Dark Alchemist Sherah looked at her hardworking student with a smile and replied. “As expected of my student. The Light Absorption Spell will show its true might if your Darkness Manipulation is at the Intermediate Realm. Aside from that, the Shadow Soldier Spell would be a lot easier to record if your two Exclusive Spells are at Intermediate Realm.”

Maya’s eyes lit up after hearing her Master’s words.

“Is that true, Master Sherah? Can my mastery over the two other spells affect my Spell Recording with the Shadow Soldier?” She asked in excitement as her tiredness suddenly disappeared.

“This is common knowledge. But even though I said it would be a lot easier, it would still take you a couple of years to record the third Exclusive Spell. As a matter of fact, any Spell Model that summons any special beings is difficult to record. Especially for the Shadow Soldier since it’s a very special Dark Art.”

Maya nodded at her words. She didn’t mind the two years at all since she knew that this third exclusive Spell was exceptional.

If she can make her two exclusive spells reach the intermediate realm through the help of her Master’s potions, she will certainly break a record! Some eighth-year students haven’t even recorded the Create: Shadow Soldier Spell!

If she succeeds in recording the Spell in her fourth year, she’ll definitely shine once she participates in the Twelve Academies Competition.

She can’t wait to start the class and let everyone know she’s the best in their batch! 𝘳.𝑐𝘰𝓂

‘Vale Chambers… You took the limelight I should have had at the beginning of our first year. Your previous achievement glory will be completely forgotten this year, and my plan can finally move forward.’ Maya silently felt smug as she looked at her Master gratefully.

***

It has been two weeks since Vale met with Cressida in the Enchanted Forest.

At that time, he noticed that the Elementalists were actually searching for him in the forest and wanted to deal with them.

Unfortunately, Cressida stopped him from doing so, telling him that he would just attract more trouble if he killed them.

Vale didn’t argue with that since he also felt uncomfortable showing his Extraction to this woman.

He didn’t mind the Professor and the Headmaster since, no matter what, they were acquainted with his Master Heinz, and they were aware that he was a ‘test subject’ in order to create a Branch of the Darkness Arcane Path.

Whatever he does, they wouldn’t suspect too much if he blamed his Master for it.

However, it would be different with this person who wasn’t aware of it.

“Found it…” Cressida said as she looked at the huge cave entrance about 300 meters away.

Over the past two weeks, they have stayed in various villages and towns surrounding the mountain range to rent separate rooms.

This is so they could search for the Dark Spirit that was staying somewhere in the forest.

The Dark Spirit that was around here doesn’t stay in a permanent location, but they know that it roams around the forest…

Of course, during this time, Vale had already sold most of the Night Flare Grass that he found, allowing him to earn over 3 thousand zen in cash. Only a few of them were left in his bag, which he plans to use on his own.

They’ve also encountered two Evil Creatures, but Vale failed to extract them when they were still alive because of Cressida’s interference. He can only be satisfied with their corpse extraction.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As they got closer, Vale suddenly heard the sound of metal crashing on rocks as he realized that the cave was actually a mining place—No, it was most likely a manmade tunnel!

“There’s a construction going on. It’s probably for the railway, look.” Vale pointed at the workers who were being supervised by a group of well-dressed people. They seemed to be nobles or business owners who were overlooking the construction of the railroad.

“Should we ask them if they encountered some paranormal activities around here?” Cressida asked as she looked at Vale.

Over the past two weeks, she noticed that Vale’s vigilance around her had lowered. She couldn’t help but feel happy about this because this was what she wanted to happen.

Vale hesitated whether to approach them.

“I’m not sure, but I feel like there’s a problem here.”

“Mhmm… You’re right. Those people aren’t normal businessmen. They’re all Arcane Arts Practitioners. Especially the one wearing a blue coat. He looks intimidating.”

“They’re still about 200 meters away. You can tell?” Vale curiously asked.

He can’t believe that Cressida has a wider range of Magic Zone than him.

“Of course not. I have my scouts.” Cressida proudly replied.

This made Vale aware that her Banshee had already gone ahead to scout the area.

As they slowly got closer, Vale finally had a chance to use his Divine Sense. His range was about 170 meters, but it was enough.

Psychic Arts Practitioner with 10 filled Spell Lights.

Rune Arts Practitioner with 6 filled Spell Lights.

Rune Arts Practitioner with 7 filled Spell Lights.

Rune Arts Practitioner with 6 filled Spell Lights.

Rune Arts Practitioner with 7 filled Spell Lights.

Just like what Cressida said, the five were actually Arcane Arts Practitioners. Furthermore, four of them were Runecaster with a Psychic in the group.

“One of them is practicing Psychic Arts, huh… How rare…” Vale muttered as he was truly curious about the practitioners of this Arcane Path.

He had a vague idea about the Runecaster, but for the Psychic Arts Practitioners, he could only guess that they had some great mentality. They can probably use telepathy like it was nothing, or perhaps, bend a spoon with their mind.

“Did you just say one of them is a Psychic?” Cressida suddenly stopped in her footsteps as soon as she heard what Vale just said.

“Yes… Is there a problem with that?” Vale asked curiously. This was the first time he had seen her looking terrified.

She wasn’t even afraid of staying in the forest in the middle of the night! She was also unafraid of ghosts or scary creatures since she was used to having Banshee around her.

“Not good… We have to leave this place now.” She didn’t answer Vale as she swiftly turned around to leave.

There was no way Vale would stay here, so he also planned to escape.

However, it was too late!

Several Rune Characters were triggered by their movement as the Runecasters discovered their location!

The man wearing a blue coat glanced at Vale before signaling to the four Runecasters to chase them.

Their action didn’t escape Vale’s senses as he even noticed the irregular breathing of the Runecaster. Their eyes were also dull and seemed emotionless, similar to a puppet!

𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝓂