Chapter 48: Negotiation

“Damn! That wretched woman!” Among the group of four apprentices, an exceptionally tall apprentice cursed under his breath… He murmured an incantation quietly, then chased after the direction the raven had darted into. A faint green glow flickered at his feet, making his movements completely mismatched with his large frame. In almost the blink of an eye, he had already charged into that cave entrance!

The swaying firelight from the cave opening illuminated a dark figure inside. As one of the larger bird species, the raven’s flight wasn’t extremely agile. Coincidentally, the cave entrance wasn’t very high… The figure merely reached out a hand, and the raven was already caught in its grasp! The raven let out a long croak! But it couldn’t stop the dark figure from leisurely taking out the item clutched in its talons.

“Put that down!” Noticing the magic robe the other person was wearing, the tall apprentice raised his hand without a second thought. A magic missile was already flying toward the other!

This apprentice’s thinking was obviously very simple—wearing a magic robe naturally meant they were an apprentice, and since there was no one left inside he needed to recruit, it was best to knock everyone down! Using the agility provided by the spell on his feet, he lunged at the other person! The magic effect seemed very effective; with a push from his feet, he had already leapt across the several feet between them. Using the advantage of his body weight, his right fist cut through the air with a nasty gust, smashing viciously toward the other! This was his favorite trick… after all, mages usually gave the impression of being physically weak. However, the person before him seemed even faster, taking a slight step back, letting the magic missile hit his shoulder… but an invisible barrier deflected the magic missile, and this movement just barely dodged the opponent’s punch. Then, releasing his grip, the raven in his hand whooshed into flight, swooping sharply past the tall apprentice’s face!

The tall apprentice saw a sweep of black before his eyes. He hurriedly ducked his head, trying to avoid the fierce bird’s claws… But before this instinctive action was complete, he felt as if a huge monster was crashing into him head-on. The Mage Armor on him was like nothing; it resisted for less than a second before shattering into stardust. His sternum cracked and caved in, and then his still- airborne body was hurled backward by the impact force, flying right out of the passageway! He tumbled over a dozen times on the ground before falling unconscious without a sound—in fact, he had already passed out during the tumble. The effects of the Battering Ram were comparable to a giant log. Without the Mage Armor, this would have been enough to break half the bones in his body!

A blue light representing teleportation lit up. With outside intervention, this fellow’s life was saved, but clearly, his test ended right there.

“Thinking you can learn to fight in close combat with others in this state? It’s your luck you weren’t standing on the ground, otherwise it would have punched a hole right through you…”

Constantine withdrew his fist. The other’s previous strike had indeed given him a scare. This attitude of attacking without a word disgusted him, so he didn’t hold back and directly rewarded him with a Battering Ram! Clearly, in the dim surroundings, this unlucky guy probably had no idea what kind of powerhouse he was facing.

No longer paying attention to this idiot, Constantine unrolled the parchment scroll… After a careful look, the youth delightfully discovered this was indeed a good item—with just a slight infusion of Mental Power, black lines appeared on the yellowish-brown paper, forming a somewhat rough but clearly structured drawing. As he took a few steps forward, the patterns shifted as well. It seemed to display the terrain within nearly a thousand feet centered on the holder.

“Hmm… It looks like the maker of this isn’t very high-level either… Back in the day, the high-level automatic mapping charts I saw usually had a range of at least several miles.”

Having understood the situation somewhat, the Lich snorted disdainfully. However, Constantine naturally didn’t share his disdain for this trophy. At least under the current circumstances, he had found a forward route to leave this underground passage. But the headache was that the only exit was behind the other group of people, at the cave entrance closest to them.

“Who’s there! Show yourself!”

The human bowling ball stunned everyone. They then each entered a state of alert at their fastest speed—they only saw the big guy charge into the darkness, then with a muffled thud and a cry, fly right back out!

The one who had used the Tentacle-tongue instantly retracted his tongue. The two groups who had been fighting immediately raised their hands toward the cave entrance—this place was different from the safe Mage Tower; the Labyrinth still held quite a few monsters. Judging from the exaggerated state of the unlucky guy just now, whatever existed in that dark passage at this moment must be quite formidable. Since the map was temporarily lost, figuring out how to deal with the possible problem ahead was the most important thing.

However, they soon felt a bit relieved… Low, heavy footsteps sounded, and a medium figure shrouded in a robe appeared there. The gray-black robe looked even deeper and darker in the flickering firelight, like an extension of the huge shadow cast behind him by the light. Only the chin revealed below the hood’s shadow bore a faint, ambiguous curve, the lips lightly pressed together as if pondering something.

