Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  It's been a while, Gloomy Dark…

  Lin Li's hands were trembling slightly too. He already held two out of the seven Debris of the stars: one Light, and the other was the Dark. If he was able to use them well, the Light and Dark would become his most powerful strength, and now that he had both the Light and the Dark, it would be much easier for him to search for the rest as the Debris of the stars resonated with each other, so he would no longer have to wait until he was in the vicinity of one of them to detect its presence.

  It was only a matter of time before he found the other five pieces of the Debris of the stars…

  Lin Li exerted a huge amount of effort before he finally managed to calm himself down. Then, he gingerly reached out with his still trembling right hand, and took the Gloomy Dark from the hand of the Immortal King's sculpture…

  Now that the six black magical crystals were no longer devouring its mana, the strength of the Gloomy Dark was released immediately. It was powerful and profound, just like the Dark itself. Lin Li held it in his hand as he savored this familiar force. In that moment, it felt as though he was back in the Endless World…

  …

  By then, the Malfa Family's team had already crossed the Scar of Death, and set up a campsite in the vast plains. The team seemed entirely different from when they left as they had not only been replaced with many elites from the Malfa Family, but they had also gained a few powerful allies. There were the Syer Bandits that ranked in the top 10 in the Breezy Plains as well as the High Priest of the Darkness Shrine, Sendros.

  Frankly speaking, Hutton was taken by surprise when he heard that Sendros was coming as even though the Darkness Shrine could no longer rival the Brilliance Shrine, Sendros was still a powerful individual who stood at the peak of magic. Hutton had long heard from his teacher how scary a Necromancer in the Legendary-realm could be…

  Of course, Hutton was aware that the Malfa Family was definitely incapable of hiring someone like Sendros, and the only reason he was here was because his teacher had got acquainted with him in the past.

  Hence, Hutton was exceptionally hospitable towards Sendros in these days, and arranged a luxurious tent for him. He also personally brought Sendros his meals, and was incredibly respectful to him when he spoke. One thing was certain: the first heir of the Malfa Family was definitely gifted in some ways as he could interact very well with whoever it was. Even the gruff Sendros occasionally gave a stiff smile when he spoke to Hutton.

  The tent that Hutton set up for Sendros was in the center of the campsite, and looked luxurious and spacious. Soft, warm carpets lined the floor of the tent, while the furniture was crafted by well-known masters. It was like walking into the emperor's moving palace when they walked into the tent; it was hard to imagine that this was in the middle of the Blackstone Mountains with their hostile environment.

  The only bad thing was that it was too empty—there was only a black-robed Sendros in the big tent. Besides Hutton, who brought him his meals every day, nobody was willing to go near the tent.

  It was because this Legendary-mage had a naturally chilly aura, and even the ruthless head of bandits, Vanskore, could not help but tremble in front of Sendros. He had wanted to establish a good relationship with this Legendary-mage the first day he arrived, but after that, this ruthless head of bandits found himself regretting his decision for a good couple of days.

  That feeling was too scary…

  He was a short and skinny old man; besides having a title of Legendary-mage, there was nothing out of the ordinary about him. However, one could feel a chilly aura seeping into their bones simply by standing in front of him, which felt like falling into an ice cellar and feeling your blood freeze up.

  The scariest part, however, was his eyes. Vanskore felt as though there was a venomous snake staring him down every time he recalled his eyes. That feeling made his hair stand, and gave him nightmares for a few nights spent in the Blackstone Mountains. Ever since then, Vanskore never dared to go near the scary Necromancer; he even silently swore that he would never want to see this fellow again if it was possible…

  Even the ruthless Vanskore was scared out of his wits, much less the rest. Soon, nobody dared to step into Sendros' tent besides Hutton.

  However, Sendros did not care whether anyone stepped into his tent, as he was only here with them in the Blackstone Mountains to return Cheyenne a favor. More importantly, he was here for the prophecy that had been passed down for 1,300 years in the Darkness Shrine. As for anything else, Sendros could not be bothered about it at all.

