The Magical Path Of The Wizard With A Biological Chip

The three Mages stood silently side by side in the magical hall. With eyes radiating distrust, they evaluated Leon and Bleia, both bound in place. In one corner of the hall, Lucy, whose connection with Leon had been severed, lay peacefully on the floor. She seemed unconscious.

Leon only recognized the Mage named Keoghan among the three. Clearly, the other two were also Mages belonging to the Sarubo clan. In particular, every time Leon cast his gaze upon the elderly man in the black robe with a grim expression, he felt a bone-chilling cold that seemed to freeze his sight, even though the man did not emit a particularly strong mental flux.

"Is Eclivel dead?" the old man in the black robe asked coldly.

The other two Mages kept their mouths shut as he spoke, almost as if they dared not speak.

Leon truly wanted to answer the question. But not knowing how the Mages would deal with him, he didn't want to say the wrong thing. So he simply nodded in silence.

"Fools will always be fools! A weakling like him, who didn't even dare to step onto the battlefield, was killed by the apprentice Mages he trained himself. What a fool!" The elder turned to the side and ordered, "You, go see what's left of that Eclivel!"

Keoghan bowed and left to carry out the order.

If the secret space had been destroyed, it would have been difficult to find. But given that Leon had just melted a massive hole in the spatial barrier, it was easily located.

After a brief moment, Keoghan returned with Eclivel's corpse in his hands. To everyone's disgust, the broken body had been completely consumed and transformed into a sack of human skin. Countless black scorpions crawled in and out of the corpse.

"What a complete death!" the elder in black said coldly. "It seems all his preparations ended up benefiting you! Good! Good! Good! Three Mages for one fool. That wasn't a loss!"

Leon lowered his head, hiding the shock in his eyes.

From this Second Grade Mage's words, it wasn't difficult to infer that the Sarubo clan was aware of every one of Eclivel's actions, including the blood sacrifice ritual he had secretly organized. If Eclivel's plan had succeeded and he had advanced to a Second Grade Mage, these people would have congratulated him and signed a new Mage contract with him.

The cold reality reminded Leon of a horrifying truth. In the eyes of the Mages, the lives of apprentice Mages were merely a resource to be harvested at any moment. It didn't matter to all the Mage families that the leaders of major Mage factions prohibited such events. As long as it increased the family's strength, all they needed to do was keep their actions secret.

If even the Sarubo clan had been awaiting Eclivel's success... how would they deal with him and Bleia? Damn it! He should have thoroughly checked the secret space. The evil insect Blake wasn't dead! It seemed Blake had advanced to a Mage using the remaining Mage powers in Eclivel's body!

Despite all the thoughts in his mind, Leon wasted no time resolving them. He held his breath and waited for the Second Grade Mage's decision.

Mages were precious assets of any clan. There was no possibility they would abandon or waste such resources. Killing them as revenge for Eclivel was out of the question. Most likely, they would face a far stricter Mage contract than the usual agreement. All of this was within Leon's expectations.

"Why are you still hiding? Come out and let me see who you are, to be able to devour Eclivel completely!"

Countless scorpions emerged from Eclivel's remains in response to the Second Grade Mage's cold command before forming into the horrific half-insect body that was Blake.

Even the grim Blake had to be cautious when placed before a Second Grade Mage. He bowed and waited silently for the elder's judgment.

Keoghan's cold eyes lingered briefly on Eclivel's remains, then on Leon and the others, before turning to ask, "Mr. Fugen, what should we do with them?"

"Hmph! What's there to consider? Throw them all into a battlefield in some plane as soon as their contracts are signed. That would have been Eclivel's work. And since Eclivel is no longer around, let the three of them handle it. They can live and enjoy their status as a Mage of the clan or die; only their luck can decide that."

Hearing this, Leon and the others felt a sense of relief. But simultaneously, their hearts sank.

What is this battlefield? Why had they never heard of it? Was it really so dangerous there?

A slew of questions flooded Leon's mind. Although Leon had calmly organized most of the knowledge and Mage mythology an apprentice could access with the chip's help, he still knew almost nothing about planar wars. Even in the books that touched upon these wars, there were only brief mentions without detailed descriptions.

