Black Hearted Mage

On the morning of the third day, the sky was still shrouded in gray clouds, as if the whole world was covered by a layer of gray gauze. In the dense forest two or three miles away from the Yellowstone Mountains, there was silence, only the occasional bird song and the rustling of leaves in the wind.

A soft snoring sound broke the silence. The dark red, plump puppy was curled up on a piece of animal skin and was sleeping soundly. However, it didn't take long for the snoring to stop. The strong feeling of hunger woke it up.

The puppy drowsily opened its eyes, stretched, and then used its sturdy paws to touch the storage ring hanging around its neck. It found something wrong - the two storage rings that were supposed to be hanging around its neck had now fallen to the ground.

The puppy blinked, looking a little confused. It stared at the ring on the ground for a while, and suddenly realized something - it turned out that it had returned to its original size! This discovery made the puppy excited. It immediately stood up and quickly got into Caesar's tent.

At this moment, Caesars was deep in sleep, completely unaware of the puppy's intrusion. Suddenly, he felt something warm and sticky moving back and forth on his face. This strange sensation jolted him awake. He opened his eyes and looked closely to see a large scarlet tongue licking his face unscrupulously, leaving him covered in saliva.

"what!"

Caesar screamed and quickly reached out to push the puppy's big head away, "You dead dog, don't lick my face anymore!" He complained dissatisfiedly while wiping the saliva off his face.

The puppy didn't seem to realize that its behavior was causing trouble for Caesars. It continued to wag its tail happily and used its short, powerful front legs to constantly paw at the two storage rings on the ground. Caesars watched the puppy's behavior and realized that it wanted him to help re-tie the animal hide rope that strung the storage rings.

"Come here, I'll tie it for you!" Caesars sighed helplessly, then waved to the puppy.

The plump puppy opened its wide mouth, revealing its pink tongue and sharp teeth, grinning happily as if it were laughing. It lay comfortably on its back on the soft animal hide mat, its round belly rising and falling with its breathing, looking very comfortable.

Kaisas sat aside and fastened the puppy's storage rings. These two rings were very important to the puppy, as they contained its food, some of which it had hunted itself.

When the storage ring was fastened, the puppy, as if receiving some kind of signal, excitedly jumped up from the soft mat and, like an arrow, rushed into the dense forest covered with fallen leaves. Although the forest was not large, only about ten miles in radius, the terrain was undulating and there were many large and small rocks scattered around.

Caesars watched the puppy disappear into the woods, smiled slightly, and then walked out of the tent. As soon as he stepped out of the tent, he felt a damp wind blowing in his face. He looked up at the sky, which was gray and gloomy, as if covered by a thick layer of clouds.

"It looks like it's going to rain soon." Caesar muttered to himself.

It was late autumn, and the southern part of Roland Continent usually entered the rainy season. During this time, a continuous drizzle often fell, and sometimes this drizzle could last for more than ten days.

Caesars looked around and observed the surrounding terrain. He found that his tent was located in a low-lying area. If it rained, it would probably be flooded. So he decided to move the tent to a higher ground.

He quickly moved, first packing up the items in the tent, then folding up the tent and quickly walking to a higher place. After finally finding a suitable place, he stopped and started to set up the tent again.

After finishing these, Caesars took out some clean water and prepared to wash. However, just as he poured out the water, a few drops of cold rain suddenly fell from the sky.

The raindrops hit Caesar's hands, bringing a hint of coolness that made him shiver. Although it wouldn't snow in the south, this rain would drop the temperature significantly.

To prevent the tent from getting damp, Caesars washed up and went inside, lowering the leather curtain to prevent moisture from entering. He sat on a thick animal hide mat and took out some cheese and a thick black book.

At the top of the Yellowstone Mountains, the wind was howling and the rain was pouring. More than 200 figures in leather armor stood there like sculptures, silently enduring the baptism of the cold wind and rain.

The wind on the top of the mountain was so fierce that it seemed to tear everything apart. The tent swayed in the wind, as if it would be overturned at any moment. In desperation, these people in leather armor had no choice but to fold up the tent and expose themselves to this inclement weather.

However, these people did not complain or leave. They sat there expressionlessly, as if the storm had nothing to do with them. They seemed to be waiting for something, motionless, like a group of silent watchmen.

Meanwhile, in Fire Maple City, Rodman had successfully sold all the goods that Caesars had given him. He looked at the gold coins in his space ring with joy, believing that this wealth would bring him a comfortable life.

In a dense forest west of the Yellowstone Mountains, raindrops pounded against the hard-shelled leather tent, making a crackling sound. Outside the tent, a plump puppy was devouring an equally plump hare with relish, swallowing it whole, fur and skin, without a care in the world.

In the tent, Caesars was quietly flipping through an ancient arcane book. The sound of turning pages was particularly clear in the silent environment, as if time had stopped for him.

The puppy's dark red fur looked somewhat dull after being soaked by the rain, but its round belly showed that it had just enjoyed a hearty meal. Its body was covered with crystal clear water droplets, as if it was covered with a layer of bead curtains.

The puppy shook its plump body vigorously, trying to shake off the water droplets. As it moved, the water droplets splashed everywhere like raindrops, instantly forming a small mist. However, its smooth short fur seemed to be under a spell, and the water droplets could not stay on it at all, falling off in the blink of an eye.

After shaking off the water droplets on its body, the puppy lightly slipped into the tent. It sniffed first, then, like a skilled explorer, pulled out a thick fur. It glanced at Caesar, who was concentrating on reading. As if realizing it had disturbed its master, it lay down obediently on the fur, quietly watching Caesar.