“What sorcery! Acting all mysterious!” a Mage Apprentice scolded. He then uttered a fluent incantation, and spell energy gathered in his palm into a small sphere glowing with five-colored light!

The Magic Missile spell was simple to learn, easy to cast quickly… Its only problem was its weak power… If a High-Rank Mage used it, conjuring a rapid string of orbs one after another, the effect was barely passable. But coming from a Wizard apprentice who hadn’t yet graduated, the power was rather insufficient—this fellow obviously wanted to teach this person who startled them a lesson, which was why he chose this low-power spell. But his surprise was once again amplified—just as the light sphere formed, the figure opposite shrouded in the Black Robe raised a finger, and the light sphere he had just gathered in his hand vanished without a trace with a soft pop, like a soap bubble in sunlight!

“Spell countering?” Everyone present was a Spellcaster, so naturally they could recognize what this effect represented. And those who could become Spellcasters didn’t have slow thinking… precisely because of this, the look of astonishment on their faces grew even stronger.

Although Magic seemed mysterious and unpredictable to ordinary people, it was actually just a complex skill. Since it was a skill, it naturally had its tricks and secrets. Analyzing a spell’s nature, structure, and energy flow to find ways to guide it, dissipate it, or even directly reflect it—this was called spell countering. However, those who could do this typically were mages with some spellcasting experience—to recognize the opponent’s spell in the short time they were chanting and then counter it required significant experience and ability!

Though the counter just now was only against a low-level Magic Missile, the difficulty wasn’t low… Magic Missiles were shot quickly, with very short incantations, so the window for countering was naturally even shorter… Combined with the exaggerated way that tall apprentice flew out earlier… just who was this person?

Constantine slowly walked out of the dark passage, then headed straight for the door opposite. His gaze from within the hood shadow swept lightly over the few people present. This made them unconsciously start to move their own feet, making way for this not-very-tall figure.

The extremely wary, as-if-facing-a-great-enemy expressions on everyone’s faces secretly amused the youth… Obviously, the spell countering earlier had a good intimidation effect—though not a High-Rank Spellcaster, the youth’s eyes could clearly see the flow of magic aura on the opponents. Plus, the opponents were just low-level apprentices, so using this method didn’t require much effort. Spending only a first-level spell to achieve an intimidation effect was quite cost-effective.

However… the youth soon realized this intimidation wasn’t enough yet. Two apprentices had clearly noticed the badge on his chest. After exchanging unwilling glances, they backed away, simultaneously starting to chant incantations again!

“Why are there so many overconfident fools?” Constantine muttered. Using this brief moment of intimidation, the distance between them was no longer enough to be an obstacle… He suddenly pushed off with his feet, leveraging the agility from his gloves. The two apprentices’ retreating speed seemed as slow as a turtle’s crawl!

These two apprentices undoubtedly made the same mistake as their companion… Or perhaps their mindlessly excessive aggression simply made them unsuitable to become Spellcasters? One apprentice stepping back suddenly felt darkness before his eyes, then it felt like a Warhammer smashed into his face. His fragile nasal bone gave a crisp crack, and his incantation instantly turned into a half-strangled grunt! With the spell failing, the ensuing backlash immediately plunged him into darkness!

The person on the right only saw that short, black figure surge forward, and then his companion softly collapsed! Only then did he react. Still reciting half his incantation, he immediately took a big step back, trying to put distance between them without interrupting his chant—his reaction was undeniably fast, but it was too late. As his left foot pushed off, it was suddenly pinned firmly in place by a powerful force appearing out of thin air, followed by a sharp pain at the back of his head, and then he knew nothing more.

So, two glows representing teleportation lit up, taking these two unlucky fellows out of the Labyrinth.

“They get directly taken out of the competition even when knocked unconscious?” Constantine wondered, glancing at the teleportation glows, then prepared to leave.

“Ahem… Well, if I’m not mistaken, you must be Lord Connalyvis, right? I’ve long heard of your great name. It’s impolite of me to have been so remiss in greeting you. I am Blanche Ulysses Veles of the Veles family. My father is Second Viscount Bernadette O’Brien Veles…” Just as he was about to pass these remaining people, the sole surviving leader of the quartet suddenly spoke with a smile. His long tongue had retracted into his mouth, but his voice was still somewhat strange. However, when he straightened his attire and performed a Noble’s greeting… it indeed displayed some of the elegant demeanor of Nobility: “To meet in this vast Labyrinth, I think this must be Boccob’s arrangement… I wonder if your lordship would be interested in advancing together with us?”

