Volume 5 Chapter 16: The Terrifying Hollke

“Frank, Michelle, come with me!” Qin Lun looked up at the black dot in the distant sky and said in a deep voice. After speaking, he ran towards the small woods by the lake.

“Cora, get into the water too!” Sas said to his wife with a serious expression.

Soon, only Sas, Hansen, and Hill remained by the lake. Sas took out the Purple Tower Shield, stepped forward, and shielded Hansen and Hill behind him.

Qin Lun ran into the woods and climbed a big tree. He hid his body in the dense branches and leaves, looking up at the black dot in the sky. Michelle followed Qin Lun’s instructions and hid far away. With her abilities as a young Centaur, she could not take part in this kind of fight. Frank stood with his back against the big tree. After being brought back to life, the former Hunchbacked Servant was still getting used to his new body.

The old Frank had strange strength and a tough body. Even back then, with that weird Epidemic Disease, he lasted longer than ordinary people. Only when Qin Lun used World Tree Dew to drive the virus out of his body did it stop. Because of his physical disability, the Hunchbacked Servant was not very agile. All of this was reflected in his resurrected Law Body.

Of course, this was also very much related to that former Apostle who became a “Guardian”. The base attributes of this Professional Apostle, even at 65%, were close to Qin Lun’s total attributes now. To some extent, this helped Qin Lun measure the gap between himself and ordinary Professional Apostles in terms of attribute accumulation.

Frank’s Strength and Constitution attributes were far higher than Qin Lun’s. However, his Agility was very poor, and his Perception was only a pitiful seven points, basically no different from an ordinary person. His health points were more than twice Qin Lun’s. Combined with that Necro Bloodline, he could probably develop towards a strength-based warrior and MT combat profession in the future.

The two bloodline abilities that came with the Necro Bloodline were very powerful. Cold Will made Frank immune to most low-level mind control. It was somewhat similar to the Iron Will from the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, maybe even a bit stronger. After all, the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross was essentially a Sub-legendary Item.

As for the other bloodline ability, Zombie Body, its recovery power might not be as good as Clown Grant’s Parasitic Virus Bloodline. But its defensive power was much stronger than the Parasitic Virus Bloodline. It also exempted him from nerve pain sensations during fights.

Pain exemption had its pros and cons. But for close-combat professions, especially for an MT, the advantages clearly outweighed the disadvantages.

Actually, after practicing for so long, Qin Lun had started to feel that the data attributes from the Death Notice were not complete enough. At the very least, just the Constitution attribute alone could not fully describe the defensive ability of the Law Body. On the other hand, the Death Notice also lacked data expression for willpower and spirit.

If he could return to the Shattered Starry Sky alive this time, he would probably need to make some adjustments to the Death Notice’s database.

“Young master, young master, that thing is coming!” Just as Qin Lun was thinking, Frank’s reminder came from below the tree.

“What? What is that thing?” When Qin Lun focused his eyes and clearly saw the small black dot flying above the three people, Sas and the others, he raised his eyebrows slightly and showed great interest.

This thing had a long white beard. Its face looked like an old little human man. It wore a funny big pointed cone-shaped hat, seemingly made from animal fur. It wore a black robe with wide sleeves. Its left hand held a twisted, tangled branch, or perhaps a small short stick. The key point was that it seemed to be riding on a…

“A broom? Frank, tell me I’m not seeing things. That really is a broom, right?” Qin Lun asked somewhat uncomfortably, looking down.

“You’re not mistaken, young master. That is a Magician!” Frank nodded nervously. “Do you think he’s as evil as the Witch Maiar?”

“I know it’s a Magician, but riding a broom… I thought that was just a fairy tale from the Earth Federation.” Qin Lun blinked. “I’m feeling more and more that staying in Handan Prison all that time was just a waste of life. If I had known those legends were all true, I should have arranged to escape from prison earlier!”

“Ah? Young master, what are you talking about?” Frank looked at Qin Lun in confusion.

“Oh, nothing!”

…

“Ha, welcome, guests from the Outer World!” The little old man Magician riding the broom circled once above the heads of Sas and the other two, then spoke up. “Ha, let me see. Two Draenei, one female Centaur, one Half-elf, and two humans with mutated bloodlines… Oh, and one Zombie. What a strange combination!”

The little old man scratched the white beard on his chin and pointed his staff, which looked similar to a branch, towards the distance.

“Greetings, respected sir. May I ask what place this is?” Hill’s eyes flashed. He stepped out from behind Sas, bowed to the old Mage, and paid his respects.

“Ha, you may call me Grand Mage Hollke. Although you are very polite, I dislike insincere people. Since you passed through the Magical Array, you should know where this is!” The little old man twitched his beard, tilted his head, and thought for a moment. “But compared to you, I dislike those who hide even more. Alright, we’ll talk after everyone is gathered!”

