot.

Grimm smiled and threw a bottle of the seasoning which he gifted Alice to Valor.

He smiled. “Here’s a seasoning I found in the world I went to on a mission.”

Valor twisted open the cap and a decaying buttery smell wafted out of it.

“Haha, not bad!”

Saying this, he waved the girl behind Peranos over and pulled her close, pointing to Grimm, “Vivian, this if your third senior, Grimm. He won the position of Apex Sorcerer Apprentice during the qualification battles back then just like your eldest senior Quiet Spring. He probably has a lot of goodies up his sleeve too.”

Uhm?

Junior Vivian?

Grimm was somewhat surprised, but then again, it wasn’t all that far-fetched.

Master Peranos seemed like he really fancied this female apprentice, smiling as he introduced, “Grimm, Vivian invented an Eternally Projecting Crystal Ball before the Gory Test just like you did back in the day.”

Eternally Projecting Crystal Ball?

Grimm was curious about his new junior as he looked at her, feeling a natural closeness to her in the same way Quiet Spring did when she saw him all those years ago.

Thinking for a while, he took out a Combustar.

This was something he got on the Sacred Lava Mountain in the Shadow World. He traded with a lava giant using sorcerer coins to get this, and even though it wasn’t worth much to him, he knew it would be a precious resource for Vivian who had just started out as a sorcerer.

The Combustar looked dark and dull like a piece of coal as it was covered by an outer crust.

Grimm wiped it gently and the outer crust was removed, revealing a bright shining gem.

He then handed it over to Vivian whose eyes were filled with the bright sparkle of the Combustar.

Trying to emulate Quiet Spring’s tone, he said, “I traded this with a foreign being in my mission world. It’s filled with quite a bit of flame energy. Use it well.”

Seeing the ecstatic expression of a girl who seemed almost too quiet, he suddenly thought of something.

Hopefully one day, she would be able to get out of his shadow in their master’s eyes, the same way he got out of Quiet Spring’s shadow all those years ago.

Vivian accepted the Combustar graciously.

As she held it with great care, she bowed bashfully in thanks.

“Thank you, Third Senior.”

She paused for a bit then continued, “Senior Grimm, the parrot on your shoulder looks beautiful!”