“I recall, you are a Sorcerer. So, you’re not participating in this trial just to gain the title of a formal Mage Apprentice; there must be something among the prizes you need. Am I right?”

“Well then, how can you help me?” Looking at this smile, Constantine’s brow furrowed beneath the hood shadow—this fellow before him might not be particularly intelligent, but he was cunning enough… He made no mention of the three half-dead companions, nor did he bring up the topic of the Scroll, as if these two things never happened at all—joining Constantine was clearly the most suitable choice at the moment, and he laid out all his advantages… Perhaps it was a habit of Noble children; before their intellect was fully mature, they already knew how to weigh pros and cons.

“I’m ashamed to say, due to my insufficient skill, this is already my fourth time taking this test. But I’ve gained some experience because of it… Lord Constantine, judging by your current state, you must have already used quite a few spells, right? This might somewhat affect your plans ahead… There’s a saying from the distant East: ‘Firewood gathered by many people builds a strong fire.’ I think your lordship must have heard it.” Under Constantine’s puzzled gaze, he leisurely explained, while taking a subtle step forward, just enough to slightly block the youth’s path: “Of course, of course, my goal is merely to pass this test. But if your lordship has any hopes regarding the rewards, I think I can offer some assistance. I know quite a bit about the monsters guarding the treasures.”

This was admittedly a good bargaining offer, but Constantine was somewhat hesitant. This fellow’s arrogant, smug, and self-assured look made the youth feel very uncomfortable. Although the other had given his family name, and he wasn’t afraid of any underhanded tricks, having this fellow tag along simply felt unsafe.

Right in the midst of his hesitation, Constantine suddenly caught sight of a small stone flying over in his vision!

He reflexively stepped back two paces. With a “Boom!”, stone shards flew everywhere. That ordinary-looking stone struck Blanche, then suddenly exploded like a grenade! The massive shockwave rocked Constantine in front slightly. Blanche, being the first hit, naturally had it worse. He let out a miserable howl before tumbling headfirst to the ground. Then the glow representing teleportation flashed once more!

“Rather than cooperating with that trash, why not join forces with us. Lord Connalyvis…”

Constantine turned his head, staring at the female apprentice who had just thrown that stone. She acted as if nothing had happened… Perhaps disgusted by the Tentacle tongue having touched something, she casually took off her Mage robe… or was she doing it on purpose?

The youth’s eyebrows, hidden under the hood, raised. This female apprentice’s voice was only clear, not particularly pleasant, but the appearance hidden beneath the Mage robe was quite striking—perhaps the long research life in the Mage Tower as an apprentice had made her skin very pale and fine, looking very soft and smooth. In the firelight’s glow, it seemed to faintly gleam.

Even with an ordinary face and figure, such skin would be quite tempting. Moreover, her face wasn’t ordinary—though not as delicate as Miss Nightingale’s, for a Human it was still outstanding… And though her overall build was very slender, her chest was quite noteworthy. Even though she looked only about sixteen, those exaggerated curves seemed to proudly declare she was already a mature woman.

“Of course, unlike that trash, we have our own goals. That Staff—if our objectives are the same, naturally we’d have to settle things between us. But as a Sorcerer, I don’t think you’d need a Staff this soon. So… a ring, or the Bequli Gem? Though both are optional for us, I still know their exact locations and information about the monsters guarding them… So, in my opinion, why don’t we cooperate, each taking what we need?” Seeming to sense Constantine’s gaze, the girl gave a smile, similarly cleverly avoiding any mention of the map issue.

“That’s also a good suggestion… And traveling with a girl seems more enjoyable…” The corner of the mouth visible under the hood curved up. The youth walked a few steps toward her, and the smile on the female apprentice’s face deepened.

Then, in the next moment, the smile was replaced by shock!

The youth’s hand, concealed within his Robe of Magic, suddenly shot up, accompanied by a sharp scraping sound! A blade—keen, pitch-black with flecks of dark gold luster—was now pressed against the smooth skin of the girl’s neck!

The cold touch of the blade made her eyes snap wide open, all the hairs on her body standing on end! She opened her mouth in surprise but didn’t dare move at all, only silently listening to the youth’s equally cold voice coming from beside her ear.

“However, your actions just now really weren’t very pleasant…”