Black Hearted Mage

The moon was dark and the wind was strong, a pitch-black night shrouded the earth. In this silent and still night, this ancient and mysterious alchemy tower stood in the darkness. The tower emitted a faint light, as if telling of its once glorious history.

Deep within the alchemy tower lies a room known as the "breeding room." It's shrouded in darkness, illuminated only by a faint oil lamp. The room is filled with the delicate aroma of North Sea fish oil, bringing a sense of peace and tranquility.

At this moment, a figure wearing a black robe and a hood that obscured his face appeared. He tiptoed to the door of the breeding room, holding a small crystal bottle. The bottle contained a brown liquid with a pungent smell.

The black-robed man carefully opened the bottle cap and poured the liquid from the crystal bottle into his hands. He carefully smeared the liquid all over his robe, boots, and neck, making sure every part was covered.

After completing all this, the black-robed figure gently picked up a metal key and inserted it into the lock of the breeding room. As the key turned, the lock cylinder made a slight metallic friction sound. The black-robed figure paid no attention to it and continued turning the key until the lock emitted a crisp "click" and the metal door opened.

The man in the black robe pushed open the door and walked into the breeding room. In the dim light, he immediately saw the small figure lying motionless in the iron cage, and a surge of excitement surged in his heart. A sinister smile appeared on his face, as if he saw the hope of his own success.

However, at that moment, a giant, dark snake, as thick as a thigh, suddenly leaped from the iron cage. Its eyes gleamed with a golden light. It opened its massive mouth, its sharp teeth flashing a cold light, and pounced at the man in the black robe.

The black-robed man's eyes widened in horror. He hadn't expected such a sudden change. He tried to dodge, but the snake was too fast, leaving him no time to react. The snake's fangs instantly pierced his neck, and only a trace of blood spurted out.

The whole process happened very quickly, in just a moment. The pitch-black snake returned to its cage and quietly watched everything before it. Its eyes were cold and emotionless, as if it didn't care at all about what had just happened.

Neither the stinging pain nor the intense numbness was as strong as the fear brought by the golden-eyed black demon snake. The golden-eyed black demon snake was as thick as a thigh, with a total length of seven or eight meters. Its body was over two meters when standing upright.

The man in black robe was so scared that he collapsed on the floor. The snake repellent he carefully prepared could only be used to deal with ordinary black snakes and had little effect on the golden-eyed black snake.

The sound of the black-robed figure falling startled Caesars from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes with his chubby hands, then sat up and took a look. A black-robed figure lay twitching on the ground, his face covered by a cloak. Caesars couldn't see the man's face, but he knew he wouldn't live much longer.

"Well done!"

Caesars reached out his small hand and gently touched the mother snake's smooth, dark scales. When he lifted the covers, he discovered two small black snakes also inside. He quickly stood up, pulled the covers back over him, and quickly walked over to the man in black.

"I wasn't poisoned to death, but I was frightened to death first!"

Kaisas knew very well what it was like to be venomed by a black demon snake. The skin color of the corpse on the ground had not yet begun to turn blue-black, but it was already dead.

After removing the corpse's cloak and mask, a familiar dead face was revealed. This corpse belonged to none other than the Great Alchemist's student, Garlon.

"I knew it was this bad guy!"

Caesars once again picked up the message stone, but this time the great wizard did not come back. The death of one or two students was not as important to the great wizard as the two little black snakes.

Caesars searched the corpse for items. He didn't dare take the storage ring, so he could only take other items. After finishing everything, he returned to his cage. The female snake, with its massive coils, took up most of the cage, leaving only a small empty space in the middle.

On a cold morning, before Caesars got up, the great magician came with an old wizard.

"Kandel, where's your little golden-eyed black snake?"

The old wizard was very old and wore a black robe with golden magic patterns. He addressed Kandel by his name.

“Oh my god! How could someone sleep with a golden-eyed black demon snake? Am I seeing things, or am I hallucinating?

The old wizard pushed Kandel away, causing him to stumble, and quickly walked to the edge of the cage. This time, the golden-eyed black snake seemed a little frightened, and it didn't even dare to hiss in warning.

