Black Hearted Mage

In the elegant small reception room of Dixinglong Trading Company, Caesars sat comfortably on the soft sofa, his deep gaze falling on the fat man opposite him who seemed to be hesitant to speak.

The fat man before him looked nervous, his hands clenched tightly, as if he was struggling with something. As for the tea and snacks on the table, Caesars had already cast a magic check, confirming that there was nothing unusual before enjoying them.

"Fatty, you didn't wait for me here to taste these delicacies, did you? Just tell me what you want to say. My time is precious, and I have other things to deal with later!" Caesars' tone was a little impatient.

The fat man took a deep breath and said as if he had made up his mind: "Master Mage, actually... I have a magic crystal mine, but I have never dared to sell the magic crystals. Because you are a powerful magician from the North Tower, I would like to ask you for a favor!" After saying this, the fat man breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaisa immediately understood the reason. The Roland Empire had strict regulations regarding magic crystal mines. All magic crystal mines must belong to the Roland Empire. Even if a noble discovered a magic crystal vein within their territory, they had to report it to the Empire. Furthermore, the nobles could only mine under the Empire's strict supervision, and their profits could only reach 10% to 20%.

At this thought, Kaisas couldn't help but feel excited. He was going to buy magic crystals anyway, so it didn't matter whose they were, and the fat man's magic crystals would definitely be cheaper. However, he didn't immediately show his joy, but instead looked at the fat man calmly.

"Fatty, you're so brave! According to the laws of the Roland Empire, if you illegally mine the magic crystal vein, the nobles will be stripped of their titles, demoted to commoners, and all their property will be confiscated. You are not a noble, and according to the law, this is a capital crime!"

"Master Mage, who can complain about having too many gold coins? I have unearthed a rich mine, and I really don't want to hand it over to the Empire!"

The fat man seemed a little anxious and uneasy at the moment. After all, he had invested a large amount of gold coins in mining the magic crystal mine, so he was naturally very anxious. And Caesars had a huge demand for magic crystals. As his magician level increased, his consumption of magic crystals would double.

"Fatty, what's the price of your magic crystal?" asked Caesars.

"Low-level magic crystals are four gold coins each, intermediate ones are ten gold coins, and high-level magic crystals are twenty gold coins!" the fat man replied.

After hearing this, Caesars was delighted. This price was quite cheap, even very low, more than half lower than the market price.

"The price is quite reasonable. How many magic crystals do you have now?" Kaisas asked.

"It's probably more than 300,000 yuan in total. I bought the storage ring to store these magic crystals. If I put it in the store, it will be discovered by the people from the Magic Guild sooner or later." The fat man explained.

Kaisas couldn't help but feel excited because the price was so tempting. So he said, "I don't have much gold coins on me, only 400,000 gold coins at the moment. Can you help me calculate how many magic crystals I can buy?"

"Master Mage, this is a big deal. I've decided to give you a discount of one gold coin!"

The fat man grinned widely, his mouth nearly drooling. He calculated with a pen and paper in his fat hands, quickly coming up with the answer. He brought out boxes of magic crystals, and Caesars also took out gold coins, and the transaction was quickly completed.

Caesars didn't stay long and left quickly. The Dixinglong Trading Company dealt in various fabrics, furs, and spices, and staying there for too long would easily arouse suspicion.

As soon as Caesars left the Earth Dragon Trading Company, he felt like he was being watched. He'd earned over 400,000 gold coins that day, so being watched was par for the course. He leaned on his dragon-bloodwood staff in one hand, the other holding the image stone behind him. He needed to know who was watching him.

Outside the square, Caesars stopped a carriage. After entering the carriage, he immediately looked at the previous photos.

A furtive figure appeared in the video, clad in worn leather armor. It was the skinny mercenary who had attempted to steal the storage ring. He was extremely cautious, his eyes gleaming with greed. Caesars was deeply disappointed; killing him wouldn't yield much.

About half an hour later, Caesars arrived at the entrance of another alley in the commercial district. When he turned around, he found that there was another person beside the mercenary.

Caesars walked into the deep alley, leaning on a red crystal-like staff, and walked forward slowly. He had already extended his magic tentacles to explore forward and backward.

The alley was straight, putting the two mercenaries in a difficult position. If they followed the other party, they would be spotted as soon as they turned around. If they didn't follow, the other party would be gone.

Just as the two mercenaries were hesitating, they found that Caesars had disappeared and the straight alley was empty.

"Come on!"

The two mercenaries rushed into the dark alley in panic, looking around anxiously, eagerly searching for Caesars. They frantically pushed every back door they passed along the way, leaving no corner where someone might be hiding.

However, at this moment, a strong feeling of fatigue washed over them, making their bodies feel extremely heavy, as if they were being dragged down by an invisible force. Their legs felt like they were filled with lead, and every step required all their strength, even breathing became rapid and difficult.

One of the mercenaries finally realized something was wrong. He looked at his companions in horror and said in a trembling voice, "It seems we've been poisoned..."

The other mercenary also realized what was going on, but it was too late. Just as they were about to turn around and flee the alley, they were horrified to find that the mysterious old magician was standing not far behind them, as silent as a ghost.

"It's not poison, it's a curse!"

Their eyes widened, and they tried to cry out for help, but their throats seemed blocked, and they could only utter weak, hoarse sounds. Caesars watched the scene in front of him with indifference, his eyes revealing a hint of cruelty and ruthlessness.

A black light shot out from Caesar's hand, striking the mercenary with unerring accuracy. Then, another ray of light struck the other mercenary. The power of dark magic spread rapidly, binding them tightly and preventing them from moving.

After the spell was cast, Caesars slowly walked towards the two mercenaries lying on the ground, watching them struggling in pain with no expression on his face.

