Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 220 Underground Corridor

Old Joey paced back and forth in the small courtyard with a smile on his face, as if all his worries had been lifted. Meanwhile, Kaisas, sitting in a comfortable recliner, was concentrating on studying the map in his hand.

It was a map of the southern Yellowstone Mountains, marked with a hidden path. This path seemed to be connected to another map showing a mysterious tomb. Caesars carefully spread out the two maps and compared them. After careful observation and analysis, he was surprised to discover that this hidden path was very close to the southernmost mage tomb.

Unfortunately, Rodman is not there at the moment, and Caesars himself has never been there in person. So for now, all these discoveries are just speculations, and more clues and actual exploration are needed to verify their authenticity.

In the peaceful and tranquil Fire Maple City, the pace of life seemed slow and leisurely. It was a sunny day, and while Caesars was leisurely basking in the sun, he stumbled upon an amusing scene—the greedy puppy crouched at the back door of the pastry shop, salivating with gusto yet helpless. Although he couldn't taste the tempting snacks, just the scent of their aroma was enough to captivate him, leaving him completely captivated.

At this moment, Caesars suddenly shouted, "Damn dog, here are some snacks!"

Before the words had faded, the lazily sprawled puppy suddenly turned its head, its gaze fixed on the exquisite snacks on the coffee table. Instantly, it stood up and, like a flash of dark red lightning, appeared beside the coffee table in a flash.

"You dead dog, you can only eat two snacks this time. However, I will give you two fire crystals, two fresh and delicious fruits, a handful of fragrant dried meat, and a piece of bread with a rich milky aroma. This way, you should be able to eat your fill!"

The puppy hummed with excitement at the thought of such a rich feast, and wagged its tail happily. It was obvious that it was very satisfied with the feast.

Caesars took out the puppy's magic steel food bowl and placed the promised treats into it one by one. When the bowl was completely filled with food, Old Joey, who was sitting nearby, suddenly widened his eyes, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. He noticed two fire crystals gleaming with a fiery red light in the bowl.

"Oh my god, Caesars! This little fellow eats dozens of gold coins in one meal!"

Old Joey couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

Kaisas's man, however, appeared calm and composed. He smiled and explained, "Old Joey, there's no need to be so surprised. This seemingly insignificant puppy is no ordinary dog. It now possesses the ability to hunt monsters on its own. The fire crystals it enjoys are entirely earned through its own ability!"

At this point, the puppy had already impatiently buried its head in the magic steel bowl filled with food, devouring it voraciously. Old Joey, standing nearby, seemed a bit skeptical. He walked over to a nearby chair and sat down, watching the puppy devouring the meal with a somewhat curious look.

After a while, Old Joey finally couldn't suppress his doubts anymore and asked again, "Kaisas, is it also a Warcraft?"

"Old Joey, you guessed right. It will probably be taller than the Frostmane Bull in the future!"

"It's so small, yet it eats so much in one meal. I'm afraid even the Duke won't be able to support it in the future!"

Old Joey looked at the problem from the perspective of a noble, but Caesars also felt that the puppy ate a little too much. Once it grew to the size of a bull, storing food for it would become a big problem.

Time flew by like a fleeting horse, and in the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed. On a sunny day, Caesar's communication stone suddenly flickered and vibrated slightly, as if conveying some important message.

Kaisas was delighted, knowing that Old Ethan must have arrived in Fire Maple City. Without giving it any time to think, he immediately put on his iconic black magic robe and hurried towards the square. Along the way, he was extremely anxious, wishing he could fly to Old Ethan in an instant.

Finally, they arrived at the main square of Fire Maple City. It was bustling with people, but Caesars had no time to pay attention. He just kept craning his neck, scanning the crowd eagerly, trying to find the familiar figure of Old Ethan. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not find any trace of Old Ethan.

"Damn dog, can't you smell old Ethan?"

The puppy sniffed around the square for a long time, and finally could only shake its head towards Caesars.

In desperation, Caesars had to take out the communication stone from his arms and shouted at it: "Old Ethan, where are you?"

Just as he finished speaking, a strange and slightly teasing voice reached his ears: "Caesars, I'm right behind you. I've been watching you for a long time!"

Kaisas was startled by the sound and quickly turned around to look. He saw a middle-aged magician holding a black thorn staff standing not far away, looking at him with a smile. Kaisas frowned slightly and asked in confusion, "Are you Old Ethan?"

The middle-aged magician laughed heartily and pointed at his own face. It turned out that Old Ethan had used an Elf Transfiguration Mask to alter his appearance and voice to avoid unnecessary trouble. This mask perfectly concealed his powerful magical fluctuations, and now he looked like an ordinary mid-level magician.

Seeing this, Caesars couldn't help but complain: "Old Ethan, I wonder if I can find you in this state!"

Old Ethan shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Isn't this better? Okay, stop dawdling and let's head to the beach. I need to retrieve the magic array disk as soon as possible!"

"Old Ethan, why can't it smell you?"

Kaisas asked curiously. The puppy had a very keen sense of smell, but today he couldn't detect Old Ethan's scent.

"There are too many people here, and the smells are mixed. I used the purification spell again, so it's normal that it can't smell it!"

Old Ethan walked to the edge of the square, stretched out his staff, and stopped a carriage with a noble emblem.

"Blind magician, this is the carriage from Earl Lawrence's mansion!"

As soon as the coachman stopped the carriage, he cursed at Old Ethan. There were three or four magicians in the Earl of Lawrence's mansion, which made the coachmen of the Earl's mansion particularly arrogant and looked down on ordinary magicians.

"Shut up, you damn bastard!"

When the old Earl Lawrence saw Caesar, he banged on the window and shouted at the driver. Then he immediately opened the door and quickly got out of the carriage.