"Damn it, I've seen this guy before!" The old wizard looked at Caesars. He had indeed seen him yesterday. No one in the tower wore linen clothes. The servants and errand boys all wore cloth.

"He has an affinity with the dark element, no wonder the black snake can live in peace with him. Of course, the black snake doesn't think he is dangerous, and there is a certain trust between them. Kandel, you are a fire wizard, and you put someone with an affinity for the dark element here to raise snakes. It's really a waste of his talent!"

"Old Roman, how have you met this kid? You stay in the library all day, and you wouldn't bother to come out unless I invited you!"

Kandel looked puzzled, and Old Roman didn't seem like the type to tell lies.

"Yesterday he went to the big library to read, and he left after dark!"

"This kid can't read, I've already sent people to investigate!"

"That only means your people haven't found out!"

Old Roman looked at Kandel with some contempt, thinking that he couldn't even find out such a small matter.

"Master Mage, why are you here so early?"

Caesars was shocked that his secret was discovered by the two magicians.

"Little guy, do you want to learn magic? Do you want to become a great magician? Don't look at Kandel. That old guy can only make a few bottles of potions. He's no match for a fighter!"

Old Roman patiently instructs him. He hasn't accepted a student in hundreds of years. It's not that he doesn't want to, but there are simply too few apprentices with dark attributes. And today is the first time he's met someone like Caesars, who possesses a natural affinity for dark elements.

"Of course I want to, but I don't have that much gold coins!" Caesar looked at old Roman pitifully.

"Who wants your gold coins? As long as you are willing, pack up your things and follow me!" Old Roman said excitedly.

He finally met a student with great dark talent. The only regret he had was that Caesars was too young. However, that didn't matter. With his ability, he could teach an excellent magician.

"Wait, where are those two little snakes?" Kandel suddenly remembered something.

"Master Mage, they are here!" Caesars quickly reached into his clothes and carefully grabbed two small golden-eyed snakes.

"Leave them here. You'll still have to feed them. First, get the big snake into the big cage. This one's too small!"

Kandel's eyelids twitched as he watched the golden-eyed black snake become so close to Caesars. Caesars waved at the two old mages, signaling them to step back. He grabbed the young snake and walked towards the large iron cage opposite. The mother snake followed him out.

"Master Mage, we need a small cage, otherwise they will still escape!"

“The craftsmen are already making it!”

"Come with me. Killing a few of Kandel's students is nothing. He even wants his own students to die here. Hey, why didn't you clean up the body, little guy? Why is the storage ring still there? This is your trophy. Take it and it's yours!"

Kaisas was a little surprised. He looked at Kandel. After all, Garlon was his student.

"Just take it. If this old guy dares to stop me, I will naturally help you stop him!"

Old Roman was a complete wretch, a scoundrel with the demeanor of a gangster, ready to strike at the slightest disagreement. After receiving the storage ring, Caesars was overjoyed. He packed his clothes, retrieved the purse from the black snake's cage, and followed Old Roman out of the alchemy tower.

"How do I use the storage ring?"

"Let's talk about it when we get to the library!"

"You are the person in the library. Why can I only hear the voice but not see the figure?" The little figure recalled yesterday's experience.

"That's a simple peeping array!"

"Oh, I got up late today. It's past the time to make bread, and I have to go to the lecture hall soon!"

Caesar looked at the sky and knew that it was about an hour late today.

"Little guy, I don't mind you making bread, but forget about attending lectures."

"Theory is the foundation of magic. How can we practice without learning it?"

Kaisas looked at the old wizard with a puzzled expression. He suddenly felt that the other party was a little unreliable.

"Most of the magic theories taught in the classroom are useless. You can learn these theories from textbooks, and most of them only need to be known, not mastered. Magic theories that can be learned in just half a year, but the Tower arranges more than two years of courses. Do you know why?"

"To cheat more gold coins?"

Caesar thought about it for a while and felt that it could only be because of the gold coins.