As he spoke, the little old man gently pointed his staff towards the small lake. The tip of the staff lit up with a fiery red light. At the same time, the originally calm lake surface began to boil like hot water.

“Ah!” Cora, who was hiding at the bottom of the lake, screamed and floated up. She scrambled and crawled onto the lake shore. Her sea-blue face was as red as a steamed crab, and a big blister swelled on her forehead.

“Cora, are you okay!” Sas became very nervous, put down his shield, and ran to his wife’s side.

“I’m fine! Ow, don’t touch my face!” Cora smacked away Sas’s groping hand.

Hill and Hansen looked at each other. The Disciple hid the machete in his hand behind his back, his face expressionless. Just kidding, even if that lake wasn’t very big, it was still a lake. A Mage who could boil a whole lake was definitely not someone he could handle with a machete.

“Hmm? Three more people haven’t come out!” The old Mage looked satisfied with the effect of his spell. He raised his staff again and gently pointed towards the small woods where Qin Lun and the other two were hiding.

This time, a dazzling white light lit up on the staff.

“Crackle!” A small dark cloud had gathered above the woods at some point, flickering with crackling electric light.

“Frank, Michelle, get away from the big trees quickly, run outwards!” Qin Lun couldn’t help but turn pale. His legs kicked out wildly, and he fell from the tree.

“CRACK!” The moment Qin Lun jumped down from the tree, a thick bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the big tree directly.

“Sss!” When Qin Lun stood up and looked, he gasped sharply. The big tree where he had been hiding, originally full of lush branches and leaves, now only had bare branches left. Scorched yellow leaves were drifting down from above.

…

“Ha, now everyone is gathered. Guests, please follow me closely. If anyone dawdles or tries to sneak away midway, don’t blame Grand Mage Hollke for giving them a ‘recharge’!” The old Mage twitched his beard, showing the group a comical smile. “‘Recharge’! Huh? That should be your expression in the Outer World, right?”

“It seems we’ve been kidnapped, Qin Lun. Do you think we should ask this old kidnapper some questions?” Hansen said with an ugly expression in the Team Channel.

“Hansen, I never realized you could be so humorous!” Qin Lun replied expressionlessly. “Do you think this old thing is in the mood to give you an interview right now?”

“I think we’d better wait and observe first. Maybe our timing of passing through the teleportation point wasn’t very good. Did we mess up his magic experiment or something?” Hill pursed his lips, glanced at the old Mage flying in the sky, and said somewhat helplessly, “But, luckily, he didn’t roast us on the spot!”

“Grand Mage Hollke, can I ask you some questions?” Just as the three Serial Killers were trembling with fear, the young Centaur girl in the team foolishly spoke up first.

“Michelle!” The three Serial Killers were thrown into chaos. They just wanted to cover the Centaur girl’s mouth, but the old Mage flying in the sky had already turned his head.

“We should have gotten rid of this little filly long ago!” Hansen looked nervously at the sky and muttered softly in the Team Channel.

“Ahem, respected…” A drop of cold sweat slowly trickled down Hill’s temple.

“BAM!” Before Hill could finish speaking, he was hit as if by a heavy blow. His body flew sideways like a sack.

“Ha, little Centaur girl, what is your question?” Hollke descended from the sky, showed a lecherous smile, and looked at Michelle with a grin.

“X￥%, this old Magician is a pervert!” A string of curses sounded in the Team Channel.

“Disgusting old thing!” Cora turned her head away with a displeased expression. By Esmiran aesthetic standards, she was also a beauty. She didn’t expect to be outshone by Michelle this time, especially since she was almost boiled alive by Hollke earlier.

“Oh… Respected Grand Mage, where are you taking us?” Michelle sneakily glanced at her companions around her and asked cautiously.

“Hollke, just call me Hollke is fine!” The old Mage’s smile became even more lecherous. “Where? To my magic hut, of course! Wait there for two days, and then someone else will come to pick you up. Generally, guests from the Outer World, we give them a choice.”

“Ask him more questions. Best to find out what kind of choices we will have!” Sas shouted frantically in the Team Channel. This time, everyone wished the Apostle channel could be heard by Plot Characters as well.

“What kind of choice?” Michelle seemed to hear Sas’s thoughts. She blinked her big eyes and asked with an innocent expression.

“Oh, this… You’ll find out when the time comes! Don’t worry, little girl. Grand Mage Hollke won’t let you suffer a loss!” The old Mage hesitated for a moment and avoided the question.

“He only said ‘won’t suffer a loss,’ not ‘won’t die.’ So that means our choice probably isn’t a matter of life and death!” Hill and the others glanced at each other, feeling a sense of relief in their hearts.

“Any random old man who pops up is monster-level. So this is a Mid-Magic World! I’m starting to regret getting involved in your mess now,” Qin Lun sighed slightly. He hated this feeling of being out of control.