  Since there was no one around to disturb him, Sendros spent most of his time in meditation, but at his level, meditating was no longer just a means to recover his mana. Most importantly to Sendros, meditation was a way to let him quiet down his thoughts to focus on thinking.

  Geresco had long said 1,300 years ago that a Legendary-mage would spend most of their life thinking.

  This was no exaggeration at all, as thinking was the most important thing to any mage who entered the Legendary-realm. This was because there were too many things that required their attention. Once they entered the Legendary-realm, they had the right to familiarize themselves with many secrets of the world, and there were too many things that they had to think about, like the constituency of magic and the truth of the world. Thinking in itself was a journey of learning, and just as a mage apprentice thought that meditation was the most important task of all, mages thought memorizing spells was the most important thing, and for Magic Shooters it was studying techniques, Archmages stressed understanding the Rules. It was merely the task that differed depending on which stage they were in…

  Like any other day, Sendros started his daily meditation after eating lunch.

  But just as he entered a state of meditation, Sendros opened his eyes suddenly.

  "How can that be…" His eyes were filled with disbelief, and he looked just like a child who was frightened by lightning.

  Luckily, Vanskore was not around, as he would never believe the fact that those snake-like eyes could express such human-like feelings.

  What was more unbelievable was that Sendros opened his eyes and immediately rushed out of the tent, even tripping slightly on a few chairs. Thankfully for him, he was quick to react, and while he stumbled, he did not end up falling. However, this still gave everyone a shock as they could not believe that this elderly man running frantically was really the High Priest Sendros of the Darkness Shrine.

  "How could such pure Dark Force exist in the world…" Sendros rushed out of his tent with a panicked look as he stared fixedly in the direction of the Scar of Death with a look of shock and doubt.

  With his keen senses of a Legendary-mage, Sendros was 100% sure that the sudden burst of Dark Force was coming from that direction. However, even though Sendros had seen many things in his lifetime, some of which nobody would dare imagine existed, he still found it hard to believe that Dark Force as near perfection as this actually existed in the world of Anril…

  This was against the laws of the world—there was no way a force could be without a flaw. Anything as perfect as this was surely on its way to its own demise.

  But the Dark Force coming from the Scar of Death was so genuine that Sendros could clearly feel every pulse of it; it was a rhythm so perfect it was almost like music.

  Could that prophecy be true? The thought flashed like a ray of light in his mind, and the most powerful High Priest of the Darkness Shrine was suddenly stunned…

  Chapter 417 - Killing with a borrowed sword

  However, just as Sendros was about to use his mental strength to trace the source, this nearly perfect Dark Force disappeared all of a sudden. There was no sign nor trace at all, just as though it'd never existed in the first place and all of it had just been Sendros' mind playing a trick on him…

  Of course, Sendros knew that this was not the case.

  The Dark Force from the Scar of Death was so real and utterly clear that even though it had now disappear
ed, Sendros could still feel it in his soul.

  "There is no other force that can triumph Darkness in the art of concealing indeed…" Even though this nearly perfect Dark Force had disappeared, Sendros was not affected by it at all, and a rare smile appeared on his pale face.

  It was enough for Sendros to know that such a Dark Force existed in the world, and that the Darkness in the prophecy had arrived. As for why the Dark Force disappeared, or where did the Darkness go, none of that mattered as much…

  By the time Sendros returned to his tent, someone was already waiting there for quite a while.

  Hutton was the only one out of the whole Malfa Family who dared enter Sendros' tent.

  There was a friendly and respectful smile on Hutton's face. "How are you, Master Sendros?"

  "Hmm." The smile had disappeared by the time Sendros returned to his own tent; he was back to the half-alive state he had been in before. His gaze was dull and cold, and if not for the halfhearted sound he made in reply, anyone would think that he was a walking corpse.