As a fire-type magical beast, the Lava Hound has a natural aversion to cold rain. If it weren't for its special liking for tender and juicy rabbit meat, the puppy wouldn't risk getting wet to go out and forage for food.

Caesars noticed the puppy's return, smiled, put down the book in his hand, and gently stroked the puppy's head. He also didn't like this kind of weather, the humid air made people feel a little depressed.

News from the crater indicated that the Saint Laurent Empire's forces were gathering at the summit of the western Wind and Rain Canyon. Caesars estimated that at their current pace, it would take another eight or nine days to reach his destination.

He couldn't help but think of his trip to Shenghui City, feeling a little regretful. Because of his momentary impulse, he had gotten himself into such a big trouble. After this incident, he also saw clearly the despicable and shameless nature of the Saint Laurent Church.

The red liquid Okus had retrieved from the Saint Laurents was revered by the Saint Laurent Church as the essence of life, also believed to increase vitality. However, after examination by Okus and Destro, they discovered that the red liquid was not an alchemical potion, but rather extracted from human blood. The two great elven alchemists called it the Essence of Blood, a substance considered taboo.

An ordinary civilian could only extract one drop of blood essence, while a professional's blood would contain more blood essence. To obtain a bottle of blood essence, at least five or six human lives were required.

There are evil alchemists in the Church of Saint Laurent, and there may be more than one. This is the inference of the high priest Destro.

The drizzle fell endlessly, seemingly without end. Caesars's anxiety grew with each passing day. He had been waiting in this dense forest for over ten days. The surroundings were drenched in water from the prolonged rainfall, with puddles forming in many places. Fallen leaves were gradually rotting in the water.

Caesars couldn't help but lift a corner of his tent and peer out. The sky was a leaden gray, gloomy, and the thick clouds oppressive, making it hard to breathe. A cold wind blew through the cracks in the tent, making him shiver. With weather like this, it was likely that the weather wouldn't improve for another day or two.

Just as Caesar was feeling somewhat discouraged, his communication stone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Orcus. The members of the Saint Laurent Church had finally arrived, trudging down the extremely steep path. Caesar instantly cheered up, quickly donning his gray-black fur cloak and folding his tent into his space ring.

Caesars didn't have the stealth skills that assassins were good at, so he couldn't quietly approach the edge of the Yellowstone Mountains, but he decided to go to the edge of the woods to see what was going on. He took the greedy puppy with him and carefully walked through the wet woods to the edge of the dense forest.

There was a huge rock here, which was just right for him to hide in. Kaisas hid behind the rock, took out a magic telescope from his space ring, and pointed it at the towering Yellowstone Mountains.

At the foot of the vertical cliff, several bodies wearing leather armor were lying on the ground. Their bodies were bloody and mangled, and they no longer looked like human beings. These people had fallen from above. When Caesar thought of the height of the Yellowstone Mountains, he felt his legs go weak.

As the magic viewing mirror slowly moved upward, the image gradually blurred. At the top of the Yellowstone Mountains, due to the fine rain falling from the sky, the vision was a little blurry, but a large crowd of people could still be seen gathered there.

Suddenly, figures slowly descended the winding path along the cliff. However, perhaps because the grip was too slippery or someone hadn't held on firmly, one of the figures suddenly lost their balance and plummeted down the cliff.

The moment he fell, he instinctively wanted to grab something to steady his body, but he accidentally dragged the two people below with him.

Caesar exclaimed, "Damn dogs! They're about to be smashed into pieces. They're going to die miserably!"

The puppy lay on the edge of the rock, witnessing this thrilling scene. It stretched out its sturdy paws and covered its eyes tightly, as if it couldn't bear to see the tragedy that was about to happen. Then, it uttered a low hum towards Caesars, as if to express its opinion on this accident.

However, just as the person who had just fallen had not yet landed on the ground, another figure suddenly let out a shrill scream and then fell off the cliff.

Caesars exclaimed again, "Goodness! At this rate, there won't be many people left!"

Caesars was full of doubts. He had walked that dangerous path several times. As long as people were a little more careful, people should not have fallen off the cliff one after another.

As he pondered this question, he suddenly sensed a surge of magic behind him. He turned his head alertly, only to see a flash of purple arcane light appear in his field of vision. Caesars wasn't particularly surprised by this light, as he immediately recognized it as Old Ethan, clad in a spider silk robe.

Old Ethan, holding a purple staff, slowly emerged from the light. His steps seemed light, as if unaffected by gravity. Then, he quickly released the portal, and the purple light gradually faded.

"Old Ethan, isn't the high priest coming?" Caesars looked at Old Ethan and asked. He had been expecting to see Elder Destro, but at this moment he only saw Old Ethan.

Old Ethan smiled slightly, revealing his somewhat cunning smile. He whispered, "The old man arrived yesterday. He secretly sprinkled a lot of frost oil on the cliff path opposite at night."

Hearing the word "Frost Oil", Kaisas frowned slightly. He was of course familiar with this alchemical solvent, which was usually applied to weapons to give them frost damage.

"Old Ethan, is the path along the cliff covered in ice?"

Caesars didn't know much about alchemy and could only make some guesses.

"Almost! Without the frost oil, it's like water. Once it touches the frost oil, it immediately turns into a piece of extremely cold thin ice. That's how the people of the Saint Roland Empire fell!"

Old Ethan looked at the cliff not far away and explained with a smile.