The fact that this was the case was likely due to the Mages restricting information about them.

It seems that all information about planar wars was not something common apprentice Mages were meant to access!

Following Mage Eclivel's actions, all apprentice Mages would now rest eternally beneath the earth. The magical swamp resource site was completely destroyed. Of the three Mages from the clan, aside from Second Grade Mage Fugen and Mage Keoghan, the third Mage was here to take over Eclivel's tower.

This place would be repopulated in a few years, with an official Mage stationed here to manage it. But Leon, Bleia, and Blake could only follow Mr. Fugen back to the clan's outpost and await the beginning of the war.

In the blink of an eye, Leon's seven years in the magical swamp became nothing more than a fleeting memory in the long journey of his life.

---

"Sarubo Clan Outpost, Feidnan City.

Leon walked through the bustling streets with a serious expression. Silently, he entered an arcane shop.

This was a Goblin shop specializing in selling all kinds of strange alchemical items. Snorlax, the shop's owner, stood on a wooden stool, diligently promoting the incredible pieces of alchemical equipment he had purchased from a certain cunning Goblin merchant to three apprentice Mages—two girls and a boy.

Rocket boots that can instantly propel their owner forward (Note: Make sure there are no obstacles like rocks or shrubs before activation)…

Alchemical bombs that create terrifying noise disruptions (Note: Sometimes… just sometimes, they explode for no real reason, so…)n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

A magic core capable of creating a dome-shaped energy shield (Note: Break it on the ground once, and the energy shield will activate. If you don't see a shield… please break it a few more times!)

A Goblin aircraft that allows free movement among the clouds (Of course, its direction and trajectory will also be entirely "free"!)

Parachute cloaks to bring you safely and stylishly back to the ground (This seems like an accessory for the previous item? Otherwise, how would you come down from the sky? Hmm, freefall seems like a fun option!)

...

Leon frowned as he looked at the various Goblin alchemical devices. All he felt was disdain for these toys, yet he remained silent.

These items were useless to him now, but for apprentice Mages who had no means of saving themselves, they were fairly decent options. Although the merchandise sold in this Goblin shop might have some issues, they could save lives if they worked!

Not a single apprentice had requested a refund in the month since Snorlax started his business.

That is, of course, if they were still alive to ask for a refund!

The Goblin Snorlax immediately abandoned the three apprentices when he saw Leon entering. Instantly, he jumped off the stool and rushed to greet his master. The three apprentices were initially annoyed, but after noticing Leon's dark red robe, they nervously paid their respects and slowly left the Goblin shop.

They had long known that the person behind this unassuming shop was a newly-advanced Mage, but this was the first time they had seen him with their own eyes. They held their breath until they were a certain distance away before finally exhaling.

"That Mage was so handsome! He's so fit! He's a whole head taller than Hans..."

"Yes! Yes! Especially his long red hair and his face. He's so good-looking!"

Hearing his two infatuated companions talking loudly, the male apprentice couldn't help but complain, "You're both too bold. That's a real Mage! Didn't you hear the senior apprentices? Never look directly at a true Mage when you meet one. If you offend them, they might punish you right then and there. Not to mention, you can't trust a Mage's appearance. Even if they look young, they could be a hundred-year-old geezer on the inside."

One of the female apprentices pouted disdainfully, "Hans, stop being jealous. That's Mr. Leon. We've already asked around. He's a young Mage who's not even 20 years old yet. Besides, he advanced to a Mage in some rural area you've probably never even heard of."

"Yes, I heard that too!" The other apprentice couldn't help but interrupt. "I heard he arrived at the clan with two other Mages. In particular, Mage Bleia… she's totally an idol for all of us apprentices. Not only is she incredibly beautiful, but she's also really powerful. I heard she defeated Mr. Kiel right after she arrived. Mr. Kiel has been a Mage for several hundred years, you know!?"

"What? She defeated Mr. Kiel? How is that possible… Mr. Kiel is a renowned Body Refinement Mage across the entire clan…"

"Oh, right, did any of you see the Worm Controller? I heard he looks terrifying…"

The three continued chatting as they slowly walked away.

....

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