  Hutton was perhaps the only exception. The first heir of the Malfa Family had a strange gift—it was as though he was naturally able to interact with everyone, even with a strange half-spirit, half-human creature like Sendros. He was still able to maintain a good relationship with him.

  "Oh, right. Master Sendros, how do you find it here so far?"

  "Alright."

  Sendros' hostile attitude did not seem to affect Hutton at all as the heir of the Malfa Family still maintained a friendly and respectful smile even after he faced Sendros' blatant indifference. "Heheh, I'm actually here this time because I have something that I need to ask for your help with, Master Sendros…"

  "Go ahead." For the first time, Sendros spoke more than a word in reply.

  This was because he had been waiting to hear this for a few days.

  Back when Sendros had yet to break into the Legendary-realm, he owed Cheyenne a favor. He tried to return the favor after he reached the Legendary-realm, but there was little that a Legendary-mage could not do, and he did not find it easy to repay Cheyenne…

  It had been a few decades of waiting before Cheyenne wrote to him recently, asking if he could go to the Blackstone Mountains to help his disciple at a critical moment.

  "This is what happened, Master Sendros. I just received a magical message from Brother Adelo that he has returned from the Scar of Death, and will reach the campsite in about an hour. However, the mage he is with seems to be a threat to the Malfa Family; hence, I was hoping that you could help us resolve this issue for the Malfa Family on account of Teacher Cheyenne…"

  Honestly speaking, Hutton was a little in shock after he'd received the magical message from Adelo…

  Adelo's message had been simple, and there was nothing about the mage being a threat to the Malfa Family. All he said was that the mission had been completed, there were no casualties in the advance party, and that they would reach the Malfa Family's campsite in an hour.

  However, the simple message made Hutton worry as according to their plan, Adelo was supposed to have killed the advance party after retrieving the two relics so as to stop the news from spreading.

  There was, after all, the Immortal King's treasure map amongst the relics. This was no small matter. If any news of it leaked, it would be catastrophic for the Malfa Family. Who in Anril would not want to get their hands on the Immortal King's treasure map? There might even be Legendary-realm individuals fighting for it then.

  Even though the Malfa Family was powerful, only Cheyenne was in the Legendary-realm. If a few other Legendary powerhouses joined the fight, then the Malfa Family was sure to perish.

  Thankfully, Hutton quickly calmed down, and although he did not know much from the magical message, based on his understanding of Adelo, he was able to guess what had happened at the Scar of Death.

  Without question, this was all because of that President Felic.

  It seemed like both he and Adelo had belittled this young president. They had originally thought that with an Archmage at the peak of level-17 and two other level-17 Warriors, the young president would not be able to escape death even if he was not as weak as they thought. But, to think that Adelo was not able to kill him even with the help of two level-17 Warriors… This meant that this young president was at least of level-18, or perhaps even level-19…

  It would be scary if he was a level-19…

  Unless his teacher Cheyenne personally stepped in, there might not be a single person in the whole Malfa Family who would be able to stop him, and even if he deployed all the elites of the Malfa Family currently in the Blackstone Mountains as well as all of the adventurers, they might not be able to win against him.

  A level-19 powerhouse was just one step away from the Legendary-realm, after all. Even if they had numerical advantage, there was no way they would be able to kill him.

  That was not what Hutton wanted to happen.

  If he was allowed to leave the Blackstone Mountains, then the Malfa Family would not only have to face powerful people who wanted the Immortal King's treasure map, but would also have to face the Supreme Council's retaliation.

  This President Felic was personally appointed by the Supreme Council, after all, and was able to hold such an important position only in his twenties. How could he not have considerable backing?

  Sigh, if only Adelo could get rid of him in the Scar of Death…

  There were dangers everywhere in the Scar of Death anyway, and even if the young president died, Hutton could always blame it on the Undead creatures or the magical beasts.