Caesars is Hawkeye's deputy commander and has a special relationship with Duke Solomon. Lawrence doesn't want to offend him.

"Mage Caesar, would you like to take a carriage?" asked Earl Lawrence.

"Lord Lawrence, Hawkeye wants to requisition this carriage!"

There's a fundamental difference between riding and requisitioning. Earl Lawrence was stunned. Considering Hawkeye's uniqueness and the head of the secret service, who was part of the power triangle, Earl Lawrence simply gave up the luxurious carriage.

"Don't worry, Earl. Your carriage will be back to Fire Maple City tonight!"

Caesars and Old Ethan got into the carriage without any hesitation, greeted Earl Lawrence, and then asked the coachman to set off towards the east gate.

"Old Ethan, how big can a lava dog grow?" asked Caesars.

"If it grows to adulthood, it will be at least ten meters long!"

"Then how can I afford to feed it? It can eat a whole bull in one meal, and it needs five or six meals a day!"

"At least three bulls can be eaten in one meal! Caesars, the lava dog grows very slowly. It takes thousands of years for it to reach adulthood. Moreover, the energy on the Roland Continent is not enough for it to grow to that size. Riven will be back in a few hundred years, so your worries are completely unnecessary!"

After hearing old Ethan's explanation, Caesars felt relieved.

When the carriage left the East City Gate, the spy chief in the Black Prison received the news.

"Caesars went east with a magician!"

To the east of Fire Maple City lay the territories of over fifty great nobles. The thought of the underground corridors made the spy chief hesitate to continue. Caesars was going there openly in a carriage, and was bound to have a direct confrontation with the Delta family.

Half a day later, the luxurious carriage passed through Count Rudolf's territory, formerly the Duke of Barton's. Shortly after entering the Delta family's territory, a ditch over two meters wide was dug in the middle of the road. There were also ditches on both sides of the road, and the carriage could no longer move forward.

Caesars and Old Ethan got off the carriage, and the driver turned the horses around, preparing to return to Fire Maple City. It was already evening, and the carriage should arrive in Fire Maple City in the late evening.

“Old Ethan, it’s still more than thirty miles to the beach!”

Caesar looked towards the east. It was still very far from the seashore and he could not see the towering tree.

"Kassus, put on the elf transformation mask. Let's walk slowly first and fly over after dark. If anyone blocks our way, you will be responsible for killing them and taking out the soul gems. Don't waste these sinful souls!"

"Old Ethan, how can you say they are sinful souls?"

Kaisas took out the soul gem from the space ring and put it in his pocket.

"No sin would dig up the road? According to the laws of the Roland Empire, the road belongs to the empire, and the land outside is considered the territory of the nobles. Boy, take out your staff and prepare to deal with the sinful soul!"

Hearing Old Ethan's explanation, Caesars nodded repeatedly. Old Ethan actually knew the laws of the Roland Empire. He took out his dragon bloodwood staff. Shadow Bolt's attack was more direct. While the Death Staff was better, the Death Coil engraved on it was a spell, and it killed the target more slowly, not as swiftly and efficiently as Shadow Bolt.

"Kassas, why are you slacking off? Holding the Death Staff can increase your spell power, so your Shadow Bolt spell will do more damage. Put away the Dragon Blood Wood Staff and wear the Frost Crown Badge, so your spell damage can be doubled!"

Old Ethan looked at Caesars and sighed, saying with some regret.

"The Dragon Blood Wood Staff casts Shadow Arrows faster!"

"Try not to use burned spells. You should cast more spells yourself. It's not easy to be lazy at such a young age. Take the Dark Spear spell, for example. With more practice, you can still cast it instantly, and you can also multicast it!"

After hearing Old Ethan's explanation, Caesars recalled the footage of his ancestors' magical battles. In the scene where the Pope was killed, more than ten spears of darkness appeared in an instant.

The two continued to head east, and along the way, Caesars kept asking old Ethan beside him various questions about magic. At this time, the sun was setting, and the blood-red afterglow dyed the western sky red like fire, while the eastern sky was already shrouded in a layer of gray.

Not far ahead, a magnificent castle stood on the side of the road. A large crowd had already gathered outside the castle. However, judging by the fact that they were holding not flowers, a symbol of friendship and welcome, but various gleaming, razor-sharp swords, it was clear they were not here to welcome distinguished guests.

"Old Ethan, the way they welcomed us is really grand!" Caesars said with a hint of joking.

Caesars, holding his staff, and the elderly Ethan stopped at the same time. Ethan walked to a large rock by the roadside and sat down. He waved to Caesars casually and said, "I'll rest here for a while. You go and deal with them. Tell them our destination is the seaside. If they refuse to give way, kill them directly. Nearly half of these people are paladins. With your keen sense of energy, it shouldn't be difficult for you to detect their unique aura!"

Kaisas was secretly shocked. He could hardly imagine that he was more than a hundred meters away from the group of people who blocked his way. However, this seemingly old elf could easily detect the other party's innate attributes. His insight really made him admire him.

Kaisas walked towards the crowd blocking his way, and faint magical lights flashed on the heavy, strangely shaped staff of death.

The people on the other side also saw the staff clearly and knew that it was a magician. As Caesars approached, his magic shield was also activated. Those who blocked the road gradually retreated towards the castle.

Caesars walked towards the castle, and the group retreated to the castle's courtyard gate. There was a row of archers on the courtyard wall, so he couldn't get too close.

"Listen up, everyone! We're going to the beach. If anyone dares to stop us on the way, I'll kill them all!"

At the gate of Delta Castle, no one came out to answer, nor did anyone come out to stop them. Caesars waved to Old Ethan, and the two continued to walk slowly eastward.