"You're about to die. You only have two or three breaths left. The price of greed is so painful. I know you're just pawns of others, and there are bigger forces behind the scenes. But if those people continue to have ill intentions towards my things, then what awaits them will be an even more miserable end than yours."

Before the two mercenaries died, Caesars searched their bodies and found two animal hide purses and four magic steel daggers, but nothing else worth his attention.

The two mercenaries were still breathing, but Caesars continued his journey deeper into the alley. He put away his dragon-bloodwood staff, removed his elven mask, and quickly changed into a robe.

Everything was just as his ancestors had said, when one had a lot of wealth, greedy people would come to him.

When the sunset glowed half the sky red, Caesars returned to the Cavill family. He found a girl with brown curly hair sitting on the sofa in the hall downstairs, with a faint sadness on her face.

"Kaissa!"

The girl stood up and looked at Caesar with some excitement.

"Avril, you're so tall!

Caesars was a little surprised. Avril was a head taller than him. But her strength was too low, still a low-level magic apprentice.

"Kaisas, I have a question for you. Why do I gain so little magic power through meditation?"

Avril and Caesars are of the same age. Although they are nominally of different generations, she treats Caesars as her younger brother.

"There are several reasons for this. The first is the meditation technique, and the second is the meditation environment. The quality of the meditation technique is directly related to the effect of meditation, which is more important than the second point."

When Caesars said this, he suddenly seemed to remember something. "Avril, you originally went to the Magic Guild, so why are you at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy now?"

"Because of Joanna, the Magic Guild refused to accept me, so I had no choice but to go to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy!"

Later in the conversation, Caesars learned the specific reason. It was directly related to Joanna's departure from the Magic Guild and her journey to the North Tower. Someone in the Magic Guild held a grudge against Avril, and they had prevented her from joining the Guild. These two individuals were actually two of the Guild's elders, who had also been disciplined by Joanna.

"Avril, let me recite your meditation technique to you again!"

"No need to memorize it. The academy only taught me low-level meditation. Only by selling myself to the Roland Empire can I learn intermediate meditation!"

"I have extra intermediate meditation skills. I just need you to tell me about the magic academy. Was it founded by the Roland Empire?"

Caesars didn't know much about the Magic Guild. As an unknown magical force, he had to know its composition and the people behind it.

"The Magic Academy was founded by the royal family and three dukes, and it only has a history of over forty years. The reason is simple: the royal family felt that the magic guild was not obedient and did not punish the magicians who fled to the Saint Roland Empire. Therefore, the Roland Empire decided to start from scratch and establish a magical power that is completely under their control!"

Kaisas fully understood that according to the strict rules of the major magical forces, magicians who defected to the Saint Laurent Empire must be severely punished. Generally, they would be captured and imprisoned in the Forbidden Magic Prison, and in more severe cases, they would be directly killed.

The Magic Guild did not punish the defecting magician, which also meant that there were people in the Magic Guild who were flirting with the Saint Laurent Empire, or even colluding with the Saint Laurent Church.

"Avril, I have a copy of the intermediate meditation technique. You must destroy it after learning it, otherwise the consequences will be very serious. When you reach the intermediate magic apprentice level, you can use magic crystals to assist in meditation."

Caesar took out a meditation spell from the magician he had killed, and then he found a magic wand and handed it to the surprised girl.

"Avril, you are my junior, so this wand is a gift for us!"

"Bah, you're three years younger than me!"

The wand was relatively short, only about a foot long, and had the Fireball spell engraved on it. It could be activated by inputting magic power, and could also be equipped with magic crystals. The wand was originally for magic apprentices, and Avril played with it in her hand.

"Avril, don't play with your wand in the living room. That's a magician's fireball, not an apprentice's fireball. Be careful not to burn down the Cavill family's house!

"Caesars, if you give me your wand, you won't have one anymore!"

Avril felt a little embarrassed, but she was reluctant to put down her wand.

"Don't worry about your uncle. I'm already a master wizard. Don't tell anyone about this. By the way, where are the people at home? Why isn't there any dinner?"

"Master Caesars, the master and the others have gone out to attend the dinner, and your dinner is already ready!"

Looking at his obedient personal maid, Caesars gave her a gold coin without hesitation, and she accepted it with joy.

Dinner was quickly served, and Caesars and Avril sat down to enjoy it. In a mansion in the imperial capital, two blue-tinged corpses were placed in the hall. Several mercenaries stood nearby, and two magicians were investigating the cause of death.

After a long time, the two magicians frowned and asked several people dressed as mercenaries.

"You didn't hear any fighting, shouting, or anything else?"

"No, the two of them followed into an alley in the commercial district. The alleys there are straight and there are no obstructions, so they could see each other at a glance. We watched them walk into the alley for a while before we sent someone to check. As a result, their bodies were found at the entrance of the alley!"

The two magicians pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "The enemy should have discovered you long ago. He was just looking for a place to kill. This magician's killing method is very unique. There was no sound, and there were no visible injuries on the bodies, yet two people lost their lives!"

"Let me say a few words." At this time, another magician spoke up. From the magic patterns and magic emblems on his robe, it can be seen that he is a high-level magician.

"The two bodies lay almost side by side, with no cries for help. This shows that the magician was very powerful, casting spells swiftly, and killing with clean, efficient methods. I only know that he was a dark magician, but I don't know what spells he used. Don't follow him anymore, he's not someone to be trifled with. I'll go explain to the teacher, and I'll take the bodies with me!"

The magician collected the two bodies and hurriedly left the house. Dark spells were recorded in the magic guild, but what he encountered today was completely different from what was recorded in the book. It seemed to be a brand new spell.