  A pity that both he and Adelo had belittled the young president's abilities, and the latter was thus able to leave the Scar of Death alive. The Malfa Family would not dare strike outside, as there were too many eyes watching, and if they dared do anything to the president of the Guild of Magic, it would be a provocation aimed at the Supreme Council. How many had survived after doing so in the past 1,300 years?

  Hence, Hutton went to Sendros instead.

  This was because Sendros was the most appropriate person for the job.

  Firstly, Sendros was powerful enough as a Legendary Necromancer, and would be able to get rid of that young president in a flash. Even if Felic was really one step away from the Legendary-realm, there was no way he would be able to take that step in his life.

  Furthermore, Sendros was from the Ledin Kingdom, and did not think much about the Supreme Council. This was because the Ledin Kingdom was the only country that was not under the Supreme Council's control. Even if the Supreme Council wanted to exact revenge, there was no way they could do anything to him.

  Of course, it was not enough with Sendros alone. He would still have to go look for Vanskore after this, and if he was able to offer enough benefits to him, this materialistic fool would most probably not disappoint him.

  "I will." Sendros' voice was still cold and hostile, but hearing this, Hutton let out a breath of relief immediately. President Felic's fate was decided the moment Sendros agreed…

  If Hutton could do otherwise, he did not want to turn against the young president of the Guild of Magic, as he was too dangerous an enemy.

  Unfortunately, the two idiots, Harvey and Hahn, made a grave mistake while he was not around, and put him in a difficult position. Hence, he had no choice but to get Sendros to kill him.

  "Thank you, Master Sendros. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave…"

  Sendros did not even bother answering this time as he closed his eyes and entered a state of meditation.

  Thankfully, Hutton was already used to this. After he left the tent respectfully, he quickly summoned Vanskore.

  "Let's sit down and talk." One was an heir with a deep history in the underground, while the other was the head of a bandit chief who made a living by robbing and killing. Hutton and Vanskore could not be more familiar with each other; in fact, Vanskore had participated in all the Malfa Family's dealings in Doland City and Roland City all these ye
ars.

  Of course, his participation was a secret as the Malfa Family traced back a long way, and they would never dare openly associate with a bandit group. Hence, not many knew that these two forces had much closer ties than it appeared on the surface.

  "You're in such a rush to look for me, did something happen?"

  "Nothing…" Hutton shook his head. "I just have a small problem that I need you to help me resolve."

  "Tell me about it."

  "This is what happened…" Hutton did not hide anything this time, and told Vanskore about everything. Well, besides the Immortal King's treasure map of course…

  Chapter 418 - Trap

  "You're saying that the mage's name is Felic?" Vanskore had only heard half of it before he stood up suddenly.

  "Why, you know him?"

  "Of course I do…" Vanskore teeth were clenched in anger. "Do you remember the previous time I came to Aminya City? I told you about this unknown mage in Black Clouds Town who seemed pretty powerful, and that I was trying to get him to join the Syer Bandits…"

  "Yeah, I do."

  "In order to get him over to have a talk, I even sent a group of trusted men, but guess what? That bastard did not even bother with my invitation, and killed all 30-odd men! Damn it, that bastard does not respect the Syer Bandits at all. If not for your letter asking for help, I would have brought men to Black Clouds Town to teach him a lesson!"

  "Isn't that great? You won't have to make a trip to Black Clouds Town now that Felic will arrive at the campsite in about an hour's time. You can do whatever you wish then…" Hutton lowered his voice, and added, "Also, Master Sendros will be helping out as well, so don't worry about this Felic escaping…"

  "Sendros?" Vanskore could not help feeling a chill run down his spine when he heard this name…

  Honestly speaking, it would be an honor for Vanskore to fight alongside a Legendary-mage, but why did it have to be Sendros? There was no trace of life in this man, and he was a creature that seemed more like a corpse than a human. Even looking at him gave Vanskore nightmares, much less fighting alongside him…