"That's brilliant! I underestimated you! The Tower only accepts two to three hundred students every ten years, and most of them are children of nobles. No more than ten of them will become wizards or magicians. They'll all leave in the future. If you don't scam some gold coins now, you'll have no chance later!"

The old man and the young man arrived at the great library. They walked along the long bookshelves to the end, and old Roman opened a secret door, which revealed a hidden staircase.

They climbed all the way up and finally reached the top floor of the library tower - the fifth floor. It looked more like a residence, with a spacious living room, a study, and three comfortable rooms. The study had only a small bookshelf with a few old books on it.

"If you can finish reading, understand, and learn everything in this book, you can become a magician. This is the theory of dark elemental magic. Read this first, and ask if you have any questions!"

Old Roman walked to the bookshelf, carefully selected a worn book, and handed it to Caesars.

Caesars took the book and felt a heavy pressure. He knew that becoming a true magician was no easy task, requiring immense effort and time. Old Roman had asked him to begin with this book on the theory of dark magic because it was the foundation of all magic and the most crucial link.

Young Caesars diligently flipped through a book, while old Roman secretly observed him. He hoped to understand Caesars's character and understanding. Both wizards and sorcerers require long periods of meditation to cultivate inner focus and spiritual strength. If a person lacks patience and perseverance, and cannot tolerate loneliness and solitude, then even the greatest talent will find it difficult to achieve great success in the future.

Caesars sat quietly on the chair in the study, opened the worn book, and began to immerse himself in the magic theory of dark elements. He knew that he had an important mission, to let his grandfather and father wear silk robes, drink the best rum, and eat delicious and juicy roast goose.

Most importantly, Caesars longed to become a master mage. He often visited the Blackrock Tavern, listening to bards recount legends and mercenaries brag about their adventures. In these stories, mysterious mages often played the leading role. They possessed immense power, easily resolving problems and crises; they could use magic to protect themselves and others, and even create beautiful things; they could master the laws of nature and apply them to change the world. All of this filled Caesars with a deep yearning.

In the reception room atop the main tower of the Northland Tower, the three great masters of the tower gathered. Two elderly wizards, both white-haired and beardless, sat on a sofa. One sipped a cup of hot tea, while the other gazed at the paintings on the wall with great interest. Meanwhile, the female wizard, whose age far surpassed her appearance, stood elegantly by the window, gazing out at the withered yellow leaves rustling under the autumn wind.

"Kandel, Old Roman accepted a student, who was originally the baby who fed the black magic snake for you?" Tower Master Ethan put down his teacup and asked in surprise.

Kandel nodded and said, "Yes, that kid. I didn't expect Old Roman to suddenly accept a disciple."

"Really?" Ethan still couldn't believe it. "Old Roman gave up all his power in the tower because he was disheartened and has been living in the library ever since!"

Kandel smiled slightly and said, "Yes, I was surprised too. But since he has made up his mind, let's respect his choice."

At this time, the female magician who had been silent all the time spoke up: "Kandel, you are so suspicious, you must have investigated the background of that child, right? Tell me quickly." She turned her head, with a hint of curiosity on her beautiful face.

Joanna, the ruler of the Magic Tower, is one of the three great masters of the North Tower and a great fire mage. In the magic world of Roland Continent, Joanna is known as the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"Hey, this guy's last name is Ludwig, and he's just an ordinary civilian now. But after looking through the records of various city halls, I found something that might shock you. His ancestry can be traced back to the Roman Empire, when a powerful figure suddenly appeared and single-handedly slew three earth dragons!"

The terrifying power of the two-headed earth dragon surpasses even that of great wizards and great sorcerers. To say it could wipe out countless armies is no exaggeration. The three-headed earth dragon is unimaginably terrifying, possessing both exceptional physical and magical defenses. Even advanced spells cannot penetrate its defenses. The person who slew the three-headed earth dragon is well-known throughout the magical world.

"Evans Ludwig, known as the strongest man under the stars!"

The great magician Joanna exclaimed, her breathing became a little rapid, and her curvy figure trembled slightly.

"That kid should be his descendant, but nearly five thousand years have passed, and some things can no longer be confirmed!"